Issues related to Pension/ Medical facilities and other matters

We take up with the Banks all issues related to pension, medical and other facilities, extended to retirees;

We have set up a Help Desk at the Kochi Office to help retirees on issues related to pension, medical facilities, filing of IT Return, etc. ;

We also take up with the Bank, Third Party Administrators (TPAs)/ Insurance companies issues faced by members in regard to the GMPs for MAF/ OPD schemes.

Picnics, Tours

Arranged various tours and picnics(including cruises) to nearby tourist spots ( Athirappilly, Vazhachal, Malayattur, Bhuthathankettu, Rain tourism, Neelakurinji trip, Muziris (Kodungalloor), Njarackal Fishing farm, Cherai beach, Cochin Back waters, etc.) and also to other tourist locations like Wayanad, Coorg, Gavi, Wagamon, Idikki dam, Munnar, Lakshadeep (by ship), etc. to rekindle the warmth of friendship amongst the past colleagues and their families;

Arranged a 11 day four country international tour to Israel, Jordan, Egypt and Palestine (Holy Land Tour) in November 2019;

Family Get Togethers

Family get-togethers held regularly with picnics, quiz programmes, skits, songs, music concerts, story-telling/ sharing memory lane, housie, etc.;

Visiting elderly members (octogenarians) who are unable to move about, at their residences;

Holding of educative sessions by experts in the field on how to keep fit, on geriatric care; classes on Ayurveda, naturopathy, life style diseases etc. at such meetings;

Quarterly Journal Prathyasa

Our journal "Prathyasa", started in April 2007 single-handedly by Shri KGK Pillai , to share pension-related information. Prathyasa was handed over to RBREA, Kochi in 2010 owing to his ill health. The earlier 4-page bulletin has now become a 16-24 pages quarterly journal.;

Prathyasa, apart from comments and views on developments at the national level generally and in the RBI and banking system in particular, also covered news items and articles on matters of immediate relevance to retirees and senior citizens, announcements and reports on various events conducted by the Association, details of new members and those who departed, etc.;

Physical copies of our journal “Prathyasa are despatched to all the members, free of charges;

Pay back to the Society

Associated with organ donation drives, Pain & Palliative Care Centres, Special Schools, etc. in and around Kochi;

Our Organ Donation Drive was inaugurated on February 5, 2014 by prominent industrialist and philanthropist, Shri Kochouseph Chittilappilly;

RBI pensioners enjoy decent pension and reasonable medical facilities. However, thousands of lesser privileged individuals are there in the society. As responsible citizens, we aim to mitigate some of their burden, and return our dues to the society, by extending financial and other help to the less privileged and needy who deserve society’s care;

Prathyasa Lifeline Fund

We started a special fund named Prathyasa Lifeline Fund (PLF) to channelize the generosity of our members in an organised manner to extend financial help to the marginalised. This drive was inaugurated by Smt. R Nishanthini, the then City Police Commissioner, Kochi on February 5, 2015;

During the past five years, RBREA ,Kochi donated more than Rs.1Cr ( Rs 65+ lakh through our Association account and more than Rs.40 Lakh directly by the members) to various needy beneficiaries like ailing destitute, bright students from financially poor back ground, Special Schools, Palliative Care Centres, Boys/Girls Homes, Orphanages, Rehabilitation centres, Institutions supporting the HIV affected children as also to various Natural Disaster Funds like CMDRF, PM Care, etc.;

We could adopt more than 100 meritorious students from poor families and extend financial assistance to them to pursue/complete their studies;

We have also reserved one room in a palliative care centre of repute near Kochi Airport by making a lump sum payment to ensure dignified palliative care to any of our members when in need;

Retirement Homes

The Prathyasa Retirement Home project, conceived during the decennial year of the Association in 2015 as our unique signature project, was to ensure a dignified, hassle free and joyful living for the seniors, mostly RBI retirees, in the company of their like-minded ex-colleagues in the autumn days of their lives;

Shri R Gandhi, the then Deputy Governor of RBI, laid the Foundation stone of our dream project in a Family Get Together held on February 13, 2016 to celebrate the Decennial of the Association;

A special issue of the Prathyasa was brought out in January 2016 as a souvenir to commemorate the Decennial Celebrations and the foundation stone laying ceremony of the signature project;

The Retirement Home Project, costing Rs 20 Cr, consisting of 68 fully furnished residential units on ownership basis, ( totalling about 60,000/ sq.ft in five floors ) in a one acre plot with 45 meters river frontage, at a calm & quiet place, Gandhipuram near Periyar river in Aluva was completed in three years and was inaugurated by Shri N S Vishwanathan, the then Deputy Governor of RBI, at our Family Get Together function, on February 3, 2019. The Prathyasa Retirement Homes has since been renamed River Bank Residency;

This was a fitting finale to three years of planning, hard work and execution of the challenging task by a core group of MC members of RBREA led by Shri K P Johnkutty, who toiled day and night with zeal and dedication to fulfil the chosen goal of completion of the dream project in a befitting manner on time;

68 fully furnished residential units consisting of spacious living room, one bed room, kitchenette, balcony and two toilets comparable to our VoF/THH, floral / vegetable /fruit /herbal plant gardens, 20,000 sq. ft. area for common amenities like common kitchen, common dining hall, library, in door auditorium, community room, Wi-Fi enabled lobbies, meditation room, clinic, Ayurvedic massaging centre, steam bath, dormitories for staff, etc. are some of the prominent features of the retirement home complex;

With the services of a Manager and four supporting staff, the upkeep of the residential units, common areas and the premises are well managed and homely veg/non veg food served to the occupants and guests;

The Reserve Bank Retired Employees’ Association, Kochi is having its own fully furnished office room in Riverbank Residency premises itself;

Communication with and among members

In order to facilitate sharing of information and encourage interaction amongst members, the Association has created WhatsApp Groups RBREA, RBREA1 Kochi and Ex RBItes Kochi.

The Association also has a Facebook Group account with around 950 members for sharing of news and views of common interest, in which many RBI retirees who are not members of the Association have also joined.

An e-mail account in the name of the Association (rbreacochin@gmail.com) is also maintained for communication with the members who have e-mail IDs registered with the Association.

And now, a website of the Association which will be a store house of information relevant to our retired community.