BMC sits on retirement files of staff

[karira]

As reported by Viju B of TNN in timesof india.indiatimes.com on 21 May 2008:
BMC sits on retirement files of staff-Mumbai-Cities-The Times of India

BMC sits on retirement files of staff

MUMBAI: Citizens are not the only ones to be at the receiving end of the babus at the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) who sit on 'grievance files' for months together. The corporation fares no better when it comes to settling grievances of its own employees as retirement dues of hundreds of employees—most of them affiliated to the city's civic hospitals—are yet to be released.

A query under the Right to Information (RTI) Act has revealed that these retirees have been knocking at the doors of the civic authorities for over a year and have even sent several reminders to the civic officials for their superannuated leave encashment amount, but BMC officials have not responded till date.

While 131 retired employees from administrative offices of different wards are yet to receive their leave encashment dues, 78 retired employees from eight civic hospitals have not received their encashment dues till date.
Activist Milind S Mulay had filed an RTI query in March this year, seeking information on the total number of employees in the BMC who are yet to receive their leave encashment dues in the last one-and-half-years.

"I thought of filing the query after my mother was made to run from pillar to post to get her retirement dues," Mulay said.

Vijaya Mulay, who retired as a nurse from the Marol maternity home in September 2005 had to wait for over one-and-half-years to get her retirement dues.

The retired nurse got her dues after she filed an RTI query with the BMC asking what was the cause of delay for releasing her dues. "We had also asked what action has been taken against the BMC officials for this delay," Milind said.

Following the RTI query, the BMC penalised two clerks for the inordinate delay. "We hope the BMC will take similar measures against errant officers who are sitting on these files for years together," Milind said.

The RTI query also revealed that 90% of the retirees have not been informed about the status of their dues. "I had specifically asked how many retired people have been informed that the delay was because of some valid reason. The BMC replied that only 46 of the 138 people had been informed about it," Milind added.

"According to the Section 10 of Maharashtra Government Servants Regulation of Transfer and Prevention of Delay in Discharge of Duties Act, 2005, a file cannot be kept for not more than seven days. BMC officials must be taken to task for not releasing the dues, especially of hospital staff who had served the city's poor day in and day out," said former IPS officer Y P Singh.

Meanwhile, senior BMC health officials said they were looking into the matter. "In many cases, the numbers of leaves taken by the employees have not been properly commuted. It will be done soon and then dues will be released," the health official said.

[sidmis]

BMC is sitting on retired staff dues
as reported by Ninad Siddhaye, August 27, 2008, DNA

Many do not even know the reason why civic body has not paid them
If you thought the municipal corporation was tardy in fulfilling its
obligations only towards the public, think again.

As per the information obtained through the Right To Information Act
(RTI), hundreds of retired employees of Municipal Corporation of
Greater Mumbai (MCGM) have had to wait endlessly for their leave
encashment. In fact, many of them have not even been informed as to
why their dues are not being paid.

The applicant, Milind Mulay, had applied to all the seven Divisional
Municipal Commissioners (DMC) regarding the status of the encashment,
which is applicable to employees who are beneficiaries under
superannuation.

He also sought information from the chief engineer of the solid waste
management department, and the executive health officer (in charge of
Municipal hospitals). The information asked was for the period January
to December 2007.

Mulay, an RTI activist from Dadar, was prompted to inquire about the
due payment after his mother (an ex-employee of Marol Maternity home)
had a tough time while getting her pension as well as other dues.

He received information about 770 retired employees from the three
departments. Out of these, only 223 employees had received their leave
encashment dues and 109 were informed about the delay in clearing
their dues.

In other words, around 547 employees were yet to receive the
encashment. And more than two-third (438) were not even informed why
their payment was delayed. When questioned, MCGM information officers
claimed that there was a valid reason for withholding the claims.

During the process of seeking information from the municipal
authorities, Mulay also came across several loopholes in functioning
of the MCGM information officers.

For instance, the information officer from H-east ward initially
claimed in the document that he had informed 20 employees "in writing"
about why their leave encashment was withheld.

However, when Mulay asked for the copy of this record, the officer
hesitatingly said that the employees were informed orally and not in
writing.

The condition of the municipal hospitals was also clearly reflected
through the RTI. Out of 19 municipal hospitals, only eight had sent
the track record of the retired employees.

Mulay told DNA that he could get records of only 92 employees out of
which only eight were given their due payment. "78 employees were not
even informed as to why their payments were not cleared. Hospitals
such as RN Cooper (Juhu), KB Bhabha (Bandra), Siddharth Hospital
(Goregaon), and Centenary Hospital (Govandi and Kandivili) have not
paid a single employee their dues in 2007," he said.

DNA - Mumbai - ‘BMC is sitting on retired staff dues’ - Daily News & Analysis