The Xth BGM of AIRASA virtually held in the online platform

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The Xth BGM of All India Railway Accounts Staff Association (AIRASA) was conducted on 12th & 13th December 2020, online, via “Zoom Meeting”. All office bearers and the representatives of all Zonal Railways, Production Units as well as Divisions were also present on this BGM online.

Joginder Babbar, AGS welcomed the 111 participants from all the Railways, PUs and the Guests. As the President did not participate, despite several reminders to him, the Central office bearers present authorized Ashok Dwivedi, Additional General Secretary, to conduct the proceedings.

The meeting started with observing two minutes mourning, for the Accounts Staff and Officers who lost their lives/dear ones to Covid-19. S. Mohan, Patron, All India Audit and Accounts Staff and Officers Association, former Secretary General, Confederation of Central Government Gazetted Officers Organisations inaugurated the BGM with his thought provoking address.

In his address, he highlighted the fact that the recent change, in the base year for calculating the Price index, which shall adversely affect our DA/DR payment, which already is under freeze. He said that the Government did not consult the Staff side before finalising it. He said that the exercise was initiated with the intent of revising the base year as 2013, but while announcing it was arbitrarily changed as 2016.

He recalled the golden days of AIRASA leading the fight for improved pay scales in Vth CPC and its success, based only on which the same was extended to all other Audit and other Organised Accounts.

But he lamented that, in the last 10 years many benefits, achieved by the Organised Accounts and Audit have not been extended to Railway Accounts brethren and that there has been no serious protests from the Railway Accounts side.

In particular, he pointed out that they have achieved 15% promotional quota in Supervisor Cadre (SrAA in Railways) and introduction of a new grade “Assistant Supervisor”.

He said the promotion to AAOs (Sr.SOs in Railways) on passing SAS Exam is treated as recruitment and three MACP benefits are being extended to the employees, from the date of promotion to that Grade. He also pointed out that they have achieved Group A status for the Senior Audit Officers in GP-5400 in PB-3 and succeeded in creation of 6000 posts in GP-7600.

He offered all help to AIRASA in framing strategies to fight for the above. He also warned that serious steps towards privatization of Railways and merger of departments will adversely affect the Railway Accounts and the cadre has to be educated about this.

N. Srinivasan, former GS/AIRASA, extended his whole hearted thanks to S. Mohan, for accepting his invitation and for the enlightening speech. He expressed shock that AIRASA is lagging behind and that the fight for these demands should start at the right earnest, without any further delay.

He said that a review of the so called AIRASA’s Website, clearly shows that, in the last nine years only two demands (grant of GP of 5400 and Vth CPC arrears) have been given attention out of the 14 demands that were pending as in 2011.

Ashok Dwivedi, then presented the General Secretary’s Report in his capacity as the AGS, since the General Secretary had retired from Railway Service on 28-02-2019. He presented to the BGM, the developments that took place since the last BGM held on the 19th & 20th of April 2018, at New Jalpaiguri. He read once again the resolutions passed in the BGM held at NJP.

He conveyed his sincere thanks to all the office bearers of AIRASA/NJP unit, for organising such a grand BGM with excellent hospitality. He also recalled the success of AGM held at Ratlam. He had also demanded that juniors should not be paid more than seniors in pay matters.

He had also suggested to amend the AIRASA constitution, for induction of retired, experienced and knowledgeable persons as office bearers. But this demand was rejected by the then General Secretary, who himself had only 10 months of service left, a fact he did not disclose in that Meeting and allowed himself to be elected for a term of two years.

The GS and the President have reportedly visited New Delhi 5 or 6 times and had mainly followed up on the issue of implementing GP-5400 on completion of four years in GP-4800 and payment of arrears issue. Nothing else was said to have been pursued.

He mentioned that the most important development, in the last two years, was the verdict of the Supreme Court, ordering payment of Vth CPC arrears within 3 weeks time. Since it was not implemented a caveat was filed in the Supreme Court.

Since, it was reported that there had been no development in the issue, a second caveat was filed on completion of 90 days. Now it is gathered that the SLP filed by the Administration side was came up for hearing on 14.12.2020.

He also said that, after a gap of 9 years, the issue of enhancing the percentage of SrAA posts on par with other Audit and Accounts has been taken up and two reminders have been sent to FC in this regard. AGS assured that action will be taken up seriously after the BGM is over regarding other pending demands, by the new Central Office bearers.

The AGS presented the financial report also, since the Secretary Finance has not submitted the Accounts and did not present himself in the Meeting, despite many reminders. AGS had to present the report, based on the Account Statements obtained from the Bank.

He stated that an amount of Rs. 8,10,000 has been taken from the interest portion of FDs and transferred to the current account of AIRASA as against the resolution passed in the BGM held at Jhansi in 2015 to withdraw Rs. 2 lakhs only from FD, to meet the expenses connected with the case filed in Delhi High Court regarding payment of Vth CPC arrears from 01.01.1996 to 18.02.2003.

Apart from this, amounts received as membership fee and donations amounted to Rs. 2,50,000. But, the net balance as on date is only Rs. 75,850 which is shocking and does not make any sense. An amount of Rs. 3.8 lakhs has been transferred in the last two years to the personal account of Reji George retired GS and cash withdrawn from the central account is Rs. 2,01,344. An amount of Rs.1,11,000 has been paid to the lawyer for appearing in the arrears case.

DELEGATES SESSION:

In the delegate session, Shailendra Kumar SrAFA/ECR (former GS/AIRASA) spoke as a Special Guest. Manoj Shukla, CR, M. L. Narayanan, SECR, R. K. Saraswat, CR (Retd), Ramesh Kumar, NR (Retd), P. K. Bhatnagar, NCR-JHS, Dharmendra Kumar, NCR-PRYJ, Vikas Pathak, NCR-PRYJ, Mukesh Khare, NCR-JHS, Ranjan Sharma, ER-Kolkata, J. P. Maurya, WR-Ajmer, Dilip Singh Rathore, NWR-Ajmer, Amit Kamani, WR-RJT, V. B. L. Srivastav, Agra-NCR, T. K. Rajkumar, SR, MAS, Ajai Pathak, JBP-WCR, Sudarshan M. N., ICF-PER, Antony Selvan, SR-MDU, Gyanendra Shukla, WCR-BPL, Mahesh Khaneja, NR-NDLS, Sayed Rahat Bakht, SER-Kolkata, Sunil Kumar, JUC-NR, N. K. Singh, WCR-JBP, Ramakant Singh, WCR-JBP, G. Satyanarayana, SCR-SC, Parmindarjit Singh, NDLS-NR, Om Prakash Mishra, NCR-CNB, Smt. Shobha G., CR-CSTM, Kamlesh Chatuvedi, NER-GKP (Retd), Bharat Mishra, NCR-PTYJ, Venkat Ramaiah, SCR-SC, B. B. Mahto, SECR, Shiv Ram Shukla, WCR-BPL, Ashok Singh, NWR-Ajmer, Kamat, CR-CSTM, Alok Shukla, JP-NWR and many others participated and expressed their views on the following subjects –

  1. Large number of App.IIA passed Accounts clerks are waiting for promotion to JAA Cadre and the need for restructuring the present ratio 20 : 80 as 10 : 90 and to take steps to promote all ACs in the waiting list by promoting them against DR quota vacancies.
  2. Following up on the demand for allotment of the GP-4200 to JAAs on par with ASMs.
  3. Fixation of minimum pay on promotion equivalent to the pay structure given to Direct Recruits by the 6th CPC.
  4. Increasing the percentage of SrAAs from the current 1% to 15% on par with Audit and other Accounts cadre.
  5. The delay in implementation of 7th CPC recommendation of granting the GP-5400 on completion four years at Rs. GP-4800.
  6. Grant of MACP benefits to the promotee JAAs, treating their promotion as JAA on passing App.IIA examination, as Direct Recruitment.
  7. Group B status to all SrSO(A)s/SrISAs/SrTIAs and abolition of 70% and 30% exams and many other demands pending for more than 10 years.

The Additional General Secretary replied to the discussion, which continued to the second day also. He said that the Minister for Railways, FC/Railways and all other officials concerned will be addressed on all the pending issues and issues raised now, after passing necessary resolutions. He expressed his confidence of achieving these genuine demands one by one, at the earliest. After this, the General Secretary’s Report and Finance Report was accepted by the General Body.

The Meeting passed the resolution to amend Item No. 7, 11 and 16(a) of the Constitution unanimously by all members present in the Meeting.

Following above, the process of election of the new Office bearers for the years 2020-21 to 2021-22 started. First the Additional General Secretary obtained the approval of the General body for amending the Constitution to reduce the number of posts 28.

N. Srinivasan, former GS/AIRASA, was nominated as Election Officer, to conduct the free and fair election of the new Office Bearers. A panel, proposed by the CWC Meeting held the previous night, duly taking into account the nominations by the Zonal Committees of all the Zonal Railways, was presented by the nominated Election Officer to the BGM.

The election of 28 Office bearers was done and the approval for the list of 20 permanent invitees to the Central Working Committee was accorded in a peaceful manner by acknowledging with their thumbs up signal on their screen. There was no dissent.

The BGM unanimously elected the following Office Bearers for the years 2020-2022 and Permanent Invitees to the CWC.

  1. C M CHENGAPPA, PRESIDENT, SrISA MYS, SWR
  2. ANTONY SELVAN, WORKING PRESIDENT SrSO(A) MDU, SR
  3. S KRISHNA KUMAR, GENERAL SECRETARY, AA Hqrs, SR
  4. ASHOK DWIVEDI, SECY FINANCE AA Hqrs, CCG, WR
  5. ARVINDAR KAUR, VICE PRESIDENT SrSO(A) DMW/PTA
  6. J P MAURYA, SrSO(A) TA, AII, WR
  7. SYED RAHAT BAKHT, AA HQ, SER
  8. ASHWANI KUMAR, SrISA ASR, NR
  9. D P KHUNTIA, SrSO(A) HQ, ECoR
  10. NANAK DEV, SrISA RCF, KXH
  11. PARMINDERJIT SINGH, WRKG. GS, SrSO(A) HQ, BH, NR
  12. M N SUDARSAN, ADDL. GS, SrSO(A) ICF, PER
  13. TAPAN BAISYA, SECY. COMMUNICATION SrSO(A) CLW
  14. M L NARAYANAN, AA NGP, SECR
  15. MANOJ SHUKLA, DY. GS, SrSO(A) TA, HQ, CR
  16. GYANENDRA SHUKLA, DY.GS, SrSO(A) BPL, WCR
  17. BHUSHAN KUMAR, CENT.ORG.SECY SrSO(A) HQ, HJP, ECR
  18. DILIP SINGH RATHORE, SrSO(A) TA, AII, NWR
  19. G SATHYA NARAYANA, SrSO(A) HQ, SCR
  20. MUKESH KHARE, AA JHS, NCR
  21. JAYASHREE PUNTAMBEKAR, SrSO(A) BSL, CR
  22. S B TIWARI, SrSO(A) HQ, NCR
  23. MANOJ KUMAR SINHA, JS, Sr.SO(A) W/JMP, ER
  24. RAMESH JAISWAL, SrISA GKP, NER
  25. ABDUL SHAFIQUE, SrTIA NGP, SECR
  26. ALOK SHUKLA, SrSO(A) JP, NWR
  27. PRADEEP DAS GUPTHA, ASV HQ, GHY, NFR
  28. VINOD KHODANKAR, SrSO(A) NGP, CR

The following Resolutions were passed:

  1. This Meeting urges the Hon’ble Minister of Railways and CEO, Railways to stop merging some of the sections of Accounts department with Personnel branch as this move will hamper the independence of Accounts functions and will disturb the parity with other Accounts and Audit departments of Central Government as Railway Accounts is part of Organised Audit and Accounts departments of Central Government, as established by all the Pay Commissions, till date.
  2. This Meeting appeals to the Hon’ble Minister of Railways to implement the Apex court’s verdict allowing payment of Vth CPC arrears of Pay from 01.01.1996 to 18.02.2003 to all eligible Accounts employees.
  3. As large number of App. IIA passed Accounts clerks are waiting for promotion to JAA Cadre, Railway Board will be addressed for restructuring the present ratio of 20 : 80 as 10 : 90 and to clear all waiting lists by promoting them against DR quota vacancies.
  4. Following up of the demand for allotment of the GP-4200 to JAAs, on par with ASMs.
  5. This Meeting reiterates the long pending demand of grant of the next higher level of Pay, available for ACCOUNTS CLERKS.
  6. The meeting decided to appeal for Fixation of minimum pay on promotion equivalent to the pay structure given to Direct Recruits by the 6th CPC.
  7. It was resolved to give more thrust to the long pending demand of increasing the percentage of Sr. AAs from 1% to 15% on par with Audit and other Accounts.
  8. The meeting condemned the unreasonable delay in implementation of 7th CPC recommendation of grant of GP-5400 on completion four years in 4800/- to Railway Accounts and urged immediate implementation.
  9. The Staff in level-2 should be promoted to Level-3, as Accounts Clerks on seniority basis.
  10. The II financial upgradation under MACP should be extended to all CG II promotees, treating their promotion as JAA on passing Appendix IIA examination as Direct Recruitment.
  11. This Meeting requests Hon’ble Minister for Railways to extend Group ‘B’ Status to all Sr.SO(A)s/Sr. TIAs/ SrISAs and abolish 70% and 30% selection to the post of AFA as recommended by Parliamentary Petition Committee in 2011.
  12. This Meeting reiterates the demand to implement the modified ACP duly allowing the next Grade Pay, as per the next hierarchy in the Accounts department.
  13. This meeting demands the restoration of grant of three Additional Increments to ASVs for passing App. IV Exam and increase the percentage of SrASVs as 80%.
  14. This request the restoration of Qualification increments, in lieu of Qualification Allowance, for passing App.IIA & IIIA Examinations, ICWAI, MBA (Finance) duly including it as ‘PAY’ for all purposes.
  15. The Meeting decided to persist with demand for change of designations of Accounts cadre on par with other Organised Audit and Accounts departments pending for the last 15 years.
  16. It was also decided to request the Railway Board to organise online Training Sessions on subjects like GST etc., repeatedly, for the benefit of staff dealing with the same.

The newly elected General Secretary addressed the Meeting and said that he has taken over the reins of the organisation at a crucial juncture. He told the august gathering of members and other office bearers that all the pending demands of the cadre would be raised at the appropriate levels and fruitful results could be expected only with the guidance and active cooperation of one and all.

The online BGM was concluded with a vote of thanks by Ashok Dwivedi, Secretary, Finance. On 14.12.2020, a meeting of the new Central Office bearers and other CWC members was also conducted, virtually in the online platform “zoom meeting”. C. M. Chengappa, newly elected President presided over the Meeting and deliberated on the actions to be taken immediately.

“In the scenario of above BGM, there is no purpose of another BGM of AIRASA which is scheduled in Waltair (Visakhapatnam) on 4th & 5th February, 2021”, said office bearers of the Association.