Most respectfully we are submitting herewith a memorandum on most urgent and pressing problems of the Gramin Dak Sevak employees for your kind perusal.
The Department of Posts is the only department of the Government of India where there is a special category of employees working called Gramin Dak Sevaks. In fact the Gramin Dak Sevaks are the backbone of the postal department. The postal functions rendered at the nook and corner villages of the country covering 74% of population by the Gramin Dak Sevaks are of high order and quality. Almost every postal service i.e. M.N.R.E.G.S., Postal Life Insurance ( P.L.I/R.P.L.I) old age pension is provided in one or the other way at the Branch offices manned by the Gramin Dak Sevaks. The GDS officials are working more than ten hours a day to serve effectively to the villagers. But they are getting wages only for three to five hours work. Unfortunately, most of the facilities granted by the department to the departmental employees are denied to these low paid poor employees where as the duties, services, functions, risks and responsibilities of the G.D.S employees are similar and equal to those of departmental employees. Unlike other Bureaucratic committees, the independent committee headed by a retired Justice Charanjit Talwar had studied the service conditions of GDS, traveling length and breadth, and recommended all benefits due at par with Departmental staff but unfortunately the same were not implemented by the then Govt. in 1999. A few benefits were extended to them, that too with the same tradition of continuing exploitative policies. In fact the recommendations were based on rational and justified reasoning!
We, on behalf of the three lakh GDS employees urge your goodself to take necessary action to grant status/Regularisation as Government servant to GDS employees as recommended by Justice Talwar Committee. The Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in its landmark judgment dated 22-04-1977 held that the Extra Departmental agents (now Gramin Dak Sevaks) are holders of civil post.
We are submitting herewith a short note on most urgent and pressing problems of the Gramin Dak Sevaks who are the subjected to discrimination and exploitation.
1. Gross injustice and discrimination has been done to Gramin Dak Sevak employees by denying Bonus ceiling of Rs.3500/-, at par with Departmental staff. Bonus ceiling to GDS may be Rs.3500/- without any discrimination, please consider.
2. Removal of tightening of norms for GDSBPMs, Rs.20,000/- Cash handling per point is unreasonable. Hither to Rs.1000/- per point for Cash handling was in force. Similarly no norm is fixed for transactions done under MNREGS up to 20 transactions, Stamps sales norms Rs.900/- is unreasonable against the present Rs.45/- etc. Immediate review is requested as the most exploited GDS staff are subjected to much harassment. Their pay should be on the basis of minimum hours of attendance like Departmental staff, not on the basis of workload assessed unscientifically and irrationally.
3. Pay revision is always UPWARDS, but in case of many GDS downward revision has taken place and recoveries are ordered on the plea of wrong fixation. This is because of reading the rules and instructions in between the lines by local level officers/Audit officers. Pay hike is not as simple as assured to Departmental staff, utter discrimination towards HAVE NOTS.
4. Snatching away 25% of Promotional avenues of GDS employees against the prevailing rules, convention and practice. GDS officials are treated as outsiders for all purposes and their promotion is treated as DIRECT RECRUITMENT. Practice and pre-existing rules and norms for absorption of GDS in the department is logical and reasonable. Hence we request your kind honour to intervene in the matter. The ideal should be to systematically absorb the GDS into department by various method of DEPARTMENTALISATION, SO WE CRAVE FOR YOUR KIND INDULGENCE.
5. Hither to Compassionate appointment to the wards of GDS have been given as a welfare measure, without any condition or restrictions. Imposing unethical and unreasonable conditions and norms prescribed recently is against the principles of natural justice and law of the land. Introduction of irrational and unscientific methods to assess indigent circumstances of the family are quite unreasonable and unjust. Please look into this issue objectively and compassionately. Further no compassion is shown in respect of cases of physical disability/incapacity of GDS who toil for the department and the rural people unlike departmental staff. This facility is a mere gesture of humane approach towards.
6. The appointment of GDS employees in urban areas is itself a misnomer as the very name indicates that such employees are to be employed in rural areas only. Such GDS are deprived of HRA, CCA, Transport allowance etc., as the cost of living and transport, education, medical etc., are higher in metro and urban areas. Such employees need to be compensated adequately by extending all benefits that are given to regular employees. As regards urban area there are already recommendations not to appoint GDS. However appointment of GDS continued in clear violation of these principles. It is now requested that existing GDS in urban areas should be regularized as departmental staff and there should be no more employment of GDS in metro/urban areas.
7. The Departmental of Posts revised the then existing "Department of Posts E.D Agents (Conduct & Service) Rules 1964" as Department of Posts G.D.S. (Conduct & Employment) Rules 2001" after the partial and truncated implementation of the recommendations of Justice Talwar Committee. Since this was an obvious attempt of substitute the 'service' of the ED employees to mere'employment' in order to obviate the recommendations of Justice Talwar Committee, we had registered our strong reservation and protest to this change, but the department chose to hang on to its decision.
We, therefore, request you kindly to consider the case keeping in view the Judgement of the Supreme Court and issue necessary orders to withdraw the amendment. We would further request you kindly restore the 1964 Conduct & Service Rules.
