My telephonic interaction with a few pre-August 1997 retiree-members of
the affiliate Associations of the Class I retirees' Federation
indicate that Mr G N Sridharan,Gen, Secy has assured them that he
proposes to furnish the full list of pre-August 1997 retiree members to
LIC irrespective of their fulfilling the criteria laid down by LIC in
its letter dt 6/7/2015 to the Federation.
My
information is that there is no official communication by way of a
circular from the Federation in regard to the steps taken by the
Federation for securing interim relief to its members as per the SC
order dt 7/5/2015.
Will
the Federation come out with the list furnished to LIC CO in public
domain so that eligible members will satisfy themselves that their
names find a place in the list and any omissions can be brought to the
notice of the Federation?
The
more crucial point that emerges is that if the Federation has
furnished the complete list of pre-August 1997 retiree members,whether
LIC will act on the list.In all probability, they will not.To my
knowledge at least one affiliated Association,viz,.Cuttack Association
was formed in 2010 and if the names of members of that Association have
been furnished,we can expect LIC not to consider them eligible for
payment of interim relief.
The
better course for the Federation would have been to reply to LIC that
as the Delhi HC judgment was for payment of benefits in rem the
Federation had no list to furnish and that LIC could act according to
the judgment by reference to its own pensioners' records.Instead it has
walked into the trap laid by LIC to successfully escape from charges of
contempt of Supreme Court orders.Ultimately the gap between the interim
relief payment and the potential final relief is narrowing every day
with pensioners' mortality taking its toll.
With greetings,
C H Mahadevan
