Date : 31.08.2018
Memorandum as follows
Memorandum to Chief Guests (Minister/MP/MLA ) in IPPB Inaugural Function
All CWC Members and Div/Branch Secretaries are requested to submit the below Memorandum to the Chief Guests/ Divisional Supdt.of Post Offices in the inaugural function of IPPB scheduled to be held tommorrow in your Divisions.
Ch.laxmi Narayana
Memorandum as follows
Subject: Request to intervene for removal of Rule 3A(i) of GDS Conduct& Engagement Rules,2011 and providing 8 hours duty to all Gramin Dak Sevaks working in the Postal Department in c/w IPPB.
It is well known to everybody that Postal Department is covering every village in the country. But it is a hidden fact that the Postal Department is achieving this through Gramin Dak Sevaks (GDS), earlier called them as Extra Departmental employees, which covered 50% of its employees. Remaining 50% is enjoying all benefits of Central Government employees where as these GDS who are covering 86% of Post Offices through out the country with their postal services are engaged with uncertain works with uncertain time frame being paid for 3 to 5 hours though engaged from dawn to dusk at many places. Their engagement is neither compared with the rules regulated for Central Government employees nor with daily labour, though they are engaged continuously in the department in completion of 65 years of age. Really it is a shameful to note a regular employee edicted to this work for many decades is not even been paid that of a daily labour.
They are governed by an unlawful engagement rules framed by Department of Posts in 2011 which stipulates that they cannot work for more than 5 hours, though they are managing all the functions of a departmental post office and working more than 8 hours varying up to 10 -15 hours also. But putting the restriction their wages are restricted for 5 hours. This is very unconstitutional and against Natural Justice. No Judicial authority will intervene if that rule is removed by the Department of Posts, by doing so never it will be termed as subjudice.
They are not allowed to pay full time work of 8 hours with unscientific calculation of time factor and not allowed to bring them into main stream. Though they are spending their all energies to the Postal Department from their youth to death (after 65 years doing this job ,we cannot expect them to continue their life ).They are not offered with pension and its pensionary benefits, medical facilities and other service conditions such as Children Education Allowance, House Rent Allowance, House Building Allowance, loans etc. The leave given for 20 days in a year and Gratuity for Rs.1,50,000/- allowed is an eyesore in comparison with the benefits by the remaining 50% of postal staff who are doing the same work as if a Gramin Dak Sevak does.
But the Department is not in a position to justify the living wages on the traditional rule that the GDS employees are not permitted for engagement for more than 5 hours in a day. But the Department has no answer that the GDS employees long back exceeding 5 hours and they can not afford to take alternate livelihood. As per the Recruitment Rules the GDS employees were recruited from entire State and they have to establish their own office in the appointed village and serve the people with new technology and devices. But the residuary workload after 5 hours a limited incentive with a cap on the incentive is being paid. This is nothing but a bonded labour against the laws of the land.
The India Post Payments Bank is scheduled to be launched nation-wide on 1st September 2018. On the day of the launch, IPPB would have 650 branches and 3,250 access points ( branch post offices ) spread across the country. By the end of 2018, the number of access points would increase to 1.55 lakh, of which 1.30 lakh branches( branch post offices ) would be in rural areas.
The bank would provide services such as current account, savings account, remittances, money transfer, direct benefit transfer, enterprise and merchant payment,MGNREGS payments, Jan Dhan Accounts, payment of taxes, gas subsidy, bio metric pension payments, welfare schemes of central and state Government, passport services etc. By performing all these schemes besides the regular POSB , insurance and mail services , the working hours of all GDS would increased beyond 8 hours. But Department of Posts announced a simple incentive structure for the work done by GDS in IPPB.
In view of all my union request the Hon’ble.......................
................................ to intervene in this matter and also take necessary steps for removal of Rule 3 A(i) of GDS Conduct&Engagement Rules,2011 by discontinuing incentive structure and providing 8 hours duty to all Gramin Dak Sevaks (3 laks ) working in the Postal Department.
Yours sincerely
