GDS Appeal

On this National Postal Weak celebrations ,we Gramin Dak Sevaks make a appeal to Department of Posts & Government of India.

We request  Department of Posts & Government of India to intervene for removal of Rule 3A(i) of GDS Conduct& Engagement Rules,2020 ( previously 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 70% of its employees. Remaining 30% 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 4 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& 2020 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 30% 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 was  launched nation-wide on 1st September 2018 by Hon’ble Prime Minister of India Sri.Narendra Modi. On the day of the launch, IPPB consists 650 branches and 3,250 access points ( branch post offices ) spread across the country. Now the number of access points increased to 1.55 lakh, of which 1.30 lakh branches( branch post offices ) would be in rural areas and GDS are the end users for IPPB.

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.

Recently, Reserve Bank of India issued Small Finance Bank licence to India Post Payment Bank which facilitate lending activities up to 50 lakhs. 

RICT and DARPAN projects were rolled out in all the Branch Offices throughout the country. All the transactions were made by the GDS through hand held devices. In addition to our traditional work i.e, mail conveyance, mails delivery, Recurring Deposits, Savings Deposits , Term Deposits , Sukanya Accounts , Rural Postal Life Insurance , MGNREGS wage seeker payments , Aasara Pension payments and so many business development products , we have to work in the IPPB as a Agent. Now a days it not possible to complete our work with in the 5 hours. And it is also difficult for getting another source of income for better livelihood as it is mandatory rule in the 3A of GDS Conduct & Engagement Rules.

In view of all above,we 3 lakh GDS request the Department of Posts and Government of India to take necessary steps for removal of Rule 3 A(i) of GDS Conduct&Engagement Rules,2020 by discontinuing incentive structure and providing 8 hours duty to all Gramin Dak Sevaks (3 laks ) working in the Postal Department.

Ch.Laxmi Narayana.