Passing away!

We deeply mourn the untimely demise of our beloved member Shri K J Sebastian early today and convey our heart-felt condolences to his bereaved family. The late Sebastian was an officer of amiable disposition with a large circle of friends. May his soul rest in eternal peace!

ANNUAL GENERAL BODY

The annual meeting of the General Body of the Association was held at the RBI premises from 10.30 am on February 08, 2014. The meeting which commenced with a prayer was chaired by President Shri K R Krishna Kumar. More than 150 members were present.

The Secretary, Shri K V Aravindakshan,  presented his report and the Statement of Receipts and Payments for the year 2013 and they were approved by the GB. The highlights of the report are:

Membership: The membership as on December 31, 2013 stood at 285.

Meetings: The Managing Committee met regularly and on 13 occasions.

Family Pension: The GB appreciated the improvements effected by the Bank in the case of family pension which would now be payable at a uniform rate of 30% of the last pay drawn by the deceased,  with a minimum of Rs.3,500/- (five-fold increase) and a maximum of Rs.24,500/- (ten-fold increase).

Updating of Pension: The GB felt impatiently disappointed at the bleak outcome of the decade-old efforts of the Association and at the painful passage of time during which this burning issue has remained shattered in the hands of the Bank, the Government and the Court. It is hoped that this long dark wait will be ended by a bright and hefty disposal much before many of the beneficiaries might cease to exit.

Ex-gratia and Medical Allowance: The demand for the enhancement of the quantum of ex-gratia and medical allowance to pre-1986 retirees who are above 87 years of age and fewer than 400 in number in keeping with the spiralling price rise still persists, and the Bank is expected to accede to it soon. 

Mediclaim - MAF Scheme: The following changes have been made in the Group Mediclaim Policy.

(a) Ceiling of cataract surgery raised to Rs.40,000/- per eye.

(b) No pro-rata deduction of investigation charges irrespective of the room occupied.

(c) Charges for Special Nurse admissible in the case of those above 65 years when hospitalized.

(d) Special Nursing Charges for those above 80 years if medically recommended.

With the renewal of the the Group Mediclaim Policy by the United India Insurance Company and with the retention of MD-India Healthcare Services as the TPA, the Regional Director has arranged for the meeting with the Relationship Manager (Shri Praveen who is also available on 09388620100) in the Establishment Section from 11 am to 1 pm on Mondays and Thursdays.

Matters relating to the delay in settling bills, lack of communication about disposal of bills, reimbursement of bills for ayurvedic treatment, inclusion of more hospitals for cashless facility, proportionate settlement of claims and opening of a TPA office in Trivandrum were seriously discussed at a meeting of the representatives of the RBREA (Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi), the TPA, the Bank and the Insurance Brokers.

Improvements in MAF Scheme: The GB urged the Bank to widen the restrictive structure and scope of the two-decade old MAF scheme in consonance with the growing health needs of the retirees and in tune with the cost of treatment being raised by hospitals from time to time. The GB desired that the retirees should be treated on par with the serving employees in regard to reimbursement of medical expenses. The GB suggested that the Bank consider granting medical allowance on a monthly basis as in the case of pre-1986 retirees. The GB expressed the hope that the Bank would be compassionate and benevolent while considering these demands.

Relief Fund: From the corpus constituted for the Relief Fund an amount of Rs.10,000/- was donated to the Welfare Association for the Rehabilitation of the Differently Abled Children functioning at the Government Ayurveda College at Poojapura and an equal amount was also donated to a poor cancer patient.  The GB appealed to the members to generously contribute to the corpus fund. 

Entertainment: Three one-day picnics to Poovar, Kollam and Paravoor were organized during 2013 and the response was too enormous to accommodate all those interested because of logistic and other constraints.

The GB expressed special thanks to Shri Salim Gangadharan, former Regional Director, who met the Association twice during the year and helped to resolve the issues, and to Shri G Subramania Iyer for auditing the accounts of the Association. The meeting at which many members actively participated by offering innovative views and judicious suggestions dispersed at 1 pm and made for the Luncheon Hall.

A lateral view of the gathering at the Annual General Body