The Hindu : Changes in pension benefits of transport staff stayed

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, May 26, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Tamil Nadu

Changes in pension benefits of transport staff stayed

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI MAY 25. An order by the Administrator of the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation Employees' Pension Fund Trust, seeking to introduce certain controversial changes in the pensionary benefits of transport employees, has been stayed by the Madras High Court. Justice P. Sathasivam granted the interim injunction on Tuesday, restraining the Administrator from giving effect to his May 2 letter which sought to increase an employee's pensionable service period from the existing 30 years to 33, and to take into account the average of the last 10 months salary as pension instead of the existing `last drawn pay' method.

(On March 20, the Government issued a set of directives to the heads of various departments and corporations asking them to implement its orders proposing to pay 50 per cent of the PF in small savings certificate with a maturity period of three years to employees retiring after March 30, to enhance the pensionable service period from 30 to 33 years, and to take the last 10 months salary average for computing the quantum of pension instead of paying the last drawn salary.

After many departments started giving effect to the orders individually, various trade unions approached the High Court and obtained stay insofar as the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board and Metrowater were concerned. The Transport Corporations themselves have already been restrained from withholding the full gratuity. A separate petition, filed by the Government employees association, challenging the same set of GOs, has been admitted by the Tamil Nadu Administrative Tribunal. The Tribunal, however, has not granted any interim relief to the petitioner-association. The Madras High Court Employees Association has also approached the High Court challenging the GOs. Both these petitions have been posted after summer vacation for hearing.

In his present petition, the CITU-affiliated Tamil Nadu State Transport Workers Federation general secretary, A. Soundararajan, said the transport corporations should not have adopted the Gos, as a separate entity, TN State Transport Corporations Employees Pension Fund, was already in place to take care of the pension matters of transport staff. Functional since September 1998, the Trust was formed with contributions from employees and was being managed jointly by the Government and representatives from the Corporation and workers' union.

In October 2001, the trust claimed Rs. 340.92 crores from the Regional Provident Fund Commissioner.

As it had been specifically stated that any amendment to the Rules should be made by the Board of Trustees and not by anyone else, and that the employees' option for the pension scheme was final, it was a `concluded contract' where neither the Government nor the transport corporations had any authority to interfere, Mr. Soundararajan contended.

Moreoever, the amendments pertaining to the pensionable service period and the commutation of the quantum of the pension was never placed before the Trust's Board for approval, he said.

Meanwhile, the AITUC-affiliated TN State Transport Corporation Employees Federation has also obtained an interim injunction restraining the Transport Department and Corporation authorities from withholding the payment of 50 per cent of the gratuity to employees retiring after March 30.

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