DISPARITY IN ONGC POST RETIREMENT BENEFIT SCHEME

I, while heartily congratulating the Chairman-cum-Managing Director of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) for conferring the status of MAHARATNA upon ONGC by the Nation, appreciates his calibre, ability, integrity and professional competence, express confidence that the great justice would be done to elderly - senior citizens in the matter of pension under its Post Retirement Benefit Scheme as no one is satisfied. Rather, the ex-ONGCians who served the Organisation for decades under hazardous and ordous hostile environ till their super-annuation and brought it at this level, feel cheated.

In this connection it is submitted for due consideration of ONGC management:

a. that entire class of Pre-31st April, 2007, pensioners have undergone a substantial loss because of modification in the Scheme made effective w.e.f. 1st April 2007 in the name of so-called New Pension Scheme . (In effect, the New Pension Scheme (NPA) is of the of the Government which has also exended to PSUs/Public Enterprises to whom Pension Fund Development Regularity Authority (PFDRA) has duly issued instructions. NALCO is the first to implement the same and BHEL, NTC, DVC etc. next in line. SBI has assured to complete the 100 membership for NPA ny 1st April, 2010. This has no relation with PRBS of ONGC and this to be implemente by ONGC in addition to existing (PRBS).

2. The said modified PRBS Scheme has given rise to paradoxiallllll situation where a post-1st April, 2007, retiring from lower post/grade will draw higher pension than pre-1st April, 2007 pensioner retired from the higher post in the immediate past. This unfortunate class is already sufferer because of switching over the PRBS from initial pension based to corpus based.

3.that any cut-off date for extension of Agrani Samman, pensionionery benefits under PRBS etc to all retirees has no rational or ordered in case ofall simarly situate. In one of its important orders dated 25-7-07, Hon'ble High Court f Madras strike down the "cut-off" date 1.11.97 and held all retired emloyees irrespective of their dates of retirement are eligible for pension (Pettition N Easwaran and N Natrajan)

4. that our Hon'ble Sureme Court has catogorically stated in several cases that pension is neither bounty nor a matter of grace depending upon the sweet will of the employer but is a payment of past service rendered, leave aside the PRBS which is contributory.

5. that difference in prvision of identical cases separated by a line pre and post provision gives rise to a class within a lass in disregard of Article 14 of the Constitution of India. Thus, question was conclussively settled by a Cnstitution Bench of Supreme Court of India in the case of D.S. Nakara (1983) where in no uncertain terms thrughout its judgement it was observed that the date of retirement of an employee cannot form all valid criterion for classification based on cut-off date has been held to be contray and unprinciplled which does not stand the test of Artcle 14 of the Constitution of India.

6. In view above I crave the active indulgence of ONGC's CMD in restoring justice to a large number of not only Pre-1at April 07 pensioners who are made to suffer because of modified parity, but also to go for a well-considered viable PRBS Scheme keeping in view the following broad factors:

a. that a link be stored between the MINIMUM of the pension and MINIMUM of the scale of the post from which one retired and in this regard the recommendation of 6th Pay Commission as initially accepted by the Govt be referred to.

b. in the matter of pension under PRBS, principle 'ONE RANK ONE PENSION" be adopted.

c. Dearness Relief (DR) is paid to be pensioners/family pensioners to compensate them for the rise in cost of living. Thus, whether it is Agrani Samman, PRBS, Pension or Ex-gratia, provision of Dearness Relief is must.

d. Ex-gratia/Pension Schemes are already in operation in SBI, other Banks and various Public Sectors etc. and the same have rather been improve susequent to the 6th Pay Commission's recommendation and bi-partite settlements. Need is to chose the best one as a model scheme for ONGC which is Number-One Company of the country.

e. Study be got conducted through some professional agency of repute under a time bound programme.

________________________________________________________________________

Definition of Pension : Post retirement benefit that an employee might receive from some employer.

A pension is essentially a compensation received by the employee after he/she retires.