ONGC PRBS - EXTENSION OF RELIEF TO ELDERS - BY BADRINATH VASANDI

ONGC PRBS - Extenson of relief to elders
By Badrinath Vasandi

It is obligatory on the part of an Organization to look after the welfare of its regular as well as retired employees. Due to the globalization and liberalization policy of Govt. the interest rates on the Savings Scheme started sliding down fast from 1997 onwards from almost 14% to around 4.1% . This was totally unforeseen and unimaginable and came as a brute shock bringing down the interest income being the only source to almost less than 40% and also eroding the principal deposit amount driving them to penury coupled with steep rise in cost of living consisting of grocery, cooking gas, electricity,, petrol, diesel, transportation, house rentals etc. etc.



In view of the above, situation has become more grave for the ex-employees of ONGC, Maharatna. as just with the sliding of interest rates and sleep rise in the cost of living and high inflation year after year, ONGC effected substantial reduction to the extent of 50% to 60% PRBS w.e.f 1996 by converting the originally "Pension Based Scheme" to "Corpus Based Scheme. On the contrary, in the changed scenario other departments have brought very positive and healthy changes in their such welfare schemes....even in case of FPF/FPS. Perhaps, this horrified situation could not be visualized while effecting the change in rules under administrative and viability constraints whatsoever.It is the high time that ONGC must bring changes in the scheme expressly to extend some relief to the elders at the fall of their life.