ALL INDIA POSTAL SBCO EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION
(Affiliated with National Federation of Postal Employees)
H.Q:1stFloorNorth
AvenuePost office Building,NewDelhi-110001
Camp Office: CPU, O/o the CPMG Tamilnadu Circle,
Chennai-600002
Email:jasminejalalbegam@gmail.com Blog:http://aipsbcoea.blogspot.in/
No:
AIPSBCOEA/02-2019 Dated : 28.11.2019
Bulletin 02
Dear Comrades,
HAPPY CHRISTMAS, NEW YEAR AND A TRADITIONAL SANKRANTHI
On behalf of AIPSBCOEA , I wish all our comrades a very happy
“Christmas”, “New year” and a very traditional, cultural and prosperous “Sankranthi”
greetings.
I request all our members to participate in the one day Nation wide strike on 8.1.20 for all the charter of demands placed before
the Government. I am sure the “New Pension Scheme” will be scrapped off and all
our young comrades too will be covered under the “Old Pension Scheme” very soon
which is their Right. No struggle has faced Failure. Very happy that our
Association was a part of history of struggle and will be a part of all the
struggles programmes in the future too. Once again wishes to all the comrades
for going to make the 1 day strike a Grand Success.
“We realize the
importance of ‘democratic rights’ when they are taken away. During the
emergency, people realized that ‘something’ was snatched”.
But in
contradiction, now we feel that all the democratic rights of the employees and
workers of the country are being snatched away one by one. What had not been
done earlier especially before 2014 are now being implemented gradually and
almost all the Central Govt. establishments are heading towards corporatization
and privatization including the Department of Posts and the benefits which we
were / are enjoying as the Central Govt. employees and workers are being
snatched away one after another. As if there is an undeclared emergency.
Attack on
Central Govt. Organisation and its employees specially for Department of
Posts introducing Task Force Committee report, non filling vacacnt posts,
imposition of FR-56(J) and change of labour laws including New Wages Bill
2019
The Govt. has accelerated its arbitrary
move for corporatizing the Central Govt.
establishments including Wage Bill 2019 and amendment in Labour laws
undermining the rights of the employees and workers but favouring the
employers and corporate world to kill and snatch the rights of the Central
Govt. employees which were gained by them through struggles.
The CCGE&W has decided to protest the
anti-employees movement of the Central Govt. and will serve the notice to
Cabinet Secretary on 12th Dec 2019 for call on One Day Nationwide
Strike on 8th Jan ‘2019 including mass Dharna at all
State/Distt./Divisional Headquarters on 20th Dec. 2019 for
settlement of our 10 points charter of demands.
Remember, all our existing benefits &
rights are achieved through struggles and sacrifices only.
No Strike action will go
in vain!
No sacrifice will go in
vain!
We will fight and we will
Win!
Scrap NPS and restore
OPS!
10 Points
Charter of Demands are as under:-
1. Scrap
New Contributory Pension schem (NPS). Restore Old defined benefit Pension
Scheme (OPS) to all employees. Guarantee 50% of the last pay drawn as Minimum
Pension.
2. Honour
assurance given by Group of Ministers (GoM) to NJCA leaders on 30.06.2016.
Increase Minimum Pay and Fitment formula. Withdraw the proposed move to
modify the existing time-tested methodology for calculation of Minimum wage.
Grant HRA arrears from 01.01.2016. Withdraw “Very Good” bench mark for MACP,
Grant promotional hierarchy and date of effect from 01.01.2016. Grant
Option-I parity recommended by 7th CPC to all Central Govt.
Pensioners. Settle all anomalies arising out of 7th CPC
implemention.
3. Stop
corporatization/privatization of Railways, Defence and Postal Departments.
Withdraw closure orders of Govt. of India Printing Presses. Stop proposed
move to close down Salt Department. Stop closure of Govt. establishments and
outsourcing.
4. Fill
up all six lakhs vacant posts in the Central Government Departments in a time
bound manner. Reintroduce Regional Recruitment for Group B &C Posts.
5. (a)
Regularisation of Gramin Dak Sevaks and grant of Civil servant status.
Implement remaining positive recommendations of Kamalesh Chandra Committee
report.
(b)
Regularise all casual and contract workers including those joined on or after
01.09.1993.
6. Ensure equal pay for equal work for all.
Remove disparity in pay scales between Central Secretariat staff and
similarly placed staff working in field units of various departments.
7. Implement 7th CPC Wage Revision
and Pension revision of remaining Autonomous
bodies.Ensure payment of arrears
without further delay. Grant Bonus to
Autonomous body employees pending
from 2016-2017 onwards.
8. Remove 5% condition imposed on compassionate
appointments. Grant
appointment in all eligible cases.
9. Grant five time bound promotions to
all Group B & C employees. Complete
Cadre Review in all departments within a
time-frame.
10. (a) Withdraw the anti-worker wage/labour
codes and other anti-worker
Labour reforms. Stop attack on trade union
rights. Ensure prompt functioning of
various negotiating forums under
the JCM Scheme at all levels.
(b) Withdraw the draconian FR 56 (j) and
Rule 48 CCS (Pension Rules 1972).
SBCO
AFFAIRS:
A letter was
written by AIPSBCOEA CHQ regarding harassment of SBCO staff by entrusting the
work of FRMU Alert:
Ref. No.:
AIPSBCOEA/CHQ/FRMU/2019
Dated- 28.08.2019
To
The Secretary,
Department of Posts,
Dak Bhawan, Sansad Marg,
New Delhi – 110 001.
Sub: - Dispensing of FRMU alert work from SBCO -
regarding.
Ref: - (i)
Association letter No. AIPSBCOEA/CHQ/FRMU/20019 Dated 19.3.2019
(II) Directorate letter No.F.1-3/2017-PCO/PMLA
Dated 15.4.2019
Our
Association would like
to bring to the kind
notice of the
references as above in
which reply was
given to the
association that the
circles have been
asked to strengthen
the circle FRMU/AML unit
by posting Inspectors/Asp and staff at a Central
location for checking
alerts and that there
is no specific order
from Directorate relating
to any other
staff. But when
this is being
implemented at Division
level it is
cited that as per
the Directorate letter No.
17-15/2016-Inv dated 8.5.2019
regarding SOP for
processing FRMU alerts it
is stated that
the SBCO Supervisor
to do the
following checks.
1.
Cross verify
with the closure
voucher (SB-7A)
2.
Verify the Signature using
IES Menu in Finacle
3.
Check the CIF modification details using
HAFI menu of Finacle
4.
For subsequent accounts, check with AOF/SB-3
form.
The above 4
points mentioned for the SBCO supervisor to verify is not in the SB control
procedure and moreover the work which
is already being carried out in SBCO as 100% checking of vouchers by PAs and 5% verification done by the supervisor
SBCO. All closures including PMCs are checked as a part of duty by the SBCO
branch. As per the above points it is duplication of work which will cause
wastage of time and manpower to check the same work again as of now all SBCO
units are suffering from acute shortage of staff and regular supervisor are
very few. It will moreover accumulate pending of voucher checking at SBCO
branch.
The real
purpose of FRMU will serve unless and until the depositors are personally met
with by the investigating/field officers and SBCO is not a investigation
branch also. It is therefore kindly requested to dispense the above work
mentioned as per the Directorate letter No. 17-15/2016-Inv dated 8.5.2019
regarding SOP for processing FRMU alerts which is an extra burden on SBCO.
With
Regards,
Yours Sincerely,
Sd-
(SHP.
Jasmine Jalal Begam)
General Secretary
|
A
Letter was written by the All India CHQ regarding the Directorate letter
mentioned below in the reference (Input/Suggestion for Prevention of Fraud)
asking SBCO to view the signature and closure PBs:
Ref. No.:
AIPSBCOEA/CHQ/ Input/Suggestion on prevention of Fraud/2019 dated- 16.9.19 .
To
The Secretary,
Department of Posts,
Dak Bhawan, Sansad Marg,
New Delhi – 110 001.
Sub: Submission of Input/Suggestion on Prevention of Frauds reg…
Ref: No.25-11/2016-FS-CBS,Govt of India, Ministry
of Communication,
Department of Post(F.S Division)
dated 11.9.19 at Dak Bhawan
New Delhi- 110 001.
Sir,
Input/Suggestion
on prevention of frauds in CBS Post Offices:
In the recent
memo No.25-11/2016-FS-CBS,Govt of India, Ministry of Communication,
Department of
Post(F.S Division) dated 11.9.19 at Dak Bhawan New Delhi-110 001 regarding
input /suggestion on prevention of frauds in CBS Post Offices, the third point
is about Signature checking of all closed accounts by SBCO in Finacle.
The duties of
SBCO are already well defined in Manual for SB Control,
Pairing & amp; ICO Procedure.Accordingly the SBCO staff are exercising the
decentralized Audit & Accounts duties and their work actually starts
after accounting of the transactions. SBCO has to exercise the Audit work, (ie)
thorough checking of all the mandatory items by doing 100% voucher checking
including all closures as per control procedure laid down for SBCO and the SB
ORDER 14/2015 and the Addendums w.r.t the AOF forms/SB-3 cards for signature of
depositors.
But, checking
the signature in Finacle is not laid down in the Control Procedure of SBCO and
it is irrelevant to SBCO where as it is a prime duty on the part of the counter staff and APM only before effecting payment of amount to the depositor to prevent
Fraud.
The second
point in the memo number mentioned above regarding sending of closure passbooks
to SBCO along with the closure form SB-7A will not prevent fraud in any way as Pass
book is not mandatory for doing transactions across the counter in CBS
environment. The entries are not being made at regular
intervals in the PBs vide the printers and only manual entries are made by
posting the last transaction along with the BAT in the PB. Also nowadays amount
can not only be withdrawn through ATMs but also closed, transferred from POSB
to IPPB and from IPPB to any other bank account
without passbook.
Closure of
accounts may be done with Aadhar enabled verification (finger print
matching/Irish matching).The customers those who are unable to come to post
offices may be given door step service for Aadhaar enabled verification with
service charge. If door step service cannot be provided then inspecting
officers may verify the genuineness by meeting the customers personally.
It is irony
that the objection memos raised by SBCO must be paid serious attention and be
settled without delay in Post offices which is the responsibility of the
concerned postmasters as mentioned in the SB ORDER 14/2015 but, it is not
adhered to. Instead reports are being asked from SBCO for early settlement of
the same which is another reason for occurrence of frauds.
There is acute
shortage of manpower at every level right from MTS to PA cadre which is the
main reason of occurrence of frauds. The
work of two to three PAs are done by a
singe SBCO PA in most of the units and almost all H.Os are running without the
supervisors except very few which are
managed by the junior officials who have just entered the department. The
Association has already written letter regarding cadre restructuring to SBCO
cadre to solve ths problem vide Ref. No: AIPSBCOEA/CHQ/Ca dre restructure/2019 Dated- 28.08.2019. The shortage of manpower
is experienced at the level of the
General line PAs also which pave way to the persons who do frauds intentionally
and make the innocent officials the
scalp goats. A drive for recruitment may be conducted and vacancies may be
filled upto the sanctioned strength as a one time measure.
The Silent
revival (revival of dormant accounts) ,freezing and unfreezing of a/cs with heavy amounts and exceeding the
prescribed limits, transfers of sols, closures of B.Os / Single handed SOs accounts , issue of duplicate Passbooks,
issue of ATM cards , issue of cheque books
may be sent to the concerned H.Os for doing the same after verification
by two Supervisors(APMs). A separate PA may be spared for the same like that done for the claim sanction cases as of now.
The higher
value verification memos to be prepared every day at the SB branch and sent to
the inspecting authorities who should verify the genuineness on daily basis by meeting the depositors personally and report the same.
Our Association
would like to bring to the kind notice of the administration that prevention of
Frauds can be done only by evolving necessary some additional ways and means at counter
level before effecting payment of amount
to the customer and by entrusting the verification of genuineness of payment to
the inspecting officers/field officers by visiting the depositors
personally.
It is requested
that the suggestions given above may be
taken into consideration so that the
Frauds can be prevented to some extent
as the same have been heeped in crores of amount after implementation of Finacle and CBS in
savings bank comparatively more than when sanjay post was in usage. Hence the
infrastructure and technology may be improved in such a way that except the
depositor nobody can withdraw his money by linking Aadhaar , SMS alerts,OTP
generation for closures and by making photograph of depositor mandatory which
should be scanned for identification during payment of money at the counter.
The Biometric method of payment was already suggested by our Association in the
meeting under the chairmanship of Member(T)
dated 1.3.17 which was the first
item in the 25 charter of demands and the minutes was received for the same by
21.4.2017 in which the suggestion was not taken into account. Atleast now the
same may be implemented to prevent the fraud upto 90% by biometric method.
SBCO section is
responsible for its routine work of audit nature only (ie) downloading the
datas from Finacle and finding out any violation of prescribed rules while
carrying out voucher checking with
utmost concentration and raising of objections if needed.
The term AUDIT
defines “an official inspection of an organizations account by an independent
body and it cannot be expected to detect every fraud”.
The SBCO wing
is doing the Audit work and hence may not be fixed as the co-offenders or sub-offenders which is
against justice of nature as SBCO officials are in no way connected with the
monetary transactions taking place
across the counter directly.Many innocent SBCO officials are already being
pulled inside the trap by some way or another and penalized with the recovery
under contributory negligence , hence it is requested that the act of injustice needed to be stopped immediately. The
verification of signature in finacle and
giving the closed passbooks to SBCO will not prevent frauds instead it
will pave way to penalize the SBCO officials who are already over burdened with
work done by SOSB, Sub accounts, CC bridge , vide many orders issued day by
day. It is therefore requested that instead of issuing some orders day by day a
meeting may be called for with the concerned branches with their
representatives along with the technology team to sit and discuss the ground
reality and follow the measures which will be suggested by them.
The FRMU alert
verification is also entrusted to SBCO which is an additional work and it is
already emphasized by the Association that the same may be verified by the
inspecting/investigating authorities or by a centralized team at RO/CO to serve
the real purpose of prevention of Frauds vide the Association’s letter Ref.
No.: AIPSBCOEA/CHQ/FRMU/2019 dated 28.8.19.
Hence both point number 2 and 3 mentioned in the memo No.25-11/2016-FS-CBS,Govt of India,
Ministry of Communication, Department of Post(F.S Division) dated 11.9.19 at
Dak Bhawan New Delhi-110 001 regarding prevention of Frauds may please be dispensed with as it is an
extra burdern on SBCO and will only make the voucher checking pending in under
staffed situation and not prevent the Fraud. Hope the administration would
understand the core of the suggestions given by the Association and implement
it favourably for the smooth functioning of POSB and SBCO cadre.
With Regards,
Yours Sincerely, Sd-
(SHP. JASMINE JALAL BEGAM)
General Secretary
Copy To:
1. Shri.
Sachin Kishore,DDG, FS Division, Dak Bhawan, New Delhi -110001.
2.
The Assistant Director (SBPG),F.S Division Dak Bhawan ,New Delhi
-110001.
3. The
Chief Postmaster General , Tamilnadu Circle, Chennai – 600 002.
Sd-
(SHP. JASMINE JALAL BEGAM)
General Secretary
A Letter was
written by the All India CHQ regarding
the Revised Recruitement Rules for PA/SA by the Directorate:
Ref. No: AIPSBCOEA/CHQ/Recruitment Rules/2019 Dated-
20.09.2019
To,
Shri P.K. Bisoi,
Honourable Secretary,
Department of Posts,
Dak Bhawan, Sansad Marg,
New Delhi – 110 001.
Sub: -Framing
of Department of Posts (Postal Assistant and Sorting Assistant) Recruitment
Rules 2019 – Reg.
Ref:- Directorate letter F.No. 04-05/2015-SPB-I
,Government of India, Ministry of
Communications, Department of Posts,
Dak Bhawan, Sansad Marg, New Delhi,
dated 18.9.2019.
Respected Sir,
Our Association
would like to bring to the kind notice of the competent authority with
reference to the letter number cited in the above reference, regarding revision
of the recruitment rules (RRs) for appointing the Postal Assistant/Sorting
Assistant including SBCO in the Department of Posts, with the following
guidelines:
As per
Para-2(b)PA(SBCO):
(i)
There will be no further
appointment in SBCO cadre.
(ii)
Existing officials of PA(SBCO)
cadre will continue to be in PA(SBCO) Cadre till they are promoted or retired.
(iii)
All existing and consequent
vacancies of PA(SBCO) shall be added to the strength of PA of Postal Division.
(iv)
Posting of PA(SBCO) will be done
from Divisions as in Post offices.
It is
transpired from the above points that the SBCO branch under Department of Posts
is going to be abolished in due course which is completely in-contravention of
the following prescribed procedures of the CAG, Government of India.
The SBCO and
ICO(SB) branches were introduced in the Department of Posts bifurcating
from Accountant General , Posts &
Telegraph as per the order of AG P & T No.
Admn. III/5(S)4A-KWiii/2806 Dated at Simla the 31st March
1964. The aim of the bifurcation was to transfer of Audit and Accounting work
to the HPO. Since then, SBCO has been performing the Audit and Account
functions of the various SB categories of accounts involving crores of Rupees
of lacs of Depositors in HPO.
1. The
Audit function of SBCO has been mentioned clearly in 1960 under
Para-1(Preamble) of introduction POSSS Part-IV by A.N. Dureja authorized by the
then P & T Board.
2. The
Internal control wing which is similar to SBCO is now called as “Internal Audit
Office” as per Directorate Letter No. CIS/AU-1/101-06-07/2276 Dated 05.02.2007.
3. The
withdrawal vouchers have been checked by the SBCO staff (even now) by putting their signature in the place marked as “Auditor” on the
SB-7.(withdrawal voucher).
4. As
per the Directorate order No.97-8/95-SB Dated 12.10.1995 newly created , the
posts of Supervisor SBCO are carrying out the functions of JAO of erstwhile
Audit and Account office.
5. SBCO
has to carry out the reality check to avoid delayed detection of fraud vide the
Directorate Letter No.25-31/2017-FS-CBS Dated 19.11.2018.
6. Preventive
Vigilance –Procedure has to be followed by the SBCO to prevent fraud vide
Directorate Letter No.4-5/DR-02/2018-Inv.Dated 20.12.2018
Through an Act
of amendment by Nodal Ministry (Ministry of Finance) Small savings Audit &
accounting work was transferred from the Audit office to the Post Office in
1964 with formation of new nomenclature as “SBCO”. Since then miseries of SBCO
Employees are notwiped out in the last
55 years and have lost everything from Designation to the pay & perks. On
similar lines the Account wing was also introduced in the Department of Posts
w.e.f.01.04.76 in the form of Office of Director of Accounts (Postal). Both the wings were
previously part of AG P & T.
Later on , Shri. J.S. Bhatia Member P & T Board (FD
& AF) formulated a separate manual known as “Postal Manual of SB Control,
Pairing & Internal Check Organisation” for duties of SBCO staff headed by
AO ICO(SB) on the pattern of P& T Audit.
Time and again,
our Association is demanding that the SBCO wing should be brought under the
control of Director of Accounts (Postal) for effective functioning. Of late,an
order was issued assigning the work of
NSCs & KVPs to SBCO which was previously done by DAP w.e.f 01.07.2016 vide SB Order 06/2016 issued vide
No.32-01/2016-SB Dt.21.01.2019.
Ultimately
SBCO section is dealing with the work of audit only (ie) downloading the datas
from Finacle and voucher checking with utmost concentration. The term AUDIT
defines “an official inspection of an organizations account by an independent
body.Fortunately, the work being done by SBCO has coincided with the definition
of AUDIT. SBCO cadre is called as distinct category according to the
department, in other words independent body. POSB is very large banking
institution under the Department of Posts having crores of account holders and
multi crore of rupees as investment by the people.Proper audit to POSB system
is inevitable.In our strong opinion, an robust internal audit should be mooted
out in POSB like various audit organizations (ie) P & T audit General,
Audit Civil Audit, Defence and Railway Audit which are watchdogs to the
safety of public money.
In Finacle the
SBCO Auditor’s manual issued by India Post reveals that all the transactions
are to be verified by the SBCO staff or auditor and all SBCO staff/Auditors
have to get login IDs from CEPT, Chennai to view LOT. These lines are
incorporated in page No. 03 of the said manual. Accordingly, the entire Manual
indicates the detective controls by SBCO/Auditor staff.
In the
Auditor’s Manual under the head “Detective Controls”-Comparison of Account
number and amount in the voucher with LOT, it has been written as “However, the
SBCO staff or Auditor has to verify all the transactions from the vouchers
received from the LOT available in the Finacle Application. All SBCO
Staff/Auditors have to get Login IDs from CEPT Chennai Team to view LOT either
in production or through MIS server.
Under the head
“ Sample LOT is given below” it has been written as “ SBCO/Auditor has to
verify Account Number and Amount mentioned in LOT with the voucher and in case
of any discrepancy, full transaction can be viewed in Finacle Application with
input as TRAN ID mentioned in LOT and voucher. SBCO/Audit has to raise the
objection procedurally for the discrepancy.,,
There is a head
written as “Inquiries and reports for SBCO/AUDITOR staff. Menu options
1.
HACSP
2.
HACLI
3.
HACLPCA
4.
HACI
Under the head
“Detective Controls – Interest Inquiries” written as
All Financial
organizations will be receiving various income. The major share of the income
for Min. of Finance comes from interest. SBCO/AUDITOR has to see that annual
interest , closing interest and the post maturity (overdue) interest has been
correctly accounted for.
The two types
of interest inquiries are:
Interest
Inquiries
Interest
Reports
These inquiries
are on the various activities/transactions conducted by the employees working
in a Post Office. These reports and inquiries are effective for operations as well
as detective controls for SBCO/AUDITOR staff.
It has been
written as All other field shown in the screen are auto populated. The Auditors
can even specify what type of Interest they are looking for, for example,
additional, overdue or penal and so on, by choosing from the dropdown in
interest type.
The
Reamendments of Recruitment Rules for PA/SAs Cadre (PA(CO), PA(SBCO), PA(PO),
PA(RLO) and SA-Proposal vide Directorate F.No. 09-03/2017-SPB-I Dt. 18.10.17
was proposed earlier which was strongly
opposed by the General secretary of AIPSBCOEA through individual ballot in the
letter dated 03.11.2017.
In fine, the following points are appended with
reference to the proposed RRs mentioned in the letter cited under reference :
The Savings
Bank Control Organisation was set up w.e.f 01.01.1960 with the approval of AG P
& T , CAG and Ministry of Finance to ensure an On-Spot Checking over the
work of Small Savings Schemes for audit & accounting, vouchers checking
& reconciliation work vested within AG P&T which has its own separate
identity other than existing PA Cadre in the Department being their nature of
duties identical to the Audit & Accounts wing.
It is pertinent
to mention that all the financial institutions must have a separate wing for
Checking, Auditing & Accounting to safeguard the public money and on that’s
why the Department has termed SBCO as unique cadre and recruit the personnel
separately.Inter-change of SBCO staff with operative work (POs)vice versa,was
not allowed.SBCO is considered as custodian of small savings business records
in order to prevent any untoward incidents of misuse.
It is
understood that the RRs of PA(SBCO) notified on 21.05.15 under the proviso to
Article 309 of the Constitution were framed for 100% direct recruitment (Col.
10) with promotional avenues through DPC headed by DPS as Chairperson and they come under Circle Cadre.
In 2017, the
proposed RRs of PA/SA cadre circulated is strongly opposed by the entire rank
and file in SBCO and it was requested to
maintain separate identity for SBCO cadre in proposed amendments in RRs of
PA/SA cadre or consider their absorption with Audit & Accounts Wing being
originated from AG P & T. Hence the RR proposal vide Directorate F.No.
09-03/2017-SPB-I Dt. 18.10.17 was dropped.
We are, still
affirm since both SBCO and DAP were bifurcated from the erstwhile AG P & T
by 1964 and 1976 respectively, the basic work of Audit continues to be common
to both SBCO and DAP. The nature of work is of similar type dealing with the
POSB Audit and Accounting and the
financial transactions of pay and allowance of employees which are also
accounted through the POSB Accounts only.
In
view of the above it is requested to
kindly reconsider the framing of the present proposed Recruitment Rules and to
rechristen the SBCO as SB Audit Organization and PA (SBCO) as AUDITORs in order to function effectively under the
control of GM(PA & F) for the proper caring of crores of money deposited by
lacs of customers.
With Regards,
Yours Sincerely,
Sd-
(SHP. Jasmine
Jalal Begam)
General Secretary
Copy To:
1. The
DDG. FS Division, DOP, Dak Bhawan, Sansad Marg, New Delhi -110 001.
2.
The DDG. Establishment, DOP,
Dak Bhawan,Sansad Marg, New Delhi -110 001.
3.
The DDG. SR Legal, DOP, Dak Bhawan,
Sansad Marg, New Delhi -110 001.
A Memorandum was
given on behalf of our All India CHQ during the
visit to Directorate on 6th and 7th November 2019
containing all the long pending sectional demands of SBCO.
MEMORANDUM
To
The Secretary,
Department of Posts,
Dak Bhawan, Sansad Marg,
New Delhi – 110 001.
Ref. No.:
AIPSBCOEA/CHQ/memorandum/2019 dated- 4.11.19
Sir,
It is to bring
to your kind notice that on so many occasions, we SBCO have raised our long
pending genuine demands before the Department. But it is highly regretted that
no effective steps have been taken by the Department to mitigate the problems
causing more sufferings to the employees. We are bringing all the problems
faced by the staff at ground level separately on each subject but no solution
is coming out. All our long pending demands have been narrated as below:
CHARTER OF
DEMANDS:
1. Change of Administrative control:
It is learnt
that SBCO was part of the AG P&T and through an Act of amendment by Nodal
Ministry (Ministry of Finance) Small savings Audit & accounting work was
transferred from the Audit office to the Post Office in 1961 with formation of
new nomenclature as “SBCO”. Since then miseries of SBCO Employees started and
in the last 55 years, have lost everything from Designation to the pay &
perks. On similar lines the Account wing was also introduced in the Department
of Posts w.e.f. 01.04.76 in the form of Office of Director of Accounts
(Postal). Both wings of the Department were part of AG P & T but there is
vast difference in pay & perks with promotional avenues between SBCO and
Postal Account staff. In Postal Account Office directly recruited. Jr
Accountant are getting Rs. 5400 G.P. by way of MACPs in the SBCOs, the PA being
similarly situated is getting Rs. 4600/- G.P. The Department of Posts is
undergoing a sea-changes because of modernization and technological
advancement. The Department has launched its prestigious project CSI and in the
post modernization and in CSI environment SBCO has its specific role . The
Association demands that the SBCO wing should be brought under the control of
Director of Accounts(Postal) being same nature of work and in recent days a
order regarding the work of NSCs & KVPs is also assigned to SBCO cadre
which was previously done by DAP.
2. Permission for appearing in PS Gr. ‘B’
Examination:
Presently the
PA (SBCO) is a common cadre of
Postal Assistant having same pay &
perks but their promotional avenues are
restricted and the SBCO staff have been debarred for appearing in PS
Gr ‘B’ Departmentl Examination.This item was taken and discussed on 16.12.2014
in JCM (DC) meeting and also on 7.1.2019
in PJCA meeting.
3.
Higher
Pay scales for higher responsibility Posts (LSG, HSG-II &HSG –I):
It is learnt
that after introduction of financial upgradation schemes the NB Supervisory Posts are
downgraded in their grade pay while they are shouldering higher
responsibilities and supervision of the work of the officials under him.
Accordingly the officials promoted against these NB posts are not interested to
carry out the higher responsibility resultantly maximum no. of posts are still
unfilled. It is pertinent to mention
that the Department of Posts is only a Department where on promotion the officials are getting
less grade pay and by virtue of that refusals for promotion arise.
4.
Filling
up the vacant posts in SBCO:
The SBCO is
facing acute shortage of staff in all the Circles and the G/S has addressed a
detailed reference on 12.3.16 to the Secretary (Posts) which is unattended to.
After role out of CBS hundred percent vouchers checking and other CBS works
have been assigned to SBCO subject to there should not be more than 2-3 days pendency,
but it is impossible to carry out the work in under staffed situation. The
checking of NSCs & KVPs vouchers have also been deployed to SBCO in these
situations are unmanageable without staff. That a special drive for recruitment
of SBCO staff may be launched to make good the shortage of staff in SBCO as
early as possible to avoid the pendency because about 50% to 60% posts of
PA(SBCO) are lying vacant in all the Circles of the Deparment.
5.
Contributory
Negligence/Irregular Recovery imposed on SBCO staff:
The duties of
SBCO staff are well defined in Manual for SB Control, Pairing & ICO
Procedure. Accordingly the SBCO staff are exercising the decentralized Audit
& Accounts duties and their work actually start after accounting of the
transactions. Therefore , penalizing the SBCO employee by imposing recovery of
loss irrationally for frauds committed in the Savings Schemes in Sub Offices /
Branch Offices is contrary to statutory Rules. The SBCO staff is not directly
related to any type of monetary transaction and accordingly they should not be
imposed as offender/co-offender in misappropriation cases. It is learnt that
under Rule 11 (iii) of CCS (CCA)Rules 1965 the penalty of recovery can be
imposed on a Govt. servant who is
directly responsible for the act of negligence or breach of orders causing the financial loss and
accordingly the SBCO staff should not be held responsible for any type of
recovery in misappropriation cases, so that the SBCO staff be exempted from
contributory negligence as they are not directly involved in any monetary
transactions.
6.
Restoration
of powers for recording APARs of SBCO staff to AO ICO (SB) in place of
Divisional Heads:
SBCO functions
are devised for checking, auditing and accounting according to the prescribed
procedures. PAs (SBCO) belong to circle
cadre and their Appointing Authority is Director of Postal Services. The
progress of the work performed by the officials of SBCO is virtually reviewed
by AO ICO(SB) acquire knowledge about the staff and their performance. Since
the SBCO is an audit section, it has to bring out the deficiencies and
discrepancies of the SB Branch by raising objections and reports. This action
is not relished by the Divisional Administration and the SBCO Branch is being
considered as nuisance by them. As such , the power of writing of CRs over SBCO
staff vested with Divisional Administration to coerce the SBCO staff for not
raising genuine objections. Hence, it is resolved to restore the power of
writing of CRs to AO ICO (SB) to enable the SBCO staff for maintenance of
proper accounting and auditing as per SB Control Procedure and pattern
independently.
7.
Impractical
Adhoc time factor should be modified:
The exparte
adhoc time factor formulated by the Department should be modified and enhanced
as per actual time taken for the particular work in consultation with
Association’s representative.
8.
Cadre
restructuring of SBCO staff:
The cadre restructuring proposal was
accepted by the staff side in 2014 with agreement between official side and
only Pas (PO) have been awarded restructuring on 27.5.2016 and SBCO cadre have
been left out. Thus the promotional avenues of SBCO cadre are held up. The 7th
CPC has also directed to evaluate the cadre structuring to all Central Govt.
employees. Thus the fundamental rights of SBCO cadre is hammered despite of
subsequent agitational programmes.
The Association
would most humbly bring to the kind notice of
the administration that Savings
Bank Control Organisation is a
present doing the Audit work of the
Post Office Savings Bank
Accouts. Ours being a circle cadre and promotional oppurtunities are
very megre for the youngsters who enter
the department with professional
and technical qualifications . Also the
number of LSG, HSG II and HSG I posts are very limited
that every time the
LSG or HSG promotions when
awarded to the officials, they are not
able to accept
it as either
there are no post available in the
areas with HRA or
feasible to them
or there are no
posts in that
region where the
official is working.
For illustration, if one circle like Tamilnadu
is taken, there are only around
49 LSG Supervisor posts in SBCO
whereas there are around
60-70 in general
line for the PAs
in a division itself. So,comparatively the chances for
promotion for the
SBCO PA is very less. As also many
senior officials are
retiring whose posts are
lying vacant and
the young officials who have just
entered the department
are forced to
take up the incharge
seat without any financial/cadre upgradation
as there is
no officiating arrangement
in SBCO.
It is
therefore kindly requested to implement the Cadre Restructure to SBCO
wing which will enable the young
officials working at SBCO
to get their
promotions under LSG ,
HSGII and HSG I at the
earliest in service
without disappointing them.
9.
To Dispense the work of
FRMU Alert from SBCO:
With
reference to the Directorate letter
No.F.1-3/2017-PCO/PMLA Dated 15.4.2019,it is brought to the kind notice of the administration that reply
was given to
the association that the circles
have been asked to strengthen the circle FRMU/AML unit by posting Inspectors/Asp and staff at a Central location
for checking alerts and
that there is no
specific order from
Directorate relating to
any other staff.
But when this
is being implemented
at Division level it is cited
that as per the Directorate
letter No. 17-15/2016-Inv dated 8.5.2019
regarding SOP for processing FRMU alerts
it is stated
that the SBCO
Supervisor to do
the following checks:
1. Cross verify with
the closure voucher
(SB-7A)
2. Verify the Signature using
IES Menu in Finacle
3. Check the CIF
modification details using HAFI
menu of Finacle
4. For subsequent
accounts, check with AOF/SB-3 form.
The
above 4 points
mentioned for the
SBCO supervisor to verify
is not in the SB control procedure
and moreover the
work which is
already being carried
out in SBCO
as 100% checking
of vouchers by
PAs and 5%
verification done by
the supervisor SBCO.All closures including
PMCs are checked
as a part of
duty by the SBCO branch as per the control procedure
and SB order 14/2015 and the Addendums.
As per the above
points it is
duplication of work
as after few months again alerts
have been sent to verify once again from the beginning which will cause wastage of
time and manpower
to check the
same work again , as of
now all SBCO
units are suffering
from acute shortage
of staff and
regular supervisor are
very few. It will moreover
accumulate pending of
current voucher checking at
SBCO branch. As far as the checking of CIF modification
and signature verification using IES is concerned , it is not in the control
procedure of SBCO and it is a routine to be completed at the counter level
itself before payment of the amount to the depositor.
The real
purpose of FRMU will
not serve unless and
until the depositors
are personally met
with by the
investigating / field
officers and SBCO
is not a
investigation branch also. It
is therefore kindly
requested to dispense
the above work
mentioned as per
the Directorate letter No.
17-15/2016-Inv dated 8.5.2019
regarding SOP for
processing FRMU alerts which
is an extra
burden on SBCO. A letter has already been sent
regarding FRMU alert to the Directorate
vide Ref. No.: AIPSBCOEA/CHQ/FRMU/2019 dated 28.8.19.
10. Non Adherence of the Union constitution
regarding granting immunity from
transfer to the Circle Secretaries:
In some circles
the Circle secretaries of AIPSBCOEA have not been granted immunity from
transfers (for example Assam circle,
Odisha circle , Madhya Pradesh circle, Uttarkhand circle) according to the Union Constitution which is
strongly condemned by the AIPSBCOEA CHQ and an immediate intervention is needed to implement the same
as per the DG (P & T) No.69/18/70.SPB I dated the 7th December
1970.
11. Audit
status to SBCO staff and change of nomenclature as Auditor in place of PA(SBCO)
& grant of promotions accordingly:
The G/S on behalf of AIPSBCOEA has
already submitted cadre restructuring proposal on 15.1.14 to the Department
where in the justification for change of nomenclature of PA(SBCO) into Auditor
has been elaborated. The two round discussion with Chairman Cadre restructuring
committee have also been held on 05.02.14 & 07.02.14. After introduction of
CBS the SBCO staff have been ordered for Auditor’s training in Postal Training
Centres.In view of aforesaid discussion the nomenclature of PA(SBCO) into Auditor
should be accepted and the house expressed his concern accordingly to pass the
resolution. It is learnt that the SBCO staff was decentralized / born from
Audit & Accounts and are liable to
promotional avenues at par with them, Proposed Nomenclature & their
promotional avenues are as under:-
|
Present
Designation
|
Proposed
Designation
|
MACPs
|
|
Proposed
Scales of pay
|
|
PA(SBCO)
The duties of
UDCs (SBCO) are at Present assigned
to them
|
Auditor
(Entry level)
|
-
|
5200-20200
|
GP-2800
|
|
|
|
MACP –I
|
9300-34800
|
GP-4200
|
|
|
|
MACP-II
|
9300-34800
|
GP-4600
|
|
|
|
MACP-III
|
9300-34800
|
GP-4800
|
|
LSG
(Supervisor)
|
Sr. Auditor
|
-
|
9300-34800
|
GP-4200
|
|
HSG –II (Sr. Supervisor
|
Chief Auditor
|
-
|
9300-34800
|
GP-4600
|
|
HSG – I (Chief Supervisor)
|
Executive Auditor
|
-
|
9300-34800
|
GP-4800
|
|
-
|
Chief Executive Auditor (Gazetted)
|
-
|
9300-34800
|
GP-5400
|
Ultimately SBCO
section is dealing with the work of audit only (ie) downloading the datas from
Finacle and voucher checking with utmost
concentration. The term AUDIT defines “an official inspection of an
organizations account by an independent body and it cannot be expected to
detect every fraud”.
Fortunately the
work presently done by SBCO has coincided with the definition of AUDIT . SBCO
cadre are called as distinct category according to the department, in other
words independent body. POSB is very large banking institution under the
Department of Posts having crores of account holders and multi crore of rupees
as investment by the people. Proper audit to POSB system is inevitable.
In our strong
opinion , an robust internal audit should, be mooted out in POSB like various
audit organizations (ie) P & T audit
General, Audit Civil Audit, Defence and Railway Audit, taking in account of
safety of public money.
Now the
Government/Department should take initiative to declare the SBCO as SB audit
organization and its cadres as Audit and
cause order the DPS/AO ICO(SB) as controlling authority straightaway delinking
powers of Divisional Heads and Postmasters of HO over SBCO.
12. Retaining of
posts at CPU/CPO as per justification
after diversion of Surplus posts : Diversion of
all the Circle pairing unit (CPU)/Central Pairing Office(CPO) posts
(Supervisor and PA posts) to
justified SBCO units
immediately as per the
Directorate Letter No. F. No.
109-01/2017-SB dated 03.05.2019 after
keeping atleast one supervisor and one PA at the CPU/CPO
as per justification to
attend the pending
UD and UCs remaining
due to some non migrated offices (non CBS) which
are still there.
13. The
Role of SBCO cadre in future :
The recent
Directorate order F.No.04-05/2015-SPB-I, Government of India, Ministry of
Communications, Department of Posts, Dak Bhawan , Sansad Marg, New Delhi. Dated
18.09.2019 regarding Framing of DOP (Postal Assistant and sorting Assistant) Recruitment Rules,
2019 – regarding , Our Association would like to inform the Department that the
cadre of PA(SBCO) should not be merged with General line PA and as per
constitution an option should be given for merger with DAP from where SBCO has
been bifurcated as SBCO is an AUDIT wing. Any decision may be taken only after discussion and suggestion
of Union representatives of SBCO cadre
.A separate detailed letter was sent by the Association to the Department on
20.9.2019 regarding the Revised Recruitment Rules 2019.
Our Association
likes to bring to the notice of the Department that most of
the demands mentioned above were also passed as Resolutions in the 5th
All India Conference held at Haridwar from 5.7.19 to 7.7.19 . Hence it is requested
to take necessary action to solve the long pending issues in SBCO cadre
mentioned above as the Department knows
the importance of SBCO and its necessity to maintain a separate identity.
A line of reply is solicited please.
With
Regards,
Yours Sincerely,
Sd-
(SHP. JASMINE
JALAL BEGAM)
General Secretary
The two days meeting with all higher
officers at Directorate on behalf of AIPSBCOEA CHQ, by the General
Secretary and our Ex General Secretary
Comrade Virendra Tewary was very
beneficial to our cadre at this crucial time.
The issue of the new Revised
Recruitment Rules was discussed in detail with the DDG (P), Smt. Meera Kumar
and a letter was again given, a positive reply in favour of our cadre was given
as demanded by our CHQ.
The DDG (FS) Sri. Sachin Kishore was
met and all the software issues were discussed and some suggestions were given
regarding removal of limit for report generation for SBCO users and the
necessity of Revised Control Procedure after GL integration was emphasized.
The Director SR Legal Sri.
A.R.Amin was met and all our Union dealings were discussed.The Memorandum as above was given citing all the
long pending issuses and charter of demands.
APPEAL:
All the items mentioned above / and any problems and suggestions at any level
are also invited.
All the Circle
Secretaries /CHQ Office Bearers are requested to offer their suggestions on the
points mentioned in the Bulletin.
It is also
requested to all the Circle Secretaries to conduct Trade union and SB Rulings classes in their
respective circles to educate our
members in this regard.
All the Circle
Secretaries/Office Bearers and I/C of SBCO branches are requested to circulate the Bulletin amongst the
members/officials for wide publicity.
Best Compliments on the eve of “Christmas, New
year and Sankranthi”.
LONG LIVE
NFPE!! LONG LIVE AIPSBCOEA!! NFPE ZINDABAD!! AIPSBCOEA ZINDABAD!!
With
Revolutionary Salute
Fraternally Yours,
Sd/- 
(SHRIKANTH
MALLICK) (SHP.JASMINE JALAL BEGAM)
President
–CHQ General Secretary
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