7th CPC: Call for removing discrepancies in pension scheme

Shivagopal Mishra, secretary of All India Railwaymen’s Federation, said on Saturday that the federation wanted the Union government to correct the shortcomings in the pension scheme and discrepancies in the recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission for railway employees. It was also opposed to any move to privatise Railways, he said.

Addressing presspersons here, Mr. Mishra said that there were nearly 2.5 lakh vacancies in Railways. Nearly 80 per cent of these vacancies were in the safety department.

This had led to an increase in work load of the existing employees.

Meanwhile, the government was taking steps to privatise railways, which was detrimental.

Already, Railways had reached an agreement with some multinational companies to manufacture railway locomotive engines.

Since there were a lot of drawbacks in the new pension scheme, the government should carry on with the old pension scheme. This should also be applicable to all those employees who joined the railways department since January 1, 2004. The discrepancies in the Seventh Pay Commission should be set right, he said.

If the Union government did not fulfill these demands by February 15, 2016, the Federation would have no other alternative but to resort to strike from the first week of March, Mr. Mishra said.

Anthony D’Cruz, General Secretary of South West Railway Mazdoor Union, Venu P. Nair, National Railway Mazdoor Union, were present.