6CPC - Every pensioner has a complaint

6CPC - Every pensioner complains ...
Here are a few points (personal view) on the 6CPC implementation of Retirement/ Pensionary benefits. I invite your comments.

1. Revised Pension - Anomalies
Unlike earlier Pay Commissions, the 6CPC has introduced the concept of ‘Pay Band’ and ‘Grade Pay’. By this, a group of scales are bunched and a common pay scale is introduced. ‘Grade Pay’ differentiates the various categories in the PayBand.
Pension is computed and paid to a retiree on the basis of his average pay of the last 10 months. On revision of pay by 6CPC, an earlier pensioner (pre 2006) is given a pension (not less than) 50% of the pay at the lowest level of the revised pay scale. Thus the pension of a person with many (even more than10-15 ) years of experience also is equated to that of a new entrant by this process.
Pension is the right of a Govt employee, by virtue of his service. Irrational reduction by any law is discriminatory. It would be a basic justice, that the pension may be computed on the basis of the last drawn salary equated to the new scale as is done for fixing the pay of a current employee. This would be a justice as his service period will get duly accounted for the pension amount.
A close look at any specific case would reveal that the difference in pension for a retiree on 31-12-2005 and that on 1-1-2006 (just over a day) is as high as 20%. The discrepancies in the revised pension needs to be resolved. This injustice would demand a relook and appropriate normalization.

2. Pension fixation - Anomalies

The Pay Band principle brings in many anomalies of pension fixation. “ 50% of the pay at the minimum of the scale in the PayBand” brings in a lot of injustice and anomalies too. By the order of the pension cell, the pension has been reduced in many cases (by even 20 %), which is a blatant violation of equity. Hence the order of the pension cell should be modified to derive the intended benefit to the pensioner.

3. Gratuity.
Gratuity is a one time payment given to a retiring employee, intended to help him build a retired life. The amount of this payment has been fixed, on various considerations, by the Government (and Pay Commissions). The absolute value of this payment has not been protected against inflation or any other rising indexes over time. Thus a person retiring in 1996 gets a Gratuity of Rs.3.5 Lakhs, and the same level is retained to those retiring even on 31-12-2005. At the same time, it is evident that the salaries in 2005 is over two times that in 1996, and the cost of living and price indexes have increased multifold. Government did not revise this progressively over the years, to accommodate this variation in pay and burdens. This results in an unjustified disparity among the employees retiring over the years. Justice would certainly be that the gratuity be calculated on the basis of the real value ie. by accounting for the cost of living and other rising economic indexes, and thereby adjusting the value of 3.5 Lakhs.
6CPC has raised the Gratuity to Rs. 10.0 Lakhs, but only to those retiring after 1 Jan 2006. This also is clearly a denial of justice to the pre-2006 retirees. A workable solution would be to use a tapering formula to compute the amount of Gratuity. ie. Tapering from Rs.3.5 L in 1996 to 10.0 L in 2006. The heavy losses, thus born by the pre-2006 retirees, should be normalized, by paying the difference on a tapering formula. That would assist the pre-2006 retirees to build their peaceful retired life.

4. House Rent Allowance.
The drastic increase in house rent, across the country, has made it impossible to hire a modest living place even in relatively less costly places. The 6CPC has recommended a decent higher rent on the revised scale to all employees across all places in the country. Pensioners have been thrown to great hardships due to increased rent on one hand and increasing medical care costs on the other. The DA increases from time to time, however, does not match or suffice the high rising rent and medical burden. Hence, it would be but justice, that house rent relief should be provided to pensioners also.

5. Commutation of Revised Pension.
Commutation of pension (with a max of 40% of basic pension) is an opportunity offered to the retirees to get a bulk of money on retirement. This helps him to invest for setting up his retired life, or invest in an opportunity that would get him better returns for maintenance of his life. A pre-2006 retiree, who had commuted his (pre-revised) pension, got a small amount of money. Whereas, a post-2005 retiree, on his revised higher pension, would be getting a higher (handsome) amount. The pre-2006 pensioners are deprived of this opportunity. It would be a great help, if the pre-2006 pensioners are allowed to commute on his revised pension now. The bulk amount (though small) would still help him invest in better opportunities, or meeting important family needs. It is requested that the pre-2006 retirees are offered this facility to commute 40% on his revised pension (less amount commuted earlier).