Postal Officers Association (India)

Postal Officers’ Association (India) Kerala Circle

President Secretary Treasurer M.Mohandas C.R.Ramakrishnan K.V.Vijayakumar Sr. Supdt of Post Offices Sr. Supdt of Post Offices Asst. Postmaster Kollam Division Thiruvananthapuram North General (Staff & Vig) Kollam 691001 Division Office of the CPMG Thiruvananthapuram 695001 Kerala Circle Thiruvananthapuram 695033 [email protected] [email protected]

BEFORE THE HON’BLE VII CENTRAL PAY COMMISSION Memorandum submitted by Postal Officers’ Association (India)

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This Memorandum is submitted by and on behalf of the Postal Officers Association (India) which is recognised Association in the Department of Posts, before the VII Central Pay Commission for favourable consideration and acceptance.

1.1 We represent the following categories of officers in the Department of Posts numbering about 1040:

(i) Senior Time Scale (STS) in the Pay band Rs.15600-39100 with Grade Pay Rs.6600/- and Junior Time Scale (JTS) in the Pay band Rs.15600-39100 with Grade Pay Rs.5400/- of Indian Postal Service Group A officers other than those recruited directly through Civil Service Examinations.

(ii) Postal Superintendents Service Group B (PS Group B in short) officers in the Pay band Rs.9300-34800 with Grade pay Rs.4800/-

1.2 These Officers are mainly required to function as Heads of Postal / RMS Divisions, which are the basic administrative units in the Department of Posts.

1 These officers are also occupying other administrative posts which are explained in this memorandum under cadre strength and representation

2. ORGANISATIONAL SET UP:

2.1 The Department of Posts under the Ministry of Communciations and Information Technology is the only organization which has its presence in every nook and corner of India. One of the largest Postal Network in the World, the Department of Posts provides Postal Services, Savings Bank services and Financial services through 1,55,000 post offices from Kanyakumari to Kashmir and from Kutch to Arunachal Pradesh. The Network is managed by 22 Circles, 37 Regional Offices, 46 Postal Store Depots, 19 Stamp Depots, 441 Postal Divisions, 68 RMS Divisions, 45 Mail Motor Units. It functions through the Postal Services Board with the Secretary of Posts as its Chairman. Letters, Parcels, Money orders, Registration service, Insurance, Value Payable Post, Registered News papers, Indian Postal orders are some of its Traditional services and Speed Post, Express Parcel Post, Business Post, Bill Mail Service, Retail Post, Logistics Post, Business Parcel, Media Post are some of its Premium Services. In the Remittance Service sector, apart from Money orders, it also provides Instant Money Order (Domestic), International Money Transfer (Western Union), Money Gram, International Fund Transfer, Mobile Money Transfer and MO Videsh(Outward). Postal Savings Bank, National Savings Certificates, Postal Life Insurance, Rural Postal Life Insurance, Collection of Customs duty, Collection of Telephone revenue, sale of Central Recruitment Fee Stamps, payment of Pension to Railway and Telecom employees, Employees Provident Fund are its Agency Function on behalf of Ministry of Finance.

2.2 The organisational set up of the Department consists of a number of territorial and functional units. The apex body is the Postal Services Board headed by the Director General (Posts) as its Chairman, who is also the Secretary, Department of Posts to the Government of India.

2.3 For administrative convenience and executive control, the country is divided into 22 Postal Circles, each headed by a Chief Postmaster General. The Circle is again divided into Regions and Regions are further divided into Postal Divisions, RMS Divisions, Circle Stamp Depot, Postal Stores Depot, Mail Motor Service Unit. There are 435 Postal Divisions and 68 RMS Divisions. The jurisdiction of a Postal

2 Division is normally co-terminus with the Revenue District. But there are few exceptions in which a Postal Division covers more than one Revenue District and there are a few Revenue Districts having more than one Postal Divisions. As against 478 Revenue Districts in the country, there are 435 Postal Divisions.

2.4 After Defence and Railways, the Department of Posts is the next largest Department having a Human work force of about 5 lakhs employees which includes 2 lakhs regular Departmental employees and about 3 lakhs Gramin Dak Sevaks. The Division is being the basic administrative unit in the Postal organization, the Head of the Division comprising PS Group B officers or IPoS Group A (JTS or STS) are virtually controlling the entire work force of 5 lakhs employees in the country. Our members consisting of 866 PS Group B officers and a share from 67 JTS Officers and 232 STS officers are virtually responsible for the proper administration and implementation of the policies and programs of the Central Government.

3. ABOUT THE ASSOCIATION:

3.1 Postal Officers Association is an All India Association with its Central Headquarters at New Delhi with its branches in each Postal Circle. There are 22 Postal Circles in Department of Posts based on Geographical locations. Manipur, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland are coming under a single Circle, viz. North East and all other States have separate Postal Circle. Among the Union Territories, Delhi has separate Circle while other UTs, namely, Pondicherry, Goa, Arunchal Pradesh are brought under their neighboring larger Circles vizTamilnadu, Maharashtra and North East. Army Postal Service is treated as Separate Circle. The main objectives of the Postal Officers Association are : a) To protect the rights and privileges of the members of the Association and to take up their grievances at appropriate level for redressal b) To suggest improvements in the condition of service of its members including pay and allowances etc c) To be a part of the Administration and make suggestions for providing quality service to the customers and d) To take all possible steps to achieve the above goals.

3 3.2 The Association represents all the Postal Service Group B officers and Group A of JTS and STS officers who are elevated from PS Group B based on the ratio of promotion provided in the Recruitment Rules. It enjoys 100% membership and it is also recognised by the Department of Posts under CCS(RS) Rules, 1993.

4. CADRE STRENGTH AND REPRESENTATION:

4.1 The Cadre strength of PS Group B and JTS/STS Group A is as follows:

i. Divisional Superintendents in JTS/STS Group A ii. Asst. Postmaster Generals including Chief Postmaster, Deputy Divisional Managers and Asst. Director Generals in JTS/STS iii. Divisional Superintendents in PS Group B iv. Assistant Directors including OSDs and Asst. Divisional Managers in PS Group B

4.2 Divisional Superintendents in JTS Group A, Asst. Postmaster General, Dy. Divisional Managers, Asst. Director General in JTS are the entry level cadres of organized Civil Service of Indian Postal Service and the posts are filled in the ratio of 75 : 25 from PS Group B officers by way of promotion (75%) and by Direct Recruitment through Civil Service Examination (25%). PS Group B posts are filled by way of promotion (75%) from the IP/ASP (Inspector Posts and Asst. Superintendent of Post offices) based on their All India Seniority and also by way of Limited Departmental Competitive Examination from IP/ASP (19%) and from Lower Selection Grade officials of Postal and Sorting Assistants Cadres(6%). One has to complete at least 30 years of service to reach PS Group B cadre by way of normal promotion (IP/ASP-75%). The other 25% of the promotion is not taking place for the last several years as the LDCE for promotion to PS Group B is not regularly conducted every year.

5. DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

5.1 Divisional Superintendents in JTS/STS Group A and Divisional Superintendents in PS Group B have almost the same function to do as Heads of the

4 Postal and RMS Division. His duties and responsibilities include a variety of subjects covering recruitment and appointment, administrative, executive, quasi-judicial matters, technical subjects, technology related programs and policies, HRD matters, disciplinary functions, developmental matters, implementation of Government Policies, sale of new products and services, customer relation management etc. Unlike the Group B officers in certain other Central Government Departments, the duties and responsibilities on the part of PS Group B officers are very large and this Association presents below certain important responsibilities for the kind information of the Hon’ble VII Pay Commission.

5.1.1 The PS Group B officers and IPoS officers of JTS and STS are vested with the responsibility of managing a Postal or RMS (Railway Mail Service) Division and they are responsible to run the operative services of the Postal Network through about 1,55,000 post offices, 335 RMS offices, 46 Postal Store Depots and 17 Circle Stamp Depots. The management of these units is done by 442 Postal Divisions and 68 RMS Divisions. In the hierarchy of Department of Posts, the Divisional Superintendents have the leading role on behalf of the administration to keep the services running to the satisfaction of members of public by maintaining harmonious relationship with the Staff Union at Divisional level and at the same time providing better services to the customers and by settling their grievances.

5.1.2 Divisional Superintendents are also holding the role of Marketing Leader in their Postal and RMS Divisions. In every Financial Year, Postal Directorate prepares its budget for revenue and expenditure and the revenue target is distributed to the Postal Circles based on their previous year’s performance. The Postal Circles in turn distribute the target to the Postal and RMS Divisions. Revenue targets allotted are classified mainly into three categories viz., Postal Revenue (Revenue from Traditional products such as Stamp sale, Money Orders, Registration, Parcel, Indian Postal Orders, Value Payable Post etc), BD Revenue (Revenue from Prime Products such as Speed Post, Business Post, Bill Mail Service, Retail Post, Business Parcel, Express Parcel, Logistics Post, Media Post, ePost, ePayment, Instant Money Order, Western Union Money Transfer, Money Gram, Mobile Money Transfer, MO Videsh, International Fund Transfer etc) and Savings Bank Revenue (Revenue from the agency function such as Savings Bank,

5 Recurring Deposit, Monthly Income Scheme, Public Provident Fund, National Savings Certificate, Senior Citizen Scheme, Time Deposit etc). Apart from the above, separate target is also allotted for securing business under Postal Life Insurance, Rural Postal Insurance and Philately. It is the responsibility of the Divisional Superintendents to utilise the available resources such as Postal Network and the supporting team from IP/ASP cadres, Marketing Executives, Public Relation Inspectors, Postmasters, Clerical staff and Postman staff and show progressive achievement of the business targets every month till the end of the Financial Year.

5.1.3 Divisional Superintendents are also vested with the powers of making appointments to Postal/Sorting Assistant Cadres, Postman, MTS, GraminDakSewak BPMs etc). They are also functioning as Disciplinary Authority in respect of these cadres and simultaneously, they are also functioning the Appellate Authority for MTS and GraminDakSewaks (Other than BPMs). Divisional Superintendents and the allied cadres are also identified as Central Public Information Officers under RTI. They are also responsible to implement effective Preventive Vigilance Mechanism by way of organizing Divisional Vigilance Squad visits, investigating frauds and ensuring appropriate action against the staff who are involved in committing minor and major irregularities. They are responsible to redeploy the right kind of staff at the right positions to keep the services running and at the same time to see that such staff are rotated at periodical intervals to avoid room for committing grave irregularities and frauds. As a part of Preventive Vigilance, they are required to carry out Annual Inspection of various units in their jurisdiction and also to see that the Subordinate officers such as IP/ASP also carry out their Annual Inspections as per the approved programme.

5.1.4 APMG, ADG, DDM, ADM, Asst. Directors and OSDs are responsible for rendering support to the Regional and Circle Administration and at Postal Directorate by providing valuable assistance in taking decisions on issues reported by the Divisional Superintendents and also on the orders and Policies of the Government communicated through Postal Directorate. Superintendents, Postal Stores Depot and Circle Stamp Depots are responsible to ensure adequate stock of Postal Stationery items and Postage Stamps and Stationery items and to arrange supply to the administrative and operative units as per the requirements projected by them.

6 5.1.5 Monitoring the Court cases including CAT and Consumer Redressal Forum Cases, monitoring the implementation of projects like Project Arrow, Mail Network Optimization Project, IT Modernization Project etc. are also included in the duties and responsibilities.

5.1.6 The Divisional Superintendents including Superintendents of PSDs and CSDs are vested with Financial powers for incurring expenditure as prescribed in the Schedule of Financial powers for both operative and administrative needs. Similarly, APMG/ADG/DDM/ADM/AD are also exercising Financial powers as delegated by the Head of the Circle.

5.1.7 The Divisional Superintendents play a vital role in the expansion of Postal Network such as Opening of Post Offices and relocation of Post offices to make them financially viable and self-sufficient. They are also responsible for the smooth movement of mails between the Postal and RMS Network by designing the mail schedules, running Mail Motor Service Operations and ensuring optimal utilisation of the mechanical and human resources to reach the mail to the destination post offices by the fastest means of transport.

5.1.8 Circle Annual Budget is prepared based on the Projections, Planning and inputs made by the Divisional Superintendents. They also play an important role in the implementation of the PLAN Projects and utilisation of PLAN Funds.

5.1.9 HR Management is one of the most important areas where the Divisional Superintendents are required to use their managerial expertise. They are responsible for developing the skills of the Subordinate staff by providing them with the required training in daily operations, technology, marketing and softskills.

5.1.10 The Divisional Superintendents have to move around constantly in their jurisdiction as a part of the monitoring of the functioning of the Postal and RMS Units which are mainly situated in the Rural and hilly areas and have to take effective steps for resolving issues concerning buildings, mail arrangements, mail delivery, public grievances and proper HR utilisation. They are also required to maintain

7 good public relations with various public authorities of State and Central Government Departments and Local Bodies and also with officers of Public Sector Undertakings.

5.1.11 The duties and responsibilities mentioned above are only illustrative. As the Heads of Postal and RMS Divisions, there are so many other areas which are to be taken care on a daily basis. Due to the frequent introduction of several new projects and new Business activities and also due to the transformation of the existing Network to adapt to the market dynamics, the role and duties of the Divisional Superintendents are always on the increase.

6. RECRUITMENT AND PROMOTION : 6.1 Recruitment to Postal Service Group-B is made by way of promotion and Limited Departmental Competitive Examination as per the quota of vacancies assessed every year based on the PSS Group-B Recruitment Rules, 1987. The said Recruitment Rules were further amended by the Postal Service Group B Recruitment (Amendment) Rules, 1993.

6.2 As per the said Rules, 75% of the vacancies are filled by way of promotion based on seniority cum fitness from the All India Gradation list of Inspectors and Asst. Superintendents having 8 years regular service in the grade. The remaining 25% is filled through Limited Departmental Competitive Examination in the ratio of 19% from IP/ASPs having 5 years regular service in the grade and 6% from the General Line Lower Selection Grade Postal and Sorting Assistants having 5 years regular service in the grade.

6.3 It takes 24 to 25 years for the employees in the Inspector Cadre (IP) to reach this level of promotion to PS Group B. A Postal/Sorting Assistant gets promoted to IP cadre after completing a minimum 6 years of service and when he gets elevated to PS Group-B, in the normal course, he would have completed 52 to 56 years of age. A direct recruit Inspector (Recruited through Combined Graduate Level Examination) will also have to complete 24 years of service in IP cadre to reach the level PS Group-B and he would be reaching this level only after crossing

8 the age of 50 to 52 years. This means that the employees reaching the level of PS Group-B will be having hardly 4 to 8 years service remaining for Superannuation.

6.4 The promotion avenue for Postal Service Group B cadre is the Indian postal Service Group-A. The recruitment and appointment in the cadre of IPoS Group-A are made from two sources. Recruitment and appointment by promotion (75%) and Direct Recruitment from Civil Service Examination held by UPSC(25%). The recruitment and appointment in Group-A service is governed by Indian Postal Service (Group-A) Rules, 1987 which was further amended in the year 1994, 1995, 1997 and lastly in the year 1999. A copy of the said Rules is attached.

6.3 As already pointed out, there will be only about 4 to 8 years of service remaining for superannuation for an officer promoted to the cadre of PS Group B. Further promotion from PS Group B to JTS in the present scenario is very bleak as it takes 8 to 11 years for an officer in PS Group B to get regular promotion to JTS Group B though the prescribed minimum service required as per the Recruitment is only three years. In the result, many of the PS Group-B officers would retire from service without getting JTS Group-A promotion, not to speak of further promotion to STS Group-A on completion of 4 years service in JTS Group-A. Since the waiting period for JTS promotion has extended beyond our expectation, it has given rise to frustration and discontentment in PS Group-B cadre. It is also worth-mentioning that notwithstanding the recommendations of the earlier Pay Commissions, to conduct cadre review for all Cadres in the Department to ameliorate the conditions of the employees, the PS Group B Officers are discriminated as the Department of Posts has not conducted any cadre review in PS Group B. On the other hand, for implementing several new projects such as Project Arrow, IT Modernization, Postal Life Insurance etc, Department of Posts has redeployed many PS Group B posts, adding pressure and overburden of work on the remaining officers.

7. MAJOR ISSUES:

9 7.1 This Association propose to focus two vital issues concerning Promotion and Financial upgradation which are primordial in nature and perturbing in character. We wish to place them before the Hon’ble Pay Commission for consideration : (a) Non-holding of Cadre Review for PS Group B officers for ensuring functional promotion in a time-guaranteed manner as in the case of Group A service. No cadre review has ever taken place in PS Group B cadre. (b) Promotion from PS Group B should be directly to the STS Group-A instead of JTS Group A.

7.2 The above said vital issues are discussed below. The Hon’ble 7th Pay Commission is requested to go through these issues in detail before arriving at the recommendations

8. Cadre Review of PS Group B Officers: 8.1 It is an acceptable principle in service matters that all employees cannot be given regular promotion in service on functional basis. To alleviate the problem of stagnation of employees, the concept of non-functional promotion and ACP/MACP were evolved by the previous Pay Commissions to offer at least a higher pay packet not amounting to regular promotion to give relief to the frustrations faced by the employees on account of stagnation. The principles followed by the previous Pay Commissions naturally found acceptance by the Central Government. In the Department of Posts, the IPoS Group-A which is at the helm of the Department have already reaped the benefits of five successive cadre reviews (sixth one is in the offing) as a result of which, the promotional avenues available in that cadre have increased to an enviable position. Even in Group-B itself, cadre review was allowed in certain cadres like Assistant Accounts Officers in the Department of Posts and Section officers in Postal Directorate and they were granted the benefits of cadre review but no such Cadre review has taken place in respect of PS Group B despite repeated demand from this Association. 8.2 Before the cadre review, Junior Accounts Officers and Asst. Accounts Officers were two distinct cadres in the Department of Posts. After the 5 th CPC, JAO were granted the pay scale of 5500-9000 and AAO were granted the pay scale of Rs.7450-11500 while PS Group B officers were drawing the pay scale of Rs.7500-

10 12500. .After the Sixth CPC, with effect from 1.1.2006, both the JAO and AAO cadres were merged into a single cadre as AAO under IP & T AFS service (Indian Post & Telegraph Accounts and Finance Service) with the Pay band 9300-34800 with GP Rs.4800/- which became equivalent to PS Group-B consequent to the merger of pay scales. It may be noted that in many of the establishments in the Department of Posts, PS Group B Officers oversees the work of AAOs and also Stenographers Grade-I and ASPs (both drawing GP Rs.4800/- after 3rd MACP) who draw the same PB and GP as that of PS Group B. It may be noted that one has to complete more than 30 years of service to reach PS Group B (6 years from Postal/Sorting Assistant to Inspector cadre and 24 years from Inspector to PS Group B) and with the same span of service, other categories of officers as mentioned above are also able to reach the same pay band and grade pay. As already pointed out that the duties and responsibilities of above cadres are less comparable as these cadres are doing mainly desk jobs and they are not required to shoulder the heavy responsibilities as that of PS Group B Officers.

8.2 Cadre review has also taken place for Central Secretariat Staff in the year 2010. The Section Officers in Group B Service in the Central Secretariat Service are now eligible for the pay scale of 9300-34800 with GP Rs.4800/- and on completion of 4 years service, they are eligible for the pay scale of 15600-39100 with GP Rs.5400/-

8.3 Such cadre reviews have already taken place in Group C on more than once during the last 20 years. For instance, Postal and Sorting Assistants in Group C in the Department of Posts were granted Time Bound One Promotion scheme on completion of 16 years of service in the year 1983 and Biennial Cadre Review in the year 1993 on completion of 26 years of service. Other Group C cadres were also granted ACP on completion of 12 and 24 years of service. MACP was introduced in the year 2008 for all Group-C and Group-D cadres assuring financial upgradation after completion of 10,20 and 30 years of service. A new Postmaster Cadre Grade-I, Grade-II and Grade-III was also introduced in the year 2010, providing an additional opportunity to the Postal Assistants to get promotion through Limited Departmental Competitive Examination on completion of five years of service. Recently, another cadre review has been completed for Postal Assistants and the recommendations

11 have been submitted to the Department for implementation. A copy of the minutes of the Cadre Review Committee is enclosed for ready reference.

8.4 The PS Group B is the only cadre which has been left out in the process of cadre review so far. This Association has always been demanding to consider our request for undertaking cadre review of PS Group B Officers. This request was made as back as in 1997. The reply to that request in 1997 was that it cannot be entertained pending decision on the recommendations of the Fifth Central Pay Commission. This Association had rightly pointed out that the fourth cadre review of IPoS Group A was conducted notwithstanding the similar position of PS Group B officers and therefore there was no prohibition to undertake cadre review studies. After the V CPC also, the matter was again taken up but to no avail. Even though this case was repeatedly taken up with the Department subsequently, no cadre review has so far been ordered in this cadre.

8.5 In the 6th CPC, for all Group B cadres, non-functional final upgradation to the GP of Rs.5400/- in the pay band of Rs.9300-34800 was allowed. PS Group B officers are also eligible for this financial upgradation. But considering the duties and responsibilities entrusted to PS Group B Officers, the above financial upgradation is found to be quite indequate. The only solution to settle the grievances of PS Group B Officers is to undertake a cadre review but the Department of Posts has not yielded to the long pending legitimate demand despite our repeated requests. As per the 6th Pay Commission, the Pay Band and Grade pay prescribed for various subordinate cadres to the PS Group B in the Department of Posts is as follows: Postal / Sorting Assistant after 3rd MACP : : 9300-34800 & GP 4600 Higher Selection Grade-I of A /SA : 9300-34800 & GP 4600 Postmaster Grade-III : 9300-34800 & GP 4600 Stenographer after 3rd MACP : 9300-34800 & GP 4800 ASP after 3rd MACP : 9300-34800 & GP.4800 Asst. Accounts Officers : 9300-34800 & GP 4800

Of the above, Cadre review is already implemented in respect of AAO. They were once drawing lesser pay scale prior to the IV CPC and V CPC and in the last CPC, consequent to the Cadre Review, they have been equated with PS Group B. In the

12 case of Stenographers, as per the VI CPC recommendations, due to the merger of pay scales viz. 5000-8000, 5500-9000 and 6500-10500, a person entering Grade-III in the PB 5200-20200 with GP Rs. 2400/- is able to reach the PB of 9300-34800 with GP Rs.4800/- after 30 years. Even now, these two categories of employees are functioning as subordinates to PS Group B in many units though they are drawing the same PB and GP as that of PS Group B

8.6 IP is a Non-Gazetted Group-B Cadre. ASP was also a Non-Gazetted Group- B Cadre but, it became a Group-B Gazetted cadre in the year 2005. Though both ASP and PS Group-B are treated as Group-B Gazetted, there is vast difference in the recruitment process and also in the duties and responsibilities. ASP is a Circle Cadre and the recruitment is made at Circle level by way of promotion from IP cadre based on the Circle Gradation list of IPs within the Circle. Whereas, PS Group-B is an All India cadre and the recruitment is made as explained in para-6. Now after the introduction of MACP, ASPs are drawing the same PB and GP as that of PS Group B after the 3rd MACP and in a Postal/RMS Division, this is causing much administrative inconvenience as ASPs attached to Postal/RMS Divisions and drawing equal PB and GP are supervised and their APARs are prepared by PS Group B Officers. Due to this situation, ASPs are reluctant to assume the higher responsibilities of PS Group B since there is no financial advantage to them.

8.7 In the case of Higher Selection Grade-I Postal/Sorting Assistants (Non- Gazetted Group-B), as already pointed out, their cadre review has recently been completed and the same is pending with the DOPT. These recommendations, if accepted, will result in grant of higher pay to these categories of employees and this will further worsen the existing pathetic situation of PS Group B officers.

8.8 As regards Cadre Review of IPoS Group A, as already pointed out, five Cadre Reviews are already over and sixth is in the offing. A perusal of the previous cadre reviews would reveal that, on each occasion, for creating new posts in JAG and above, matching savings were made from JTS/STS cadres affecting the promotional prospects of PS Group B Officers. Due to the above position, officers in PS Group B are unable to reach the level of JTS Group A. If at all, if an officer reaches JTS Group A, his chances of getting STS is very remote, not to speak of JAG or SAG.

13 8.9 It is submitted before the Hon’ble 7th Central Pay Commission that the Department of Posts appears not seriously interested in the just demands made by this Association in the matter of Cadre Review despite repeated submissions and the recommendations of various Central Pay Commission. Since there is no immediate prospect for redressal of the above grievance by way of a cadre review, in order to mitigate the loss sustained by the PS Group B cadre due to the absence of cadre reviews, it is prayed that this fact may also be taken into consideration while deciding the Pay Structure of PS Group B. Hence, we pray

a) To provide pay equivalent to Pay Band in PB-3 with Grade Pay Rs.5400/- at the entry stage of PS Group-B and b) After four years to provide Pay equivalent to Pay Band in PB-3 with Grade Pay Rs.6600/-

9. Promotion from PS Group B should be directly to the STS Group-A instead of JTS Group A.

9.1 The PS Group B officers are positioned in Pay Band Rs. 9300-34800 with Grade Pay of Rs.4800/- Their next line of promotion is IPoS Group A in JTS which is the Pay Band Rs.15600-39100 with the Grade Pay of Rs.5400/- JTS is an entry for Direct Recruits for learning the job during Probation. So far as an Officer promoted from PS Group B is concerned, he has been doing the same work for years long and there is no need for imparting further training to him nor need he be on probation for any further period. As per the amendment to the Indian Postal Service Group A Recruitment Rules, 1997, 75% of the JTS posts are to be filled from PS Group B and 25 % by Direct Recruitment. In the case of Direct Recruits, initially, they are put on two years’ institutional and field attachment training and after successful completion of the training, they are put on two years’ probation in JTS Group A. They are granted STS Group A immediately on completion of probation. In the case of PS Group B officers, who do not require any such training are granted STS only after completion of 4 years service in JTS Group A. It is to be seen that a PS Group B officer is able to get JTS Group A only after completion of 8 to 11 years service in

14 PS Group B though the prescribed minimum service required is 3 years. The duties and responsibilities of PS Group B and JTS Group A are similar in nature. Hence, prescribing four years minimum service for getting STS for the PS Group B line officers is not needed.

9.2 As per the Indian Postal Service Group A Recruitment Rules, 1987, certain relief provisions were made in Rule-20(2) ibid, which states that the officers in PS Group A who are in the approved list of promotion to JTS and have rendered not less than seven years of approved service in Group B or higher posts may also be appointed directly to STS in an officiating capacity as a temporary measure. So in the bygone years, Group B officers used to get promotion directly to STS after seven years of service in PS Group B. The Rule was subsequently amended in the year 1994. The relevant portion of the 1987 Recruitment Rule is furnished below:

Senior Time Scale: Appointment to the Senior Time Scale in the Service shall be made by promotion of officers in the Junior Time Scale with four years regular service in that grade in the order of seniority subject to the rejection of the unfit of the recommendations of a duly constituted Departmental Promotion committee.

Provided that officers of the Postal Superintendents’ Service Group ‘B’ who are on the approved list for promotion to the Junior Time Scale and have rendered not less than 7 years total approved service in Group ‘B’ or higher posts may also be appointed to such posts in an officiating capacity on the basis of seniority as a purely temporary measure till such time officers of the Junior Time Scale are available for regular promotion to the Senior Time Scale.

The above amendment has caused undue hardship to the PS Group B Officers by depriving them the chances of getting STS promotion. Hence, it is prayed that the Hon’ble Pay Commission may consider our following legitimate demand:

a) To place the PS Group B officers on their promotion to Group A directly in STS Pay equivalent to the Pay Band of Rs.15600-39100 with Grade Pay Rs.6600/-

15 b) To grant non-functional pay equivalent to the Pay Band of Rs.15600- 39100 with Grade Pay Rs.7600/- on completion of four years in STS.

10. Regarding the other issues of general nature, we endorse the views expressed by Confederation of Central Government Gazetted Officers Organization in their Memorandum submitted to the Hon’ble Pay Commission on 30.6.2014, a copy of which is annexed to this memorandum.

(C.R.Ramakrishnan) Secretary Thiruvananthapuram For and on behalf of 28.07.2014 Postal Officers Association (India) Kerala Circle, Thiruvananthapuram

16 Postal Officers’ Association (India) Kerala Circle President Secretary Treasurer M.Mohandas C.R.Ramakrishnan K.V.Vijayakumar Sr. Supdt of Post Offices Sr. Supdt of Post Offices Asst. Postmaster General Kollam Division Thiruvananthapuram North (Staff & Vig) Kollam 691001 Division Office of the CPMG Thiruvananthapuram 695001 Kerala Circle Thiruvananthapuram 695033 [email protected] [email protected] 9447210634 9446032688 9446395344

No. POA/Kerala/Gnl Dated 28th July 2014

Ms. Meena Agarwal, The Member Secretary Seventh Central Pay Commission Post Box No. 4599 Hause khas PO New Delhi 110 016.

Sub:- Submission of Memorandum to the Seventh Central Pay Commission.

***** Madam

We, on behalf of Postal Officers Association (India), Kerala Circle hereby submit the memorandum for consideration of the 7th Central Pay Commission. We request the Commission to give us an opportunity for an oral deposition before the Commission in support of our Memorandum and to respond to the points to be placed before the Commission by the Government. We do hope that our above request and submissions made in the Memorandum would receive due consideration of the Commission.

Thanking you Yours faithfully

(C.R.Ramakrishnan) Secretary Thiruvananthapuram For and on behalf of 28.07-2014 Postal Officers Association (India) Kerala Circle, Thiruvananthapuram