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 IBA  must  negotiate with the retired bankers' bodies for pensionary benefits at the time of Bipartite Settlements

 

by

 

M.K.Ramachandran  [ ramachandramenon@gmail.com ]

 

Dear Sir,

First of all I want to thank you for taking up the cause of the retired bank employees and publicising their grievances. At least your website recognizes our problems and allows us to publish letters so others may respond. People have been retiring from time to time and their problems vary. Every time the IBA concludes a wage settlement with the employees organisations, the negotiating unions and the IBA conveniently forgot about the retired employees/officers in the society and the necessity to make provision for the increase in the pension benefits of these retired employees/officers. Every time a new wage settlement is signed the retirees observed that their cause has been completely overlooked and they have been totally forgotten.

 

But that is not the case with the central govt. employees. In every wage revision a separate provision is made for the revision of the pension. Same is the case of defense personnel, employees of the govt. corporations, employees/officers of various state govts, amd their corporations. The pension of employees of every category stands revised substantially. In banks the disparity in pension disbursement is so severe that a scale III or Scale IV officer retired about 15 years back draws less pension than a clerk retiring now.

 

As people grow old, their children get separated and the old couple are in most of the cases left to fend for themselves. Almost all of the old people are not of good health. They are infested with all sorts of ailments. In the old age they may not get insurance benefits also. Medical expenses is the major items of expenditure for the old people. In most of the cases help from their children may not be available. Some banks pay the medical bill of their retired employees. But most of the banks do not pay anything to meet the medical expenses of their retired employees.

 

As the time pass by the population of the senior citizen is increasing and taking care of them is the responsibility of the society. If the retired employees of the central govt. are better off than their counter parts in the banks, it is a blatant denial of natural justice. We have been working in a public sector bank and for all practical purposes we were like govt. servants. But on retirement we are treated worse than private servants.
 

 

We were all members of the unions/associations and these unions and associations negotiated with IBA for settling wages and other benefits of the employees. We ceased to be members of these unions and associations when we retired from the service of the banks. But IBA negotiated with these unions while fixing the pensionary benefits of the employees and officers. These unions and associations had no locus standi to discuss with IBA and finalize the pension benefits of the bank employees and officers. IBA should initiate discussion with the representatives of associations and unions of the retired employees and finalize afresh about the benefits to be given to those retired bank employees and officers. This is most urgent and immediate attention of the IBA should be devoted to this aspect.