Orissa Matters

AICGPA :A PLATFORM TO RESOLVE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT PENSIONERS’ GRIEVANCES

By Sangram Keshari Nayak, General Secretary, AICGPA

(The All India Central Government Pensioners Association (AICGPA), Odisha has completed 26 years of its service to the pensioners. The author of this article being a former Pricnipal Scientist & HOD, Central Rice Research Institute, Cuttack, has tremendus administrative experience via-a-vis the issues that often affect retired employees. This article is meant to share his concern with our visitors who belong specifically to this sector. Editor)

AICGPA was founded in the year 1984. It was duly registered under the Registration of Societies Act vide No. 4454-124/1986-97. Humbly yet initially it started to function at the residence of Sri Bhramarbar Mohanti after his retirement as Additional Chief Post Master General from Indian Postal Service. Sri Mohanty, the Founder President with only a handful of like minded friends started a self styled consecrated office at his residence, 355, Ganga Mandir, Cuttack. The Association with a band of dedicated Members never leave a stone unturned to resolve heterogonous array of problems afflicting central government pensioners in terms of availing justice such as a) delay in settlement of entitled pension and related ancillary benefits, b) expediting family pension in the event of death of the pensioner or even extending the facility to eligible children, c) grant of compensation to Members sustaining injury on duty (IOD) leading to incapacity, d) timely disbursement of Fixed Medical Allowance and DA as and when updated by the Ministry, e) appraisal of updated pension rules, pension schemes and ensuring time frame relief, f) catalyzing the determination of pension and providing logistics to avail preference of benefits, g) holistic welfare activities and also associated activities related to entertainment, cultural functions, health camps, periodical gesture to orphanages, support to poor and handicapped patients, rendering relief to victims of natural calamities etc. Thus, the Association is committed to more or less provide a turn key solution in a single window system.

The Association has more than 2000 enrolled Life Members besides 500 or more Members from its Branch network. It works in coordination with its supporting branches at Chadeidhara, Raghunathpur, Govindpur, Khurda, Jagatsinghpur and Cuttack Sadar. It musters solidarity to develop more number of Branches in remote areas (recently Bairi) to provide a better linkage to vulnerable pensioners. The Association is accredited for its agility in resolving various grievances with amicable negotiation with competent authorities. The Association is affiliated to National level forums and associations not only to append leverage to their genuine demands but also to appraise the conscientious forums to enable prioritize items of importance.

The AICGPA office is located at the Kanika Square (behind Akshya Mohanty Park) which is provided by the Cuttack Municipal Corporation, Cuttack on a token lease basis. Besides regular day to day activities, it conducts Executive Body Meeting on every 2nd Sunday to scrutinize, analyze and meticulously formulate course of action. Different Branches under its recognition and affiliation also organize monthly meetings which are conveniently scheduled to facilitate the regular visit of our Organizing Secretary besides periodical visits by Senior Office Bearers to sensitize its members on various relevant issues and try to focus their demands on priority basis. The proceedings and achievements are comprehensively consolidated and gets published in its much acclaimed quarterly bulletin known as ‘Pension Samachar’ which is circulated to its Members, Ministry and other Associations for better exchange of ideas and interaction. The Association observes Independence Day, Republic Day, Pensioners’ Day etc which are invariably punctuated with benevolent social activities like supporting study materials to poor students, visits to orphanages to spend some emotional moments with inmates and share lunch as well as games while imparting many of our cultural and traditional values for inculcation. It organizes Health Camps and tries to sponsor such camps in collaboration. Not to forget, at times it organizes picnics at selected spots to enjoy nature, fun and possibly rejuvenate fresh enthusiasm to dedicate more rigorously for the cause and concern of Senior Citizens.

We are a privileged body recognized by the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensioners under which the Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare functions dynamically to resolve problems of pensioners at large besides generating formulation of befitting rules for better governance. There are more than 150 Associations in the country out of which 28 Associations are recognized by the Ministry for logistic and financial grants to function effectively. The special body is known as ‘Pensioners Portal’ under centralized National e_Governance Programme (NeGP).

Our Association is one of the privileged grantee by the Ministry, Government of India to implement web based Mission Mode Pensioners Portal under National e_Governance Plan to coordinate multifaceted activities like formulating pension and retirement related policies, extensively circulate information and above every thing else it has developed online mechanisms to register grievances for timely and effective redressal. The member Associations are advised on the modalities to handle various grievances and have access to register varieties of pension related or non related issues through a single window CPENGRAMS (Centralized Web-enabled Pension Grievance Redress and Monitoring System) an online web-enabled system, now designated as CPGRAMS . This has convincingly bridged the gap between stakeholders and the Government not only in giving relief to aggrieved pensioners but also making them aware of their rights and responsibilities as well as obligations. It is an integrated application system, based on web technology which registers grievances from anywhere and any time (24×7) basis. Besides, it is an efficient communication system between the nodal Pension Grievance Officers of Government Organizations and pensioners that facilitates speedy redressal of grievances.

We, by default have the access to represent to Standing Committee Of Voluntary Agencies (SCOVA) 1986 as per the recommendations of Parliamentary Consultative Committee. It provides valuable feedback to the Government for effective implementation of the programmes and gives direction for the future course of action. Our sister concern at Bhubaneswar is a sitting Member with voting right that gives us confidence to strengthen our healthy tradition of constructive endeavour.

The Association regularly represents in Pension Adalats of various Departments like Railways, Postal etc. This ADALAT system is of recent concept. The ADALAT hears to our submissions with patience and tries to ameliorate and redress the grievances expeditiously. In fact, we are very much impressed with the functioning of ADALATs. Recently, the Ministry has released guidelines for its further aggressive procedural improvements for better interfacing with Associations like us as well as various NGOs and others.

The Association observed its 13th Biennial Conference (21st February 2012) to mark completion of 26 years of its glorious functioning with documented many milestone achievements. We at the holy sanctuary of the pensioners at AICGPA promise to sustain our relentless and unstinted service to the Members and also to Non Members indiscriminately to restore smile and faith amongst our pensioners’ fraternity.

(the author is reachable digitally at: icgpa_orissa@rediffmail.com and physically at 1245, 1st Floor, Shri Hanumanji Lane, Mahandi Vihar, Cuttack, with office behind Akshya Mohanty Park, Kanika Square, Cuttack 8. He can be contacted over phone: 9437311135)

FITNESS MART TO CREATE HEALTH AWARENESS IN BHUBANESESWAR

A physical fitness equipment outlet styled ‘Fitness Mart’ was inaugurated on march 23 in Acharya Vihar, Bhubaneswar by senior journalist Prasanta Patnaik in presence of professional colleague Premananda Dash. The unit is promoted by two young Oriya entrepreneurs Bhramarbar Malla and Saroj Kumar Sahu.

With shrinking of public parks and open spaces, as density of population grow phenomenally in the city, gyms are increasingly emerging as labs of fitness, for which equipments are essential, said Sri Patnaik.

Health clubs and gymnasiums are best when run on community initiatives; yet, individuals to whom membership therein is not alluring for any reason, can develop personal gyms in their respective homes with the equipments that the Mart can supply, he said.

He, however cautioned that it should always be proper for individuals to take physician advice as to which short of exercise and equipment should best suit them and stressed on health awareness.

Both Malla and Sahu informed that the the outlet would supply the equipments at the door steps of the consumers with all technical support.

BSE Malpractice Designed to Handover HSC Exam to Mafia: AIDSO

Orissa Government is deliberately mismanaging High School Examinations to handover to the avaricious mafia the entire staewide gateway to higher education, alleges the Orissa State Council of All India Democratic Students’ Organisation.

The Board of Secondary Education has become a citadel of corruption in questionpaper setting, printing and leaking. From Crime Branch investigations to commissions of inquiry have acted eyewashes when the Board has remained incorrigible. Theft of questionpapers and manipulations in examination marks by Board officials to help children of powerful persons has remained its trademark, despite a minister in its charge, Bishnu Das, having quited cabinet on eviction a couple of years ago on exposure of this syndrome. The Board had executed all the despicable methods to help the son of the minister bag higher marks.

This year, theft of questionpapers was so deliberate and devastating and so widespread that the entire HSC Examination has been ruined, shrouding total uncerainty on the student community in pursuing higher education as this examination is the basic milestone one is bound to cross to proceed ahead.

Thousands of students have demonstrated today under the banner of AIDSO in front of the Orissa Assembly against this crime perpetrated on them by the State, that has deliberately stayed nonchallant on offenses of the Board. The state has pushed at least five lakh students to debacle by cancelling the examination after exposure of the theft and machanically shifting the exams to undecided future.

The AIDSO is emphatic in its suspicion that examination fund being of hundreds of lakhs of rupees, operators of private capital have been using the State Government to defame the examination system by repeated theft of questionpapers as the administration is busy in paving the way for the avaricious mafia to take over the Board, starting from examination management. This evil design must be thwarted, the organisattion has underlined in a statement issued after the demonstration.

It has demanded that the entire cost of examination shifted to the unscheduled future for no fault of the students community be borne by the government.

It has demanded stern penal action against the culprits including every person in control of the Board and its examinations.

It has demanded infrastructural development in Schools, specifically the High Schools to create strong academic environment that may diminish dependance of dull children of well-to-do persons on advance knowledge on questions and act a deterant to questionpaper theft.

It has demanded discarding of fee enhancement in the guise of improvement in exam system.

A delegate from the demonstration spot has handed over a charter of demands including these demands to the Minister of Mass Education and to the Chief Minister.

The organisation’s Sate unit President Akhsaya Das, Vice-Presidents Subas Nayak and Ganesh Tripathy and Secretary Shivashish Praharaj led the demonstration.

Swain Returns to Assembly // NOW THE QUESTION IS: WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO THE PERIOD UNDER NULLIFICATION?

Subhas Chandra Pattanayak

Ranendra Pratap Swain, victim of BJD’s internecine leg-pulling in 2009 elections to Orissa Assembly won the re-election at Athgarh, which he could have also won at that time had his party not sabotaged him, using the Returning Officer in illegal rejection of his nomination papers.

BJD had spent, according to a source in that party, about a crore of Rupees against Swain in litigations up to the Supreme Court by engaging, off the records, costliest lawyers of the country in defense of Swain’s rival, Ramesh Raut.

Raut was working like a pageboy in BJD office before being clandestinely readied to file nomination papers against Swain, that had made him de facto candidate of that party after success of the scheme to keep Swain out of fray.

Where from he got the massive amount of money to defray the costliest lawyers’ charges? Possibilities are two: (1) the BJD that had coined the scheme to block Swain’s re-entry into the Assembly for reasons discussed earlier in these pages, had borne Raut’s litigation cost. (2) after being elected to the Assembly, Raut had amassed such massive amount of money that he had no difficulty in defraying the huge cost of litigation.

When there are peons and night watchmen that have become multimillionaires by exploiting the climate of corruption the Naveen Patnaik’s government has created in Orissa, it cannot be said that it was not possible for Raut to amass huge money after being a MLA in the same climate .

But which of the above two possibilities is the reality can be ascertained if official agencies detecting tax evasion are asked to investigate into Raut’s litigation cost.

Swain’s return that has exposed the foul play BJD had played at Athgarh craves investigations into the financial foul play enacted in the intervening period, which is yet kept shrouded under mystery as yet, though it smacks of secret income and tax evasion.

But as far as Orissa Assembly is concerned, the question that Swain’s return has raised is unique and urgent.

The Orissa High Court had stripped layer by layer the illegalities resorted to in rejection of Swain’s nomination papers and declared the election in Athgarh null and void. Raut had challenged the HC verdict in the Supreme Court, but failed. So, legally, election of 2009 in Athgarh was no election.

In view of this, Raut’s participation, if any, in the Assembly must stand obliterated with retrospective effect. Had the Court order does not allow Raut to have any life as a member of the Assembly as his election is declared null and void.

So, now, it is the minimum duty of the Speaker to delete from Assembly records the participation of Raut in its entirety. When he is legally not a member since the day of his election, his oath as a member of the House must also be deleted. Therefore, all the salaries and perquisites he has received as MLA must be must be calculated in terms of money and recovered from him with retrospective effect. The Assembly accounts section should immediately be asked to complete this calculation and communicate the the same to him demanding recovery thereof. If the Speaker prefers to waive such dues, he can do so maximum up to the day of the High Court order. The HC order had unseated him with retrospective effect. Had he resigned immediately, the salaries and other benefits he had drawn might have seemed justifies, as, on the strength of the election, he had participated in the Assembly businesses till that day. But by not resigning from membership and going instead to the Supreme Court, he had continue as a member subject to decision of the Supreme Court and drawn the salaries and perquisites commutable in terms of money at his own risk. So, from the day of the High Court order till the day of his termination, whatever he has received materially from the Assembly was undue receipt. The Speaker has no prerogative to waive the dues he has received unduly by pursuing the luxury of litigation in the Supreme Court.

So, besides deletion of every participation of Raut from the Assembly records, it is incumbent upon the Speaker to recover from Raut the money he has unduly drawn from the House and to declare Swain as the representative of the Assembly with retrospective effect from the 2009 elections, activating his membership only from the day of his oath taking for financial purpose.

Anything else would create wrong precedences in handling the period of nullification as the election of 2009 in Athgarh has been declared unchangeably null and void.

OGS Suspects Threat to the Life of Pipili Gang-rape Victim: Demands Immediate Arrest of Ex-Agriculture Minister and Officials Trying to Protect the Culprits; Stands with the Brother of the Victim for CBI Investigation

Subhas Chandra Pattanayak

Orissa Gana Samaj, initiated by Media Unity for Freedom of Press (MUFP) as the then Agriculture Minister hailing from Pipili had threatened media persons with dire consequences for reporting on Pipili gang-rape, has in a statement, expressed deep anguish over stage managed reports produced by the Crime Branch of Orissa Police shrewdly coined to end the case as clueless and has underlined its suspicion that there is severe threat to life of the rape victim as thereby the most material corpus delicti would be removed for the benefit of the accused persons.

The OGS has demanded that round the clock strongest possible protection be immediately given to the victim improving in coma condition and that, the demand of the brother of the victim for handing over the case to CBI be immediately accepted in order not to derail justice in the agonizing case.

The statement is in Oriya. Please click here to peruse it.