ALL
INDIA RAILWAYMEN'S FEDERATION
(Estd,
1924)
4,State
Entry Road,
New
Delhi - 110055
INDIA
No.AIRF/405(VII
CPC)
Dated: May 28,
2014
Justice Shri Ashok
Kumar Mathur,
Chairman,
Seventh Central Pay
Commission,
New Delhi
Dear Sir
Sub: Preliminary
submission to the VII CPC
I, on behalf of 13
lakh Railwaymen, welcome you and the Members of the VII CPC, would like to
submit the following as a preliminary step towards our approach and
expectations from the VII CPC.
All India Railwaymen’s
Federation(AIRF) was established in the year 1924, and the leadership of this
federation was heralded by the eminent personalities like Shri V.V. Giri, who
was one of the founder members of the AIRF and was the General Secretary of the
AIRF for long 10 years from 1927-37. Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Narayan was the
President of this federation from 1947-57. Last President of the AIRF was Shri
Umraomal Purohit, from 1980 to till his death in February 2014. He was also
Secretary, Staff Side, National Council(JCM) since 1977.
All India
Railwaymen’s Federation(AIRF) participated in the Independent struggle. It also
saved Railway Industry from economic depression of 1930 and faced other
challenging tasks at different times.
Railwaymen are the
second line of defence, and during 1962 Chinese aggression, 1965 Pakistan War
and 1999 Kargil War etc., Railwaymen stood firm in the duty post and carried
out army and the necessary equipments to war front.
During natural
calamities, like floods, earthquake etc., the Railwaymen transport necessary
helps to the victims, and in far-flung areas in the country for conducting
smooth elections. The Railwaymen run thousands of Special Trains, and during
the 16th Lok Sabha elections, Indian Railways run 5,000 Special Trains in
addition to split coaches for ferrying security personnel and election
materials.
The Railways is a
common man’s transport, cheaper than other modes of transport as also
eco-friendly. The Indian Railways is the symbol of national integrity.
EXTENSION AND
IMPROVEMENT IN RAILWAY SERVICES
The Railways generate
resources, internally also to a substantial quantity. The Railways is having 16
Railway Zones, 06 Production Units and Metro Rail, Kolkata(a new Railway
Zone).
INDIAN RAILWAYS
Comparative Statement
of improvement in productivity of the Railwaymen is as under:-
|
2005-6
|
2012-13
|
Variation
|
|
Net Ton Kilometer (Million)
|
441762
|
641849
|
+ 45.29
|
|
Passenger Kilometer (Million)
|
615634
|
1098103
|
+ 78.37
|
|
Staff Strength (In Thousands)
|
1412.4
|
1287.3
|
(-) 8.86%
|
Traffic Unit for 1000 employees*, which is an
indicator of improvement is as follows:-
|
2000-2001
|
2011-12
|
|
535
|
1408
|
*Traffic Unit
represents Passenger Kilometer and NTKM
Indian Railways
working is of belt system. It is not an individual’s performance, but
collective efforts of all sections of the Railwaymen, which represents
improvement in the performance.
SAFETY
Safety gets paramount
importance in the working of the Indian Railways. Unfortunately, new trains are
being introduced as per the
demands, but without increasing line capacity, rolling stock and manpower.
Rather manpower is decreasing violating the provision of the Hours of
Employment. A committee in respect of Working Hours etc. of the Railwaymen was
appointed by the Ministry of Railways, which had submitted its report to the
Railway Board in August 2013, but unfortunately, no decision has yet been taken
on the report of the said committee despite repeated representations. National
average for training is 2% of the total expenditure, but the Railways spent
only 0.50%.
Railwaymen are the
Industrial Workers and govern under the Industrial Disputes Act and Hours of
Employment & Regulations, framed under the Railway Act and Factory
Act.
There are more than
7,000 railway stations, of them over 6,000 are road side stations. Large-number
of stations are in the forest and terrorist infested areas. Staff working at
the roadside stations are bereft of housing, potable water, sanitation, medical
aid, and children education is a far cry.
Railwaymen work round
the clock, and they have to remain vigilant all the 24 hours in 365 days. A
committee was appointed on the Safety of the Railways under the chairmanship of
Dr. Anil Kakodkar. Para 2.3 of the said report is cited below:-
|
Killed
|
Injured
|
|
Railwaymen
|
1,600
|
8,700
|
|
Passenger/Public
|
1,019
|
2,118
|
|
(Unmanned Level Crossing)
|
723
|
690
|
WAGES, DEARNESS
ALLOWANCE AND OTHER ALLOWANCES
The wages of the
Railwaymen are low in comparison to the workers of the PSUs. This has been
constantly agitating the minds of the Railwaymen.
1st to 7th CPC
appointed only after the series of agitations, submission of Charter of Demands
or after the Strike Notice.
AIRF had to launch
country-wide strike against anti-labour report of the 2nd CPC in the year 1960
and against the report of the 3rd CPC(20-day long 1974 strike).
LIVING WAGE was
propagated by the 1st CPC as back as 1946-47. It has been embodied in the
Article 43 of the Constitution of our country, wherein directive principles
have been enshrined. Unfortunately, the same is yet to be achieved after 66
years of the Independence and 62 years of adoption of the Constitution.
The 4th CPC in para
7.32 of its report at page 85 had recommended periodical revision/review of
wages through bilateral negotiations.
Railwaymen need
separate consideration in respect of wages, allowance and other benefits. This
matter was agitated before the
VI CPC also, and the VI CPC in para 7.36.100 of its report had observed as
follows:-
“Various Railway
Federations have demanded a special dispensation for Railway employees keeping
in view the profitability of their organization. The demand is not without
substance especially as employees have to be rewarded for efficient performance
of the entire organization that has yielded continuous profits without
resorting to any substantial increase in the passenger/freight fares in the
recent years. A separate dispensation in terms of pay scales and allowances is
not, however, possible, as long as the organization continues to be a Ministry
in the Central Government because it will then need to be governed by the
common pay scales and allowances for the entire Central Government. In such a
scenario, the optimal solution would be corporatization of Indian Railways as a
Public Sector Enterprise. This would allow the Railways flexibility in
determining its own compensation package”.
The Staff Side,
National Council(JCM) Standing Committee, had a discussion with the Government
on Terms of Reference of the VII CPC on 24.10.2013 and requested to have
another round of discussions in the matter, but unfortunately the government
issued the said ToR unilaterally, which was protested by the Staff Side,
NC/JCM. A meeting of the Standing Committee of NC/JCM was also held on
07.05.2014, wherein the issue of Interim Relief and merger of Dearness
Allowance were again raised.
It may be mentioned
here that, Interim Relief was recommended by the 3rd CPC, and the 4th CPC had
recommended two Interim Relief. Before appointment of the V CPC,
discussions were held on different dates in September 1993 with the Cabinet
Secretary, when an Interim Relief of Rs.100 p.m. to Group `C’
and `D’ employees was sanctioned prior to appointment of V CPC and subsequently
V CPC had recommended two Interim Relief. Interim Relief requires to bridge the
gap of erosion in the real wage during interregnum period.
MERGER
OF DEARNESS ALLOWANCE
25% Dearness
Allowance was merged in the Pay after series of negotiation with the Cabinet
Secretary in September 1993.
The V CPC in its
report had also recommended merger of Dearness Allowance when it crosses 50%,
and the same was done.
It is necessary to
point out here that the inflation trend prevailing during 01.01.1996 to
31.12.2005 and from 01.01.2006 to 01.01.2004 inflation was 74%, whereas from
01.01.2006 to 01.01.2011, it was 51%, and further raised to 100% on
01.01.2014.
Yours faithfully,
Sd/-
(Shiva Gopal
Mishra)
General Secretary
Source: AIRF
