Monday, 20 January 2020

Regarding the unwarranted proposal of Shifting of Administrative Office and HRO RMS ’L’ Division from Bhusawal to Aurangabad.


No. MH/RIII/ /LDN/ HQ Shifting/38/2019-20              Dated : 13-01-2020

To,
         Hon. Shri H C Agarwal (IPoS)
         Chief Postmaster General
Maharashtra Circle,
         Mumbai 400001

Subject: Regarding the unwarranted proposal of Shifting of Administrative Office and HRO RMS ’L’ Division from Bhusawal to Aurangabad.

Respected Sir,

   This union has brought notice that there is a proposal of shifting of Divisional Office and office of HRO under pipelines at Aurangabad Region. Accordingly, the proposal of shifting of DO and HRO RMS ‘L’ Division Bhusawal to Aurangabad sought from the divisional head by oral instructions from higher authorities. In this connection, we, the staff side wishes to represent our opinion against the proposal in the under-mentioned lines for your kind perusal with the humble request to enlighten our Departmental views on below points:

A)   Is there any guidelines/orders/proposal regarding shifting/transfer of RMS HQ at their Regional HQ issued by Postal Directorate, OR

B)   RMS Establishments & its functioning are as per Management Information System (MIS) decided by the Postal Service Board and Mail Operation wing. Whether Ministry/Postal Directorate has issued any changes in MIS in respect of revised mode of Mail Operation/Sectional Running/RMS HQ Location etc.

Proposal: The proposal is taken on the board on the plea that the Regional HQ is located at Aurangabad. But, the real ground & facts in respect of RMS Divisions Establishment are totally ignored. There are 69-RMS Divisions across the country which is located on main Railway Junction places. As per the provisions under Postal Manual and guidelines of Postal Directorate reflected in MIS; RMS Divisions are established on main operational Railway route & Junction places by taking the cognizance of the importance of the prime Railway Junction Station with connectivity on major Rail Trunk Routes and not the criteria of the location of Postal Regional HQ.

The Geographical location does not the matter and RMS ‘L’ Division Bhusawal is smoothly functioning at Bhusawal since 09.09.1966 having proper co-ordination with the DRM Central Railway Bhusawal. All RMS Offices of ‘L’ Division are located on Central Railway Major Trunk Route except Aurangabad, Parbhani & Nanded. Hence, considering the base of Regional HQ for shifting the entire Divisional Office along with HRO to Aurangabad is beyond ethics & parameters and indicts violation of MIS.

The Staff side opinion to oppose the said shifting is detailed below;

1)   All sectional beats are running/terminated at Bhusawal Rly. Station point hence the Administrative jurisdiction at Bhusawal is most essential for the proper vigilant watch, on connecting sectional mails viz. loading/unloading at BSL Rly. Stn.

           It is very clear that in the absence of Administrative office at Bhusawal; 
(i)          Proper monitoring of section will not be up to the mark from Aurangabad point because the major flow of Mails for Gujarat -Rajasthan & Northern India handled & routed through RMS Sections from Bhusawal Point. 

(ii)         Inspection of each set of sections will not be possible easily for the Inspecting Officer and there will be a financial loss (on account of TA/DA) of the Department in carrying out the inspections from Aurangabad location.

2)      The O/o SRM and HRO (A/Cs) are located in Departmental Building since 1981 with all basic amenities as well as infrastructure. Besides this, the post of SSRM/SRM is also performing the role as Estate Manager for land and buildings of the Department of Posts including 72 residential staff quarters in office premises located at Bhusawal City. If Division office/HRO shifted to Aurangabad then Departmental Building with acres of land will be lying idle in vacant condition and there will be huge rent payment for building accommodation at Aurangabad.       

3)      The staff from JB Division Jabalpur, B Division Pune, F Division, Nagpur and MP Division Gwalior, Bhopal & X-division Jhansi is arriving at RMS Rest House Bhusawal and halting till their next sectional Beat. The monitoring and controlling of RMS Rest House are manageable at Bhusawal and it is not feasible from Aurangabad.

4)      There are 72 staff Quarters are available and 35 Staff Quarters are occupied by RMS wing officials and remaining by Postal Wing. The maintenance of these staff quarters is totally monitored by SRM Bhusawal as an Estate Manager and such type of huge Departmental property cannot be neglected. If both the offices are shifted to Aurangabad, the Department has to pay the HRA at Aurangabad rate and the loss on account of idle quarters has to bear by the Department forever.

Financial implications:-

1)      The Departmental accommodation for shifting both the offices is not available at Aurangabad with the sufficient space and Department has to hire Building on rental Basis forever.

2)      Due to shifting of Division Office & HRO at Aurangabad, there will be a mass migration of staff and they all have to pay transfer TA.

3)      The staff transferred to Aurangabad have to pay HRA at higher rate @16% of basic pay of concerned which is just double than the Bhusawal station.

4)      The Department has to setup revised arrangement of all infrastructures at Aurangabad which is already well established at Bhusawal point i.e. shifting of all furniture and technological items including SIFY network will disturb well-established organization.

5)      The approximate financial implications are shown as under:-
One time Expenditure

1.
Transfer of manpower (Transfer TA)
Approximately Rs 20,00,000/- in r/o 35 officer/officials
2.
Logistic of Furniture and Technology items
Rs 15,00,000/- (includes Furniture, Technology items, SIFY, Cabling & transportation and installation)
                   TOTAL Rs. 35,00,000/- one time

Recurring Expenditure per month forever

1
Hire of rental accommodation for DO & HRO at Aurangabad (near about 12000 sq. ft . required)
Rs 6,00,000/- per month (approximate @ Rs 50/- per square fit per month)
2
Payment of HRA at double the rate of Bhusawal
Rs 1,20,000/- additional expenditure per month.

i.e. Rs. 7,20,000/- per month and Rs 86,40,000/- per annum, in addition to the above, mainly our Departmental accommodation which is located in the main area of Bhusawal city will be lying idle with loss in Lakhs of rupees.

In this scenario, it is not understood how the suggestion arrives for shifting of Division Office/ HRO from Bhusawal to Aurangabad station by making huge expenditure at the time when the Department is going in critical loss. Though all work of entire RMS ‘L’ Division is going on smoothly since 1966 without any hurdle. It is beyond imagination about the essentiality of RMS HQ at Regional HQ and if it is decided then such type of shifting may also be applicable to all Postal Divisions at Regional HQ on the same analogy.

The proposal of shifting of headquarter from Bhusawal to Aurangabad is not wise decision considering the merits and demerits on the subject hence staff side is strongly opposing the proposal. In this regard, it is to state that already there is unrest among the staff due to unwarranted merger of the L-35 section with F26 section. It is, therefore, urged upon to review and drop the proposed unscientific shifting of Division Office and Head Record office from Bhusawal to Aurangabad immediately with status quo to avoid any trade union action which may eventually result in a break down the peace and tranquillity in Maharashtra Circle. Your reply in this regard is highly solicited.

Thanking you in anticipation of.
With regards,
Yours Sincerely,


(S N Jadhav)                                                     (A B Shivtare)
Circle Secretary                                                 Circle Secretary
AIRMS & MMS EU GR C (MG & MTS)          AIRMS & MMS EU GR C
Maharashtra Circle                                           Maharashtra Circle