MINUTES OF TSEWA EXECUTIVE CUM CORE COMMITTEE MEETING HELD ON 11 APR 2018 AT 0930 HRS AT 143 VAYUPURI, SECUNDERABAD
The following members were present:
| 1 | Cmde Sudheer Parakala (Retd) | Vice President |
| 2 | Col Dr GB Sethi (Retd) | General Secretary |
| 3 | Col MK Veeramani | Head Charity Division |
| 4 | Col G Parvatesam (Retd) | Treasurer |
| 5 | H/Capt B Joseph (Retd) | Jt Secretary |
| 6 | Cdr Chandrasekhar | Member |
Since some of the important members were not present, the meeting was delayed by 30 minutes. In the absence of the President, Vice President Cmde Sudheer Parakala presided over the meeting. He said that all members should come on time, so that the meeting can start at 0900hrs. It is not correct to make many members (who have come on time) to wait for such a long time. He wanted all members to note this for strict compliance.
He welcomed all those who were present and asked Gen Secy to start his points first, followed by the Treasurer, Head Charity Division, Jt Secy and lastly himself.
Points from the General Secretary
ECHS
Gen Secy informed that Lt Col Latif Vadakkayil was sick, so he went to ECHS, then got admitted in one of the empaneled hospitals in Kerala. Since there was hardly any improvement in his health, he went to Vellore ECHS and got the referral to CMC Hospital at Vellore. CMC Vellore refused to admit him as a referral case of ECHS since they are no more ECHS Empaneled Hospital, but were prepared to admit, if he pays for his treatment directly. Since his health is very important, he got admitted as a paying patient. His wife has accompanied him to CMC Vellore.
Next he brought out the case of Sgt Lawrence. When Sgt Lawrence fell badly sick, he took the referral letter from ECHS Secunderabad, to Yashoda hospital. Yashoda Hospital authorities refused to admit him informing there is no bed vacant. It is understood that the actual reason for refusal is non payment of their bills by ECHS for a long time. Then he took the referral to Apollo. There also the same thing ie informing no bed, they also did not admit. However they were prepared to admit him as a paying patient. So he got admitted in Apollo as a private paying patient and got the Surgery, & treatment etc done. By borrowing money, he paid around Rs 3.5 lakhs, even though he is entitled for free treatment. All the members present took a serious view of this and wanted President TSEWA to write to MD ECHS, to sort out this problem on highest priority. He also wanted suitable action to be taken against the empaneled hospitals for refusing as an ECHS patient, but are prepared to admit as a paying patient. Also we should think about filing a PIL in the Supreme Court. It was also suggested that we should write to RM also on this, since it is affecting the welfare of all ESMs.
Now Sgt Lawrence is feeling better. Col Veeramani said that, if Sgt Lawrence had spoken to him, he would have arranged for admission in Sunshine Hospital, who are still admitting ECHS beneficiaries. However he told that he has spoken to the concerned person in the ECHS, who had asked Sgt Lawrence or someone on his behalf, to meet him. Col Veeramani spoke to H/ Capt Joseph, who went to ECHS and met the person and the case in under process for reimbursement at the CGHS approved rates for the treatment already done by him. H/ Capt Joseph is doing the needful. Same way Col Srikantha Seshadhri was asked to coordinate and sort out the problem of Lt Col Latif at CMC Vellore. Col Srikantha has got the problem sorted out and like ECHS Secunderabad, Lt Col Latif will also get CGHS authorized rates. Col Veeramani said that 20 Kms from ECHS Vellore, there is a Sripuram Narayaneeyam Super Speciality Hospital, run by the Golden Temple Sripuram, which is an empaneled ECHS hospital. Most of the Specialist doctors who are working in CMC Vellore, are doing Free Service at Narayaneeyam Hospital. So Lt Col Latif can get admitted in this hospital. If required Col Srikantha can speak to OIC ECHS Vellore and do the needful.
Wg Co AB Bhushan took special interest and contacted ECHS Regional Centre and OIC ECHS Secunderabad in processing the case for re imbursement of CGHS Rates to Sgt Lawrence.TSEWA is very thankful to his kind gesture.
All present wanted TSEWA President to take up this case strongly with MD ECHS on Highest Priority. This is a very bad situation where empaneled hospitals are refusing to admit cases due to nonpayment of their dues for a long time.
Action to be taken by President, Gen Secy
Alternative treatment AYUSH at ECHS
Cmde Brijesh Gupta has written to TSEWA to take up the case at the appropriate level to include AYUSH treatment which is available at remote areas to cover ESMs living in far flung villages. Since we do not know full details, what all is covered in this treatment, President will be asked to take up this case with Cmde Brijesh Gupta, get all the details, discuss in the next NEC meeting, get the views of NEC Members for a follow up action.
Action to be taken up by President and all concerned
AFT Cases
Gen Secy gave briefly the present position of AFT 28, AFT 28 B. He further informed about the members who have paid for the PIL. He told that nearly 240 members have remitted the money for the PIL case. On this Treasurer said that out of the members who have paid the money through NEFT, for 46 members the details are not available. So he is not able to link the names with the payment. On this Col Veeramani said that since the Treasurer has been having this problem of NEFT payments from the beginning, in one of the EC meetings it was decided that henceforth NEFT payment will not be accepted due to this problem. Payments are to be made by cheques or DD only. President was asked to send a detailed e-mail to all members not to send any money through NEFT. Since this letter has not gone, members are still sending by NEFT and the Treasurer has to waste lot of time. Still some cases could not be linked.
Brig SKS Rana has identified a lawyer to plead our case in the Supreme Court and Brig Anil Srivastava will assist him in the Supreme Court. Gp Capt Sastry has made a technical brief on this and has sent the same to Brig SKS Rana VSM and others. Hence President should ring up and speak to Brig SKS Rana VSM, and expedite the matter. It was also decided that we should not delay filing this PIL, since many ESMs know that we are going to file a PIL on this. They may do so before us and we may lose the initiative. All the members present agreed that we should file this PIL Immediately.
Action to be taken by President, Gen Secy, Gp Capt Sastry, and all concerned.
Clarification on payment of Income tax by disabled ESMs.
Gen Secy wanted to know whether IT exemption of the entire pension is allowed for the disabled ESMs. It was clarified that only the Disability element is exempted from IT and not full Pension. Gen Secy also wanted to know whether any financial benefit is there for the “Mention in Dispatches “awardees. It was clarified that MID do not carry any financial benefit.
Points from the Treasurer
Treasurer gave the fund position. He also mentioned that like earlier occasions, when ever members send money through NEFT, they do not give their details, with the result linking the money with the member, has become very difficult. In spite of informing many times, members do not send SMS/ e mail about their transaction number. In the NEFT form, they do not include their names and Membership numbers. For the PIL also same problem is being repeated. It was decided by EC that members should not send money through NEFT, without these details. So Treasurer requested that, again President should send another e mail/ WhatsApp message informing all members about this. As on date 46 members have sent through NEFT, whose names etc could not be linked. Lot of time is being wasted by him due to this. Gen Secy informed that instead of wasting time, Treasurer should put up those 46 names in the Blog, clearly mentioning that their names will be included, only if they inform their details to the Treasurer.
Cmde Sudheer Parakala mentioned that 50% of expenditure incurred towards Awareness camps should be booked from AFT fund. This was agreed by all.
Col Veeramani brought out that the expenditure for the 4 NEC Meetings will be very high. Since Gp Capt Sastry said that legally, holding Tele Conferences is OK, we should plan 3 NEC meetings as Tele Conferences. Only the Annual General Body meeting should be attended by all outstation members who can come. In addition to the Expenditure for TSEWA, it is also a problem for the out station members to plan and come and attend NEC meetings 4 times in a year. However nearby NEC members from Telangana, Andhra can come. Generally there are no points which have to be discussed only if they are physically present over here. All points can be discussed in the Teleconference. He wanted this point to be discussed again and a firm decision taken.
Col Veeramani also brought out that the expenditure for the Awareness camps is also very high. As envisaged by Cmde Sudheer Parakala in his Vision Documents, at grass root level TSEWA office bearers should work. We are conducting awareness camps almost for the last 3 years. Local Presidents etc have been attending these awareness camps. They are fully aware how this is being conducted. Hence unless on exceptional cases, the local Dist/ State Presidents should conduct the Awareness camps. From TSEWA HQ we can send all CDs, PPOs , all documentary support. He wanted this point also to be discussed in the next meeting. Sometimes the unexpected expenditure for the awareness camps increases, since the member organizing such camps do not give the anticipated expenditure to TSEWA for such camps. Hence it was decided that in future, the member who is organizing such camps should clearly indicate, what will be the expenditure which will have to be borne by TSEWA and how much will be met from their local resources.
Cmde Sudheer Parakala said that the Rs 1.4 lakhs sent by Brig Rawat , President UESL, (which he got from Central Command for Capt Gurung) to TSEWA, should be sent back to Brig Rawat, since it was decided that in future all donations for Capt Gurung should be sent to Brig Rawat, President UESL, only , who will handle the same. Gen Secy said that the money collected by TSEWA for Capt Gurung should also be sent to Brig Rawat immediately. It was also decided that in future anyone who wants to give any donation to Capt Gurung should send directly to Brig Rawat and not to TSEWA. In addition this info should be put in the blog, it was also decided that President should send a detailed mail to all members on this point. As far as TSEWA is concerned Capt Gurung’s donation account is closed.
It was further discussed that once entire money is received by Brig. Rawat, President, UESL, the info be given to GOC Sub Area, Area HQ as well to Central Command.
Action to be taken by President, Gen Secy, Treasurer, Brig Rawat, all Dist and State Presidents, all outstation NEC members.
Points from Head Charity division
Col Veeramani brought out that based on the availability of funds from Charity, the Charity Division has sanctioned the last 7 cases. With this 7 payments, the money indicated by the Treasurer for the last FY stands fully spent. No more money is left over. However he said that almost 4 or 5 cases which had been sanctioned by Charity Division has not been paid. He said that he is getting reminder calls from the members who had recommended the cases. Cmde Sudheer Parakala said that any money sanctioned by the Charity Division should be disbursed immediately in that FY only. He said that whatever money which has not been sent so far, should be sent now itself. Cmde Sudheer Parakala also told the Treasurer that the availability of Charity money should be given Quarter wise and not for the full year. On this the Treasurer said that from now onwards the donation may be less. The main source of income will be the Interest earned. Since the Bank is crediting the interest quarterly, it is easier for the Treasurer to indicate the quarterly amount available for Charity. Treasurer also informed that as per the letter form MOD, we can have only one Bank Account and not many. So after discussing with our Auditor, he will close all accounts and keep only one account. In this account many subheadings will be there. Gen Secy confirmed that this type of accounting will be more efficient and effective.
It was intimated that Col Nagesh Gupta from US has sent another 1 lakh for Charity in addition to the 3 lakhs which he has already sent earlier. Col Veeramani said that he has spoken to Col Nagesh Gupta, and he is prepared to give more donations for Charity as and when we spend the money and give him the details. Col Veeramani said that complete details of the money spent from “Madhuri Sewa Fund” were sent to Col Nagesh Gupta, who then sent this 1 lakh.
It was the opinion of all that, President should not send any mail or any communication to TSEWA members asking them to identify, recommend and send the names for Charity. Since we are not having much money there is no need to ask all to send the cases to us. Brig SKS Rana has also sent an e mail stating that we should go slow on this from now on wards.
Capt Joseph informed that 2 beneficiaries of Charity ie Mr Venkatrami Reddy, the Road Accident case and the St Ann’s school girl Ms Shravani have come to collect the cheques. He also confirmed that the Treasurer has already made these 2 cheques. Which were then handed over to them. Both of them thanked TSEWA for helping them at the time of need.
Action to be taken by President, Treasurer, Charity Division
Points from Capt Joseph
Capt Joseph said that he is going to Bangalore and will try and get as many members as possible. He asked if there are any cheques to be given to Bangalore beneficiaries, can be given to him, and he can give it by hand and he will get the receipt and photo of the same. Treasurer was asked to do the needful.
Capt Joseph has recommended a sum of Rs 5,000/- to a local Anganwadi to buy stationary items, plastic chairs, note books, pencil, eraser etc based on their written request. Capt Joseph was asked to get quotation for the items and the money will be given.
Capt Joseph showed a sample of the TSEWA news Letter size and the cost of it. He was asked to go ahead with the printing, after getting all the matters from Gp Capt Sastry.
Capt Joseph said that an ESM organization from Guntur has asked him to visit Guntur to get more members. He was informed that from now onwards any outstation trip will be planned based on the written request from the out station ESM organization. They should give more details, as to how many ESMs are likely to attend, what will be the total expenditure for the trip.etc. All those who want to go out station, should put up this to Gen Secy and President for move approval. This will be handed over to the Treasurer, based on that only the advance will be given. In one of the earlier EC meetings this point was discussed and Gen Secy and Treasurer were asked to make a format for this Temp Duty Move Sanction. Before any move the sanction has to be obtained.
Action to be taken by Gen Secy, Treasurer, Capt Joseph and all concerned
Points from Cmde Sudheer Parakala
Cmde Sudheer Parakala said that our next Raising day and AGM will be in June 2018. He wanted all concerned to start working from now onwards, plan the things well in advance, to make it a grand success. Gen Secy said that he will make a draft Agenda and send the same immediately and ask the members to give their Agenda Points. He will also keep the Annual Report ready for presentation. The latest position of the AFT cases will be kept ready by him for presentation. Treasurer said that he will get the auditing done and keep the Financial documents ready for presentation. Col Veeramani said that he will keep the details of Charity done during this one year and be ready with his presentation. He also said that once the correct number of persons coming from out station is known, he will book the accommodation for them. Col Ganapathy or someone else will book the Ved Vihar hall and do the needful for the occasion. The supply of water, tea, biscuits, lunch etc will be done by Col Ganapathy or someone else. Capt Joseph will prepare the banners. The Registration, reception, membership enrollment counter will be manned by someone. The following presentations will be given on that day:
- Achievementsand Annual Report
- Financial Position
- Position of AFT cases
- Awareness Camps conducted
- Details of Charity done etc
He also said that Mrs Asha Varanasi had donated 1 Lakh for higher Education of one girl Child of any ESM (preferably a single lady). She wanted the money to be given to one girl child only and not to split it. He wanted all members to try and identify a meritorious girl student for this donation. He wanted this to be put up in the blog by Mrs Rekha Sekhri. It was the general opinion that during the AGM, 2 or 3 girls, to whom we are going to give money for education, should be called on the stage, given the cheque and asked to speak a few words about the timely help of TSEWA. This will have a very good effect. In the same way, a couple of persons who want to donate for Charity can be called on to the stage and made to present the cheques, like it was done last time.
Action to be taken by Gen Secy, Treasurer, President, Col Veeramani, Capt Joseph, Capt MN Reddy, Gp Capt Sastry, and all concerned.
There being no other points, Vice President thanked all and the meeting ended.