Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Registration of Government employees aged 60 years and above under National Pension System (NPS)

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PENSION FUND REGULATORY AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
22 April, 2014
PFRDA/2014/3/PDEX/12 

Subject: Registration of Government employees aged 60 years and above under National Pension System (NPS)

The Authority has been receiving several requests from various governments (central & state) to approve the registration of subscribers under National Pension System (NPS) who are aged 60 years and above and which are being approved on case by case basis by PFRDA at present.

Keeping in view of the difficulties being faced by subscribers, now the Authority has decided to enroll all eligible Government employees (central & state) who are on the rolls of the government in to NPS, irrespective of the age at the time of entry, subject to the condition that the total period of contribution to NPS account shall not be more than 42 years. The NPS applications of such subscribers need to be submitted through the appropriate nodal officer of the Govt/ Deptt, in line with the procedure adopted for NPS registration for Government employees aged below 60 years. Also, the responsibility for ensuring that the employee is eligible for being covered under NPS and that the NPS contribution is not paid beyond 42 years during the entire service period for such an employee, lies with the department submitting the subscriber registration form.

This is for the information of all concerned.

Sd/- 
Venkateswarlu Peri 
General Manager
Source : http://www.pfrda.org.in/writereaddata/linkimages/Registration%20of%20Govt%20employees%20aged%2060%20years%20and%20above763537413.pdf
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Reply to 7th CPC Questionnaire is being prepared by Confederation CHQ

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Reply to be submitted to 7CPC on Questionnaire is being prepared by Confederation CHQ under the able and experienced guidance and leadership of Com.S.K.Vyasji (Advisor, Confederation) and Com.KKN.Kutty ( National President, Confereration). Suggestions if any, by the C-O-C s and Affiliated Organisations may be sent by e-mail to Confederation CHQ (e-mail-ID confederationhq@gmail.com ormkrishnan6854@gmail.com ). Karnataka C-O-C has already sent its valuable comments and feedback to the CHQ.

Final Draft of the reply to the Questionnaire will be exhibited in the Confederation website.
It will be better if all the affiliates of Confederation submit the reply on the same line
M.Krishnan
Source: Confederationhq.blogspot.com
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Expected DA from July 14 – Looks like the curiosity surrounding the expected DA is fast receding..!

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One of the possible reasons for the dampening interest could be the fact that unlike last time, there is not going to be a DA hike. Although it is very well known that the hike is based on price rise and inflation, it probably feels to them as if something was lost.

This time there is no double-digit increase. It is only going to be a single-digit hike.

At the most, one can expect an increase of 7%. That too is not for sure. All that depends on the soon to be announced AICPIN points for balance months.

After announcing the second additional DA for the year 2014, there are only two instalments left. With the instalments of January 2015 and July 2015, the 6th CPC comes to a close.

The next additional DA will be based on the 7th CPC.

Additional Dearness Allowance formula could be changed in the 7th CPC. They could announce a new Base Year. There could also be a change in the 115.76 yardstick. Nothing can be said for certain this time.
There is already a proposal to change the Labour Bureau Base Year from ‘CPI-IW 2001=100’ to ‘CPI-IW 2015 =100’.  The current series of CPI-IW with base 2001=100 was constructed on the basis of employment data in seven sectors namely, Registered Factories, Mining, Plantations, Ports & Docks, Public Motor Transport, Electricity Generation & Distribution Establishments and Railways sector. The current series comprises of a basket of about 370 items and 289 price collection markets spread across 78 centres of the country.

The new series of CPI-IW will cover 7 sectors and 88 cities in 27 states have been selected for the new recommendation of CPI-IW (2015-100). It is worth mentioning that a special Standing Tripartite Committee (STC) under the chaired by Prof. G.K. Chadda has been created in this regard.

DA Table for the last one year…

Source: www.employeesnews.in
[http://www.employeesnews.in/2014/04/expected-da-from-july-2014-looks-like.html]
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Bharat Pensioners Samaj reply to 7th CPC questionnaire-Revised draft

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No. BPS/SG/2014/7CPC/2                   Dated : 26.04.2014

Ms Meena Agarwal
Secretary  GOI Seventh Central Pay Commission
Post Box No 4599 Hause Khas
P.O. New Delhi -110016
e.mail: secy-7cpc@nic.in

Madam,

Subject: 7th CPC Questionnaire

Reference: D.O. No 7cpc/15/questionnaire dated 9th April 2014

‘Bharat Pensioners Samaj’. One of the identified Pensioners’ Federation by GOI  M/O Personnel,  PG & Pensions-DOP& PW and a stake holder. In its capacity as one of the oldest & largest Pensioners Organization with over 500 Affiliated Associations, submits hereunder its reply to the questionnaire issued vide your D.O. No 7cpc/15/questionnaire   dated 9th April 2014.
As Pension is not independent of Salary. Salary structure also, is a matter of concern to pensioners. However, Bharat Pensioners Samaj limits its answers to Question Nos 1.1,1.2 , 10.1 &  10.1.2 under the heads ‘Salary’ & ‘Pension’ .

Q.1.1  The consideration on which the minimum and maximum salary in case of the lowest group c’ functionary and the maximum salary in case of a secretary level officer may be determined and what should be the ratio between the two.
Ans. Socialistic structure of the country , constitutional provisions for equality & reduction of vast  inequality in income & wealth between highest and lowest paid should be the main  considerationfor fixing maximum & minimum Salary.
The Ratio between maximum & minimum of Salary be brought down to  1: 9. Ensuring uniformly equal % rise in Salary of all employees by adopting a common multiplication factor.
4th CPC had determined the ratio between minimum & maximum of salary to be 10.7(Chapter 41 & 43). In accordance with  the basic fiber of a socialistic State this ratio should have gone reducing Pay Commission after Pay Commission. Even in capitalist countries like America & Britain this ratio is 1: 3.3 &1:5 respectively?  In  countries with weaker economy like Philippines this is 1: 9.5. VI CPC adopted conversion factor of  1.86 to arrive at the minimum of lowest pay Band, where as it adopted a factor of  3.37 for arriving at the highest scale. This shredded the very basic fiber of the Constitution of Indian Socialistic State by raising  the  ratio  between minimum & maximum of Salary to 1: 12.85. This negative and socially regressive effect of the 6th Central Pay Commission has had the effect of worsening wealth and income inequality not only between pre-and post-2006 retirees, but even within pre-2006 retirees wherein higher-ups got full parity in Pension(Through modified parity) .Adoption of  a ratio of 1:9 between minimum & maximum paid will therefore rectify to some extent the injustice done so far .
Defence Employee:
As far as Armed forces are concerned they do the supreme sacrifice for the country & must be the highest paid .For them the ratio between lowest & highest paid must not be more than 1:5.

Q.1.2  What should be the consideration for determining salary for various levels of functions between the highest level and the lowest level functionaries?
Ans. Equal  % rise in Salary of all employees should be the main consideration .Revise the highest existing Salary first. Divide the revised maximum Salary by 9 to arrive at the revised minimum Salary. Divide the revised minimum salary by existing salary. The factor so arrived may be adopted as common multiplication factor.

Q. No 10.1 New pension Scheme i.e The retirement benefits of all Central Government employees appointed on or after 1.1.2004 are covered by the New Pension Scheme (NPS).
What has been the experience of the NPS in the last decade?

Ans. Withdraw New Pension Scheme: for following reasons:
(i) Pension of Govt. employees is a deferred wage. Since wage paid out to them
during the course of work tenure is kept low by design, to cater for pension.
(ii) He/She forgoes with interest 8.33% of govt. matching contribution to PF.
(iii) Pension is a social security measure & cannot be subjected in any way to Market risks
(iv) It does not guarantee minimum return & thus lacks the basic fiber of Social Security Scheme (iv). It is in no way better than the existing Pension  Scheme .
(v)It does not provide guaranteed Family Pension to dependents & disabled siblings which exist in present scheme, even in case of spouse & dependent parents where death of the employee occur in early years of service there is no adequate social security.

Q. 10.1.2  i.e.  As for as pre 2004 appointees are concerned, what should be the principles that govern the structure of pension and retirement benefits?
Ans.  1.Keeping in view the Socialistic structure of the country , constitutional provisions & to reduce vast inequality between have & have lots, it is proposed:  The Ratio between maximum & minimum of Pension be brought down to  9:1. Ensuring uniformly equal rise in Pension of all pensioners, irrespective of pre- retiral status. By adopting common multiplication factor for revision of Pension, raising the ratio between minimum & maximum pension to 1:12.85 by 6thCPC  , instead of reducing it,  was  unconstitutional.
7th pay commission is requested to  first workout the top most revised pension, divide it by 9 to arrive at the minimum revised pension & then derive a uniform multiplication factor  by dividing minimum  revised Pension by minimum pre-revised Pension, with the condition that Pension shall not in any case be less than 65% & family Pension 45% of the last Pay  in Pay Band i.e. Pay in Pay Band+ GP  /Pay scale or of average of last 10 months emoluments (Whichever is more beneficial) as was worked out & recommended by TECS (Tata Economic Consultancy Services)  consultant to Vth CPC (Para 127.9 Vol III 5th CPC report)

2.One Rank one pension i.e full parity: ‘Justice must be equal for all’.
Otherwise, it breeds contempt, discontentment, inefficiency, corruption & finally the insurgency. We have seen it happening in Tribal areas of N.E, Chhatishgarh, Jharkand, Orisa, MP etc.
Vast inequality of income and wealth between lowest & the highest paid, violation of Article 14 has already induced contempt, discontent, inefficiency & corruption, in Civil services.
Govt. granted One Rank One Pension (OROP) to Armed forces, Judges granted it to themselves. Even a period of private practice of lawyer judges, to be counted towards qualifying service. Higher Bureaucracy got it through modified parity.   All other Central Govt. employees & Pensioners are definitely not the 2nd grade citizens!  One Rank one Pension to all retirees is now a constitutional requirement to ensure equality.

3.Defence Pensioners:
As far as defence pensioners are concerned they do the supreme sacrifice for the country .For them the ratio between highest & lowest paid must not be more than 1:5 and instead of being thrown out at an early age they must be transferred to paramilitary/police force after active tenure in armed forces. Otherwise, if these retired army personnel trained in all sort of weaponry are left uncared, they may fall prey to undesirable anti National outfits. In their case it is also essential that retirees from uniformed cadre & civilian defence Pensioners are treated at Par for all purpose.

4.Dearness relief :
100% neutralization with automatic merger with Pension whenever it goes to 50%  :The Pension of Central Government Pensioners undergo revision only once in 10 years during which period the pension structure gets seriously dis-aligned; 50% increase in price takes place even in less than 5 years. This results in considerable erosion of the financial position of the pensioner. DR does not adequately take care of inflation at this level. Working employees are getting automatic relief by way of 25% increase in their allowances with every 50% rise in Dearness Allowance. As pensioners do not get any allowances, they feel discriminated against. In order to strike a balance, DR may be automatically merged with Pension whenever it goes to 50% .

5.Additional old age Pension :
5% upward enhancement in pension be granted every five years’  after the age of 60 years & upto 80 years & thereafter as per existing dispensation.       As in the present scenario of climatic changes, incidence of pesticides and rising pollution, old age disabilities/diseases set in by the time an employee retires and go on manifesting very fast, needing additional finances to take care of these disabilities and diseases, especially as the cost of health care has gone very high.

6.Pension to be net of Income Tax :
The purchase value of pension gets reduced day by day due to continuously high inflation and steep rise in cost of food items and medical facilities. Retired persons/Senior citizens do not enjoy fully public goods and services provided by Government for citizens due to lack of mobility and many other factors. Their ability to pay tax gets reduced from year to year after retirement due to ever-increasing expenditure on food, medicines and other incidentals. Their net worth at year end gets reduced considerably as compared to the beginning of the year. Inflation, for a pensioner is much more than any tax. It erodes the major part of the already inadequate pension. To enable pensioners, at the far end of their lives, to live in minimum comfort and to cater for ever rising cost of living, they may be spared from paying Income Tax.

7. Restoration of commuted value of Pension in 12 years:
Commutation value in respect of employee superannuating at the age of 60 years between 1.1.1996 and 31.12.2005 and commuting a portion of pension within a period of one year would be equal to 9.81 years Purchase. After adding thereto a further period of two years for recovery of interest, in terms of observation of Supreme Court in their judgment in writ petitions No 395-61 of 1983 decided in December 1986, it would be reasonable to restore commuted portion of pension in 12 years instead of present 15 years. In case of persons superannuating at the age of 60 years after 31.12.2005 and seeking commutation within a year, numbers of purchase years have been further reduced to 8.194. Also, the mortality rate of 60 plus Indians has considerably reduced ever since Supreme Court judgment in 1986; the life expectancy stands at 76 years now. Therefore, restoration of commuted value of Pension after 12 years is fully justified.

8. The 6th Central Pay Commission’s improved/new benefits, like full pension for 20 years of service/10yrs service etc  have been limited only to post-1.1.2006 retirees.  This is in violation of the letter and spirit of Hon’ble Apex Court judgment in Nakara Case.
We appeal to the 7th CPC to extend the above benefits to all pre-1.1.2006 retirees with monetary benefit from 1.1.2006 to do them equal justice. And that new/improved benefits which 7th CPC may recommend, too be made equally applicable to present & past pensioners

9.Medical facilities:
“Health is not a luxury” and “not be the sole possession of a privileged few”. It is a Fundamental Right of all present & past Employees!
To ensure hassle free health care facility to Pensioners/family pensioners, Smart Cards be issued irrespective of departments to all Pensioners and their Dependents for cashless medical facilities across the country.
These smart cards should be valid in
 all Govt. hospitals
all NABH accredited Multi Super Specialty hospitals across the country which have been    allotted land at concessional rate or given any aid or concession by the Central or the State govt.

all CGHS, RELHS & ECHS empanelled hospitals across the country.

Medical attendants. For reimbursement of bills for treatment & for hospitalization . No referral should be insisted in case of medical emergencies. For the purpose of reference for hospitalization & reimbursement of expenditure thereon in other than emergency cases Doctors/Medical officers working in different Central/State Govt. department dispensaries/health units should be recognized as Authorized medical attendant.

The enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is recognized as a fundamental right of all workers in terms of Article 21 read with Article 39(c), 41, 43, 48A and all related Articles as pronounced by the Supreme Court in Consumer Education and Research Centre & Others vs Union of India (AIR 1995 Supreme Court 922) The Supreme court has held that the right to health to a worker is an integral facet of meaningful right to life to have not only a meaningful existence but also robust health and vigour. Therefore, the right to health, medical aid to protect the health and vigour of a worker while in service or post retirement is a fundamental right-to make life of a worker meaningful and purposeful with dignity of person. Thus health care is not only a welfare measure but is a Fundamental Right.

We suggest that, all the pensioners, irrespective of pre-retiral class and status, be treated as same category of citizens and the same homogenous group. There should be no class or category based discrimination and all must be provided Health care services at par .

10. Hospital Regulatory Authority:
To ensure that the hospitals do not avoid providing reasonable care to smart card holders and other poor citizens, a Hospital Regulatory Authority should be created to bring all NABH-accredited hospitals and NABL-accredited diagnostic Labs under its constant monitoring of quality, rates for different procedures & timely bill payments by Govt. agencies and Insurance companies. CGHS rates may be revised keeping in mind the workability as per market conditions.

11.Fixed Medical allowance (FMA):
As is recorded in Para 5 of the minutes of Committee of Secretaries (COS) held on 15.04.2010 (Reference Cabinet Secretariat, Rashtrapati Bhavan No 502/2/3/2010-C.A.V Doc No. CD (C.A.V) 42/2010 Minutes of COS meeting dated 15.4.2010) which discussed enhancement of FMA. “CGHS card estimates for serving Personnel: Since estimates are not available separately for pensioners M/O Health & Family Welfare had assessed the total cost per card p.a. in 2007-2008 = Rs 16435 i.e. Rs.1369 per month for OPD”. Adding to it inflation, the figure today is well over Rs 2000/- PM. Ministry of Labour & Employment, Govt. of India vide its letter no. G-25012/2/2011-SSI dated 07.06.2013 has already enhanced FMA to Rs 2000/- PM for EPFO beneficiaries. Thus, to help elderly pensioners to look after their health, Adequate raise in FMA will encourage a good number of pensioners to opt out of OPD facility which will reduce overcrowding in hospitals. OPD through Insurance will cost much more to the Govt. As such the proposal for raising Fixed Medical allowance to Pensioners is fully justified and is financially viable.
We suggest that FMA for all C.G. Pensioners be raised to at least Rs 2000/- PM without any distance restriction linking it to Dearness Relief for automatic further increase. We further suggest that FMA be exempted from INCOME TAX.
Fixed Medical Allowance (FMA) is a compensatory allowance to reimburse the medical expenses. As Medical Reimbursement is not taxable, FMA should also be exempted from Income Tax.

12.Grievance redressal Mechanism:
Pensioners/Family Pensioners are exploited, harassed and humiliated by their own counterparts in chair, who at the sight of an old person adopt a wooden face and indifferent attitude. Pensioners do not have representation even in Forums & Committees wherein pension policies and connected matters are discussed. The forum of Pension Adalat too is not of much avail as it meets only once a year which is too long a period for an elderly nearer to his end. Moreover, these Adalats deal with settlement claims only. SCOVA too meets only twice a year for about 3 hours at each occasion. Moreover, the scope of SCOVA is limited to feedback on Government policies. DOP&PW is perceived as a toothless authority which lacks direct Service Delivery Capability. It has been striving over the years to redress the Pensioners’ grievances through the ‘Sevottam’ model of the Department of Administrative Reforms & Public grievances; in the absence of strict timeline with punitive clause it is, however, proving to be a failure. Grievances are either not resolved for years or closed arbitrarily without resolving correctly.
We therefore, appeal that for resolving Pensioners complaints ,
(i) A strict time line with punitive clause be introduced in “Sevottam model”
(ii) Grievances are not allowed to be closed without resolving.
(iii) SCOVA be upgraded to JCM level covering all Pensioners by introducing suitable legislative amendment if required.

13. Representations in various committees : As recommended vide Vth CPC report Vol III para 141.30 Pensioners’ representatives should be included in various committees & other Fora of Govt where issues relating to the welfare of pensioners are likely to be discussed &debated :
Discussing, debating and deciding the matters / Policies relating to Pensioners, with representatives other than those of pensioners, is unfair & against the Rules of ‘Natural Justice’. At present various Committees like National Anomaly Committee (NAC) and JCM (on Pensioner matters), are there, wherein matters / policies relating to pensioners’ welfare are discussed and decided, but they do not have pensioners’ representatives with the result their viewpoints, hardships & anomalies are not properly represented. As pensioners are a homogenous class, there is an urgent need to constitute separate Committees for pensioners wherein matters / policies / anomalies relating to pensioners of all Groups, categories &departments may be discussed.

14. Govt. should not indirectly pressurize courts by appealing again & again to get judgments reversed in its  favor & must implement all court  judgments  in  case of all similarly placed persons.
V CPC recommended in para 126.5 that any Court Judgment involving  a common policy matter of pay/pension to a group of employees/pensioners, should be extended automatically to similarly placed employees/pensioners without driving every affected individual to the Courts of law. This recommendation is never followed by GOI, with the result Pensioners in the evening of their life, are forced to approach the legal forums, seeking  the same relief. This in turn, bulges court dockets. VII CPC to look into this matter once again and to issue suitable guidelines as deem fit and necessary.

With regards
Truly Yours,

ER.S.C.Maheshwari
 Secy.Genl. Bharat Pensioners Samaj
Source: http://www.scm-bps.blogspot.in/#sthash.QEKoPmeN.Gxk465jE.dpuf
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Thursday, April 24, 2014

Rates of Dearness Allowance applicable w.e.f. 1.1.2014 to employees of Central Government and Central Autonomous Bodies continuing to draw their pay In the pre-revised scale as per 5th Central Pay Commission.

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No.1(3)/2008-E.II(B)
Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Expenditure

North Block, New Delhi
Dated: 22nd April, 2014.

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Subject: Rates of Dearness Allowance applicable w.e.f. 1.1.2014 to employees of Central Government and Central Autonomous Bodies continuing to draw their pay In the pre-revised scale as per 5th Central Pay Commission.

The undersigned is directed to refer to this Department’s O.M. of even No. dated 7th October, 2013 revising the rates of Dearness Allowance in respect of employees of Central Government and Central Autonomous Bodies who continue to draw their pay and allowances in the pre-revised scales of pay as per 5th Central Pay Commission.

2. The rates of Dearness Allowance admissible to the above categories of employees of Central Government and Central Autonomous bodies shall be enhanced from the existing rate of 183% to 200% w.e.f. 1.1.2014. All other conditions as laid down in the O.M. of even number dated 3rd October, 2008 will continue to apply.

3. The contents of this Office Memorandum may also be brought to the notice of the organizations under the administrative control of the Ministries/Departments which have adopted the Central Government scales of pay.
sd/-
(Subhash Chand)
Deputy Secretary to the Government of India
Source:www.finmin.nic.in
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Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Payment of Conveyance Allowance to Deaf and Dumb employees at par with Blind and Orthopeadically Handicapped employees

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File No. 3/5/2007-SCT(B)
Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Financial Services
(Welfare)
New Delhi, dated 11th April, 2014.
To
1. The Chief Executives of all Public Sector Banks,
Public Sector Insurance Companies, Financial Institutions
2. Executive Director, Reserve Bank of India, Mumbai.

Subject: Payment of Conveyance Allowance to Deaf and Dumb employees at par with Blind and Orthopeadically Handicapped employees.

Sir,
I am directed to refer to the subject cited above and to say that as per this Department's letter of even number dated 18.2.2009, Conveyance Allowance is payable to Blind and Orthopeadically handicapped employees n Public Sector Banks, Public Sector Insurance Companies, Financial Institutions and Reserve Bank of India, as per prescribed rates.

2. Department of Expenditure in the Ministry of Finance vide its Office Memorandum No. 21(2)/2011-Estt..II(B) dated 19th February, 2014(copy enclosed), has informed that in compliance with order dated 12th December, 2013 of the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in WP(Civil) No. 107 of 2011, titled Deaf Employees Welfare Association and Anothers Vs Union of India and Others, it has been decided to extend the benefit of Transport Allowance, as admissible to Blind and Orthopeadically Handicapped employees in terms of their OM No. 21(2)/2008-E.II(B) dated 29th August, 2008(copy enclosed), to deaf and dumb employees of the Central Government with immediate effect.

3. The matter was examined in this Department and it has been decided to extend these benefits to deaf and dumb employees of Public Sector Banks, Public Sector Insurance Companies, Financial Institutions and Reserve Bank of India etc. subject to the condition that the recommendation of the Head of ENT Department of a Govt. Civil Hospital is received by the Head of Human Resources Department of the respective financial institution and fulfillment of other conditions mentioned in MoF, Deptt. of Expenditure OM No. 19029/1/78-E.IV(B) dated 31st August, 1978 (copy enclosed) read with OM dated 29.8.2008.

4. It is requested that a Board Note for paying Conveyance Allowance as prescribed in the letter referred above to Deaf and Dumb employees, at par with Blind and Orthopeadically handicapped employees in your organization, be placed before your Board of Directors for implementation, with immediate effect.

Yours faithfully,
sd/-
(J.S. Phaugat)
Under Secretary(Welfare)

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





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Agenda for discussion in the Standing Committee of National Council(JCM)

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No.NC-JCM/2014/VII CPC
Dated: April 9, 2014 
The Chairman,
Standing Committee National Council(JCM),
South Block, New Delhi

Dear Sir,

Sub: Agenda for discussion in the Standing  Committee of National Council(JCM)

An agenda, comprising of 09 items, to be discussed in the Standing Committee of the National Council(JCM), is being enclosed herewith for necessary action.

Yours faithfully, 
-sd- 
(Shiva Gopal Mishra) 
Secretary, Staff Side 
National Council(JCM)
DA/As above



Copy to: All Constituent Organisations of the National Council(JCM) – for information.

TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR THE 7th CENTRAL PAY COMMISSION
The Government of India have finalized the Terms of Reference of the 7th CPC and circulated the same vide Ministry of Finance’s Resolution No1/1/2013-E.III (A) dated 28th February, 2014. It is a matter of concern that and disappointment that the Terms of Reference have been finalised unilaterally without having thorough discussion with the Staff Side and their views have also not been taken care of while doing so.

It may be recalled that a meeting was convened by the Secretary (Personnel) with the Staff Side members on 24th October, 2013 to discuss the possible Terms of Reference for the 7th CPC being appointed. In that meeting the Staff side had specifically requested that a copy of Terms of Reference for 7th CPC, as proposed by the Ministry of Finance may be circulated to all concerned and thereafter another meeting with Secretary, Department of Expenditure and Department of Personnel & Training be arranged with the Staff Side to discuss and finalise the same, which is clearly mentioned in para 11 of the Record Note of Discussion of that meeting. Subsequently, the Staff Side again requested for an urgent meeting with the Secretary(Expenditure) and Secretary DoPT for finalization of the Terms of Reference (ToR) for the Seventh Central Pay Commission vide its letter dated 23rd January, 2014. However, no such meeting was convened and Terms of Reference for the 7th CPC have been finalised by the Government on 28th February, 2014.

While going through the ToR, as finalized by the Government, it is observed that many of the suggestions of the Staff Side, in regard to date of effect of Pay Commission, Merger of D.A., Interim Relief, representation of labour representative in the Commission itself, parity issues in regard to pensioners, settlement of the pending Anomaly items etc., have not been duly considered, which is a matter of dissatisfaction.

The Staff Side, therefore, demands that the Government must discuss the Terms of Reference for the 7th CPC with them and make necessary amendments/revisions to the Terms of Reference.

1. Revision of Wage with effect from 01.01.2011
The present wage structure of the Central Government employees is in vogue on the basis of the recommendations of the 6th Central Pay Commission, which took effect from 01.01.2006 in the case of Pay, and in the case of Allowances from 01.09. 2008.

The wage revision of the Central Government employees is done every 10 years, which was recommended by the 5th CPC, however, in the case of Central PUSs, the wage revision normally takes place after every five years. In the past, wage revision has been linked to the extent of erosion of real wages. The degree of inflation in the economy determines the pace of erosion of the real value of wages. The retail prices of those commodities which are computed for determining the minimum wages have risen by about 160% from 01.01.2006 to 01.01. 2011, whereas the D.A. compensation, in the case of Central Government employees, on that date had been just 51%.

Since wage revision in all the Central Public Sector Undertakings takes places every five years through collective bargaining, revision of wages of the Central Government employees in 10 years gives rise to serious disparity in wages and allowances of the Central Government employees, vis-a-vis those in Public Sector Undertakings, which is a major cause of discontentment among them. The Staff Side, therefore, demands that the wage revision of the Central Government employees must also take place after every 5 years on the analogy of CPUSs and therefore, Government must specify the date of effect of the recommendations of the 7th CPC accordingly, i.e. to take effect from 01.01.2011 in place of 01.01.2016.

2. Merger of DA with Pay
The wage revision of the Central Government employees takes place only through setting up of Central Pay Commissions, which has many a times proved to be a time consuming process. The 6th CPC submitted its report in the time frame provided to it, i.e. 18 months. Since the earlier Commissions had covered many aspects of the principles of wage determination and the periodicity of such revision had come down, the exercise might not now require a longer period of time as was the case earlier, still the 7th CPC shall require a reasonable time frame to go into the matter judiciously because the implementation of the recommendations of the 6th CPC have given rise to large number of anomalies and cadre related grievances.

The methodology adopted for compensating the erosion in the real value of wages in the interregnum period had always been though the mechanism of merger of a portion of DA. The 5th CPC had recommended that the DA must be merged with pay and treated as pay for computing all allowances as and when the percentage of Dearness compensation exceeds 50%. Accordingly even before the setting up of the 6th CPC the DA to the extent of 50% was merged with pay.

As on 1.1.2014, the Dearness compensation is 100%. The suggestion for merger of DA to partially compensate the erosion in the real wages was first mooted by the Gadgil Committee in the post 2nd Pay Commission period. The 3rd CPC had recommended such merger when the Cost of Living index crossed 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 initially agreed to merge 60% DA and later the whole of the DA before the 4th CPC was set up. The 5th CPC merged 98% of DA with pay. It is, therefore, necessary that the Government takes steps to merge atleast 50% of DA with pay to compensate the erosion of the real value of wages immediately.

3. Appointment on compassionate grounds under the Central Government
Under the pretext of Hon’ble Supreme Court directives, the Central Government introduced a 5% ceiling on compassionate ground appointment. On account of this ceiling limit of 5%, a large number of cases of appointment on compassionate grounds of the dependents of the deceased Central Government employees have been pending in different departments, with the result that, the bereaved families of the late employees are constraints to face undue hardship due to loss of bread winner. Some of such candidates, belonging to Department of Posts, approached the Hon’ble Court of Law and obtained favourable orders, however, these directives have not been acted upon. The Government has chosen to dillydally by filing SLP in the Supreme Court.

It may be recalled that, the Central Administrative Tribunals were established with the intention of expeditious settlement of disputes on service matters. Even recently the Prime Minister's office ordered that it would not be open for various Ministries to appeal against the orders of the Tribunal as a matter of course and efforts must be to explore the ways of acceptances of the judgements of the Tribunal. In the light of these directives, the SLP ought to have been withdrawn.

It is pertinent to further mention here that, the standing Committee on Department of Personnel in one of their reports has termed the scheme of compassionate ground appointments as a sacred assurance to a fresh entrant that if he dies in harness, his family shall not be left in lurch. Such an assurance is being breached by the provisions of limiting such appointments to 5% of vacancies.

The Staff Side is, therefore, of the firm view that this condition of 5% ceiling must be done away with to provide relief to the bereaved families of the deceased Central Government employees.

4. Regularisation of Casual/Contingent/Daily Rate workers
Due to ban on creation of posts and recruitment of personnel that continued for a very long period and the consequent strain on the existing workers, many departmental heads had to recruit personnel on daily rated basis or as casual workers. Thus, almost 25% of the present workforce in the Governmental organisations are casual workers deployed to do permanent and perennial nature of jobs, contrary to the prohibition of such unfair labour practices by the law of the land. In the fifties and sixties, even the casual workers who had been employed to do casual and non perennial jobs used to get priority for regular employment as and when vacancies for such permanent recruitment arise. It is, however, a matter of concern that thousands of persons are now recruited as casual workers and kept as such for years together and are paid pittance of a salary with no benefits, like Provident Fund, Dearness Allowance, other Compensatory Allowances etc. In order to ensure that they do not get the benefit of regularisation, these workers  are technically discharged for a few days to be employed afresh again. The modus operandi differs from one department to another. While in some organisations, they are recruited through Employment Exchanges, in others, the functions are contracted out. Not only the quality of work suffers, but it is also an inhuman exploitation of the workers given the serious situation of unemployment that exists in the country. While the permanent solution is to sanction the necessary posts and resort to regular recruitment, the Government should evolve a scheme by which these casual/contingent/daily rated workers are made regular workers with all the concomitant benefits available for regular Government employees. Pending finalisation of such a scheme for regularisation, the non regular employees recruited for meeting the exigencies of work must be paid pro-rata salary on par with similarly placed regular employees on the principle of equal pay for equal work.

5. Downsizing, Outsourcing, Contractorisation etc.
To overcome the difficulties emanated from the total ban on recruitment and creation of posts and more specifically impacted by the 2001 executive fiat of the Government of India in the matter, many departments had to resort to outsourcing of its functions. Some were virtually closed down and a few others were privatised or contractorised. The large scale outsourcing and contractorisation of functions had a telling effect on the efficacy of the Government departments. The delivery system was adversely affected and the public at large suffered due to the inordinate delay it caused in getting the requisite service. The financial outlay for outsourcing of functions of each department increased enormously over the years, as a consequence of which, the quality of work suffered. In order to ensure that the people do get a better and efficient service from the Government departments and to raise the image of the Government employees in the eyes of the common people, it is necessary that the present scheme of outsourcing and contractorisation of essential functions of the Government must be abandoned. The practice of outsourcing and contractorisation is nothing but a cruel exploitation of the alarming situation of unemployment. The system of outsourcing of the functions seeks to informalise the workforce. The contract/casual workers get not even one third of the salary of the regular work force. They have no social security benefits like pension, provident fund gratuity etc. The Central Government employees fought against the temporary service rules which was in vogue in sixties and ensured that the recruitment to Government service is permanent and the civil servants are not allowed to be fired at the whim and fancy of their bosses. The outsourcing and contractorisation has paved way for large scale entry of casual workers and has resulted in the reversal of what all achieved in this direction through struggles in the past two decades.

The prevalent system of outsourcing and contractorisation, therefore, needs to be abandoned and all the regular and perennial nature works should be entrusted on regular Government employees only.
 
6. Revising Overtime Allowance(OTA) and Night Duty Allowance Rates
It may be seen that the Overtime Allowance is seldom paid to the Government employees. It is only in case of emergency and in the contingency in which the work cannot be postponed, like that happens in the Railways in smooth running of trains round the clock, in the RMS Division of Postal Department, in the Atomic Energy Commission offices or when the Parliament is in session in other administrative offices, employees are asked to do work beyond the stipulated working hours. The Night Duty Allowance is, however, paid to Government employees who have to work in night shifts with certain stipulated conditions. The 4th CPC recommended that since there had been considerable misuse of the provisions relating to grant of OTA, the Government should find alternative methods to compensate the employees who are asked to work on over time and pending such a scheme being evolved recommended not to revise the rates. However, the Government did not bring in any new scheme but issued the directive that the OTA and Night duty allowance will be paid to the employees who are called upon to do overtime or night duty on the basis of the 4th CPC pay structure. This directive is still in vogue.

Owing to certain disagreements with the Government on these issues, this matter was referred to Board of Arbitration under the JCM Scheme, whereupon the Board of Arbitration, having found unreasonable position taken by the Government, gave out the award in favour of the staff and directed the Government to revise the order whereby the allowance will be linked to the actual pay of the Government employees. The Government did not accept this award and decided to approach the Parliament for rejection of the same. The matter has not yet been placed in the form of a resolution in the Parliament. Despite the fact that the employees had been abiding by the directive of their superiors to be on overtime/night duty, and despite having won the case before the Board of Arbitration they continue to be compensated on the basis of the Notional pay as in 1986. There cannot be a much bigger injustice meted out to the employees. The Government must accept the award of the Board and issue instructions linking the Allowance to the actual pay of the employee.

7. Stepping up of pay of seniors who are drawing less pay than the juniors consequent on fixation of pay due to implementation of 6th CPC recommendations between Direct Recruits and Promotees
Consequent upon implementation of the recommendations of the VI CPC, in respect of pay scales of various categories of staff, there are certain situations where the senior who were promoted before 01.01.2006 are getting lesser pay than their juniors promoted after 01.01.2006, on fixation of their pay w.e.f. 01.01.2006. This, being a serious anomaly, has been raised by different department in their Departmental Anomalies Committees for redressal thereof. While clarifications regarding stepping up of pay of senior who are drawing less pay than the juniors between Direct Recruitees and Promotees, i.e. the seniors and juniors placed in a pay scale, having some Direct Recruitment Quota, have already been issued, whereby seniors’ pay has been stepped up and equated to the juniors. However, in grades where there is no element of Direct Recruitment available, this provision has not been made till date, with the result that, the seniors are still drawing lesser pay than their juniors after fixation of their pay in new pay scales w.e.f. 01.01.2006, which, being a serious anomaly, is resulting in discontentment prevailing among the seniors.

The main incongruity in this case is basically due to the fact that it is for the first time that the 6th CPC has recommended specific entry level pay for Direct Recruits (DRs). This has resulted in employees who were appointed in service prior to the DRs and got promoted earlier are getting less pay as compared to their counterparts recruited directly and who joined after 1.1.2006. It has always been the case that on promotion, the pay of a promoted employee is never fixed at less than the entry level of pay of that post as admissible to a direct recruit.

The Staff Side, therefore, is of the firm view that orders need to be issued to the effect that the pay on promotion w.e.f. 01.01.2006 would not be fixed less than at the prescribed minimum of the Entry Pay as provided for the Direct Entrants in the Revised Pay Rules, to eliminate this anomalous situation.

8. Stepping up of pay of senior employees at par with their juniors consequent upon implementation of MACPS
The Modified Assured Progression Scheme(MACPS) came into effect on 01.09.2008, and prior to this, Assured Career Progression(ACP) was in vogue. There are number of cases where the seniors who were promoted before implementation of the MACPS and the juniors who could not get normal promotion due to non-availability of vacancy or otherwise, and were extended the benefit of financial upgradation under MACPS on fulfillment of conditions laid down therein, the seniors are drawing lesser pay than their juniors under this scheme.

The MACP Scheme does not stipulate the provision of stepping up of pay of the seniors at par with their juniors, in case the seniors getting lesser pay than their juniors, which is absolutely unjustified and discriminative.

The Staff Side has repeatedly raised this issue in the MACPS’s Anomaly Committee as well, however, this discrepancy has not been done away with till date, with the result that, the seniors are still drawing lesser pay than their juniors, having been extended the benefit of financial upgradation under MACPS and this is causing deep sense of frustration prevailing among the seniors.

Staff Side, therefore, is of the firm opinion that the above-mentioned discrepancy needs to be addressed at the earliest to provide relief to the seniors.

9. Granting of Additional Pay to Loco & Traffic Running Staff
On the basis of recommendations of the 6th CPC, Additional Pay of Rs.1000 p.m. with appropriate Dearness Allowance has been granted in favour of Loco Pilot(Mail/Express)/Sr. Motorman(PB-II, GP Rs.4200)/(Rs.6000-9800)(5th CPC). Similarly, Rs.500 has been granted to Loco Pilot(Passenger II/ Motorman)(PB-II, GP Rs.4200)/(Rs.5500-9000)(5th CPC) and Guard(Mail/Exp.)(PB-II, GP Rs.4200) (Rs.5500-9000)(5th CPC). But the same Additional Pay has not been granted to rest of the Loco & Traffic Running Staff, causing great injustice to these set of Loco & Traffic Running Staff.

It would be quite appropriate that the Additional Pay should be granted in favour of all other categories of Loco & Traffic Running Staff.

Source: AIRF
[http://www.airfindia.com]
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7th CPC Questionnaire

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Meena Agarwal
Secretary

D.O No. 7CPC/15/Questionnaire
9th April, 2014

Dear ………..,

As you may be aware the Seventh Central Pay Commissions has been constituted by the Government on 28 February 2014 with a view to go into various issues of emoluments’ structure, retirement benefits and other service conditions of Central Government employees and to make recommendations on the changes required. The terms of reference of the Seventh Central Pay Commission are available on the http://7cpc.india.gov.in .


2. A Questionnaire seeking the considered views of all stakeholders is enclosed. The response of your Ministry to this Questionnaire is sought. I shall be grateful if the replies are furnished to the Commission on or before 10th May, 2014, so as to enable the Commission to take them into account as part of its examination of the issues that it is mandated to address. The reply may be sent to Post Box No. 4599, Hauz Khas P.O, New Delhi 110 016, and in the case of email to secy-7cpc@nic.in.


Encl:- As above.

With Regards, 

Yours sincerely, 

(Meena Agarwal) 
To all Secretaries to Govt of India  
 7th CPC Questionnaire  
1. Salaries

1.1 The considerations on which the minimum salary in case of the lowest Group ‘C’ functionary and the maximum salary in case of a Secretary level officer may be determined and what should be the reasonable ratio between the two.

1.2 What should be the considerations for determining salary for various levels of functions falling between the highest level and the lowest level functionaries?

2. Comparisons

2.1 Should there be any comparison/parity between pay scales and perquisites between Government and the private sector? If so, why? If not, why not?

2.2 Should there at all be any comparison/parity between pay scales and perquisites between Government and the public sector? If so, why? If not, why not?

2.3 The concept of variable pay has been introduced in Central Public Sector Enterprises by the Second Pay Revision Committee. In the case of the Government is there merit in introducing a variable component of pay? Can such variable pay be linked to performance?

3. Attracting Talent

3.1 Does the present compensation package attract suitable talent in the All India Services & Group A Services? What are your observations and suggestions in this regard?

3.2 To what extent should government compensation be structured to attract special talent?

4. Pay Scales

4.1 The 6th Central Pay Commission introduced the system of Pay Bands and Grade Pay as against the system of specific pay scales attached to various posts. What has been the impact of running pay bands post implementation of 6th CPC recommendations?

4.2 Is there any need to bring about any change?

4.3 Did the pay bands recommended by the Sixth CPC help in arresting exodus and attract talent towards the Government?
 
 4.4 Successive Pay Commissions have reduced the number of pay scales by merging one or two pay scales together. Is there a case for the number of pay scales/ pay band to be rationalized and if so in what manner?

4.5 Is the “grade pay” concept working? If not, what are your alternative suggestions?

5. Increment

5.1 Whether the present system of annual increment on 1 st  July of every year uniformly in case of all employees has served its purpose or not? Whether any changes are required?

5.2 What should be the reasonable quantum of annual increment?

5.3 Whether there should be a provision of variable increments at a rate higher than the normal annual increment in case of high achievers? If so, what should be transparent and objective parameters to assess high achievement, which could be uniformly applied across Central Government?

5.4 Under the MACP scheme three financial up-gradations are allowed on completion of 10, 20, 30 years of regular service, counted from the direct entry grade. What are the strengths and weaknesses of the scheme? Is there a perception that a scheme of this nature, in some Departments, actually incentivizes people who do not wish to take the more arduous route of qualifying departmental examinations/ or those obtaining professional degrees?

6. Performance

What kind of incentives would you suggest to recognize and reward good performance?

7. Impact on other organizations

Salary structures in the Central and State Governments are broadly similar. The recommendations of the Pay Commission are likely to lead to similar demands from employees of State Governments, municipal bodies, panchayati raj institutions & autonomous institutions. To what extent should their paying capacity be considered in devising a reasonable remuneration package for Central Govt. employees?

8. Defence Forces

8.1 What should be the considerations for fixing salary in case of Defence personnel and in what manner does the parity with civil services need to be evolved, keeping in view their respective job profiles?

8.2 In what manner should the concessions and facilities, both in cash and kind, be taken into account for determining salary structure in case of Defence Forces personnel.

8.3 As per the November 2008 orders of the Ministry of Defence, there are a total of 45 types of allowances for Personnel Below Officer Rank and 39 types of allowances for Officers. Does a case exist for rationalization/ streamlining of the current variety of allowances?

8.4 What are the options available for addressing the increasing expenditure on defence pensions?

8.5 As a measure of special recognition, is there a case to review the present benefits provided to war widows?

8.6 As a measure of special recognition, is there a case to review the present benefits provided to disabled soldiers, commensurate to the nature of their disability?

9. Allowances

9.1 Whether the existing allowances need to be retained or rationalized in such a manner as to ensure that salary structure takes care not only of the job profile but the situational factors as well, so that the number of allowances could be at a realistic level?

9.2 What should be the principles to determine payment of House Rent Allowance?

10. Pension

10.1 The retirement benefits of all Central Government employees appointed on or after 1.1.2004 a re covered by the New Pension Scheme (NPS). What has been the experience of the NPS in the last decade?

10.2 As far as pre-1.1.2004 appointees are concerned, what should be the principles that govern the structure of pension and other retirement benefits?

11. Strengthening the public governance system

11.1 The 6th CPC recommended upgrading the skills of the Group D employees and placing them in Group C over a period of time. What has been the experience in this regard?

11.2 In what way can Central Government organizations functioning be improved to make them more efficient, accountable and responsible? Please give specific suggestions with respect to:

 a) Rationalisation of staff strength and more productive deployment of available staff;  

b) Rationalisation of processes and reduction of paper work; and c) Economy in expenditure.

12. Training/ building competence

12.1 How would you interpret the concept of “competency based framework”?

12.2 One of the terms of reference suggests that the Commission recommend appropriate training and capacity building through a competency based framework.

a) Is the present level of training at various stages of a person's career considered adequate? Are there gaps that need to be filled, and if so, where?
b) Should it be made compulsory that each civil service officer should in his career span acquire a professional qualification? If so, can the nature of the study, time intervals and the Institution(s) whose qualification are acceptable, all be stipulated?
c) What other indicators can best measure training and capacity building for personnel in your organization? Please suggest ways through which capacity building can be further strengthened?

13. Outsourcing

13.1 What has been the experience of outsourcing at various levels of Government and is there a case for streamlining it?

13.2 Is there a clear identification of jobs that can be outsourced?

14. Regulatory Bodies

14.1 Kindly list out the Regulators set up unde r Acts of Parliament, related to your Ministry/ Department. The total number of personnel on rolls (Chairperson and members + support personnel) may be indicated.

14.2 Regulators that may not qualify in terms of being set up under Acts of Parliament but perform regulatory functions may also be listed. The scale of pay for Chairperson /Members and other personnel of such bodies may be indicated.

14.3 Across the Government there are a host of Regulatory bodies set up for various purposes. What are your suggestions regarding emoluments structure for Regulatory bodies?

15. Payment of Bonus

One of the terms of reference of the 7th Pay Commission is to examine the existing schemes of payment of bonus. What are your suggestions and observations in this regard?

Source: http://7cpc.india.gov.in/7cpc_questionnaire.pdf
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Monday, April 21, 2014

7TH PAY COMMISSION IS YET TO BE ALLOTTED WITH AN OFFICE SPACE -IE

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Readers must be aware decision to constitute 7th Pay Commission was taken by Government in the month of September 2013. And in the month of February 2014 Prime Minister approved the formation of 7th pay commission. In the same month, Chariman of 7th Pay Commission and other members were appointed.
At the end of February 2014, terms of reference was approved by Cabinet and later in the month of March 2014 7th pay commission terms of reference was notified by Government.

As per the news item reported in Indian Express, 7th Pay commission is yet to be allotted with an office space. It was also reported that since there is no adequate space available at Delhi Ministry of Urban Development could allot required office space to 7th Pay Commission. Presently, the Chairman of 7th Pay Commission has requested Government to issued Non-Availability Certificate so that Commission can look for a private property to accomodate the office of 7th Pay Commission

Source : http://indianexpress.com/
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DA from Jan, 2014 @ 100% to Gramin Dak Sevaks: DoP Order

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 No. 14-01/2011-PAP
Government of India
Ministry of Communication & IT
Department of Posts
(Establishment Division)/P.A.P. Section
Dak Bhawan, Sansad Marg, New Delhi — 110 001.
Dated 16th April, 2014.
To,
All Chief Postmaster General
All G.Ms. (PAF)/Directors of Accounts (Posts).

Subject: Payment of Dearness Allowance to Gramin Dak Sevaks (GDS) at revised rates w.e.f. 01.01.2014 onwards — reg.

Consequent upon grant of another installment of Dearness Allowance, with effect from 1st January, 2014 to the Central Government Employees vide Government of India, Ministry of Finance, Department of Expenditure's O.M. No. 1/1/2014-E-I1 (B) dated27.03.2014, duly endorsed vide this Department's letter No. 8-1/2012-PAP (Pt.) dated 28.3.2014, the Gramin Dak Sevaks (GDS) have also become entitled to the payment of Dearness Allowances on basic TRCA at the revised rate with effect from 01.01.2014. It has, therefore, been decided that the Dearness Allowance payable to the Gramin Dak Sevaks shall be enhanced from the existing rate of 90% to 100% on the basic Time Related Continuity Allowance, with effect from the 1st January, 2014.

2.    The additional installment of Dearness Allowance payable under this order shall be paid in cash to all Gramin Dak Sevaks.

3.    The expenditure on this account shall be debited to the Head "Salaries" under the relevant head of account and should be met from the sanctioned grant.

4.    This issues with the concurrence of Integrated Finance Wing vide their Diary No98/FA/2014-CS dated 16/04/2014.

(Shankar Prasad)
Assistant Director General (Estt.)
Source: http://nfpe.blogspot.in/
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Central Government women employees can get 730 days leave for child care: Supreme Court

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The Supreme Court on Tuesday held that a woman employee of central government can get uninterrupted leave for two years for child care, which also includes needs like examination and sickness. A bench of justices SJ Mukhopadhaya and V Gopala Gowda set aside the order of Calcutta High Court which had held that Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules do not permit uninterrupted CCL(Child Care Leave) for 730 days.

“On perusal of circulars and Rule 43-C, it is apparent that a woman government employee having minor children below 18 years can avail CCL for maximum period of 730 days i.e. during the entire service period for taking care of upto two children. The care of children is not for rearing the smaller child but also to look after any of their needs like examination, sickness etc,” the bench said.

It said that CCL even beyond 730 days can be granted by combining other leave if due and the finding of the High Court was based neither on Rule 43-C nor on guidelines issued by the central government. The court passed the order on a petition filed by a woman government employee Kakali Ghosh challenging government’s decision not to grant her leave of 730 for preparing her son for secondary/senior examinations.
She had first approached Central Administrative Tribunal Calcutta for getting leave. The tribunal had ordered in her favour but the High Court reversed the order after which she moved the apex court.

The apex court set aside the High Court’s order. “We set aside the impugned judgement dated September 18, 2012 passed by the Division Bench of Calcutta High Court, Circuit Bench at Port Blair and affirm the judgement and order dated April 30, 2012 passed by the Tribunal with a direction to the respondents to comply with the directions issued by the Tribunal within three months from the date of receipt/ production of this judgement,” it said.

Source: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/government-women-employees-can-get-twoyear-leave-for-child-care-sc/465435-3.html
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7th Pay Commission Report and the Need for Timeliness

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Background of the 7th Pay Commission

The 7th pay commission report - when is it going to be submitted?

The announcement about the 7th pay commission report came out on September the 25th of 2013. This pay commission unlike the 6th pay commission was set up well in advance. This became possible due to significant efforts of various organisations, union lists and the finance commission report. Announcements say that the 7th pay commission will be implemented from 1.1.2016 and it will take approximately 18 months time for the report to be submitted.
Recently, the 7th pay commission Chairman and the members gave out a public statement on 4.2.2014 and after that on 22.2.2014 the important 7th cpc terms and references were released. Now, the thought that floats on everyone’s mind is whether the 7th pay commission report will be submitted within the 18 months time period and will the employees be able to get the benefits along with their salary from 1.1.2016.
Recently, in the Lok Shaba during the question and answer session, it was pointed out that no specific time limit can be specified as of now for the implementation of the 7th pay commission. However, the finance ministry is now recruiting people for the 7th pay commission pay cell on deputation basis. This is a good attempt which boosts our confidence in the fact that the 7th pay commission will be put into effect on time.

Reports of the Earlier Pay Commissions
If the employees get the benefits of the 7th pay commission along with our salary on 1.1.2016, then, this will be the first time we are given the pay commission benefits without arrears. I am providing a link containing reports about when the previous pay commissions were set and when they were implemented.
Pay Commission
Date of Appointment
Date of submission of report
Financial impact (Rs. In crores)
Time
First Pay CommissionMay, 1946May, 1947N.A1 YEAR
Second Pay CommissionAugust, 1957August, 195939.622 YEARS
Third Pay CommissionApril, 1970March, 1973144.603 YEARS (aprx)
Fourth Pay CommissionJune, 19833 reports submitted in June, 1986; Dec. 1986 and May, 198712824 YEARS(aprx)
Fifth Pay CommissionApril, 1994January, 199717,0003YEARS (aprx)
Sixth pay commissionJuly 2006March 2008
18 months

Arrears of the 6th Pay Commission :- When you see the timetable above, you can understand that none of the previous pay commissions were implemented on time and without the payment of arrears. When the 6th pay commission was implemented, the government paid a huge amount as arrears in two instalments. This impacted the economy considerably and caused changes in inflation rate and GDP. This shocking fact was revealed by the 13th finance committee report.

The Benefits of the Timely Implementation of the 7th Pay Commission :- What benefits will the employees get if the 7th pay commission is implemented on 1.1.2016? Let us have a look.

Firstly, all the allowances and benefits can be got on 1.1.2016. When the benefits are paid as arrears the employees will not get some of the allowances due to exclusion.

Secondly, the government will not have to pay a huge amount as arrears and thereby can avoid economic burden.

Thirdly, if a National Anomaly Committee is set up and the shortcomings of the 7th pay commission are corrected immediately, employees can receive the benefits easily. We have to note that several points mentioned the anomaly committee report of the 6th pay commission still remain problematic and uncorrected.

Fourthly, let us have a look at the elements of ACP and MACP. Like the ACP and MACP, the financial up gradation is going to be introduced in the 7th Pay Commission; the issues that may arise due to this have to be resolved in a timely manner so that everyone may be benefitted by it.   In the 5th pay commission, the time limit for promotion through ACP remained at 12 years, and in the 6th pay commission the time limit for promotions through MACP remained at 10 years. In the 5th pay commission, a new method of promotion through hierarchy was introduced. In the 6th pay commission promotions happened through grade pay structure.
The main aim of introducing ACP and MACP is to make sure that an employee gets minimal promotion at least thrice in his life time of service. If this is the case, the minimal service period of an employee should be at least 30 years. But presently, employees are appointed even at the age of 37 and so their service period is just 23 years. Such problems have to be carefully considered well in advance and solved before the 7th pay commission is implemented.

Let us believe that the 7th pay commission will be the first arrears-free pay commission and implemented on time as per the guidelines of the 13th finance commission.

Source:http://www.7thpaycommissionnews.com/
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Thursday, April 17, 2014

Did you know how the 6th CPC Multiplication Factor of 1.86 was derived?

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The 6th Pay Commission had recommended a Multiplication Factor of 1.74, but the Central Government chose to change it to 1.86. One of the reasons for this modification was the intense pressure from various Federations of Central Government Employees. It has to be mentioned at this point that all the federations had presented demands to the Government to raise the minimum basic pay to Rs. 10,000.
Exactly how did the Government arrive at 1.86? Here is an explanation how -

Let us assume the Basic Pay, as of 01.01.2006, as 100%. Let’s take the Dearness pay (post the 50% DA Merger) as 50%. Let us also take into account the 24% Dearness Allowance that was given before 01.01.2006.
If you add Basic Pay and Dearness Pay and calculate 24% of it, then you’d get 36%. (100 + 50 = 150 / 24 x 100 = 36)
100% + 50% + 36% = 186%
This number is being taken for calculations as 1.86.

At the time of 6th CPC Pay Fixation, the last drawn Basic Pay under 5th CPC was multiplied by 1.86 and rounded off. It was also explained that a new entity named Grade Pay was created and a sum total of this was the new Basic Pay.

Hence, it was impossible to consider 1.86 as the true yardstick. For example, for a basic pay of Rs. 3050…
3050 x 1.86 = 5680 (After rounded off)
Corresponding Grade Pay for 3050 is 1900,
Band Pay 5680 + Grade Pay 1900 = Basic Pay 7580
5th CPC basic pay = 3050
6th CPC basic pay = 7580
The multiplication factor number comes to 2.48.

It is not possible to take 2.48 as common for all basic pays. But, 2.48 was considered very low. That’s why we have used a bigger number to calculate in the 7th CPC’s Expected Pay Scale.

Source:  http://90paisa.blogspot.in/
[http://90paisa.blogspot.in/2014/04/did-you-know-how-6th-cpc-multiplication.html]

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List of Allowances and Advances to be increased by 25% from 1.1.2011

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100% D.A from January 2014 – Some Allowances and Advances Rise by 25%

The Fifth Central Pay Commission had recommended uniform neutralization of DA at 100% to employees at all levels and increase in DA calculation too, according to the 12 monthly average of AICPIN for Industrial Workers (1982=100) as on 1st January 1996, of 306.33.

The Linking Factor of 303.33 has now changed to 115.76. This was calculated as 4.63 in the 4th CPC.
It was due to this change that the Dearness Allowance has increased in recent years. The 6th Pay Commission had promptly calculated it and said that the true impact of price rise and inflation would only then be known.

It was also mentioned in the recommendations made by the 6th CPC that each time the Dearness Allowance touched 50%, certain Allowances and Advances should also be raised by 25%.
It is of common knowledge that according to these recommendations, when D.A touched 50% on 01.01.2011, DOPT issued orders to increase it by 25%.

Since the DA is calculated on the basis of price rise and inflation, this 25% raise was given in order to make it uniformly applicable to all the other Allowances and Advances. The Allowances and Advances mentioned in this are the Children’s Education Allowance and Hostel Subsidy and Festival Advance.

As of now, the Central Government employee is entitled to claim 15,000 per annum per child under the Children’s Education Allowance and Hostel Subsidy. An increase of 25% would mean that the amount would rise to Rs. 18,750 per year. Similarly, there are chances that the Festival Advance would increase to Rs. 4700. These could be confirmed only after the DOPT makes its official announcements.

The list mentioned below is explanatory and given in detail, along with explanations.

S.No.Name of the Allowances & AdvancesExistingRevised
1.Children Education Assistance & Reimbursement of Tuition FeeRs.12,000
(Per Year – Per Child)		Rs.15,000
(Per Year – Per Child)
2.Advances for purchase of Bicycle Advance, Warm clothing Advance,
Festival Advance, Natural Calamity Advance		Rs.3,000Rs.3,750
3.Special Compensatory Hill Area AllowanceRs.600 / Rs.480Rs.750 / Rs.600
4.Special Compensatory Scheduled / Tribal Area AllowanceRs.400 / Rs.240Rs.500 / Rs.300
5.Project AllowanceRs.1,500 / Rs.1,000Rs.1,875 / Rs.1,250
6.Speical Compensatory (Remote Locality) AllowanceRs.2,600 / Rs.2,100/ Rs.1,500 / Rs.400Rs.3,250 / Rs.2,625/ Rs.1,875 / Rs.500
7.Cycle Maintenance AllowanceRs.60 (Per month)Rs.75 (Per month)
8.Mileage for road journey all components of daily allowance on tourRs.500 / Rs.300 / Rs.200 / Rs.150 / Rs.100Rs.625 / Rs.375 / Rs.250 / Rs.190 / Rs.125
9.Rates of Fixed Conveyance Allowance under SR-25 (Motor Car)Rs.1,120 / Rs.1,680 / Rs.2,070 / Rs.2,430 / Rs.3,000Rs.1,400 / Rs.2,100 / Rs.2,590 / Rs.3,040 / Rs.3,750
10.Rates of Fixed Conveyance Allowance under SR-25 (Other modes)Rs.370 / Rs.480 / Rs.640 / Rs.750 / Rs.850Rs.470 / Rs.600 / Rs.800 / Rs.940 / Rs.1,070
11.Washing AllowanceRs.60Rs.75
12.Split Duty AllowanceRs.200Rs.250
13.Spl. Allowance for Child Care for Women with Disabilities and
Education Allowance for disabled children		Rs.1,000 per monthRs.1,250 per month
14.Cash Handling AllowanceRs.600 / Rs.500 / Rs.400 / Rs.300 / Rs.150Rs.750 / Rs.625 / Rs.500 / Rs.375 / Rs.190
15.Risk AllowanceDOPT
21012/1/2008-Estt.(Allowance)		12.3.2009
16.Postgraduate AllowanceRs.1,000 / Rs.600Rs.1,250 / Rs.750
17.Desk AllowanceRs.600Rs.750
18.Bad Climate AllowanceRs.400 / Rs.240Rs.500 / Rs.300
Click here to view the orders

Source:http://90paisa.blogspot.in/p/expected-additional-dearness-allowance.html
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Saturday, April 12, 2014

Merge 50 per cent DA into basic pay of Central Government Employees and Pensioners.

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GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF FINANCE
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO 2831
ANSWERED ON 07.02.2014

MERGER OF DA WITH PAY

UNSTARRED QUESTION 2831

Shri RANJAN PRASAD YADAV/ AVTAR SINGH BHADANA

Will the Minister of FINANCE  be pleased to state:-

(a) the percentage of Dearness Allowance (DA) with respect to basic pay of the Central Government Employees as on date;

(b) whether there is any proposal to merge 50 per cent DA into basic pay of Central Government Employees and Pensioners;

(c) if so, the details thereof; and

(d) if not, the reasons therefor?

ANSWER

MINISTER OF THe STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE (SHRI NAMO NARAIN MEENA)

(a) With effect from 1st July, 2013, the rate of Dearness Allowance (DA) payable on the revised pay of Central Government employees is 90%.

(b) No Sir.

(c) In view of (b) above, the Question does not arise.

(d) The Sixth Central Pay Commission did not recommend merger of DA with basic pay at any stage. This has been accepted by the Government vide Resolution dated 29th August, 2008.
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Delay in Govt Inquiry No Bar on Promotion

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The Central Administrative Tribunal asked Tamil Nadu government to consider promoting an Indian Forest Officer to rank of Chief Conservator of Forests, observing that an officer could not be penalised for inordinate delay on the part of government in completing disciplinary inquiries against him.

IFS officer Ramachandra Pati joined as Assistant Conservator of Forests in 1985. He was promoted to Conservator of Forests in 2004. He became eligible for promotion to Chief Conservator of Forests in 2010. However, disciplinary proceedings for his alleged shortfall in performance under Tamil Nadu Afforestation Programme were initiated in 2005 and 2006, said Pati in his petition. These proceedings were not completed after a lapse of around five years. In his current petition Pati pleaded that inquiry report be opened and government act on the recommendations.

Countering his arguments, the government said the delay was because of Pati’s refusal to cooperate with the inquiry authorities. But the inquiry had been completed

Further, “if an officer with pendency charges of a grave nature is promoted to the next level without reference to the disciplinary proceedings, there will be no meaning in initiating such proceedings”, it said adding the “punishment of censure” was imposed on Pati.

The bench of judicial member K Elango and administrative member P Prabhakaran disposing of the petition asked the government to consider Pati for promotion as an officer cannot be held liable for delay of an inquiry.

Source:http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/Delay-in-Govt-Inquiry-No-Bar-on-Promotion/2014/04/10/article2159608.ece#.U0lcjT-SzSt

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