Circular No 3

Dear Comrades,

It has been our experience with the successive pay commissions that we have been treated as ministerial staff and sometimes even lower. Our representations to the Comptroller and Auditor General, to the pay commissions, to the Ministry and every authority concerned have been simply ignored or rejected off hand with out any justification. The sixth Pay Commission is no exception. It has, in fact, added insult to injury by deliberately denying even the minimum benefit to the Audit and Accounts Officers/Sr.Audit and Sr.Accounts Officers and by down grading these two cadres.

A culture of human exploitation and disrespect for the law prevails, and we are expected to discharge public accountability at cheaper cost to enable certain people to pocket extra profit. Disrespect for human beings is in the DNA of the current system. While slavery is, of course, the most extreme situation in the field level offices, the truth is that the Audit/Accounts officer is being ruthlessly exploited. Our Officers perform backbreaking work, at the very low pay scales; have no DA/TA benefits and virtually there is no regard for his self-respect. Historically Audit and Accounts Officers have been and continue to be excluded from Indian fair labour standards and are prevented from unionizing. The cruelty of modern-day slavery prevailing in the Indian Audit and Accounts Department has motivated our officers to continue fighting for their rights, prompting the Government agencies to support our demands that include better pay scales and working conditions and new environment.

Our thirst for justice has remained unquenched for five decades. In fact it has been deliberately allowed to be aggravated by repeated injustice by the Pay Commissions and by the Authorities who seem to have taken upon themselves the task of suppressing us and pushing us further and further in to virtual slavery. Our thirst for justice is real, acute and painful. We can quench our thirst for a fair deal only when we, every one of us, establish emphatically that we are capable of sustained struggle. Our thirst will be quenched when every one of us demonstrate that “it is nobler to take arms against the sea of trouble and by opposing end them”

The extremely good response, spanning from Sikkim to Trivandrum, to the call of the Association for holding General Body meeting in all the offices, amply demonstrates the prevailing sense of discontent among the AOs/SAOs and their resolve to fight for the just cause. If all the calls of the Association are implemented with same commitment and vigor our goal will be achieved shortly and with honour.

Yes, comrades: ‘Time to fight back together’ Joint charter of demands with All India Audit and Accounts Association finalised: With this objective in the mind, the All India Audit and Accounts Officers Association has decided to revive the activities of Co-Ordination Committee with All India Audit & Accounts Association. Coms S Mohan, Secretary General and P Prabhakar, Secretary Finance, All India Audit & Accounts Officers Association attended the National Executive of the All India Audit and Accounts Association so that a detailed discussion could be held and a common approach also could be evolved. The meeting adopted a Joint Charter of Demands and decided to observe 28th August 2009 as Demands Day by holding Joint General Body Meetings and adopting the Charter of Demands

The Joint Charter of Demands adopted in the Meeting is given below:

1. Vacate victimisation; Restore Trade Union Rights
2. Fill up all vacant posts including Gr D, No matching savings at the cost of Gr B, C & D cadres
3. Regularise all casual, temporary, contract, daily wage workers
4. Permit self certification for TA/DA claims
5. Upgrade LDCs by re-designating them as Acctts/Audit Assistants and grant following pay sales to different cadres-
Accounts/Audit Assistant PB-1 with Grade Pay Rs.2400

Accountant/Auditor/ Steno Gr.II PB-2 with Grade Pay Rs.4200
Sr. Accountant/Auditor/ Steno Gr.I PB-2 with Grade Pay Rs.4600
SO/JAO/AAO/PS PB-2 with Grade Pay Rs.4800

On completion of 4 years PB-3 with Grade Pay Rs.5400
Accounts/Audit Officer PB-3 with Grade Pay Rs. 6600
Sr. Accounts/Audit Officer PB-3 with Grade Pay Rs. 7600
6. Remove age restriction for induction to IA&AS; Increase promotional quota to IA&AS from 33¹⁄³rd % to 50 %.
7. Stop down sizing, outsourcing and privatisation of any function in IA&AD
8. Restore unilateral transfer policy
9. Earmark 20% of AAO post for seniority cum fitness promotion (supervisor)
10. Restore traditional auditing and accounting methodologies and sanction appropriate party days on scientific work norms
11. Remove differential treatment on pay fixation on promotion vis-à-vis direct recruitees in all cadres
12. Re-imbursement of hotel charges to Railway Audit personnel wherever Railway accommodation is not allotted while on tour.

Extended National Executive Meeting at Mumbai on 5th & 6th Sept 2009: The venue of the Meeting and arrangements for the Lodging to the delegates has been made in the New Visava Rest House” near Saket bldg., opp. R. A. Potdar Hospital, Jaywant Palkar Marg, Worli, Mumbai-18. Phone No. 022-24930912. The suburban railway station nearest to the venue is “DADAR”. After getting down at DADAR one has to catch a Taxi. The famous land mark is R. A. Potdar Aayurvedic Hospital. The Taxi charges may be around Rs. 50 to 60. Taxi may take 20 to 30 minutes to reach the venue. All the affiliated units should ensure their representation in the Extended National Executive to and help in taking democratic, momentous decisions to consolidate and strengthen the organization to move forward with hard bargaining power achieved by organizational struggles and to achieve our major demand of up gradation of Grade Pay.

Contact Nos. Kanade: 09757163919, Chandran: 0986965544 & Karpate 09869229383.

Yours Fraternally,

S.Mohan
Secretary General