Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Update on Recent Developments

Posted by Secretary General on 1/15/2013 12:50:00 PM with No comments

        Office Bearers of the  constituents of the Joint Action Committee of Associations of Officers and Staff in the CBEC were invited to a meeting by the Member (P&V)  in New Delhi on 10.01.2013. AICEIA was represented in the same by the President and SG. The DGHRD, CBEC was also present in the meeting. Discussions  were centered around  the JAC Charter of Demands . Explanatory notes on the same had already been communicated to the Board. The JAC representatives articulated the aspirations of the respective cadres and put forth suggestions on how the same could be realistically met. The Official side is seized of the matter and has assured expeditious action in that direction.

      CBEC has returned the CR proposal  along with reply to all queries  and justifications for  functional  requirements to the DoP&T ,  where more than a dozen such proposals from various Departments are reportedly stuck, in view of the uncertainty surrounding  Austerity Measures announced by the MoF. Unless exceptions to those are made by the GoI, all CR proposals including ours remain stalled.   Meanwhile, it is learnt that on 11.1.13  the Board has  made a presentation on the CR proposals to the Finance Minister.  

      During the last week the AICEIA has made detailed submissions, in writing, and in person, to the Member(P&V), the DGHRD and the ADG(HRM) on its demand to upgrade as Superintendents all Inspectors of Central Excise who have completed the Residency period of 8 years of service . We are hopeful that the same will be considered soon. In fact indications are that a scheme for granting in-situ promotion to Inspectors  on length of service basis (as different from availability of vacancies condition) is under active consideration. We are in the process of communicating to the Board that any such scheme should also address present regional disparities, subsequent fixation of seniority in the Gr B Gazetted cadre, alleviate stagnation for good, and other such considerations.

      The Member(P&V)  and DGHRD have also been fully apprised of the problems being faced by Inspectors seeking transfer to a different Cadre Control Zone, on account of stringent conditions imposed by the Board and appropriate relaxations have been  sought again by the Assn. It was informed that the Board had considered the same in light of our earlier submissions, but not accepted it especially in view of  issues involving allotment of candidates to different  Zones being made by SSC, who have very serious reservations on dispensing with the condition precedent  of completion of probation to consider any such application for transfer. However, on our repeated requests,  the Member(P&V) relented and agreed to reconsider the entire  issue. We have accordingly resubmitted our representation.

     Further, the issues of divergent practices being followed in working hours of different Air Cargo Complexes (point concerning ACC Bangalore particularly raised by the Karnataka Circle of the AICEIA ),  problems faced by Inspectors assigned duties to exercise  physical control over cigarette factories etc.  (points raised by Chandigarh and Indore units of  AICEIA) too were highlighted in the meeting. 
    
       Hearing in  the  case  seeking  notional fixation of pay of Inspectors wef  1.1.1996   in Mumbai CAT was fixed for last month,  but it was adjourned in view of the appeal in High Court of Bombay in the case on same issue  on which litigation was  successfully initiated by IT Assn. coming up for hearing on 23.01.2013. The next hearing for our case in CAT is scheduled for 7th Feb’13.

Ajit Kumar K G 
Secretary General    

Saturday, January 12, 2013

AICEIA Circular 01/13

Posted by Secretary General on 1/12/2013 04:28:00 PM with No comments

CIRCULAR  01/2013

Dated 07.01.2013


 The Seventeenth Convention of the All India Central Excise Inspectors’ Association was held at Patna on the 16th and 17th of December 2012. The AICEIA congratulates the Patna  Circle (Bihar and Jharkhand)for hosting a very successful Convention and thanks them for  the excellent arrangements they had made for the meeting as well as for the generous hospitality extended to all participating delegates.

                  The Open Session was held on 16.12.2012 and the Speaker of the Bihar Vidhan Sabha  Shri Uday Narayan Choudhary inaugurated the Convention.
 
                   Following this the Closed Sessions were held over  two days . The Action Taken Report, Accounts for the period following the XVIth Convention held at Bangalore in June’11, Elections to form a new Central Committee, Resolutions sponsored by various Circles and Branches, and  Amendments to the Constitution were the major subjects on which the delegates to the Convention deliberated in detail and important decisions were taken.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE PATNA CONVENTION
HELD ON  16TH AND 17TH DEC.2012

  • As many as 78 delegates from 25  Circles/Branches attended the Convention.
  • The Convention unanimously resolved to fight for early implementation of Cadre Restructuring under the banner of JAC.
  • Decided to actively make use of the Grievance Redressal Mechanism  set up at the level of CCA and Commissionerates for settlement of disputes. 
  • The meeting also resolved to fight for MACP benefits to all eligible Inspectors and early issuance of order for fixation of their initial pay.
  • Further decisions include the active persuasion of the cases for notional fixation wef 1.1.1996 and grant of GP of Rs.5,400/- pending in CAT and SC.
  • Also decided to actively pursue time bound upgradation of Inspectors and to evolve base cadre seniority to remove regional disparity and stagnation.
  • Decided to continue to pursue the formation of a common platform with Superintendents’ Association for making united demands.
  • CBEC to be pursued for easing conditions and  considering the ICT applications expeditiously.  
  • Constitution of AICEIA amended to expand the definition of Branch, delete the provision for Advisor and increase in membership subscription amount from Rs.40/- to Rs.60/ per month, w.e.f April 2013, and enhancement of the Central Body’s share from one-fourth to one-third. 
  • Massive drive to be undertaken for increase in membership with the help of Zonal office bearers of the AICEIA.
Office bearers of the
All India Central Excise Inspectors’ Association 
elected during XVIIth   Convention of the AICEIA
 held at Patna.

President                                      : A.Satish (Kolkata ) 09007862121
                                                        satish1971a@yahoo.com

Working President                        :Samir Kumar Sinha (Patna) 09431079724
                                                      samirksinha72@yahoo.com

Vice President (North)                 : Abhay Singh (Rajasthan) 09414202902 
                                                      aabhay_singh@rediffmail.com

Vice President (Central)              : Kumar Shivam (Patna) 08987566203

Vice President (East)                      : Pradip Banerjee (West Bengal) 09831647206                  
                                                        banerjee_pradipkumar@rediffmail.com

Vice President (West)                  : Sanjay Srinivasan (Pune) 09011044911
                                                        ssanjay6@gmail.com

Vice President (South)                 : C.G.Prabhu (Karnataka) 09448753764 
                                                        prabhucg64@gmail.com

Secretary General                        : Ajit Kumar K.G. (Raipur) )09826193027
                                                         ajitkgbhilai@gmail.com

Assistant Secretary General        :E.Samy (Madurai) 09360314764  
                                                          esamy@rediffmail.com

Liaison Secretary                           : Shishir Kumar Agnihotri (Mumbai) 09820924001    
                                                         skagnihotri@hotmail.com

Organizing Secretary                 :H.S.Bajaj (Delhi) 08527880241
                                                           harjindersingh.1964@yahoo.com

Joint Secretary (North)                : A.I.Abbasi (Lucknow) 09415081061
                                                         abbasi.anwar@ymail.com

Joint Secretary (Central)             : Vinod Sharma (Indore) 09826370922
                                                          vin_sha@rediffmail.com

Joint Secretary (East)                  : Sukanta Kumar Raut (Bhubaneshwar) 09438298741
                                                          rout.sukanta@gmail.com

Joint Secretary (West)              :Dilip J Pandya (Rajkot)  09428231609
                                                           pandyadilip90@yahoo.com

Joint Secretary (South)                 : C.J.Thomas (Kerala) 09847020730
                                                          cj.thomas@rediffmail.com

Treasurer (nominated)                : Ashish Biswas (Raipur)  09826960962 
                                                         ashishbp.biswas@gmail.com

                   The focus of this Association in the first quarter of 2013 has to be to strengthen organization at all levels, augment membership, get elections held in all Circles/Branches wherever they have become due, and of course pursue with the CBEC and the Government the various issues hanging fire since long.

          In this direction the Organizing Secretary, the  Zonal Vice Presidents and the Zonal Joint Secretaries have to play  very significant roles in contacting  regional Office Bearers, undertaking tours to reach out to the last posts and bring into our fold those who are yet unaware of the Association’s role in the scheme of things. Regular communication through mail, telephone and  personal interaction would be essential  to achieve this.  The Organising Secretary has his job cut out: first and foremost, as assured by him to the Convention, he has to undertake a massive membership drive in  Delhi Circle, ensure that fair and free elections are held by mid-February to elect a new  AICEIA  Delhi Circle Committee, collection of DDO Certificates , clearing all dues from Delhi Circle to the AICEIA Central body in stipulated proportion  against all amounts collected so far from Inspectors in Delhi.  Once he has accomplished this task, the Organising Secretary has to co-ordinate with the  Presidents and  Secretaries  of all units – Circles and Branches to review and  mobilize the membership drive in every distant corner of the country. I request all  All India Office Bearers  especially  Zonal Joint Secretaries and Zonal Vice Presidents to engage with the Branch/Circle Secretaries  immediately and  make  co-ordinated and sustained efforts to strengthen the organizational base of the AICEIA and get more and more younger Inspectors involved in the Association to play an active role and take up responsible positions  at all levels in the next couple of years, lest  we be faced with a void whenever promotions are effected en-bloc.

                   Following  agitations and representations by various Staff Associations and the  the JAC, in which the AICEIA has had a prominent role to play,  the CBEC has directed  vide letter dated 07.11.2012 (copy annexed) all Chief Commissioners and Commissioners to hold regular meetings  under JCM scheme or Grievance Redressal Mechanism. A very important development in this direction is that the Board has now stated unequivocally stated that HoDs/ CCAs must ensure that meetings with recognized staff associations are held regularly and issues on which they are competent to take decisions must be taken expeditiously. Further it has been stipulated that for demands/issues that require consideration at Board level, requisite proposals may be furnished indicating the applicability of relevant Govt. instructions and the comments of the forwarding authority, and that staff representatives should invariably be kept informed of the action taken in such matters. All of us must understand that this is an achievement following a prolonged and difficult struggle, and we must make very effective use of this to advance our causes including issues having All India ramifications, since when Chief Commissioners write to the Board informing the problems being faced by the cadre across the country,  and Associations take up the matter with the Board in that backdrop, it is expected that action from the Board could be expedited.                 

                     Two most important issues all Circle Secretaries and Branch Secretaries need to address on topmost priority  are  the collection of DDO Certificates and clearance of dues to the central body. Both issues are equally important : the former to quell any doubts in any quarters about our recognition, the  latter to improve our finances  which are in very poor shape and is seriously hindering our functioning.

          It is worth remembering here  that the AICEIA had decided to fight the case in the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India when the Union of India filed Special Leave Petition  against the Order passed by the High Court of Madras in WP 13225 of 2010 filed by Shri M Subramaniam.  The matter relates to grant of NFSG  Grade Pay of Rs 5400/- to Inspectors of Central Excise on completion of four years of service after receipt of 1st ACP of Rs 4800/- GP.  AICEIA had filed Caveat in the Supreme Court on behalf of the Respondent. The SLP was heard for admission on 17.10.2011. Senior Advocate engaged by the AICEIA appeared in the Supreme Court and argued our case.  As a result, no Stay on the High Court Order was granted by the Supreme Court. However because of the Government’s plea that the decision has huge financial implications and therefore needs to have detailed arguments, the Supreme Court admitted the SLP which accordingly got converted into Civil Appeal  No. 8883 of 2011. Reply to the CA has been filed by AICEIA on behalf of the party Respondent. The Civil Appeal is yet to be listed for hearing in the Apex Court.

                   Since huge expenses are involved in engaging counsel for Supreme Court, a Legal Fund was set up by the AICEIA, for meeting costs of this case and to support other legal  issues. Contributions were sought for this and the AICEIA expresses its heartfelt gratitude for the response received to our call.   Every single contribution received towards this Fund have been duly accounted for as also expenditure from the same. Statements reflecting these details have been placed before the Central Executive Committee of the AICEIA and passed. Audited  Accounts of this Fund too were included in the Accounts presented  before and passed by the AICEIA Patna Convention .  The total amount collected in this Legal Fund was Rs 6,30,670/-. Out of this an amount of   Rs 3,17,511/- has been spent  towards fighting the  court cases that the AICEIA is pursuing.  Faced with an acute shortage of Funds  to run the organization, Rs 2,14,138/-  was withdrawn from this fund to meet routine expenses of the Association during the period April’12 to August’12. Current balance in Legal Fund is Rs 99,021/-. These audited accounts  have been duly approved by the CEC of the AICEIA at Bhubaneswar in August 2012 as well as the Convention of the AICEIA at Patna, and it has been simultaneously decided to  replenish the Legal Fund by a corresponding amount from the Association’s general fund as soon as Subscription Arrears from some units are received. The present AICEIA Committee too is determined to make good this amount, and requests co-operation from all Branches/ Circles to clear their dues at the earliest so that needful in this direction may be done as soon as possible, since very soon we will have to incur more legal expenses too, as also meet our routine costs of operation.

                   The DGHRD convened a meeting of representatives of Recognised Staff Associations of the CBEC on  21.12.2012 at New Delhi. A presentation was made in the meeting  on the  Welfare Fund  Schemes, and suggestions were invited from the Associations.  This Association’s suggestions were duly articulated and  submitted in writing too.

                   The newly elected Central Committee of the AICEIA thanks the entire cadre of Inspectors of Central Excise for the trust reposed in us, and  assure that we would not be failing in our efforts to  address issues confronting our cadre to the best of our abilities.


With Fraternal Greetings,
        -sd-
Ajit Kumar K G
Secretary General


To,
  1. The President, AICEIA, for favour of information
  2. All National Office Bearers of the AICEIA
  3. President and Secretary, All Circles/Branches/Units of the AICEIA