NAPE Gr C Writes to the Secretary on CBS problems

Letter of NAPE, Group C on Problems of CBS

 Sub : Excruciating state and intolerable stress among cadres

          due to the malfunctioning of CBS- reg.

Respected Madam,

                          I am compelled to bring to your kind notice, with a pang of pain and dejection, about the insurmountable misery our officials are doomed to suffer in the CBS enabled post offices. There appears to be no ray of hope for the respite to which our staffs are overdue in all levels regardless of the hierarchy. But the officials working in the post offices are put to rigorous exploitation and the resultant stress.

(a)           Even though we are boasting of having brought as many 20500 offices under the nexus of CBS  operation and outwitted the digital connectivity of the other stake holders, the working condition of the workers are deterioted  to such degree of exploitation forcing us to intervene for an immediate solution.

The innovation does not lead to technological improvisation ensuring the best possible service to the customers. But, instead, had rendered our staff with an unsavory and humiliating experience of encountering the public wrath and curse on day to today basis.

                Al the assurances the administration, had given in the past about the transient nature of the problems had not proved to be credible and worthy merit. Instead the problems are aggravating day by day making every one skeptic of the words from the authorities that be.

The staffs are working up to midnight to see that the validation followed by EOD is given staring the computers most of the time for connectivity. There was a total collapse of the connectivity impounding our staff to stay as late as mid night.  The System administrators of the divisional headquarters are doomed to monitor the completion of the work round the clock and in fact have to complete the validation and other work of the sub offices by obtaining the details of the transactions over phone. The staffs of CPC are equally ordained to work tireless.

The plight of the women employees is ineffable and RISK fraught especially when they are to return to home in the late hours. Apart from, becoming totally indifferent and  inattentive  to their domestic chores (including child care), their vulnerability to the undesirable incidents either while working alone in remote offices  or on the way back to home in odd hours are to be borne in consideration and remedy found on a  war - foot basis. The employers are not all paying any heed to serious state where in the security of women staff at stake attracting various provisions of the law of land in the event of any untoward incident.

                        

                                                                         

Request is hereby fervently made by the undersigned for finding way and means to end this end these draconian travails meted to officials in CBS offices.

The connectivity speed is said to be one of the prime reason for all these hardship faced by our staff some time back when the roll out was fewer.

·          The problem relating to the center server‘s imbibing capacity of the data being entered is now adduced to be the sole dominating reason for the present logjam.

·           The session counts of login session are to cope with the server.

But oblivious to what is in store for us by the action in higher echelons; it is requested to do some plausible measure in our domain to bring down the peril facing us by adapting some procedural changes.

The over flooding of data reach out to server in the evening hours pertaining to BO transaction results in clogging and glitches, very typical of peak hour spurt in the traffic. The work in closing hours of the sub offices is to be reduced if at all any prima facie remedy is to be realized.

The following measures are suggested for these can be done in our level as per the rules and without causing any injury to customers’ interest.

(i)       The conversion of all BO in the CBS offices as one day transit offices with instruction to treat the bag received for the day as bags received after closing of the account bag to HO, except taking the cash as advance remittance. The contents of the bag except RL/mails are to be kept overnight and to be incorporated in the next day account. The work of the BOS is therefore can be started right from the morning with the vouchers of previous day and can be put through in phased manner during office hours. The spread out entry of BOs transactions concurrently and leisurely with the sub offices work will avoid the accumulation in the evening and the crowding of data to server can be therefore be effectively eschewed.

(ii)       Even if there is any likelihood of delay due to unanticipated glitches, the work of the day can be planned and alternate measures of shifting the CBS related work to nearby offices where the verification can be done well within reasonable time.

(iii)      Constituting of special salvaging cell comprising of qualified staff with staggered attendance at focal points in order to complete the work of the Sub offices that cannot be accomplished for the aforesaid reason. As such it is a common sight that some of the sub office staffs are trying the validation in the HO in late evening hours as and when the total connectivity is lost in their office.

(iv)    After close of the SO transaction along with the BO transaction of the previous day (by changing the value date), the EOD should be given at once in order to facilitate the CPC to run EOD for the circle level. The DC can therefore be run on the same day. But in the present arrangement, the initiation of EOD at post office level after validating the BO transaction late followed by CPC EOD compliance drags the DC to be run on the peak hours of the next day. Eventually telling upon the flow of the SO transactions the morning itself.

(v)       Now the augmentation of server and providing additional server are impossible instantly. The heavy data flow cripples the work as per the latest findings by the experts. It is true that with more than 20000 SOLS and more number of logins, it may not possible to access the server swiftly. Further the target related spurt in the opening of accounts etc., has increased the data flow. With a net result the server what we have now in dearth of space over flooded with data and is bound to delay the transaction. The roll out of the rest of the Non CBS offices is beyond imagination with the available capacity and in fact has to be dropped in the beginning of this week.

Of late, the Infosys have advised that the duration of idle sessions be minimized and further to keep session count under check by restricting the session users. Of this couple of findings, the idle session time has since been reduced to 5 mts. for the past 4 days. Nevertheless there is no improvement.

As regards the restriction of the session users, not only for the present season, but till the server is added up the way out is to be found out by the Department. It is for sure the worker of the department cannot endure any more to undergo the rigors and drudgery of working late in the night to see the transactions are validated.

This Federation of the strong conviction that the basic work of the POSB ,as enshrined in our volume should be done manually on day to basis and the value added service like CBS and ATM can be performed  periodically ,on turn basis, which will  restrict the users at optimum level conducive to server to serve swiftly.

 Thus the CBS will have to be termed and practiced as real time CBS. The slot should be apportioned among the sub offices with HO empowered to have access daily.

The sub offices during the restricted day should accept the transactions as in the past duly maintaining the Long book and RD journal etc., to substantiate the receipt and payment in the daily account. The vouchers can be validated by sending the same to HO on the same day along a copy of the long book and RD journal as the case may be. At Ho there should be enough staff strength (drawing officials rendered surplus from abolition of SOSB and from SBCO in staggered attendance) to do the validation and this team can be deployed in night hour attendance on par with CPC. The updation of SO transaction work during the non CBS days at HO should be timed in such way that it should not delay the EOD and DC of the day. The bandwidth of the HO can be raised considerably and thus the Core banking inclusion can be done on the same day, even though not instantly, for the costumer to get the value added service CBS uninterruptedly. This can be done till such time server capacity are enhanced or number added up. By doing so the much desired reduction in session login  by the Infosys can be ensured  by adapting the procedure already in vogue in our volumes without depriving the service of basic POSB to customers (in whatever way that deemed fit and plausible).

We therefore request you to kindly look in to matter and save the official from exploitation. We are left with no other choice but to leave the office as such after the close of working hours by duly incorporating the receipts and payment of the day towards POSB manually and thereby fulfilling the basic objective of the basic duty behold a Post office.

We further request your good self to defer the RICT which will increase the logged in users multi-folded till such time server is added or amplified for seamless access.

I may further be constrained to reiterate if officials are put in to hardship with no relief and if the atrocities unleashed on worker for no fault of them if goes unabated, we are left with no other choice of resorting to Trade Union action and judicial remedy drawing the attention of the Government about the barbaric way of treating the workers in the Department of Post that was not at all witnessed even in the Pre Independence day.

This conference is of genuine concern and apt desire that our department should keep abreast with all other of its counterparts, especially against the back drop of the ever growing technology and take the progress along its stride.  At the same time we are of the apprehension that such adaptation to technology should not be a name sake exercise for the sake of perusing some activates at the cost of exchequer out of a hastily ill- conceived plan lacking a seminal insight. Very pertinently, the plan of execution should not jeopardize the labour laws of the country and consistently engaged in a manner relentless exploitation of labour.

As the famous adage goes” an action well started is half finished”  in the case of our IT projects like Mccamish  for Insurance  and Core Banking in savings bank, we cannot feel  gratified the  way the  execution are conducive for attaining the  purpose of the project.  We should honestly admit that we are stumbling in doing our transaction in the new software.

In other words we are heading for disastrous state in which the time tested credibility( towards  the unique speed and accessibility of service) to the public  will  erode very soon if  we are to continue  the  clumsy way we are doing the   transaction are thorough  the  Mccamish  and CBS.

The connectivity speed of these WEB enabled service is primarily the first issue to be resolved.  The RAM capacity in tandem with the connectivity is next hitch to be concurrently spruced up for the betterment of the so called innovation.  But for these the scheme will be only a farce in the apex level of hierarchy inevitably rendering the public, who have trusted us for generation together, to flee away from post offices and its products.  A single policy generating in the Mccamish and new account opening in C BS are nightmarish experience and the public who are to wait for their transaction are driven to edge of our nerves.  The  fact that recently re-launched KVP are sold more in non CBS office than the CBS office are befitting  testimony as how our switch over to new technology without proper assessment and ill equipped and deficient net  work band widths.  Added to this, opening of more accounts in Non-CBS office than CBS office will testify the same.

The other  most deplorable aspect  deserving vehement protest from us,  as our staff are toiling on day to day basis in experimenting  the ill designed  soft  ware that is thrust upon them. Most of the features in the software are not in conformity with the existing POSB Rules.  We are at a loss to understand whether our officers have made us the testing ground for massive launch of any soft ware by the developers on getting a huge sum of money.

The staffs have to do the work of net enabled services of CBS (Finacle) and Mccamish without any content to heart, leave alone the satisfying the customer need. The tardy process of CBS software with the deficient and precarious connectivity makes the staff to work up to 9 late in the night.

This conference of genuine concern and desire that our department should keep in abreast of other identical sectors in respect of the technology aided execution of our transactions and other functions. But at the same time it should not be a ritualistic and perfunctory exercise hostile to the trust the public reposed on us for generations together. The trust what have earned from public in the time tested fabric is primarily the availability of financial service and swiftness in disposing the transaction. But the latest technology what we have been venturing to permeate in our department in the CBS for savings bank and Mc Caamish for insurance   unfortunately turns out to be mute factors decimating the hard earned good will  from public all along  these years.

The rate at which the PLI business dipped down sequel to Mccamish advent is really alarming and got to be rectified on war foot basis. On the other hand, in Finacle the accounting is based on double entry book system as per the CAG insistence and the software is developed accordingly on par with banking system. The fact that our department has other multifarious business activities and the accounting of the same are to be incorporated in the final balance sheet of the day (daily account of in our parlance).The accounting are in customary single entry system unlike the Finnacle. In accounting system followed hitherto there is only one treasury where any funds, be it in receipt or payment, are monitored and accounted with per contra tallying. Any imbalance in this will be pointer to some serious lapse in fiscal propriety. But now in finacle there is vault mode akin to the customary treasury.

But in finacle the debit and credit in the  sundry accounts of  various kinds and especially the postmaster account (340) where the amount  cleared through  cheques are debited and credited is a zone of peril. Any intrusion of fake clearance in to the vault by manipulators by credit and dispersing the amount  to specific accounts for further  withdrawal are sure to go unchecked in as much as such  of items are not reflected in treasury accounting responsible  for  arriving the daily account and further evade the scroll adjustment in the accounts branch. Thus the loop-holes in soft those are prone to manipulation and scandals.

Yours Sincerely

( D.Kishan Rao)

General Secretary