Resolution adopted at the National Executive

Resolution adopted at the National Executive

meeting of the Confederation.



This meeting of the National Executive of the Confederation of Central Government employees and workers held at New Delhi on 2nd April, 2009 drew satisfaction from the response of the Central Government employees to the appeal made by it on 24th March, 2004 to mount vigorous campaign amongst the mass of the employees to take a decisive stand against the then Government at the general election in 2004. With the sustained efforts and endeavour of the entire working class in the country a combination of those political parties who are opposed to fundamentalist and communal forces could be brought to power after the general elections in 2004 in the country. Such a combination of the political parties thus took over the reins of the country with the support extended by the left parties from outside on the clear understanding that the cardinal principle of governance would be what was agreed upon by all concerned as the National Common Minimum programme.



The present Govt. at the beginning kindled the hope and aspiration of the common multitude of the country especially the working class. However once in power the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister unmindful of the strident opposition of the organized movement of the working class and disregarding the views of the Left Parties pursued the same discredited neo-liberal economic policies. The sponsoring committee of Trade Union organizations had to perforce tread the path of struggle and organize strike actions in 2006, 2007 and 2008 to compel the Government to reverse its economic policies of liberalization and globalization. The ban on recruitment which was imposed by the NDA Govt. in 2001 through an executive fiat was not only not withdrawn but continued; many Government departments were wound up; public enterprises were privatized; FDI was allowed in many sectors including the sensitive and strategic ones; initiated policy shifts making higher and professional education beyond the reach of the common man; service tax net was widened to cover many areas of concern to common man; various concessions and exemptions from taxation were provided to the rich and corporate bodies; subsidies were withdrawn driving peasants to penury; the only tax deduction available for the salaried employees i.e the standard deduction under section 16 of the I.T.Act was withdrawn; capital gains tax on stock transactions was abolished to give impetus to speculative business at terrible cost to exchequer; allowed future trading on consumable food articles which became the primary cause for the escalation of prices of all essential commodities like rice, wheat, dhal, edible oil vegetable, sugar etc.; allowed the monopoly houses to enter the retail trade rendering thousands jobless; indulged in massive downsizing and outsourcing of the Governmental functions; raised the administrative price of petroleum products; proposed full capital convertibility of rupee; created innumerable special economic zones granting power to hire and fire to the entrepreneurs; persisted with the financial sector reforms unmindful of the global economic recession; introduced bill to withdraw the labour welfare enactments; did everything to integrate Indian economy to the vagaries and dangers of globalization; weakened and almost wound up the public distribution system; all this done in contravention of the agreed National Common Minimum programme.



At the instance of the proponents of the free market economy and with a view to boost the stock market operations the Government decided to privatize the pension funds and do away with the age old statutory defined benefit pension scheme of the Government employees by introduction of the PFRDA bill in the Parliament. Almost all the State Governments barring Bengal, Tripura and Kerala followed this dictum and introduced the new contributory pension scheme. Despite the stiff opposition of the Central and State Government employees manifested unambiguously by a magnificent strike action on 30th October, 2007 jointly organized by the Confederation and the All India State Government employees Federation, the Government persisted with the PFRDA bill which however could not obtain the Parliamentary sanction due to the principled and consistent opposition of the Left parties. Still the Government put into operation the new contributory pension scheme in fact illegally and unethically through executive instructions. At the fag end of its tenure it decided to divert the pension funds to stock market to boost up the falling sensex.

No different was its attitude towards the employees in the matter of implementation of the 6th CPC report. The report itself was to perpetuate the wage differential between the top echelons of the bureaucracy and the employees. The Government's decision was to accentuate this ill advised recommendation further as it chose to accept the suggestion of the Committee of Secretaries to further increase the Grade pay of all Group A officers and reject the demand of the employees for a fitment formula to provide a minimum benefit of 40% rise in emoluments to all employees. It refused to grant the minimum wage as per the 15th ILC norms and refused to negotiate the recommendations of the 6th CPC with the employees' representatives. It also decided to do away with 9 lakhs Group D posts and outsource all Group D functions to private contractors. On the question of wage revision of 3.5 lakhs Grameen Dak Sewaks, the Government took initially an extremely nugatory attitude by not setting up a judicial committee for their wage revision and later by not revising their wages. Same was the attitude of this Government towards the temporary and casual workers. While the regular employees were given the benefit of wage revision, the casual and daily rated workers were denied. Even after issuing orders for the grant of Child care leave for women employees as per the recommendation of the 6th CPC, the Govt. later issued a clarificatory order virtually denying this benefit. In the case of pre-1996 pensioners the benefit of fixation on notional pay basis was denied. Even in the face of the impact of the world economic recession, it refused to lift the ban on recruitment, fill up the large number of existing vacancies or take steps to generate employment as demanded unanimously by the entire trade union movement in the country in the recently concluded Indian Labour Conference

During the five year tenure, it discarded India's independent foreign policy and moved away from the time tested non-aligned movement. It compromised the country's independent nuclear technology development programme by entering into a controversial agreement which became the subject matter of severe criticism from various quarters. While this had been the track record of the present Government, the major constituent of the opposition had been indulging throughout this period to foment social disharmony, to spread hatred and to fracture the secular social fabric providing impetus to the growth of terrorism.

In this background the National Executive appeals all affiliates and COCs to campaign amongst the mass of the employees and the people of the country to vote for those candidates who support the cause of the working class in general and Government employees in particular. The meeting calls upon all concerned to organize state/district level conventions and mass meeting in front of all offices to organize the employees for this purpose.

Sd/-

S.K.Vyas

President.

Confederation of Central Govt. Employees and workers.

Posted by Confederation Of Central