Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Payment of Dearness Allowance to Central Government employees – Revised Rates effective from 1.7.2013.

No. 1-8/2013-E-II (B)
Government of India Ministry of Finance
Department of Expenditure
North Block, New Delhi,
Dated: 25th September, 2013.

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Subject: Payment of Dearness Allowance to Central Government employees – Revised Rates effective from 1.7.2013.

     The undersigned is directed to refer to this Ministry’s Office Memorandum No. 1(2)/2013-E-II (B)  dated  25th April, 2013 on the subject mentioned above and to say that the President is pleased to decide that the Dearness Allowance payable to Central Government employees shall be enhanced from the existing rate of 80% to 90% with effect from 1st July, 2013.

2     The provisions contained in paras 3, 4 and 5 of this Ministry’s O.M. No. 1 (3)/2008-E-II(B) dated 29th August, 2008 shall continue to be applicable while regulating Dearness Allowance under these orders.

3     The additional installment of Dearness Allowance payable under these orders shall be paid in cash to all Central Government employees.

4     These orders shall also apply to the civilian employees paid from the Defence Services Estimates and the expenditure will be chargeable to the relevant head of the Defence Services Estimates. In regard to Armed Forces personnel and Railway employees separate orders will be issued by the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Railways, respectively.

5     In so far as the persons serving in the Indian Audit and Accounts Department are concerned, these orders issue in consultation with the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.

6. The Hindi Version of this O.M is also issued.
Sd/-
(Kishori Raman  Sharma)
Under Secretary to the Government of India

In poll year, govt sets up 7th pay commission.Recommendations are likely to come into effect from 2016 calender year

   Call it a poll compulsion or genuine desire to help the government servants--the Centre on Wednesday decided to constitute the seventh pay commission for its 50 lakh employees and 30 lakh pensioners.

While analysts expect a burden of Rs one lakh crore a year from the seventh pay commission awards, the finance ministry said-- don't pre-judge the issue, first terms of reference be decided.

Officials said next in the offing could be a decision to increase the retirement age of government employees to 62 years from the current 60. .

"Prime Minister (Manmohan Singh) has approved the constitution of the seventh Central Pay Commission," Finance Minister P Chidambaram said in a statement here.

Unlike the previous time, the commission will come over three years prior to the year when its recommendations are to take effect. In July, 2006, the Cabinet had approved setting up of the sixth pay commission, whose recommendations came into effect from January, 2006. But, it was because the NDA government had initially refused to set up the commission, a point on which the Congress today tried to beat the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

"NDA rejected the legitimate formation of 6th Pay Commission in 2003.The Congress set up 6th Pay Commission in 2005, now again the 7th CPC in 2013," Party general secretary in-charge for Communication Ajay Maken tweeted.

The then finance minister had told that there was no need to constitute the sixth pay commission since 50% dearness allowance was already merged with the basic pay.

When asked whether fiscal consolidation exercise of the government will not be affected as it is estimated that the exchequer will tke a hit of Rs one lakh crore from the recommendations of the seventh pay commission, a senior finance ministry official said "how can you estimate the burden on the exchequer. Now even, the terms of reference has not been decided."

The year 2016-17 will be the terminal year of a five-year fiscal consolidation road map announced by the Finance Minister. By then, the government aims to bring down the Centre’s fiscal deficit to three% of GDP. In 2012-13, the first year of the road map, the deficit stood at 4.9% of GDP. For 2013-14, the plan is to reduce it to 4.8% and then by 0.6%age points each year.

To a query whether the government be allowed to set up the commission as the model code of conduct will come into effect due to polls to five assemblies, the official said the decision has been announced and hence setting up of the commission will not violate the Election Commission's guidelines.

He said the department of personnel will now start discussions with staff associations of government employees for announcing constitution of the commission as well as its terms of reference. It will be set up in a one month time, he said.

The finance ministry tried to allay the speculation that the commission was set up to woo the 80 lakh government employees, pensioners and indirectly their dependents to the ruling coalition in an election year. There were 72.5 crore electorate in India, according to 2011 census.
Source:Business Standard

Central Union welcomes 7th Pay Commission; seeks revision every 5 years

The government has announced constitution of the Seventh Pay Commission, which will look into the salaries, allowances and pensions of about 80 lakh of its employees and pensioners.
The government has announced constitution of the Seventh Pay Commission, which will look into the salaries, allowances and pensions of about 80 lakh of its employees and pensioners.

NEW DELHI: Trade union representing central government employees today welcomed the announcement to set up the 7th Pay Commission, but demanded that recommendation be implemented with retrospective effect from January 1, 2011.

The government has announced constitution of the Seventh Pay Commission, which will look into the salaries, allowances and pensions of about 80 lakh of its employees and pensioners.

"We welcome the government's move to set up the 7th Pay Commission but we have a reservation. It should be implemented with effect from January 1, 2011 as in the case of Central PSUs whose employee pay scales are revised every five years," Confederation of Central Government Employees and Workers President K K N Kutty told PTI.

Earlier in the day, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said in a statement that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has approved the constitution of the 7th Pay Commission and its recommendations are likely to be implemented with effect from January 1, 2016.

Kutty said that during the discussion, the Confederation would press for merger of up to 50 per cent of dearness allowance with the basic pay, which is a prerequisite for setting up a pay commission.

As per the practice, the dearness allowance is hiked twice in a year by the Central Government to provide relief from inflation to its employees.

This is based on a set formula after factoring in the year-long average of all India Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers.

The merger of DA with basic pay helps central government employees as certain allowances are paid as proportion of the basic pay and hence merger results in higher allowances.
Source:ET

7th Pay Commission announced for central government employees

The government has announced the setting up of the seventh Central Pay Commission paving the way for wage revision of millions of central government employees.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has approved the setting up of the commission, finance minister P Chidambaram said in a statement.

The average time taken by a Pay Commission to submit its recommendations has been about two years.

Accordingly, allowing about two years for the commission to submit its report, the recommendations are likely to be implemented with effect from January 1, 2016.

The names of the Chairperson and members as well as the terms of reference (ToR) of the commission will be finalised and announced shortly after consultation with major stakeholders, Chidambaram said.

The fourth, fifth and sixth Central Pay Commissions’ recommendations were implemented as follows:

# 4th CPC:   1.1.1986

# 5th CPC:   1.1.1996

#6th CPC:   1.1.2006

Source:Hindustantimes

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Banks to remain open on 25th Sep, strike called off

Banks will function normally as a section of public sector bank employees who had threatened to go on strike on Wednesday have deferred it following assurance from the government that there is no plan for merger of banks at present.

Following conciliatory meeting before Chief Labour Commissioner, where officials of Finance Ministry and Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) were present, it was decided to defer the strike, All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) General Secretary, C.H. Venkatachalam told PTI.
He said there was assurance from the Finance Ministry official that there is no plan for merger of public sector banks and that both IBA and Finance Ministry officials gave assurance to consider other demands of the two unions.
“The government representative also clarified that no proposal for merger of Public Sector Banks or merger of any associate bank with SBI has been received by them,” he said.
As regards service conditions of employees of associate banks, IBA stated that the same would be governed by the bipartite settlement and that there would be no unilateral imposition of any service conditions, he added.
AIBEA and Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI) had given a call for observance of one day nation-wide bank strike on September 25 in support of their demands.

Source : The Hindu (PTI)
Input from pcp
Filed Under: ,

Children Education Allowance —Reimbursement of Examination Fee.

RBE No. 93/2013 
PC-VI No. 324
Government of India
Ministry of Railways
(Railway Board)
No.E(W)2008/ED-2/4
New Delhi, Dated: 12-09-2013
The General Manager (P),
All Indian Railways &
Production Units.

Sub Children Education Allowance —Reimbursement of Examination Fee.

   Please refer to Railway Board’s letter of even number dated 01.10.2008 followed by subsequent letters regarding revised policy instructions / clarifications on Children Education Allowance admissible to Railway Servants, based on the recommendations of Sixth Central Pay Commission.

   2. Now, DOP&T has issued further clarification thereby including ‘examination fee’ as part of reimbursable item under Children Education Allowance with effect from the current financial year in terms of their Office Memorandum No. 12011/01/2012-Estt.(AL) dated 3l-07-2013. The same is being circulated herewith for guidance of all concerned.
   Please acknowledge receipt.
Sd/-
(Debasis Mazumdar)
Director Estt.( Welfare)
Railway Board
Source: AIRF

Monday, September 23, 2013

STRIKE BALLOT DATES CHANGED TO 11,12,&13 NOVEMBER2013

CIRCULAR  NO. 7/2013                                                                       DATED – 20.09.2013

Dear Comrades,
STRIKE BALLOT

DATES CHANGED TO 11, 12 & 13 NOVEMBER 2013

MAKE CAMPAIGN PROGRAMME BY CHQ LEADERS A GRAND SUCCESS

The available members of the Confederation National Secretariat met at New Delhi on 19.9.2013 to review the preparation made for the strike Ballot campaign, which is, scheduled to be organised on 25th, 26th and 27th September, 2013.  The meeting took note of the fact that certain states and some organisations have not yet initiated steps to conduct the programme with full participation of the members.  It was also reported at the meeting that some of the affiliates have practical problem in adhering to the dates and the house was of the unanimous opinion that the date might be deferred.  Accordingly the dates for strike ballot have now been shifted to 11th, 12th and 13th November, 2013 (Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday) and the Confederation National Secretariat members will undertake intensive campaign programmes to mobilise the rank and file of the membership.  The names of Comrades who are deployed to various States are indicated in the list enclosed.  The State Secretaries and the affiliated organisations are requested to get in touch with the concerned Secretariat members to fix up the dates.  The National Secretariat will meet at Mumbai on 15th November, 2013 to review the strike ballot campaign programme and chalk out future course of action

Source:http://confederationhq.blogspot.in/

Assam to hike DA by 10% for state govt staff

 Following the decision to hike dearness allowance (DA) by 10 per cent for central government employees, the Assam government today said it will also increase it to 90 per cent from existing 80 per cent for its staff.

“We will also hike the DA as soon as the Centre notifies it for its employees. We have been giving this benefit to our people at par with the Central government employees,” Assam government’s Additional Chief Secretary (Finance), Himangshu Sekhar Das said here.

Yesterday, the central government approved a proposal to hike DA to 90 per cent from existing 80 per cent, a move that would benefit about 50 lakh employees and 30 lakh pensioners.

“I think, the Centre will notify the hike in the next 10-15 days. We will take the decision accordingly,” Das said.

This is a double digit hike in DA after about three years. It was last in September 2010 that the government had announced a hike of 10 per cent to be given with effect from July 1, 2010.

DA was hiked to 80 per cent from 72 per cent in April this year effective from January 1, 2013.

As per practice, the government uses CPI-IW data for the past 12 months to arrive at a number for the purpose of any DA hike.

The retail inflation for industrial workers between July 2012 and June 2013 was used to compute the increase in DA.

Source:http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/states/assam-to-hike-da-by-10-for-state-govt-staff/article5153996.ece

Friday, September 20, 2013

Union Cabinet today approved the proposal to release an additional installment of Dearness Allowance (DA) to Central Government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) to pensioners with effect from 01.07.2013

Release of additional installment of dearness allowance to Central Government employees and dearness relief to Pensioners, due from 1.7.2013

The Union Cabinet today approved the proposal to release an additional installment of Dearness Allowance (DA) to Central Government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) to pensioners with effect from 01.07.2013, in cash, at the rate of 10 per cent increase over the existing rate of 80 per cent.

Hence, the Central Government employees as well as the pensioners are entitled for DA/DR at the rate of 90 per cent of the basic with effect from 01.07.2013. The increase is in accordance with the accepted formula based on the recommendations of the 6th Central Pay Commission.

The combined impact on the exchequer on account of both dearness allowance and dearness relief would be of the order of Rs. 10879.60 crore per annum and Rs. 7253.10 crore in the financial year 2013-14 ( i.e. for a period of 8 month from July, 2013 to February 2014).
Source:pib

Thursday, September 19, 2013

RTI STAMP IN POST OFFICES

RTI applicants will no longer have to wait to get their applications processed as the Department of Posts is all set to bring out an RTI stamp for sale soon and also set up special counters, according to a senior officer.


“Under orders of the Central Information Commission, the Department will issue RTI stamps in the denomination of Rs 10. We will also introduce special counters to accept applications in all 1.5 lakh post offices across the country,” the officer speaking on condition of anonymity, told PTI.

Visitors will no longer have to wait at post offices or face problems in depositing RTI fees, photocopying charges as the CIC directions will be enforced, he said.

He said CIC had also asked Central Government departments to instruct all information officers to accept postal orders, demand drafts and banker’s cheques payable to accounts officers and not reject applications on ‘flimsy grounds’ such as every department incurs Rs 22 towards bank charges and commission to en cash postal orders worth Rs 10.

He said post offices are gearing up to impart adequate training to staff for processing the applications.

Chief Information Commissioner Satyanandan Mishra had issued a series of directions on receipt of a complaint by an information seeker. After deliberating on the pros and cons, suitable orders have been issued to the postal services, he said.

RTI applicants will no longer have to wait to get their applications processed as the Department of Posts is all set to bring out an RTI stamp for sale soon and also set up special counters, according to a senior officer.

"Under orders of the Central Information Commission, the department will issue RTI stamps in the denomination of Rs 10. We will also introduce special counters to accept applications in all 1.5 lakh post offices across the country," the officer speaking on condition of anonymity, told a news agency.

Sources of Information: PTI
Input fromhttp://sapost.blogspot.in/2013/09/department-of-posts-is-all-set-to-bring.html
Filed Under:

EXPECTED DA FROM JANUARY 2014

The rate of Dearness Allowance payable to central Government Employees is arrived from a prescribed formula. In which the main component is the Average AICPIN for Industrial Workers for twelve months prior to every January and July of every year. So it is quite obvious that everyone wants to know the Consumer Price Index Numbers for Industrial Workers of every month. So they can calculate the rate of Dearness Allowance approximately after every six months.Expected DA from January 2014

The AICPIN for Industrial workers for the month of July has been released by Labour Bureau to day. As this is the seventh month’s AICPIN , we need still five months AICPIN to calculate the rate of Dearness Allowance to be paid to central Government Employees from January 2014. But with these 7 months CPI points, the expected DA from January 2014 can be arrived approximately.

If we look at the increase rate of the AICPIN for the 12 months starting from January 2012 to December 2012, the AICPIN for the month of January 2012 was 198 and for the month of December 2012 was 219. The total increase for the year was 21 points.

For the next twelve months starting from July 2012 to June 2013, the AICPIN for July 2012 was 212 and June 2013 was 231 and the total increase was 19 points.

So we can expect that for these twelve months from January 2013 to December 2013 the increase will be more than 20 points. It should be noticed that the AICPIN is increased by 4 points for the month of July 2013. This trend is expected to be continued as the Rupee is falling against Dollar consistently. It will have a considerable impact on the prices of basket of essential commodities and Consumer Price Index too. The month of January has been started with 221 points, and this July 2013 touched 235 points level. Up to this month the total increase is 14 points. As this is the seventh month of these twelve months, the remaining 5 months will have a increase of 10 to 15 points level. So the total increase for this year will be of 24 to 29 points. According to this summary the Average AICPIN for these twelve months will be from 233 points to 234 points.

Taking all the above factors into consideration, if we apply this in the formula prescribed for calculating the rate of Dearness Allowance, the answer is as follows:

The Expected DA from January 2014 will be at 100% to 102% level

Source :http://www.gservants.com/2013/08/30/expected-da-from-january-2014/

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Option to defer Annuity purchase under NPS at the time of exit

PENSION FUND REGULATORY AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
PFRDA/ 2013/14/ PDEX /9
September 17, 2013
To,
All Govt depts./PAO’s/DDO/ POP’s, CRA & other stakeholders

Dear Sir/ Madam,

Sub: Option to defer Annuity purchase under NPS at the time of exit

As per the Exit guidelines of PFRDA for National Pension System (NPS) subscribers, a ubscriber on attaining the Normal Retirement Age (applicable to Govt. sector subscribers) or upon attaining 60 years – is required to compulsorily annuitize at least 40% of your pension wealth and the remaining 60% can be withdrawn as a lump sum. Also, a subscriber wishing to exit from NPS before the normal retirement age or before attainment of 60 years is allowed to exit subject to the condition that a minimum of 80% of accumulated pension wealth needs to be mandatorily utilized for purchase of annuity that provides for the monthly pension to the subscriber.

Presently, withdrawal of permissible lump sum withdrawal (60%) upon exit can be deferred by the subscriber to a later date but not beyond attaining 70 years of age. This is to take care of the reasons like unfavorable Market conditions or there being no requirement of the funds at that particular time.

Due to the upheavals in the market conditions including the bond market and the swings in NAV’s of the debt funds including NPS in the recent past, feedback has been received from various stakeholders that the subscribers be given an option to defer or time the annuity purchase (subject to a minimum of 40%/80% of accumulated pension wealth as applicable) akin to the deferment option for the lump sum withdrawal that is permitted currently under NPS.

PFRDA after examining the issued has approved the “Deferment option” for the annuity purchase at the time of exit from NPS with condition that such deferment can be for a maximum period of 3 years. One can initiate the annuity purchase option at any time before lapse of 3 years from the date of such deferment, by giving an application or notice to the Central Record Keeping Agency.

If no such notice is given before the lapse of 3 years from such date of deferment, the percentage of accumulated pension wealth as provided by the subscriber in the NPS withdrawal application form (subject to a minimum of 40%/80% of accumulated pension wealth as applicable) for purchase of annuity would be automatically monetized and such amount would not earn any investment income or interest to the subscriber
thereafter.

This is for the information of all concerned. The circular has also been placed on PFRDA website at http://www.pfrda.org.in and CRA website at http://www.npscra.nsdl.co.in.

Yours faithfully,
Sd/-
Venkateswarlu Peri
General Manager
Source: http://pfrda.org.in/writereaddata/linkimages/Annuity%20Purchase%20at%20exit2395121277.pdf

Payment of PLB to Railway employees for the year 2012- 13 : Joint Appeal By AIRF and NFIR

No.A1RF1387/13/ NFIR/1/l0/Pt.IV
Dated: 17/09/2013
The Chairman,
Railway Board,
Rail Bhavan,
New Delhi

Dear Sir,

Sub:- Payment of Productivity Linked Bonus to Railway employees for the year 2012- 13—reg.
The Railway Board are aware that due to the continued initiatives of both the Federations involving all categories of employees, the efficiency of the Indian Railways has been improving from year to year. It is worth-mentioning that over three decades, not a single man day was lost and this has been possible due to the matured approach on the part of the two major railwaymen’s Federations.

2. Last year, the railway employees have been paid PL Bonus equivalent to 78 days wages with notional calculation at Rs. 3500/- p.m. On comparison with the performance of the year 2011- 12, the Indian Railways have achieved still better results during the year 2012-13 with the freight traffic exceeding one Billion Tonnes, and emerging as 4th best Railways in the World. Due to the dedication of railway employees, the Operating Ratio of 88.8% could be achieved during the year 2012-13.

3. The Federations are however shocked to note that the PL Bonus days are proposed to be reduced in the name of “Capital Weightage and modified Staff Strength”. This news has spread to the different corners of Indian Railways, consequently disappointment and anger is growing among rank and file of the Railway employees. In fact, Railway employees are expecting more bonus this time than the previous year in view of good results achieved during the year 2012-13.

4. During discussions with the Railway Board (CRB, FC & MS) on 16th September, 2013 the leaders of the two Federations (AIRF and NFIR) have conveyed the hurt feelings of workers on the proposed reduction of PL Bonus and urged upon the Board to take note of the serious field situation, It was also made clear that the Federations are not in a position to accept any reduction in PLB days.

5. It is also relevant to mention that the PL Bonus Scheme was evolved in the year 1979 for providing substantial motivation to the workforce towards achieving higher production by way of increased output and improved quality of service. The railwaymen/women have given best account of themselves during the year 2012-13, consequently the freight performance was highest ever and equally the Operating Ratio was good. In view of this, the Railway employees cannot afford to accept any reduction in the PL Bonus days. They, in fact, expect more Bonus this time.

6. We, therefore, appeal that Railway Ministry should take initiative for ensuring payment of PL Bonus more than the previous year in order to create motivation among the Railway employees.

The infirmities in the present calculation formula are required to be reviewed through negotiations later on and for reaching consensus, the Federations will participate in the discussions with open- mindedness.

Summing up, the Federations trust that the Railway Ministry would solve the matter satisfactorily for preserving the decades long industrial peace and preventing agitation in the Railways.

Yours faithfully,
sd/-
(Shiva Gopal Mishra)
General Secretary/AIRF
sd/-
(M. Raghavaiah)
General Secretary/NFIR

  Source :AIRF
Filed Under: , ,

Government may approve 10% DA hike on Friday, to benefit 80 lakh

Ahead of the festive season, the UPA government is set to hike the dearness allowance (DA) of its employees by 10%, a move that will benefit almost 8 million people by boosting their purchasing power.

The Union cabinet will consider a proposal on the raising the allowance, which is a proportion of basic pay, at its meeting on Friday.

In what can be seen as major sop for a large section of aam aadmi, this will be the second DA hike in a financial year. More importantly, also ahead of the 2014 general elections.

The Centre’s decision will not only directly benefit 5 million employees and 3 million pensioners, but also help infuse more money into the economy.

Top government sources said the new DA rates would be applicable from July 1.

The sources further said the exact amount of DA, as a proportion of basic pay, works out to over 90% after factoring in the revised All-India Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW) for June.

According to revised data released on August 30, retail inflation for factory workers for June stood at 11.63%, higher than the provisional estimate of 11.06% for the month released on July 31.

The double-digit hike in DA would come after three years. It was last in September, 2010, that the government had announced a hike of 10%.

The DA was hiked to 80% from 72% in April 2013, effective from January 1, this year.

As per practice, the government uses CPI-IW data for past 12 months or a year to arrive at a number for the purpose of any DA hike. Thus, the retail inflation for industrial workers between July 2012 and June 2013 will be used to take a final decision.

Source:ET

IITs will take nearly 10 years to get to ideal teacher-student ratio

MUMBAI: Facing a faculty crunch, the Indian Institutes of Technology have projected that it will take the elite institutes close to a decade to get to the ideal teacher-student ratio. The government stipulates IITs must have a teacher-student ratio of 1:10, but at present, the ratio is an area of concern.

Of 6,522 sanctioned faculty positions nationwide, 2,618 are unfilled. Thus, across campuses, there is an approximately 40% shortage of teachers. While student intake has risen by 54% since 2006 in the wake of the 27% OBC quota and the expansion in the number of seats, the teacher-student ratio at campuses is around 1:15. It is the worst at IIT-Roorkee at 1:20 and the best at the newer institutes of IIT-Ropar and IIT-Mandi, where there is one teacher for every two students.

The all-India faculty strength is 3,904 at the moment. "Generally, the older IITs have been picking up about 35 to 40 new teachers annually," said an IIT director. "But student strength has risen rapidly because of the OBC expansion and also as PhD numbers went up. It isn't possible to take faculty numbers up so sharply so quickly. We are going to take five to ten years to reach the ideal teacher-student ratio," he added.

IIT-Bombay director Devang Khakhar said faculty quality has got better with time, with most recruits having an overseas PhD; almost all of them joining the old IITs have international teaching or working experience.

"We cannot and do not want to compromise on the quality of teaching faculty just because we are facing staff shortage. We acknowledge that our existing teachers have been taking the extra burden, but we are constantly looking for good people," said IIT-Roorkee director Pradipto Banerjee.

Also, the HRD ministry has agreed to create a new cadre of technical staff to man and maintain laboratories at the tech schools. For long, the faculty and the staff shouldered the responsibility of running the labs. The new technical cadre staff will free faculty members from the responsibility of looking after the labs and the workshops and enable them to devote time to teaching and research, said an IIT director.

"The modern equipment and sophisticated labs need better-qualified people," said an IIT head. Each IIT will have to submit their requirement and people will be recruited as per the need of an individual institute. Recruitment will start once the finance ministry gives its nod.

Source:TOI
Filed Under: , ,

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Merger Of 50% DA With Pay : Resolution adopted in INTUC Conference.

Merger Of 50% DA With Pay

   The 30th Plenary Session of Indian National Trade Union Congress INTUC  is being held in Raipur from 6-9-2013 to 9-9-2013 is concluded today. There are 4 Resolutions which are considered to be very important are adopted in this Conference.One of the four main resolution is Merger of 50% DA with Pay for central government employees. So the INTUC urges the central government to consider the demand  and accord sanction for merging 50% DA with pay. The Resolution On Merger Of 50% DA With Pay which has been adopted in 30th Plenary Session of  INTUC held in Raipur from 6-9-2013 to 9-9-2013 is given below

Resolution On Merger Of 50% DA With Pay

   The Wage structure revision for Central Government employees had been enquired into by the successive pay Commission appointed by the Government of India during the past decades and gave their reports. The Government had considered the reports and decided for implementation with certain changes and improvements.

   The previous pay Commissions (3rd,4th,5thand 6th ) have ,by and large, covered the aspects of the principle of wage determination . But however the job contents, remuneration commensuration with the nature of duties and responsibilities have not been taken into consideration by the pay Commissions while determining the revised pay structure, consequently the railway men have been put into disadvantage.

   The 5th CPC had recommended that the DA must be merged with pay and treated as pay for computing all allowance as and when the percentage of dearness compensation exceeds 50%. Accordingly even before the setting up of 6th CPC, the DA of 50% was merged with pay.

   Presently, the dearness compensation is 80% as on 1st January, 2013, while the DA had crossed 50% of pay as on 1st January, 2011.The demand for merger of DA to partially compensate the erosion in the real wages was first mooted by the Gadgil Committee in the 2nd pay Commission period. The 3rd CPC had recommended such merger when the cost of living Index crosses over 272 points i.e. 72 points over and above the base index adopted for the pay revision. In other words, the recommendation of the 3rd CPC was to merge the DA when it crossed 36%. The Government in the national Council JCM at the time of negotiation had initially agreed to merge 60% DA and later the whole of the DA before the 4th CPC was set up. The 5th CPC had merged 98%of DA with pay.

   As the DA already stood at 80% of Pay and another installment is expected to be granted w.e.f. July, 2013 which may cross 90%,it is necessary that the Government takes steps to merge 50%DA with pay for all purposes for the year 2013 for ensuring compensation to the erosion of value of real wage of government employees.

   The Plenary Session of INTUC therefore urges upon the Government of India to consider the demand and accord sanction for merging DA component i.e. 50% of DA with pay for all purposes.

Source:http://www.gservants.com/2013/09/09/merger-of-50-da-with-pay-resolution-adopted-in-intuc-conference

Resolution on appointment of the 7th Pay Commission.

 The delegates’ conference of INTUC adopted a resolution on appointment of the 7th pay commission in its 30th Plenary Session held in Raipur, Chhattisgarh. Since it is one of the major Central Trade Unions in India, the resolutions which are adopted in its conference will be given national importance and it would be taken up seriously by the Central Government. As the INTUC is the labour wing of Congress Party, it is expected that the demands made by the INTUC will be considered favorably by the Government. The resolution on appointment of the 7th Pay Commission is given below

  Resolution on appointment of the 7th Pay Commission

   The delegate conference of INTUC demands the central government of India to appoint 7th pay commission without any delay.

   The 6th central pay commission has recommended a new concept of Pay Band and Grade Pay as replacement to the 5th CPC pay scales/pay structure, which was accepted by the government. Consequently the revised Pay Band/Grade Pay was implemented with effect from January 1, 2006.

   In the case of central public sector undertakings, the wages are invariably revised once in five years. The 5th cpc, in the case of central government employees, had recommended that the wages should be revised at least once in 10 years. The degree of inflation in economy determines the pace of erosion of the real value of wages. However this factor was never taken into consideration while determining the wage structure. It is however acknowledged that there has been DA compensation for the central government employees which does not compensate the actual erosion of wages in terms of actual cost of living.

   The Government of India should take necessary measures to control the inflation in the essential commodities so that the state/central government employees and general public can maintain their living standard, as they are passing through severe hardship to meet both the ends. It is the general practice that after every 10 years, a new Pay Commission is appointed to examine the economic conditions of the government employees. In the larger interests of the state and central government employees, it is required to appoint the 7th Pay Commission to revise the wages and other benefits in the light of prevailing economic conditions.

   The INTUC delegates’ conference earnestly appeal to the government of India to appoint the 7th Pay Commission immediately, so that employees can maintain their living standards intact in the face of steep inflation.

Source:http://www.gservants.com/2013/09/10/resolution-on-appointment-of-the-7th-pay-commission/

STREAMLINING THE FUNCTIONING OF CONFEDERATION

ALL AFFILIATED ORGANISATIONS,

YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE
To

               1)    All Office Bearers.
               2)    All General Secretaries C.O.Cs.
               3)    All Affiliated Organisations of Confederation.

Dear Comrades,

               Many State Committees of Confederation (C.O.Cs) have reported that they are facing difficulty in effectively implementing the programmes of Confederation at base level mainly due to one reason, i.e; NON-COMMUNICATION OF THE DECISIONS TO THE LOWER UNITS BY THE RESPECTIVE CHQ OF THE AFFILIATED ORGANISATIONS OF CONFEDERATION.   Many organisations are not giving instructions to their State/District Units to implement the programmes at local level jointly with the local unit of Confederation or independently if confederation Unit is not functioning in their place.  If the Chief Executives of the Affiliated Unions do not issue any instructions/circulars to their lower units directing them to implement the programmes and other organisational decisions of Confederation, the lower units do not implement the programme saying that they have not received any instructions from their All India leadership (CHQ).  Due to this serious lapse or communication gap on the part of the Chief Executives of the affiliates, the Confederation functioning is weakened in many places.  At such places programmes are implemented by one or two organisations.  Others are not playing any role, but keeping away from the programmes mainly due to non-receipt of instructions from their respective CHQ.

               In view of the above, it is earnestly requested that whenever confederation takes a decision at Central level, all the CHQs of affiliated organisations shall issue their own separate instructions or Circulars endorsing the decisions of the Confederation and shall circulate it to all their state and district units WITHOUT FAIL.  Unless this is done, Confederation may not be able to implement its programmes effectively at base level.

               As we are going ahead with the preparation for an indefinite strike, streamlining the functioning of the Confederation and also its affiliated organisations is one of the most immediate and important organisational task that is to be fulfilled in a time-bound manner.

               Once again, requesting the co-operation of all.

                                                                           Sincerely yours
                                                                             M. Krishnan,
                                                                              Secretary General.

Filed Under: ,

Granting of MACP on promotional hierarchy

ALL INDIA RAILWAY FEDERATION
No.AIRF/MACPS
Dated: September 14, 2013
The Secretary(E),
Railway Board,
New Delhi

Dear Sir,

Sub: Granting of MACP on promotional hierarchy

Hon’ble Supreme Court has dismissed the Petition(s) for Special Leave to Appeal(Civil)(CC 7467/2013) filed by the Government, and upheld the judgment passed by the Punjab & Haryana High Court in CWP.No.19387/19.10.2011 and Hon’ble CAT, Principal Bench, New Delhi in OA No.904/2012 dated 26.11.2012. Hon’ble CAT, Chandigarh Bench, in OA No.1038/CH/2010 dated 31.05.2011(Rajpal, S/o Shri Tilak Ram Versus Union of India and Others), issued following orders:-  

“In our considered view, the present OA is squarely covered by the aforesaid judgment of Chandigarh Bench, as upheld by the Hon’ble High Court of Punjab and Haryana at Chandigarh.

In fact, the respondents have wrongly interpreted the terms and conditions mentioned in the MACP Scheme, issued by the Deptt. of Personnel & Training, in the case of the applicants. By the said Scheme, the eligible government servants are to be placed in the immediate next higher grade pay in the hierarchy of the recommended revised pay bands and grade pay and not merely in the next higher scale of pay as per the recommendations of the 6th Pay Commission. In the hierarchy after the scale of UDC, the next scale is that of Assistant. Therefore, the respondents should have given the next higher grade pay and pay band attached to the next promotional post in the hierarchy, namely, the Assistants carrying the pay scale of Rs.9300-34800 and the grade pay of Rs.4200. 

In view of the above position, the OA is allowed. The respondents are directed to grant scale of pay of Rs.9300-34800 with grade pay of Rs.4200 attached to the said promotional post of Assistant /OS from the due date to the applicants. 

The aforesaid directions shall be complied with within the period of two months from the date of receipt of a copy of the order, subject to the other conditions mentioned in the MACP Scheme.” 

In the Indian Railways, Junior Clerk is the most similarly situated with the applicants of the aforesaid OAs in the matter of grant of MACP in the hierarchy of promotional post. As such, the benefit of MACP in the case of Junior Clerk may kindly be considered in the light of the spirit contained in the aforesaid judicial pronouncements which has attained its finality.

In view of the facts and circumstances submitted above, the Board are requested to grant benefit of financial upgradation under MACP to Junior Clerk in their respective promotional hierarchy from their due date, in the light of the decision given by the aforementioned Courts/CATs.

An early action in the matter shall be highly appreciated.

Yours faithfully,
sd/-
(Shiva Gopal Mishra)
Source:AIRF

Empanelment of private hospitals (including dental clinics and eve care centres) & Imaging Centre under CGHS Jabalpur.

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF HEALTH & FAMILY WELFARE
OFFICE OF THE ADDITIONAL DIRECTOR
CENTRAL GOVT. HEALTH SCHEME
1544/A NAPIER TOWN
JABALPUR No.6-8/13-Estt/CGHS/JBP/ 
Dated:-24.07.2013
OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Subject: Empanelment of private hospitals (including dental clinics and eve care centres) & Imaging Centre under CGHS Jabalpur.

In reference to (I) the Ministry of Health & F.W. O.M. No. S.11011/23/2009-CGHS D.II/ Hospital Cell(Part IX) dated 14.02.2013 vide which the 'Continuous Empanelment Scheme' for private hospitals and diagnostic centres under CGHS was revived and (ii) Dte. General of CGHS Office Order No. S.11045/23/2013/CG HS D-ll(HEC)/CGHS(P)/(Pt.) dated 15.07.2013, vide which powers for empanelment & issuance of notifications have been delegated to all the ADs/JDs in respect of their respective CGHS cities, a list of additional private hospitals (including dental clinics and eye centres) and Imaging Centre has been finalized for a period of one year from the date of issue of this 0. M. or till the next new empanelment, whichever is earlier. This list has been finalized after following the due process and terms & conditions as laid down in the 0.M. dated 14.02.13 as well as signing of MOA and execution of Performance Bank Guarantee by them signifying acceptance of the terms and conditions of empanelment and rates notified under CGHS in 2010/2011 and subsequent orders.
2. The list of empanelled hospitals(including dental clinics and eye centres) and Imaging Centre is enclosed herewith.
3. This list is in addition to the list of hospitals(including Eye Care Centres and Dental Clinics), diagnostic laboratories and imaging centres issued vide Ministry of Health & F.W. OM dated 22.03.11, 12.07.11, 27.07.11, 08.09.11, 01.11.11, 16.11.11 & 05.01.12 for Jabalpur,
Additional Director
CGHS, Jabalpur
Encl:- (02)Annexure I & II, (list of additionally Empanelled Hospitals/Centre)

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE HOSPITALS LIST


Appointment On Compassionate Grounds in Railways

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF  RAILWAYS
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED  QUESTION NO 2243
ANSWERED ON   22.08.2013
APPOINTMENT ON COMPASSIONATE GROUNDS

2243 . Shri S. R. JEYADURAL, D.B. CHANDRE GOWDA
Will the Minister of RAILWAYS  be pleased to state:-

(a) the total number of applications for appointment on compassionate ground pending with the Railways as on date, zone-wise;

(b) the reasons therefor and the time by which these are likely to be disposed of;

(c) whether the Railways have made provisions of such appointment for the dependents of Group-D employees seeking voluntary retirement;

(d) if so, the details and the present status thereof; and

(e) the steps taken/being taken by the Railways to expedite the process of such appointments to the kins of those who lost their lives while in service?
ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS ( SHRI ADHIR RANJAN CHOWDHURY )

(a) and (b): The information is being collected and will be laid on the Table of the House.

(c) to (e): A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (c) TO (e) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2243 BY SHRI S.R. JEYADURAI AND SHRI D.B. CHANDRE GOWDA TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 22.08.2013 REGARDING APPOINTMENT ON COMPASSIONATE GROUNDS.

(c): No, Madam. Compassionate appointment is admissible only in cases of Railway employees dying in harness or those who retire on medical grounds.

(d): Does not arise.

(e): Each and every case of compassionate appointment is dealt with and disposed expeditiously to save the family of the ex-employee from any hardship. With a view to expedite appointment on compassionate ground the following steps have been taken:

(i) Welfare Inspectors are deputed to contact the family members and to conduct enquiry into the details as soon as the applications are made.

(ii) Constant monitoring is done by Divisional Personnel Officers/Senior Divisional Personnel Officers at the Divisional level and by Chief Personnel Officers at the Head Quarter level and also by the Heads of Personnel Branch in other units.

(iii) Selections for determining the suitability of the applicants are conducted regularly.

(iv) Compassionate appointment Adalats are also held periodically to settle the grievances regarding appointment on compassionate grounds.

(v) The position regarding compassionate appointment is also reviewed by the Railway Board regularly.

Source: http://164.100.47.132/LssNew/psearch/QResult15.aspx?qref=144228

Monday, September 16, 2013

Grant of Financial upgradation under MACP Scheme to employees - reg.

No.IV/MACPS/09/Pt.7
Dated: 13/09/2013
The Secretary (E),
Railway Board,
New Delhi

Dear Sir,

Sub: Grant of Financial upgradation under MACP Scheme to employees - reg.

Ref:    (i) Record Note of discussion in the Joint committee held on 15th March 2011 and 27th July 2012 on MACPS.
 
(ii) NFIR's letter No.IV/MACPS/09/Pt.7 dated 04/07/2013.

(iii)  NFIR's letter No.IV/MACPS/09/Pt.7 dated 06/07/2013.

In this connection, NFIR wishes to convey to the Railway Board that  the contention of the Federation for granting benefit of financial upgradation under MACPS in the promotional hierarchy has been ordered not only by the CAT (OA No.1038/CH/2010) but has also been upheld by the High  court (CWP No.19387 of 2011) and the supreme court (sLP No.CC 7467/2013).

Federation,  therefore, requests the Railway Board to issue necessary instructions early to avoid sufferings of staff. A copy of the instructions issued may be endorsed to NFIR.

Yours faithfully,
(M.Raghavaiah)
General Secretary

Source: http://nfirindia.com/Index.aspx

Re-engagement of retired staff on daily remuneration basis in exigencies of services.

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
(RAILWAY BOARD)


  1. No.E(NG)11/2010/RC-4/6

New Delhi, dated 12.09.2013
The General Manager (P)
All Indian Railways/PUs

Sub: Re-engagement of retired staff on daily remuneration basis in exigencies of services.

Attention is invited to this Ministry's letter of even number dated 27.9.2012 (RBE No. 109/2012) on the above subject. Keeping in view the acute shortage of staff in various categories of posts and consequent hampering of the Railway's services, Ministry of Railways (Railway Borad) have decided to extend the said scheme, in exigencies of services, for a further period of one year, i.e., up to 14.09.2014, under the same terms & conditions as mentioned in the letter ibid. While implementing the scheme, General Managers may keep in view the fresh recruitment made in the vacant posts.

This issues with the concurrence of the Finance Directorate of Ministry of Railways (Railway Board).

(Harsha Dass)
Director Estt. (N)II
Railway Board
Source: http://nfirindia.com/Index.aspx

Payment of Productivity Linked Bonus (PLB) to Railwaymen.

NATIONAL FEDERATION OF INDIAN RAILWAYMEN
Dated: 14/09/2013

No. I/10
The General Secretaries of Affiliated Unions of NFIR

Dear Brother,

Sub: Payment of Productivity Linked Bonus (PLB) to Railwaymen.

In the wake of attempts to reduce the Productivity Linked Bonus (PLB) by Railway Board, the affiliates are directed to launch protests in the form of mass rallies and demonstrations on 16 any such move. The cadre of NFIR should plunge into the field and generate awareness among employees to fight in the event of Railway Board's adamant attitude to reduce the number of days of wages towards Productivity Linked Bonus (PLB). During the year 2012-13 Indian Railways has moved over one Billion Tonnes of freight while operating ratio was 88.8%. Hence there is no question of reducing the Bonus amount.

The President and General Secretary of NFIR have been invited by Railway Board for a meeting on 16th September, 2013 (Monday). NFIR has decided to convey our protest in the meeting.

All the affiliates of NFIR are therefore advised to mobilize Rail Workforce for massive protest rallies and demonstrations all over Indian Railways from Establishment level to Zonal level and also in all the Production Units and Workshops etc.,

Yours fraternally
RAI(M.Raghavaiah) 
General Secretary


Source: http://nfirindia.com/Index.aspx

ISSUE OF MEDICAL EQPT PRESCRIBED FOR ECHS MEMBERS:

 Integrated Headquarters of 
 Ministry of Defence (Army)
Maude Lines
 New Delhi – 110010
B/49761/AG/ECHS/Policy
29 Aug 2013

ISSUE OF MEDICAL EQPT  PRESCRIBED FOR ECHS MEMBERS:
AMENDMENT TO POLICY

1, Refer following of Central Org ECHS letters:-
 (a) B/49773/AG/ECHS dated 05 Apr 2004.
 (b) B/49770/AG/ECHS/HA dated 30 Aug 2006.
 (c) B/49761/AG/ECHS/Policy dated 01 Apr 2013.

2. As per letter as 1 (a) above the following Med Eqpts are authorized for issue to ECHS members:-
 (a) Hearing Aids.
 (b) Artificial Limbs / Appliances.
 (c) Glucometers and Nebulisers.
 (d) CIPAP / BIPAP Machines.
 (e) Spectacles.

3. The competent Financial Authority for purchase of all a/m Med Eqpts is the Station Cdr as per letter as para 1 (a). For all Regional Centres where medical claims are being processed ‘on line’ w.e.f 01 Apr 2013, CFA has been redesignated as per letter at para 1 (c). All such claims will be processed physically by Polyclinics and Regional Centres and not “On line” as was being done hither-to-fore.

4. Para 6(a) of this office letter No. B/49770/AG/ECHS/HA dated 30 Aug 2006 is amended as under for Body worn/Pocket type/Analogue BTE hearing aids.

    For - “Recommendation for Hearing Aids will be acceptable ONLY from a Service ENT Specialist”
Read - “Recommendation for Hearing Aids will be acceptable from Service ENT Specialist / ENT Specialist of Govt Hospitals.”

Sd/-xxxxx 
 (Vijay Anand) 
 Col 
 Dir (Med) 
 for MD
Source: http://echs.gov.in/images/pdf/Policy%20HA.pdf
Filed Under: ,

MACP on Hierarchy: Supreme Court dismissed the Govt. petitions against HC Decision

Dear Comrade,

The Principal CAT [OA 904/2012 dt. 26-11-2012], Delhi and the Punjab & Haryana High Court [CWP No. 19387 of 2011 (O&M) Date of Decision: 19.10.2011] have held that MACP is to be granted on promotional hierarchy and not on next higher Grade Pay as per the 6th Pay Commission Recommendation.  The SLP filed by Union of India against the P&H decision was dismissed by the Supreme Court [CC 7467/2013].
Yours Comradely,
Manoj Kumar Sharma
Secretary General
Ministerial Staff Association
C/o-Northern Printing Group
Survey of India
Dehradun:- 248001
Filed Under:

Bank Strike on 25th September 2013

BEFI and AIBEA, two trade unions of Bank employees called for one days' all India strike on 25th September against the proposed reforms in the banking sector.
The issues and demands are :

STOP BANKING SECTOR REFORMS
STOP MERGER AND CONSOLIDATION OF BANKS
DO NOT CLOSE DOWN ASSOCIATE BANKS
DE-LINK ASSOCIATE BANKS AND MAKE THEM INDEPENDENT BANKS
STOP BANKING LICENCES TO CORPORATES AND BUSINESS HOUSES
Input from:http://paycommissionupdate.blogspot.in/2013/09/bank-strike-on-25th-september-2013.html
Filed Under: ,

7% D.A. for Manipur employees cleared

The Manipur state cabinet has approved to implement a 7 percent increase in Dearness Allowance/Dearness Relief of Government employees, with effect from October 1.
With the 7 percent increase, the DA/DR percentage will stand at 72 percent against the earlier 65.
The cabinet meet chaired by Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh, started from 3pm at his office chamber during which, the agenda of reviewing the preparation of state proposal to the 14th finance commissioner was minutely discussed.  
It may be mentioned that the increased in DA/DR percentage has been a prolonged demand of the Joint Action Committee of the Government employees.

Source : http://www.ifp.co.in/nws-16867-cabinet-assents-to-7-increase-in-employees-da-dr/

Friday, September 13, 2013

Financial guidelines for extension of ECHS facilities to Nepal Domiciled Gorkha (NDG) ESM pensioners in Nepal.

No.25 (02)/2012/(WE)/D (Res)
Government of India
Ministry of Defence
(Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare)

New Delhi, the 10th September, 2013

To,
The Chief of the Army Staff
The Chief of the Naval Staff
The Chief of the Air Staff

Subject:- Financial guidelines for extension of ECHS facilities to Nepal Domiciled Gorkha (NDG) ESM pensioners in Nepal.

Sir,
1. In continuation of this Ministry’s letter No. 22D(48)/2006/ US(WE)/D (Res) dated 07th February, 2012, I am directed to convey sanction of the Competent Authority on financial management of ECHS at Embassy of India, Nepal as follows.

2. Procedure of Fund Management for ECHS in Nepal

(a) ECHS Branch to open a Current Account with SBI in Nepal (ECHS Account).

(b) Central Organisation ECHS to allot funds to ECHS Branch, Kathmandu, Nepal under intimation to Principal Controller of Defence Accounts (PCDA) (CC), Lucknow.

(c) Based on allotment, ECHS Branch to intimate requirement of funds to PCDA (CC), Lucknow on a quarterly basis/ on as required basis .

(d) PCDA (CC), Lucknow to remit funds directly to ECHS Branch bank account through SWIFT.

(e) Assistant Military Attaché (ECHS), Embassy• of India, Kathmandu, Nepal to act as Drawing and Disbursement Officer (DDO).

(f) Manual bills of Empanelled Hospitals and individual bills of ECHS beneficiaries to be routed through Lucknow Sub-Area as per the existing procedure.

(g) On-line billing when established in Nepal, will follow the same procedure as followed by other Regional Centres of ECHS which are ‘On-line’ for billing.

(h) Till the time manual billing is in vogue, 50% payment of hospitals / individual reimbursement claim will be done on submission of the bill and bills will be forwarded to PCDA (CC) Lucknow with the sanction of appropriate authority and endorsement on the bill regarding advance paid for pre audit & payment.

(j) At the end of month, all payment vouchers except the bills/vouchers already forwarded to PCDA (CC) Lucknow for pre audit 8s payment and a detailed list duly indicating the advances paid by the DDO along with Cash Book, will be forwarded by ECHS Branch to PCDA (CC) Lucknow for booking of expenditure and post audit.

3. Delegation of Financial Powers in Indian Rupees.
(a) Payment and Re-imbursement for Medical Treatment (Manual Billing).

(i)   Defence Attaché – Upto Rs 1 Lakh. (Above Rs 1 Lakh to be processed through Lucknow Sub-Area as per the existing procedure.)

(ii)  Area Commander UB Area -Upto Rs. 2 Lakh.
(iii) Army Commander Central Command – Upto Rs 4 Lakh.
(iv) Vice Chief of Army staff – Upto Rs 5 Lakh.
(v) MoD – Bills Above Rs. 5 Lakh.

(b) Payment and Re-imbursement for Medical Treatment (Online-Billing).

(i)  Defence Attaché – Upto Rs 1 Lakh.
(ii) Deputy MD ECHS – Above Rs 1 lakh upto Rs. 3 Lakh.
(iii) MD ECHS – Above Rs 3 lakh upto Rs. 5 Lakh.
(iv) MoD – Above Rs. 5 Lakh.

(c) For other Heads of Expenditure of ECHS. The financial powers currently being exercised in the mission will be applicable.

(d) Defense Attaché is authorised to exercise Category II powers for all ECHS related activities in Nepal.

4. Supply of Medical Stores. SEMO Command Hospital (CH), Central Command (CC) will be responsible to procure and provide medical stores to Polyclinics at Kathmandu and Pokhara. Medical stores for Polyclinic Dharan will be provided by 158 Base Hospital, Bengdubi. Polyclinics will forward their MMF through ECHS Branch, Kathmandu to SEMO, Command Hospital, Lucknow on a quarterly basis. However, the financial powers delegated to Defence Attache will be exercised for all emergent procurements which are beyond the powers of Officer in charge Polyclinics.

5. This letter issues with the concurrence of Ministry of Defence (Finance) vide their U.0 No. 2226/F/Pen dated 2nd September 2013.

Yours faithfully,
sd/-
(H.K. Mallick)
Under Secretary to the Govt. of India

Source: www.desw.gov.in
[http://www.desw.gov.in/sites/upload_files/desw/files/pdf/echs-order-10-sep-2013_2.pdf]
Filed Under: ,

10% DA approval expected to be announced last day by Cabinet

As per information available with us, cabinet might consider and approve 10% D.A. for central employees and pensioners with effect from 01.07.2013 last day (12.09.2013). With this possible hike, total D.A. payable will reach 90% of basic pay. Meanwhile, all trade unions are mounting pressure on the Govt. to merge 50% of Dearness Allowance with basic pay even there is no recommendation of merger in the sixth pay commission report. The unions threatened to resort to strike if the demand is not fulfilled. Will the Govt. succumb to this pressure in the election year ? That is the million dollar question.

Source: http://paycommissionupdate.blogspot.in/2013/09/cabinet-may-approve-10-da-today.html

Age relaxation to ex-servicemen employees in PSBs while competing for promotion to higher post

File No. 4/3/2013-Welfare
Ministry of Finance
Department of Financial Services
(Welfare)
Jeevan Deep Building,
Parliament Street, New Delhi,
dated 5th September, 2013
Office Memorandum

Subject: Age relaxation to ex-servicemen employees in PSBs while competing for promotion to higher post.

The undersigned is directed to reter to ministry of Defence (MoD), letter No. 0515/Gen/DGR/Emp-3, dtd. 7th Nov., 2012, followed by DO letter No. 28(47)/2013/D(Res.1), dtd. 24.6.2013, on the subject cited above and to say that the matter was examined in consultation with DOP&T and State Bank of India(SBI).

2. DOP&T is of the view that as per existing instructions, Ex- Servicemen are provided relaxation in case of appointment on direct recruitment basis. Ex-servicemen who have already secured appointment under the Central Government can avail of second benefit of age relaxation for securing another appointment in any higher post or service under the Central Government. However, such candidate will not be eligible for the benefit of reservation for ex-servicemen in Central Government jobs.

3. SBI has reported that as per Gol guidelines, bank gives benefit of relaxation in service eligibility criteria for maximum period of 2 years to its ex-servicemen employees after they have rendered at least 3 years of actual service in the bank (only once during their career) for the purpose of promotion. These guidelines enable the ex-servicemen employees to become eligible for promotion to officers' cadre after 4 years of service instead of 6 years, applicable to other Bank employees. Therefore, an ex- serviceman joining the bank in the age group of 39-40 years would become eligible for appearing in the promotion exercise before they cross 45 years' of age.

4. SBI has further clarified that selection of employees for promotions from clerical cadre to officers cadre, in SBI, is not done through fresh appointment but by way of internal out of cadre career progression and therefore, provisions under DOP&T's order No. 36034/6/90-Estt.(SCT), dtd. 10.10.94 which provide for benefit of age relaxation for securing another appointment in any higher post or service under the Central Government, is not applicable.

In the Hon'ble High Court of Delhi at New Delhi a similar matter came up through the WP(Civil) No. 2533/2013, titled All India Ex-Servicemen Bank Employees Federation(Regd) Vs the Chairman, SBI & Ors. Honble High Court pleased to dismiss the same vide its order dtd. 22.4.2013, observing that Notifications provide (second time age relaxation) for appointment and not promotion and petitioner in the present case are not giving up their appointments in the existing post for seeking appointments to group C and D posts but are effectively seeking promotion through proper channel by appearing in examination for promotion to the Group A posts. in view of above, there is nu merit in the writ petition, which is accordingly dismissed, leaving the parties to bear their own costs.

6. As in the instant case, ex-servicemen are seeking age relaxation in SBP (and SBI also) while competing for promotion from clerical services to Officers' cadre in their own hierarchy, where no applications are called for. DFS therefore, agrees to SBI's stand that it being a case of promotion in their own line of promotion, ex-servicemen employees are not entitled for any such age relaxation being a case of second time age benefit notwithstanding the fact that the promotion process may involve some departmental screening test/interview etc. In view of foregoing, MoD may agree that second time age relaxation could have been available only in following circumstances:
(i) in case an ex-serviceman was competing for a higher post in officer's cadre in his own office/bank under direct recruitment quota provided the ex-serviceman employee fulfills other eligibility criteria for that, and
(ii) he would have applied for any higher post in another PSB.

Ex-Servicemen who have been re-employed or are re-employed by Private Companies /Autonomous Bodies/ Public Sector Undertakings /Government Offices on casual/contract/ Temporary ad-hoc basis and who can be removed from such service at any time by their Employer concerned.

7. Petitions of ex-servicemen may be disposed off accordingly.

sd/-
Under Secretary (Welfare)

Source: http://financialservices.gov.in/ncapp/Circulars.aspx?ct=B
Filed Under: ,

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Allotment/Retention of General Pool Residential Accommodation to the employees of State/Union Territories Governments posted in Delhi - clarification regarding:-

No.12016/1/2004-Po1.II
Government of India
Ministry of Urban Development
Directorate of Estates
Ploicy-II Section
Nirman Bhavan, New Delhi - 110 108.
Dated the 9th September, 2013. 
OFFICE MEMORANDUM 

Sub: Allotment/Retention of General Pool Residential Accommodation to the employees of State/Union Territories Governments posted in Delhi - clarification regarding.

As per the existing policy, the allotment/retention of residential accommodation to the employees of State/Union Territory Governments working in Delhi is made on the recommendations of the Resident Commissioner of concerned State/UT Government. However, this creates confusion as to whether such recommendations received under the signatures of Additional, Deputy/Assistant Resident Commissioners are to be acted upon or not. Consequently, on such occasions references are referred back to the Resident Commissioner's Office for clarification.


2. The matter has been considered and it is clarified in this regard that the letters received from officers of the level of Additional/Deputy/Assistant Resident Commissioners of the State/UT Governments may be treated as having the approval of recommendation of the Resident Commissioner of the State/UT Governments concerned and should be acted upon accordingly.

sd/-
(S.K.JAIN)
Deputy Director of Estates (Policy) 

Source: http://estates.nic.in/WriteReadData/dlcirculars/Circulars20272.pdf

Financial guidelines for extension of ECHS facilities to Nepal Domiciled Gorkha (NDG) ESM pensioners in Nepal.

No.25 (02)/2012/ (WE) /D (Res)
Government of India
Ministry of Defence
(Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare)

New Delhi, the 10th September, 2013
To,
The Chief of the Army Staff
The Chief of the Naval Staff
The Chief of the Air Staff

Subject:- Financial guidelines for extension of ECHS facilities to Nepal Domiciled Gorkha (NDG) ESM pensioners in Nepal.

Sir,
1. In continuation of this Ministry's letter No. 22D(48)/2006/ US(WE)/D (Res) dated 07th February, 2012, I am directed to convey sanction of the Competent Authority on financial management of ECHS at Embassy of India, Nepal as follows.

2. Procedure of Fund Management for ECHS in Nepal

(a) ECHS Branch to open a Current Account with SBI in Nepal (ECHS Account).

(b) Central Organisation ECHS to allot funds to ECHS Branch, Kathmandu, Nepal under intimation to Principal Controller of Defence Accounts (PCDA) (CC), Lucknow.

(c) Based on allotment, ECHS Branch to intimate requirement of funds to PCDA (CC), Lucknow on a quarterly basis/ on as required basis .

(d) PCDA (CC), Lucknow to remit funds directly to ECHS Branch bank account through SWIFT.

(e) Assistant Military Attaché (ECHS), Embassy• of India, Kathmandu, Nepal to act as Drawing and Disbursement Officer (DDO).

(f) Manual bills of Empanelled Hospitals and individual bills of ECHS beneficiaries to be routed through Lucknow Sub-Area as per the existing procedure.

(g) On-line billing when established in Nepal, will follow the same procedure as followed by other Regional Centres of ECHS which are 'On-line' for billing.

(h) Till the time manual billing is in vogue, 50% payment of hospitals / individual reimbursement claim will be done on submission of the bill and bills will be forwarded to PCDA (CC) Lucknow with the sanction of appropriate authority and endorsement on the bill regarding advance paid for pre audit & payment.

(j) At the end of month, all payment vouchers except the bills/vouchers already forwarded to PCDA (CC) Lucknow for pre audit 8s payment and a detailed list duly indicating the advances paid by the DDO along with Cash Book, will be forwarded by ECHS Branch to PCDA (CC) Lucknow for booking of expenditure and post audit.

3. Delegation of Financial Powers in Indian Rupees.
(a) Payment and Re-imbursement for Medical Treatment (Manual Billing).

(i)   Defence Attaché - Upto Rs 1 Lakh. (Above Rs 1 Lakh to be processed through Lucknow Sub-Area as per the existing procedure.)

(ii)  Area Commander UB Area -Upto Rs. 2 Lakh.
(iii) Army Commander Central Command - Upto Rs 4 Lakh.
(iv) Vice Chief of Army staff - Upto Rs 5 Lakh.
(v) MoD - Bills Above Rs. 5 Lakh.

(b) Payment and Re-imbursement for Medical Treatment (Online-Billing).

(i)  Defence Attaché - Upto Rs 1 Lakh.
(ii) Deputy MD ECHS - Above Rs 1 lakh upto Rs. 3 Lakh.
(iii) MD ECHS - Above Rs 3 lakh upto Rs. 5 Lakh.
(iv) MoD - Above Rs. 5 Lakh.

(c) For other Heads of Expenditure of ECHS. The financial powers currently being exercised in the mission will be applicable.

(d) Defense Attaché is authorised to exercise Category II powers for all ECHS related activities in Nepal.

4. Supply of Medical Stores. SEMO Command Hospital (CH), Central Command (CC) will be responsible to procure and provide medical stores to Polyclinics at Kathmandu and Pokhara. Medical stores for Polyclinic Dharan will be provided by 158 Base Hospital, Bengdubi. Polyclinics will forward their MMF through ECHS Branch, Kathmandu to SEMO, Command Hospital, Lucknow on a quarterly basis. However, the financial powers delegated to Defence Attache will be exercised for all emergent procurements which are beyond the powers of Officer in charge Polyclinics.

5. This letter issues with the concurrence of Ministry of Defence (Finance) vide their U.0 No. 2226/F/Pen dated 2nd September 2013.

Yours faithfully,
sd/- 
(H.K. Mallick) 
Under Secretary to the Govt. of India

Source: http://www.desw.gov.in/sites/upload_files/desw/files/pdf/echs-order-10-sep-2013_2.pdf
Filed Under: ,

Eligibility of widowed/divorced daughters for grant of family pension.

No.1/13/09-P&PW (E)
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, P.G. & Pensions
Department of Pension & Pensioners' Welfare
3rdFloor, Lok Nayak Bhawan,
Khan Market, New Delhi,
the 11thSeptember, 2013.
OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Sub: Eligibility of widowed/divorced daughters for grant of family pension - clarification regarding.

Provision for grant of family pension to a widowed/divorced daughter beyond the age of 25 years has been made vide OM dated 30.08.2004. This provision has been included in clause (iii) of sub-rule 54 (6) of the CCS (Pension), Rules, 1972. For settlement of old cases, it was clarified, vide OM dated 28.04.2011, that the family pension may be granted to eligible widowed/divorced daughters with effect from 30.08.2004, in case the death of the Govt. Servant/pensioner occurred before this date.

2. This Department has been receiving communications from various Ministries/Departments seeking clarification regarding eligibility of a daughter who became widowed/divorced after the death of the employee/pensioner.

3. As indicated in Rule 54(8) of the CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972, the turn of unmarried children below 25 years of age comes after the death or remarriage of their mother/father, i.e., the pensioner and his/her spouse. Thereafter, the family pension is payable to the disabled children for life and then to the unmarried/widowed/divorced daughters above the age of 25 years.

4. It is clarified that the family pension is payable to the children as they are considered to be dependent on the Government servant/pensioner or his/her spouse. A child who is not earning equal to or more than the sum of minimum family pension and dearness relief thereon is considered to be dependent on his/her parents. Therefore, only those children who are dependent and meet other conditions of eligibility for family pension at the time of death of the Government servant or hislher spouse, whichever is later, are eligible for family pension. If two or more children are eligible for family pension at that time, family pension will be payable to
each child on hislher turn provided he/she is still eligible for family pension when the turn comes. Similarly, family pension to a widowed/divorced daughter is payable provided she fulfils all eligibility conditions at the time of death/ineligibility of her parents and on the date her turn to receive family pension comes.

5. As regards opening of old cases, a daughter if eligible, as explained in the preceding paragraph, may be granted family pension with effect from 30th August, 2004. The position is illustrated through an example. Shri A, a pensioner, died in 1986. He was survived by his wife, Smt. B, a son Shri C and a daughter, Kumari D, the daughter being the younger. Kumari D married in 1990 and got widowed in 1996. Smt. B died in 2001. Thereafter, Shri C was getting family pension, being disabled, and died in 2003. Thereafter, the family pension was stopped as Kumari D was not eligible for it at that time. She applied for family pension on the basis of O.M., dated 30th August, 2004. Since she was a widow and had no independent source of income at the time of death of her mother and on the date her turn came, she may be granted family pension. The family pension will continue only till she remarries or starts earning her livelihood equal to or more than the sum of minimum family pension and dearness relief thereon.

6. This is only a clarification and the entitlement of widowed/divorced daughters would continue to be determined in terms of O.M., dated 25/30th August, 2004, read with O.M., dated 28.4.2011.

sd/-
(D.K. Solanki)
Under Secretary to the Government of India
Source: www.persmin.nic.in

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Merger of 50% DA With Pay

The 30th Plenary Session of Indian National Trade Union Congress INTUC  was held in Raipur from 06.09.2013 to 09.09.2013.  There are 4 Resolutions, which are considered to be very important are adopted in this Conference.  One of the four main resolution is Merger of 50% DA with Pay for central government employees. So the INTUC urges the central government to consider the demand  and accord sanction for merging 50% DA with pay. The Resolution On Merger Of 50% DA With Pay which has been adopted in 30th Plenary Session of  INTUC held in Raipur from 6-9-2013 to 9-9-2013 is given below

Resolution On Merger Of 50% DA With Pay

The Wage structure revision for Central Government employees had been enquired into by the successive pay Commission appointed by the Government of India during the past decades and gave their reports. The Government had considered the reports and decided for implementation with certain changes and improvements.

The previous pay Commissions (3rd,4th,5thand 6th ) have ,by and large, covered the aspects of the principle of wage determination . But however the job contents, remuneration commensuration with the nature of duties and responsibilities have not been taken into consideration by the pay Commissions while determining the revised pay structure, consequently the railway men have been put into disadvantage.

The 5th CPC had recommended that the DA must be merged with pay and treated as pay for computing all allowance as and when the percentage of dearness compensation exceeds 50%. Accordingly even before the setting up of 6th CPC, the DA of 50% was merged with pay.

Presently, the dearness compensation is 80% as on 1st January, 2013, while the DA had crossed 50% of pay as on 1st January, 2011.The demand for merger of DA to partially compensate the erosion in the real wages was first mooted by the Gadgil Committee in the 2nd pay Commission period. The 3rd CPC had recommended such merger when the cost of living Index crosses over 272 points i.e. 72 points over and above the base index adopted for the pay revision. In other words, the recommendation of the 3rd CPC was to merge the DA when it crossed 36%. The Government in the national Council JCM at the time of negotiation had initially agreed to merge 60% DA and later the whole of the DA before the 4th CPC was set up. The 5th CPC had merged 98% of DA with pay.

As the DA already stood at 80% of Pay and another installment is expected to be granted w.e.f. July, 2013 which may cross 90%,it is necessary that the Government takes steps to merge 50%DA with pay for all purposes for the year 2013 for ensuring compensation to the erosion of value of real wage of government employees.

The Plenary Session of INTUC therefore urges upon the Government of India to consider the demand and accord sanction for merging DA component i.e. 50% of DA with pay for all purposes.

Source: http://www.gservants.com

INTUC Resolution on early setting up of the 7th Pay Commission

Resolution on appointment of the 7th Pay Commission

The delegates’ conference of INTUC adopted a resolution on appointment of the 7th pay commission in its 30th Plenary Session held in Raipur, Chhattisgarh. Since it is one of the major Central Trade Unions in India, the resolutions which are adopted in its conference will be given national importance and it would be taken up seriously by the Central Government. As the INTUC is the labour wing of Congress Party, it is expected that the demands made by the INTUC will be considered favorably by the Government. The resolution on appointment of the 7th Pay Commission is given below

Resolution on appointment of the 7th Pay Commission

The delegate conference of INTUC demands the central government of India to appoint 7th pay commission without any delay.

The 6th central pay commission has recommended a new concept of Pay Band and Grade Pay as replacement to the 5th CPC pay scales/pay structure, which was accepted by the government. Consequently the revised Pay Band/Grade Pay was implemented with effect from January 1, 2006.

In the case of central public sector undertakings, the wages are invariably revised once in five years. The 5th cpc, in the case of central government employees, had recommended that the wages should be revised at least once in 10 years. The degree of inflation in economy determines the pace of erosion of the real value of wages. However this factor was never taken into consideration while determining the wage structure. It is however acknowledged that there has been DA compensation for the central government employees which does not compensate the actual erosion of wages in terms of actual cost of living.

The Government of India should take necessary measures to control the inflation in the essential commodities so that the state/central government employees and general public can maintain their living standard, as they are passing through severe hardship to meet both the ends. It is the general practice that after every 10 years, a new Pay Commission is appointed to examine the economic conditions of the government employees. In the larger interests of the state and central government employees, it is required to appoint the 7th Pay Commission to revise the wages and other benefits in the light of prevailing economic conditions.

The INTUC delegates’ conference earnestly appeal to the government of India to appoint the 7th Pay Commission immediately, so that employees can maintain their living standards intact in the face of steep inflation.

Source: http://www.gservants.com

Monday, September 9, 2013

Centre for Railway Information Systems Launches New Enhanced Interface for Train Enquiry

Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS), the IT wing of Indian Railways, has developed an enhanced new interface for the www.trainenquiry.comfor dissemination of information to public. National Train Enquiry System (NTES) developed by CRIS is the backend system which collects information about train running on near real time basis and disseminates information through various interfaces like nationwide unique number 139, Website (www.trainenquiry.com), face to face enquiry, mobile interfaces etc. The new interface is accessible through www.trainenquiry.com or www.enquiry.indianrail.gov.in.

The new interface for the website was made public for past one week as field trial to get users’ feedback. The new interface, which offers quick and easy access to essential information for passengers, has been largely appreciated for its speed, simple interface and richness of information and smooth user experience. This new interface has been launched with effect from 6th September 2013.

Main features of the website provided under different Tabs on the Home page are as under:-

“Spot your train”- This query offers information about a train like Train Schedule, current running status, expected time of arrival/expected time of departure (ETA/ETD) at queried station.Complete running of the selected train can be easily seen through this interface.

“Station”- This query has been given to replicate the display boards at station. One can see, sitting at home the trains expected to arrive/depart at any given station in next 2/4/6/8 hours.Stations can be entered through code or name both. Option is also given to automatically refresh the screen every two minutes.

“Trains between Stations” - A very valuable query covering all trains defined on IR between any two stations. This complete information is presently not available on any other government website.

“Trains Cancelled”– This query displays all trains cancelled on IR. The tab displays trains which are cancelled through entire route as well as cancelled partially and providing service on partial route.

“Rescheduled” and “Diverted” – These queries display all trains marked as rescheduled or diverted on IR. The respective tabs display trains rescheduled timings and diverted route (from – to) information.

Some general characteristics are that all train numbers in different pages have been given as hyperlinks to view the schedule and current running. Pages have been kept light weight to enhance the speed of the website. All the information is navigable from a single home page with minimum clicks. Mobile version of the site is also available through same URL.

The interface has been made bilingual with Hindi version available on the website.

As part of the IR/CRIS ongoing efforts to enhance the quality and availability of information to public, new features such as separate pages for special trains and major events would be made available subsequently.

The existing website interface running as beta version will be replaced with the new interface. All other interfaces namely Events (events.trainenquiry.com), Rail Radar (railradar.trainenquiry.com),Rail Radar Fog view (railradar.trainenquiry.com/fog), SpecialTrains(trainenquiry.com/liveupdates/SpecialTrains.aspx)

Mobile (mobile.trainenquiry.com) and (onthego.trainenquiry.com) will be redirected to the new interface and all the information will be available through the new web interfaces.
Filed Under: , ,

Sunday, September 8, 2013

EXPECTED CENTRAL DA 10%-OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT MAY BE THIS WEEK

Govt to hike DA by 10%; benefit 80 lakh employees and pensioners

New Delhi: Ahead of festival season, Central Government will this month announce a hike in dearness allowance to 90 percent from existing 80 percent, benefiting about 50 lakh central employees and 30 lakh pensioners.

According to official source, dearness allowance hike will be 10 percent and would be effective from July 1, this year.

The sources further said the exact amount of dearness allowance, as a proportion of basic pay, works out to over 90 percent after factoring in the revised all India Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW) for June.

According to revised data released on August 30, retail inflation for factory workers for June stood at 11.63 percent, higher than provisional estimate of 11.06 percent for the month released on July 31.

Sources said that since the revised estimate for the month of June is available, the Finance Ministry would soon prepare a proposal for the purpose for seeking Union Cabinet nod.

They further said the proposal will be moved this month.

There would be a double digit hike in DA after about three years. It was last in September, 2010, that the government had announced a hike of 10 percent to be given with effect from July 1, 2010.

DA was hiked to 80 percent from 72 percent in April, 2013, effective from January 1, this year.

As per the practice, the government uses CPI-IW data for past 12 month or a year to arrive at a number for the purpose of any DA hike. Thus, the retail inflation for industrial workers between July, 2012 to June 2013 will be used to take a final decision.

Source : PTI News

Grant of eligibility for allotment of General Pool office as well as residential accommodation to the Debt Recovery Tribunals (DRT's) and Debt Recovery Appellate Tribunals (DRATs) - Reg.

No.11013/0/8/93-Poll
Government of India
Ministry of Urban Development
(Policy I Section)
Nirman Bhawan,New Delhi.
Dated the 30th August,2013.
OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Subject: Grant of eligibility for allotment of General Pool office as well as residential accommodation to the Debt Recovery Tribunals (DRT's) and Debt Recovery Appellate Tribunals (DRATs) - Reg.

In continuation to this Directorate's OMs of even number dated 28.9.2007, 16.10.2007, 16.11.2007, 14.12.2010, 27.4.2012 and 25.10.2012 whereby eligibility for allotment of General Pool accommodation, office as well as residential, was granted to Debt Recovery Tribunals (DRTs) and Debt Recovery Appellate Tribunals DRATs) at Delhi and outstations (where General Pool accommodation exists) till 21.02.2013, the undersigned is directed to state that the issue of extending the eligibility has been considered by the Competent Authority and it has been decided to extend the eligibility status of DRTs and DRATs for allotment of General Pool office and residential accommodation, at locations except Delhi and Mumbai where such accommodation is available beyond 21.02.2013 and till such time alternative arrangements are made for providing residential accommodation to them on the recommendations of the Group of Ministers constituted to consider and examine all issues relating to uniformity of retirement age, conditions relating to the tenure of the appointment/re-appointment and provisions concerning residential and office accommodation for quasi judicial/regulatory bodies/tribunals, etc. Eligibility code allotted earlier to DRTs and DRATs will remain same. Accordingly the allotment of General Pool residential accommodation to the staff of DRTs and DRATs at stations other than Delhi and Mumbai may be regularized by charging normal license fee.
sd/-
(S.K.Jain)
Deputy Director of Estates(Policy)
Source: http://estates.nic.in
[http://estates.nic.in/WriteReadData/dlcirculars/Circulars20270.pdf]
Filed Under:

Central Administrative Tri­bunal relief on pension for 16 In­di­ra Gandhi Centre for Ato­mic Research employees

Chennai: The Madras bench of the Ce­­n­tral Administrative Tri­bunal has directed the In­di­ra Gandhi Centre for Ato­mic Research (IGCAR), Kal­pakkam, to provide GPF and other benefits under Central civil service (pension) rules 1972 to 16 employees absorbed as temporary workers in 1999.

In a petition, K. Punni­yakoti of Kalpakkam and 15 others prayed for a direction to the Central government and IGCAR to extend to them the benefit of pension under the old government pension scheme.

The petitioners contended that they were granted temporary status in 1999. On September 9, 2008, they were appointed as casual labourers in the grade of ‘helper A’.

As per the order, 50 per cent of the service rendered under temporary status would be counted for retirement benefits.

After rendering three years of continuous service after conferment of temporary status, the casual labourers would be treated on a par with group D employees for the purpose of contribution to general provident fund.

They were appointed in te­mporary category and su­b­sequently regularised bet­ween May 2005 and Novem­ber 2005.

Meanwhile, the go­vernment introduced the new pension scheme in Ap­ril 2004 and the employees who joined service after Ja­nuary 1, 2004 were to be be covered under the new scheme.

In its reply, IGCAR argued that the employees who joined service after January 1, 2004 would be governed by the new pension scheme.

Employees who joined service prior to January 1, 2004 were governed by the general provident fund/contributory provident fund as per the Central civil service (pension) rules 1972.

The judicial member of the bench, B. Venkateswara Rao directed IGCAR to apply provisions of the Central civil service (pension) rules 1972 in respect of the employees and extend benefit under GPF rules. The bench also directed IGCAR to deduct monthly subscription regularly without interruption. The order is to be complied with within two months.
Source:DC