JUSTICE DELIVERED IS JUSTICE ELUDED

JUSTICE DELIVERED IS JUSTCE ELUDED

One might have known the popular adage that “Justice delayed is justice denied” and “Justice hastened is justice buried.” Now, a new dictum is coined to depict the official apathy as “JUSTICE DELIVERED IS JUSTCE ELUDED”. National Seeds Corporation Limited (NSC), a Premier Govt. of India Enterprise under the Min. of Agriculture and Co-operation, GOI has provided Central Govt. Health Scheme (CGHS) facilities to its employees working in Delhi and medical reimbursement to other staff posted all over the country. Due to mismanagement, rampant corruption, a rehabilitation centre for Senior IAS Officers who were unwelcome in their parental states, bloated staff strength and also due to curtailment of its activities as a sequel to the formation of State Seed Corporations under the World Bank aided National Seeds Project (NSP), NSC has introduced voluntary retirement in the year 1993 to shed its flab. NSC employees are not entitled for pension or any other fringe benefits after retirement and faced a bleak future. It is baffling to see NSC’s false claim/boasting in its Website that it is WHOLLY OWNED BY GOVERNMENT OF INDIA.. If it is so, why the employees are denied pension whereas their counterparts in Union Govt. enjoy pension.

After retirement, even the CGHS facility was deprived to the employees who were directed to surrender their cards and obtain clearance certificates before relief leaving them to their own fate. One can visualize the economic miseries faced by the employees without pension and medi-care after retirement. After spending the major part of their early life with full energy and vigour and dedicated to the fast growth of the Organization, employees were finally discarded like sugar cane molasses after extraction of juice.

To fight this grave injustice, I had filed a Writ Petition (Civil) No.6793 / 2006 as a Petitioner-in-Person (due to paucity of financial resources to engage a lawyer) in Delhi High Court and argued the case myself. The result was a landmark judgment delivered in my favour by Hon. Justice Shri J.N. Malik on 06-11-06 ordering the Secretary, Min. of Health and Family Welfare, G.O.I. to provide CGHS benefit to me as well as to all the retired employees of NSC.

NSC addressed a letter to the Regional Director, CGHS; New Delhi on 28th November, 2006 sent through a Special Messenger( marking it as Court Matter to indicate its urgency) seeking procedural formalities to be observed for the issuance of CGHS Identity Cards to the retired employees and so far no reply has been received from him. When the present UPA Govt. Has formulated plans to provide heath care and insurance cover to even unorganized sector, it is very sad that the Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is insensitive, indifferent and did not bother to implement the High Court’s Order and has adopted a “don’t care attitude”.

It is relevant to mention here that the Ministry of Civil Aviation has been contemplating to give VRS to ‘Air India’ Air Hostesses after its impending merger with ‘Indian’ for which Union Cabinet has already given its nod,. In the compensation package, each Air Hostess is going to be paid a fabulous sum of Rs.25 lakhs besides a job for a family member and other benefits. The basic qualification for selection as an Air Hostess is mere High School Pass (with vital statistics of body as an asset) whereas NSC Technocrats many of them are Post-Graduates in Agriculture and some of them are possessing even Doctorate Degrees in different disciplines of Agriculture. It is not understood as to how G.O.I. adopts discriminatory policy and double standards for each Undertaking with no uniform policy.

The Print and Electronic Media should take up this issue as to how even a Delhi High Court Order has been treated by the bureaucrat with utter disregard and uninterrupted dissipation to ensure that the retired employees get CGHS facility without any further delay. Whether there will be light at the end of the dark tunnel?
S. Srinivasa Rao, M.Sc.(Ag.) Gold Medallist
DDA MIG Flat No.631, Sec.8, Pocket-C/8
Rohini, DELHI—110085
E-mail:-samsrirao@gmail.com