SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, May 3: The Coal Mines Provident Fund Organization (CMPFO) will assess the perennial demands of coal pensioners over increasing pension amounts and fixing the basics of pension based on the present pay structure.
Coal Pensioners Association (CPA) president Ramanuj Prasad said that the CMPFO commissioner Samiran Dutta in a telephonic conversation assured to look into this matter in the interest of thousands of pensioners.
Samiran Dutta is in dual charge of CMPFO commissioner and chairman cum managing director of Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL).
“Association put up three demands before the commissioner for perusal. The first was to increase the pension amount from the stored money of the CMPFO. The second is to send a proposal to the ministry of coal for fixing the pension’s basic based on present basic pay. And the third demand is to deduct CMPF from outsourcing employees based on the 1956 Coal Act. The Commissioner listened to our demands patiently and said ‘dekh lunga’(see it),” claimed the CPA president.
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Ramanuj Prasad said that CMPFO gets a 3% membership contribution from the salary of working employees, Rs 10 as cess per ton of coal and 26% from the central government for the establishment of administration.
The establishment amount has accumulated over Rs 3000 crores and is lying unused in CMPFO. Its annual expenditure is merely Rs 400 to 450 crores. Moreover, the amount of coal cess is likely to increase in the next meeting of CMPFO Trustees. So, the association requested the commissioner that the pension of retired coal men could be increased from the surplus fund of CMPFO.
Prasad further clarified that 1.66% pension was fixed on maximum basic pay in 1971 when the salary pay of an area general manager was Rs 1600. As a result, the staff receive a mere Rs 26.56 as pension.
“So we urged the commissioner to send a proposal to the coal ministry for fixing 1.66% on present maximum basic pay when GM rank officers’ basic is above Rs 1 lakh,” said the CPA president.
Coal Pensioners Association has also requested the commissioner for covering outsourcing company employees under Coal Act 1956. As per the act, the CMPF would be deducted from the worker who works in the mines. But the outsourcing staff are not members of CMPFO. Outsourcing companies prefer the EPF scheme resulting in the contribution to CMPFO has declined.
