Confederation Circular Dated: 23rd June 2011

Dear Comrades,

The extract of the confederation circular published in the NFPE CHQ website regarding postal strike is reproduced hereunder for your information.

"Dear Comrade,

We write this to solicit your support and solidarity for the postal workers of the country who are preparing to go on indefinite strike action from 5th July 2011 onwards. The National Federation of Postal employees (NFPE), All India Postal Extra Departmental Employees Union (AIPEDEU), the two affiliates of the confederation has under the banner of the Joint Council of Action with the Federation of National Postal Organizations (affiliated to INTUC) and the National Union of Gramin Dak Sewak(affiliated to INTUC) have served the Strike notice on 14th June 2011 on the Postal Board. The Strike action will commence on 5th July, 2011.

The Issues

1. Some time back, the Department of Post, appointed the World (in) famous Transnational Corporation, Mckinzey Consultancy to make recommendations to it as to the manner and methodology to be adopted to restructure the century old postal system of the country. While the avowed objective was to modernize the system and make it a profit making venture, the real intent was to reorganize the department in such a manner so as to equip itself viable for privatization/corporatization. Earlier the Postal Department had made several attempts to privatize its functions and in the process large scale outsourcing was also resorted to. With the prime objective of eroding the efficacy of the Postal department, various steps were undertaken like, closure of sorting units, cutting down the staff strength despite widening business ventures, pegging down the overtime rates by linking it to pre-1986 pay scales etc. Thrice the Government made attempts to introduce legislation in the parliament to grant license to courier service providers. The stubborn resistance of the M.Ps especially of the left parties and a few others in the parliament and the struggles organized by the employees at the work spot thwarted it successfully till date. However, systematically and meticulously the Department had been creating conditions whereby the customers moved away to patronize the private courier services, run illegally without any licence whatsoever. Surprisingly even Government Departments, which are to communicate with large number of people often became customers of such illegally run private courier service providers The Mckinzey consultancy who is yet to make its final report, has however, suggested certain measures in the name of Mail Network optimization project which the postal department has now decided to implement without causing any discussions whatsoever with any of the stake holders, especially the unions. Their suggestions include:

(a) Closure/merger of about 9797 post offices in the urban area

(b) Reduce the number of Speed Post Centre from 315 to 89.

(c) Reduce the RMS sorting centres from 412 to 84

(d) To redeploy the postman staff in the newly created "Delivery hubs"

2. The major chunks of the postal workers are Gramin Dak Sewaks or Extra-departmental Agents. The EDA was the system developed by the British Government to spread the postal communication system to far flung rural areas of the country. They were simply agents or franchisees and were appointed so for pittance of a remuneration. Their cause was taken up by the unions of regular employees, the NFPE and its constituents and the FNPO, in the post-independent era and through sustained struggles fetched them very many concessions, benefits and privileges and brought them nearly on par with the regular employees. When the 5th CPC was set up in 1993, the Postal department was forced to appoint a Judicial Commission (The Talwar Commission) to go into the wage-structure and other service conditions of the Extra Departmental Agents, presently called the Gramin Dak Sewaks. The committee made far reaching recommendations, a good number of which the Government had to accept and implement, (except civil servant status and pension) thereby improving the lot of these employees considerably. However, the committee set up in the wake of the 6th CPC, the Natarajamurthy committee headed by a retired Postal bureaucrat, ensured that the EDAs were reduced to casual part time workers reversing in the process, decisions taken on the basis of Talwar Commission suggestions. Most of the committee's recommendations were in sync with the neo-liberal economic policies. The rules governing their service conditions have now been unilaterally amended whereby they may not be even termed as "employees" hereafter. The very caption of the regulatory rules which was GDS-Conduct and Employment rules have now been changed to GDS- Conduct and engagement rules, reducing them to the status of a Contract Worker.

In the negotiations which took place on 6th and 7th June, 2011 the Postal authorities have stuck to their stand of implementing the decision to create Speed Post and First Class mail hubs, despite their inability to contradict the fact presented by the staff side that the creation of such hubs has resulted in abnormal delay in the delivery of articles benefiting the private operators. It has, therefore, become unambiguously clear that without organizing sustained struggles and eliciting the support of the entire section of the working people and garnering public opinion, the reversal of the decision would not come about. The undeniable fact that Government and the Postal department armed with the recommendation of the Mckency consultancy are determined to demolish the existing postal system in the country to pave way for the unhindered entry of private operators has to be defeated.

We therefore once again request you to extend your co-operation, support and solidarity to make the proposed indefinite strike successful to compel the Government to rescind their decision to act upon McKenzie recommendations in the Postal Department.

With greetings,

Yours fraternally, K K N Kutty, Secretary General"

PS Group-B Exam Result Declared

Dear Comrades,

The Directorate has declared the result of PS Group-B Examination, 2011 held on 29.05.2011.  The following four candidates of Odisha Circle have come out successful.

11 Basanta Kumar Panda, Dy. PM, Berhampur HO, 262600054  349

13 Manoj Ku. Naik PM, Jharsuguda HO 262600063  347

14 Ratikanta Swain PM, Banki MDG 262600056  346

17 Trilochan Ray Dy. PM, Sambalpur HO 262600064  339

Koraput Divisional Branch congratulates all the successful candidates.

SEVEN TAX-EFFICIENT FINANCIAL SERVICES IN THE POST OFFICE

Dear Comrades,

This article was published in the Economic Times of India and the same has been forwarded by the CPMG,Odisha Circle to all Divisional Heads in Odisha Circle.

 

When was the last time you visited a post office branch? It's been over a decade that the e-mail replaced the written word, so there's no need to buy stamps, envelopes or inland letters. Besides, thousands of private couriers have mushroomed in the past 15-20 years, giving stiff competition to speed post & parcel. But you should because the bouquet of services offered by India Post has some very interesting and cost-effective products. ET Wealth looks at the financial services that can be availed of at a post office branch and how these compare with similar products from other organisations.

The interest your balance earns in a regular savings account with a bank is taxable. But if you open a savings account in a post office, the interest is tax-free. If you maintain an average balance of Rs 50,000 in your bank account, you would earn roughly Rs 2,000 as interest income in a year. In the highest tax bracket, the taxman will shave off 30% (or Rs 600) from this income, leaving you with only Rs 1,400. However, if it is a postal savings bank account, the interest earned is tax-free. There is, of course, a ceiling of Rs 3,500 per account on this exemption in a year. In case of joint accounts, the ceiling is higher at Rs 7,000 a year. But this is a reasonable limit because very few people would keep more than Rs 1 lakh in their savings account.

There are other benefits of opening a postal savings account. You don't have to lock up Rs 5,000-10,000 in maintaining an average quarterly balance. The post office does not mind if you have emptied out your account as long as you leave Rs 500 as balance. This low-ticket convenience works in case of recurring deposits as well. If you open a recurring deposit with a bank, the minimum monthly deposit is Rs 500. In the post office, the monthly contribution can be as low as Rs 10, making it an ideal option to start your child on the savings habit. The 7.5% interest is compounded quarterly and compares well with what banks offer. The only hitch is that the post office deposit is for a minimum of five years. However, you can withdraw 50% of the balance after one year.

Even so, the very mention of the post office conjures images of a stodgy organisation with long queues and obdurate babus filling up pass books manually. That's true to a certain extent, but things are fast changing. India Post is working on a core banking solutions project that will offer state-of-the-art facilities to customers, including ATMs, Net banking, debit cards and e-payment services. AS Prasad, deputy director-general (financial services), told ET Wealth that by the end of the year, account holders will be able to access their accounts at any ATM across the country ( India Post's AS Prasad on how it to transform into a dominant financial services player ).

Life insurance is the lynchpin of a financial plan. The post office offers life insurance, but it is open only to employees of the Central and state governments, public sector undertakings and semi-government organisations. In October 2010, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority allowed the post office to sell insurance policies of private companies. It was a tremendous opportunity for both the insurance industry as well as India Post. The industry suddenly had access to India's largest distribution network of 1.55 lakh offices while India Post could stand to earn good commission from selling insurance policies. However, the proposal has not taken off because the India Post does not want to push policies of other companies and instead wants to focus on its own Postal Life Insurance. The Rural Postal Life Insurance can be bought by any citizen of India provided he is residing in a rural area, which is any location outside the limits of a municipality. India Post has sold 1 crore RPLI policies since they were launched in 1995. But almost 40% of these are micro insurance policies where the life cover is less than Rs 25,000. That's just enough to take care of a middle-class urban family for about a month.

The India Post is also a distributor of the New Pension Scheme. You can open an NPS account at designated post office branches. In fact, with very few agents interested in selling the low-cost scheme because of the niggardly commission it offers, the post office has become the biggest seller of the NPS. It has opened almost 20,000 voluntary accounts till now, which is almost a third of the total voluntary Tier I NPS. The scheme is available at nearly 800 post office branches across the country. Incidentally, the India Post has stopped selling mutual funds after the entry load was removed in August 2009. Says Prasad: "If Sebi brings the upfront selling commission of 2.25% back, we would sign a memorandum of understanding to sell mutual funds again."

Want to invest in gold? The yellow metal is set to soar higher as uncertainty returns to the capital markets and inflation goes through the roof. You can buy 24-carat gold coins at the post office. The coins are available in three sizes: 500 mg, 1.5 g and 8 g. Don't worry about the purity issues. These coins have been imported from Switzerland and have the backing of the World Gold Council. There is no price advantage if you buy from the post office or from a bank or jeweller.

At the post office, you can transfer money in the most cost-effective manner. It is an agent for a range of money transfer services, including wire transfers and international money orders. It issues travellers' cheques and offers 22 foreign currencies to those travelling abroad. It also offers prepaid forex cards in seven currencies, demand drafts in 11 currencies and wire transfer in 13 currencies. What's more, you can apply for your passport through the post office.

Priya Kapoor, ET Bureau

National Convention of JCA held at Chennai on 19.6.2011

Dear Comrades,

National Convention of Postal Joint Council of Action (JCA) comprising NFPE,FNPO and GDS Unions was held at Chennai on 19.06.2011.The Convention was presided over by Joint Presidium of Presidents NFPE,FNPO, AIPEDEU and NUGDS i.e. Com.D.K. Rahate, Com.T.N. Rahate, Com.D.N.Giri and Com.G. Satyanarayana Reddy respectively.

Hundreds of All India Office Bearers and Circle Secretaries of all unions of NFPE, FNPO, AIPEDEU and NUGDS participated in the convention from all corners of country. The convention was inaugurated by Com. D.Theagarajan Secretary General FNPO who described the need of calling National Convention of JCA to form a broader unity among the postal workers to fight against policies of Department of Posts and to resist Mckinsey dictated reforms. He appealed to entire rank and file to sink the differences if any between the workers and make the 5th July strike grand success.

Com.M.Krishnan Secretary General NFPE elaborately described all the issues confronting to all Postal, RMS and GDS employees. He informed that how the Postal Board is going ahead to implement the Corporate plan in the name of Mail Optimization and as per directions of Mckinsey Company going to minimize the number of RMS Offices in the name of Mail Hubs and reduction of number of Post Offices in the urban areas by way of closure/merger or relocation .He also stated that every cadre is being attacked by different ways. Formation of delivery hubs and abolition of post of Sorting Postman and non-fixation of any norms for the distance of beat to be travelled by Postman and arbitrary implementation of single batch system are the causes of trouble to Postman. Like wise the GDS is worst effected, 25% posts of Postman vacancies have been declared for open market. Cash handling point has been increased. Compassionate appointment ceiling has been fixed as 10% and now GDS conduct and employment rules have been modified as GDS Conduct and Engagement Rules.

The wages of contingent employees and Casual Labourers have not been revised till date. Like wise all cadres i.e. P.O. & RMS Accountants, System Administrators, Postal Accounts Staff, MMS Drivers and Artisan staff and other are the worst sufferers. He called upon the entirety of Postal, RMS and GDS employees to make every efforts to make the strike a grand success so that the existence of our Department can be saved. Now this is the time to "Do or Die" and "Now or Never". If we fight unitedly we can resist the attacks and dangers being posed by the Government and Department.

The Convention was also addressed by Com. K. Ragavendran Ex. Secretary General of NFPE. The General Secretaries of NFPE Coms. K.V. Sridharan P-III, Giri Raj Singh R-III, I.S. Dabas P-IV , P. Suresh R-IV , Pranab Bhattacharya Admn, T. Satyanarayana Postal Accounts, S.A Raheem Civil Wing and Appan Raj SBCO. The General Secretaries of FNPO Coms. G.P.Muthukrishnan (A.G.S.P-III) T.N. Rahate P-IV, A.H. Siddique R-IV, H.L.Ramtake Postal Accounts, M. Shivkumar SBCO and Antony –Dy. G/S Civil Wing also addressed the convention .

Com. S.S. Mahadeviah G/S AIPEDEU and Com. Gautam A.G.S., NU GDS also addressed the convention.

All the leaders appealed to all to make the strike grand success.

42 delegates who were the All India Office Bearers and Circle Secretaries of NFPE and FNPO and GDS Unions also expressed their views and assured to make the strike grand success.

A declaration in this regard was presented by Com. R.N.Parashar Asstt. Secretary General NFPE which was adopted by the convention unanimously.

Vote of thanks was given by Com. P.Kumar Circle Secretary R-III FNPO Tamil Nadu Circle. The convention was concluded after the speech of President. The convention was grand success.

Source: NFPE CHQ

Comrade K V Sridharan replies

Dear Comrades,

Com. K V Sridharan, General Secretary, AIPEU Group-C, CHQ New Delhi was intimated about the DWC Meeting held at Jeypore(K) on 12.06.2011, progress on the strike preparations and demands of the comrades of Koraput Divisional Branch regarding holding of strike till the demands are fulfilled. Com. K V Sridharan has replied to us stating that he respects the sentiments of our members and their thoughts will remain in focus while conducting in the ensuing strike until it gives us a good result.

Investment of NPS amount and it's return ?

Dear Comrades,

One of our young comrade Sujit Panda has raised some queries regarding the future of N P S. Perhaps everyone is well aware of the fact that Govt. of India has earlier introduced CPF and subsequently implemented it as NPS for the retirement benefits of the employees joined to Government service after 1st April 2004. Com. Sujit has monitored the procedure through which NPS amount is being invested by the Govt and gone through the outcome. The volatile conditions of the stock/share market is clear to all. As on the present date with the share of investments in SBI/UTI/LIC (as per the norms of NPS) the position is not good enough to return a promising value. The utilisation and investment of our money needs to be reassessed and for that union requests all of you to share your views and send your suggestions to our email id so that we can make a review of it and send our legitimate demand to CHQ with necessary details for initiating any fruitful action so that our hard earned be invested very carefully to give us a good return.

Thanks to the electronic and print media for their coverage

Dear Comrades,

The electronic and print media of Jeypore has also encouraged our spirit by taking coverage of our DWC meeting held on 12.6.2011 by publishing the same in the news paper and broadcasting through the news channel. The following news paper cuttings are published hereunder for information.

The Samaj

Khabar

 Dharitri

DPC RESULT DECLARED FOR MTS AND POSTMAN

Dear Comrades,

The SSPOs, Koraput Division vide Memo No.B2/DPC-Postman/11 dated at Jeypore (K) the 15.06.2011 has declared the DPC result for Postman category.

The following GDS Officials have been recommended and selected for the post of Postman in Koraput Postal Division by the Departmental Promotion Committee held on 09.06.2011 against the vacancies under seniority quota for the year 2009 & 2010 subject to satisfactory verification of educational, caste certificates and relevant documents/office records in connection with the service of GDS.

Sl No Name & Designation of the candidate (GDS) Community Remark

01 Banchhanidhi Nayak, GDSPKR, Mirganiguda SO OBC Selected under OBC Category

02 Sri Lingaraj Deo, GDSMD, Sanahuma BO, Gudari SO UR Selected under UR Category

03 Sri Mansing Bhatra, GDSMD, Mokiya BO, Papadahandi SO ST Provisionally selected under UR Category subject to submission of required educational documents

04 M Basudev Rao, GDSBPM, G S Khal BO, J K Pur SO UR Selected under UR Category

05 Budhia Patra, GDSMC, Saguru BO, Lamtaput SO UR Provisionally selected under UR Category subject to submission of required educational documents.

06 Sri K Ch Rout, GDSPKR, Paduva SO OBC Selected under UR Category

07 Sri Bhasman Naik, GDSBPM, Naktiguda BO, Papadahandi SO ST Selected under UR Category

The Units to be allotted will be intimated later on. In case, the above candidates decline for the post of postman, the next senior GDS Official whose cases have been examined by the DPC and kept in the approved waiting list will be offered the post.

The SSPOs, Koraput Division vide Memo No.B2/DPC-MTS/11 dated at Jeypore (K) the 14.06.2011 has declared the DPC result for Postman category.

The following GDS Officials have been recommended and selected for the post of MTS in Koraput Postal Division by the Departmental Promotion Committee held on 10.06.2011 against 50% vacancies of the year 2009 & 2010 on the basis of latest recruitment rules, subject to satisfactory verification of educational, caste certificates and relevant documents in connection with the service of GDS.

Sl No Name of the GDS Community Remarks

01 Shri Sridhar Majhi  GDS BPM,Ekori BO Kodinga SO ST Selected under UR category for 2009 vacancy

02 Shri Srikar Sahu  GDSPKR Jolaput SO OBC Selected under OBC Category for 2009 vacancy

03 S K Ali GDS MD, Rayagada HO UR Selected under UR Category for 2010 vacancy

The Unit to be allotted will be intimated later on. In case the above candidates decline for the post of MTS, the next senior GDS Officials whose cases have been examined by the DPC and kept in the approved waiting list will be offered the post.

India Post ties up with Fabindia

Dear Comrades,

In its first partnership with a private firm, India Post on Tuesday said it has partnered with retail chain Fabindia, which will help customers send Fabindia products to their friends across the globe.

"As a part of the joint endeavour, India post will now offer customers hassle free postal retail service, which would enable the customers to buy, pack and dispatch Fabindia products not only within India, but also to international destinations," an official statement said.

To help the customers in booking consignments, Delhi Postal Circle staff will be deployed at this Fabindia store, it added. The counter, located at Fabindia's flagship store at Greater Kailash in New Delhi, was jointly inaugurated by India Post Secretary Radhika Doraiswamy, and Fabindia Managing Director William Bissell.

India Post has a postal retail service at the Jawahar Vyapar Bhawan (Cottage Emporium), where customers can avail speed post services and registered parcel booking.

With 140 stores across 58 cities in India and four international stores, Fabindia Overseas Pvt Ltd is one of India's largest retail chain. The post office counter at the Fabindia outlet will offer the domestic and international flat rate parcel service and EMS speed post service.

Tue, Jun 14, 2011 at 19:50  Source : PTI

India post to take up old age pension issue with state government

Dear Comrades,

A week after the government decided to shift to banks for distributing old-age pensions, India Post is trying hard to get back its largest customer in the state. The officials have sought an appointment with chief minister J Jayalalithaa to persuade her to switch back to the post offices. Losing the state's project could mean a loss of more than Rs 60 crore a month for India Post.

The old-age pension scheme was so far carried out by India Post, delivering monthly pensions at people's houses through money orders and cheques. It covers senior citizens, differently-abled people, destitute wives and widows and destitute agricultural labourers. The state government will switch to the banks by September.

The postal department gets Rs 25 as commission for each money order for more than 28 lakh pensioners, including 10 lakh in city. The government decided to choose banks for the scheme after the CBI apprehended 11 postmen for malpractices in 2010. In order to mollify the state government, India Post has already done some damage control and will be regularizing its services. "We dismissed two other postal officials. We have set up monitoring cells for the scheme. We also have special adalats to settle grievances," said a senior official in the Tamil Nadu circle of the postal department. The department has also furnished details of fake names and addresses in the scheme to the state government. "We have received no complaints in the last two months," he said.

The department will offer savings accounts for pensioners in the postal banks. "This government is already considering savings accounts for pensioners in the banks. We have the expertise to handle this. We deal with more money in the form of small savings accounts than all the commercial banks," the official said

If agreed upon, the pensioners' savings accounts could bring in an additional revenue of Rs 45-50 crore for India Post. As an added incentive, the postal department is also upgrading all its services this year on a par with commercial banks.

India Post also expressed reservations about banks' ability to carry out the scheme. Nearly 70% of the beneficiaries under the scheme live in rural areas and remote places. "Banks do not have the network that we have when it comes to door-to-door delivery in remote areas. So we shall be asking the government to switch back to us."

R Vasundara, TNN Jun 13, 2011, 03.41am ISTCHENNAI Times of India