MINUTES OF THE 10TH NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF THE FCI OFFICERS ASSOCIATION held on 11th June 2011 at New Delhi
The 10th National Conference of the FCI Officers Association was held on 11th June 2011, at FCI Hqrs Auditorium. It was attended by officers of FCI from all over India.
The house welcomed back Sh. S.P. Kar, who has joined back to FCI from his deputation. The house also expressed it sadness at the parting of S. J.S. Tuli from active membership on account of his superannuation on 30th June, 2011.
Officers from different parts of the Country expressed their views on various issues. They desired that the pending issues like pension scheme, post-retirement medical scheme, upgradation of pay-scales, revision of scales for Doctors, revision of existing benevolent fund scheme etc. may be taken up immediately. They also specially thanked Sh. Tuli for steering the Association to its present state.
In his final address as the General Secretary, Sh. Tuli recalled the progression of the Association in the past 15 years. He also recalled the efforts made during the last four years in making the Association a recognised force, both with the FCI Management as well as with the general PSU hierarchy. He particularly expressed his happiness on the fact that now the FCI management also gives credence to the Association instead of earlier practice of consulting only the Unions. He emphasised the fact that in terms of pure increase in pay, the officers of FCI has got one of the best revision benefits among all PSUs, as the Association managed to get not only revision of pay but also maximum possible fringe benefits as per DPE guidelines. In fact, they pay of Officers of FCI have practically doubled between Aug 2009 (before revision of scales) and Oct 2010 (after revision of allowances). He also specially thanked both the Staff Unions, their respective general secretaries, Sh. M.C. Tyagi and Sh. Vinod Kumar, as well as some of the senior persons of FCI and the Ministry, including Sh. Anup Kumar, IAS, without whose help this would not have been possible. He dispelled any notion that the benefits were automatically due to FCI officers. He informed that from the level of AS&FA, Secretary(Food) and MoS, all had recommended only 30% fringe benefits and only due to the appeal made to the good offices of the then Food Minister, it was revised to 40%. He also referred to the increase in the entitlement of lease accommodation to at par with other PSUs. He further informed that FCI is the only subsidy based/non-profit CPSE where full benefits of pay revision has been extended and in all other such organisations either pay-revision itself is pending or fringe benefits have not been extended in full. He also informed that the ground work for getting the Association registered under the Societies Act have been completed and hoped that the new General Secretary would complete the process. He called upon the younger generation of officers to come forward and take up the mantle to carry the Association forward. He agreed that there is a fear of retribution that may be preventing younger officers from active participation. He proposed that a special fund be created for this purpose to help the families of any officers against whom any action is taken by the management on account of his actions as part of the Association. He detailed the issues that are still pending and hoped that the future leadership of the Association would achieve them.
In his address, Sh. S.S. Bhatoa, President FCIOA, expressed happiness at the achievements of the Association during the last two years. At the same time he emphasised the need to be united and focused to continue to build upon what has already been achieved. He also called upon all officers to come forward and take active participation in the Association so that it could become more broad-based. He also expressed his happiness over the way the National Committee, with Sh. Tuli in the forefront, has worked as a coherent team to achieve the common benefits of the officers.
Sh. S. Ghosh, Finance Secretary, submitted the Income and Expenditure Statement for the period since the 9th National Conference.
The following resolutions were passed by the house,
1. The Association would continue to work towards the common goals and benefits of all officers of FCI, both present as well as past. For this purpose, the Association shall work closely with all interest groups, including both the Staff Unions.
2. An active Regional Committee of the Association shall be set up at all the Regions. For this purpose, the senior-most FCI officer posted in that Zone shall be nominated as the Regional President.
3. The Association would take up with the management all the pending issues particularly those relating to revision of pay of Doctors, implementation of the pension scheme already approved by the FCI BoD, implementation of employer funded post-retirement medical benefit scheme, revision of other benefits like benevolent fund, house building advance, calamity advance/grant etc.
4. The Association would take up with the management the need for creation of merit based fast-track promotion avenues to existing Cat.II officers by way of creation of a quota for Direct Recruitment through departmental exam.
5. The Association would take up with the management the need for review of the existing educational and experience criteria of direct recruitment in Cat.I posts so that the internal candidates are not put at a disadvantage vis-a-vis external candidates, particularly from the private sector.
6. The Association would take up with the management the need to have uniform quota for Direct Recruitment at Manager, AGM and DGM levels.
7. The Association would take up with the management the need to revert to rota-quota based system of fixing of All India seniority of Managers in place of existing procedure based on joining date which puts all officers of an entire Zone at a disadvantage in case the DPC of that Zone is delayed.
8. A Support Fund would be set up to take care of the families of any officers against whom any action is taken by the management on account of his actions as part of the Association. A one time contribution of Rs.1000 shall be made by each officer towards this fund.
As per standard procedure, the existing Committee tendered their resignation and Sh. S.P. Kar was appointed the convener for the process of election of the new National Committee. While the house wanted Sh. Tuli to continue as General Secretary even after his retirement, it respected his decision not to offer himself for re-election. However, the house requested for his continued guidance as the patron of the Association, which he agreed to.
The house elected the following committee,
1. Sh. S. S. Bhatoa, President
2. Sh. Surinder Singh, Sr. Working President
3. Sh. B. S. Mohapatra, Sr. Working President
4. Sh. A. K. Bhattacharya, Working President
5. Smt. Seema Kakkar, Working President
6. Sh. O. P. Dani, Sr. Vice President
7. Sh. R. P. Singh, Sr. Vice President
8. Sh. M. S. Bhullar, General Secretary
9. Sh. S. Ghosh, Finance Secretary
The house also authorised the President to co-opt other members of the National Committee and the Executive Committee.
The meeting ended with a vote of thanks.