PROCEEDINGS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL MEETING OF THE AIRF HELD AT NEW DELHI ON 13.09.2013
The General Council Meeting of the All India Railwaymen’s Federation(AIRF) started at 11:00 hrs. in the Northern Railway Badminton Hall Ground, New Delhi, on 13th September, 2013, as scheduled, and Com. Umraomal Purohit, President/AIRF, was in the Chair.
At the outset, the General Secretary AIRF, Com. Shiva Gopal Mishra, congratulated the participating affiliates, and particularly Northern Railway Men’s Union for the massive participation for beyond expectation, as the participants were full of extreme enthusiasm and zeal. The sitting arrangement and the space of the venue became short to accommodate the massive gathering.
Before the meeting formally started, all the leaders of the AIRF, Presidents and General Secretaries of AIRF’s affiliated unions were offered warm welcome by the Office Bearers of NRMU, presenting them bouquet and garland.
Addressing the meeting, Com. Umraomal Purohit gave brief account of the struggles and achievements of the AIRF and also emphasized that nothing had ever been achieved by the Railwaymen without the sustained struggles spearheaded by the AIRF, and also explained the brief history of the achievement of the demand of “Bonus” in the shape of Productivity Linked Bonus. He, however, informed the audience that in a meeting with the Railway Board on 12.09.2013, wherein he himself and the General Secretary AIRF was present to discuss the payment of PLB , it has come out that the Ministry of Railways is trying to reduce the number of days of PLB for the year 2012-13 and told that the Board has been appropriately warned that that such a situation will never be acceptable to the Railwaymen lying low, therefore, the matter should be brought to the notice of the CRB and MR. He also informed the gathering that the CRB has called a meeting with the Federation on Monday next, the 16th September, 2013, to discuss the PLB issue.
Thereafter, two minutes silence was observed to mourn the sad demise of the undernoted eminent personalities:-
11.06.2013 Vidya Charan Shukla, Veteran Congress leader
16.06.2013 Com. R.A. Mittal, Secretary Hind Mazdoor Sabha
12.07.2013 Pran, one of Bollywood’s most respected actors
15.07.2013 Com. Mahendra Pal Dutta, Ex. Divisional Secretary, Delhi Division, NRMU(NR) and State President(Delhi State) of the Hind Mazdoor Sabha
20.07.2013 Com. V.P.R. Pillai, President/SCRMU and VP/AIRF
28.08.2013 Com. Mannan, Chairman, Electrical Council, Southern Railway Mazdoor Union, Salem Division
07.09.2013 Romesh Bhandari, an Indian Foreign Secretary, former Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and former governor of Tripura, Goa and Uttar Pradesh
10.09.2013 Com. Subba Rayudu, Chairman, LRS Branch/GTL/SCRMU and his wife died in road accident.
12.09.2013 Brother of Com. R.K. Chaurasiya, Office Bearer of LRS Branch, NRMU(CR).
13.09.2013 Father of Com. N.G.L. Goswami, Working President, NCRMU
13.09.2013 Prabhash Chandra Bose, Ex. Working President, NRMU(CR) and father of Com. S.K. Bose, Jt. GS/NRMU(CR)
Com. Sameer Mukherjee, wife of Com. Shiv Kumar, Branch President, Hapur Branch, NRMU(NR), Brother-in-law of Com. Rakesh Sharma, Branch President, New Delhi Branch of NRMU as also victims of Uttrakhand flashfloods and communal riots of Muzaffarnagar and Shamli(Western UP).
Thereafter, General Secretary AIRF, Com. Shiva Gopal Mishra, presented a brief report of achievements of the AIRF since last Annual Conference of the Federation(AIRF) held at Visakhapatnam in December 2012. He said that orders have been issued for fixation of pay on promotion in the same grade pay for Loco Pilot(Goods) to Loco Pilot Passenger, Loco Pilot (Passenger) to Loco Pilot Mail/Express, Guard(Passenger) to Guard(Mail/Express), Sr. Technician/MCM to JE, PWS to JE, Chief Matron to Asstt. Nursing Officer, eligibility of pass holders to travel on Duronto, extension of Second Chance for Aptitude Test for recruitment as ALP(AIRF’s PNM Item No.08/2012), Merger of Sr. PWS with JE(PWS)(AIRF’s PNM Item No.06/2012), extension of the date up to 31.12.2013 for the purpose of Revised Classification and mode of filling-up of non-gazetted posts(Benchmarking) after 31.12.2012, etc. etc. He further mentioned that owing to persistent efforts made by the AIRF, the Written Test has been done away with in recruitment of the wards of the Railwaymen under LARSGESS in GP Rs.1800.
The General Secretary gave a detailed account of discussions held on 23.08.2013 between the AIRF and the Railway Board(CRB, MS & FC) on the “Charter of Demands” drawn in the 88th Annual Conference of the AIRF held at Visakhapatnam in December 2012.
The General Secretary impressed upon the members that, it is AIRF, and AIRF only can secure justice from the unwilling hands of the government and calls upon all the Railwaymen to carry the struggle message of the AIRF in all nook and corners of the country.
Annexed resolutions – (i) “Productivity Linked Bonus to the Railwaymen”, and (ii) “Burning Problems of the Railwaymen – Strike Ballot on 21st and 22nd December, 2013”, were placed before the House.
1st Resolution was proposed by Com. Mukesh Galav, General Secretary, West Central Railway Employees’ Union and Asstt. General Secretary AIRF and seconded by Com. A.M. D’Cruz, General Secretary, South Western Railway Mazdoor Union and Asstt. General Secretary AIRF. The resolution was adopted unanimously.
2nd Resolution, conducting Strike Ballot on 20th and 21st December, 2013, was placed by Com. Harbhajan Singh Sidhu, President, Northern Railwaymen’s Union and Asstt. General Secretary AIRF and seconded by Com. Ch. Sankara Rao, General Secretary, South Central Railway Mazdoor Union and Asstt. General Secretary AIRF. Com. Champa Verma of WCREU and Com. Y.G. Joshi, President NRMU(CR), participated in the discussion. The resolution was passed unanimously in the thunder applause.
The General Secretary submitted a resolution, endorsing the decision of the Convention of all the Central Trade Unions, held at New Delhi on 6th August, 2013 and gave a clarion call to fully support the programmes scheduled to be held at the State levels and a massive rally on 12.12.2013 in New Delhi in befitting manner.
At the end, Com. Purohit called upon all the members of the General Council to work hard and prepare the workers to meet any eventuality. He said that “Victory is Ours”.
Before conclusion of the meeting, the General Secretary thanked all the Railwaymen for their massive mandate in favour of unions affiliated to AIRF in the last Secret Ballot elections held in April 2013. He requested all the participants to work hard to make the Strike Ballot a grand success and be ready for a total showdown in case of reduction in PLB.
The meeting ended with the vote of thanks to the Chair.
