Merger of ASP cadre in to PS Gr. B cadre.....updates!!!

Meeting regarding merger of ASP cadre into PS Group B cadre was held in the chamber of DDG (Estt) on 28/11/2014. Following were present.

1.     Smt. Trishaljit Sethi, DDG (Estt.), Postal Directorate

2.     Shri Harinder Singh, Director (Estt.), Postal Directorate

3.     Shri Tarun Mittal, ADG (PE-1)

4.     Shri Vilas Ingale, General Secretary

5.     Shri Roop Chand, Ex-General Secretary

6.     Shri Santosh Kulkarni, Ex-CHQ Treasurer

7.     Shri Yadagiri G. Nyalapelli, CHQ Treasurer

8.     Shri P. Ajith Kumar, Asstt. General Secretary-I

9.     Shri Parmanand Kumar, ASP (PMU), Directorate

DDG (Estt) welcomed the representatives of the Association and requested for healthy and fruitful discussion to resolve this vital and long pending issue. The proposal submitted by the Association on 20/11/2013 was discussed in detail. Official side expressed their difficulties in implementing the proposal in toto. It was stated by the official side that there are 2106 posts of Inspector Posts and 1990 posts of ASP in the Department. During the course of discussion, it was proposed to upgrade few posts of ASP in Divisional Office into PS Group B cadre in Group A Postal / RMS divisions, CO/RO etc. as well as to retain the Gazetted status of remaining ASPs in their personal capacity till their retirement / promotion in case of merger of IP cadre and ASP cadre into a single cadre. Inspector, Posts will get Grade Pay of Rs. 4600/- after merger at par with Inspectors in CBDT/CBEC as per our demand. Meeting was held in a cordial atmosphere.

In view of the discussions held in the meeting, official side desired a fresh proposal from the Association. The same will be submitted very soon.

 

Source : CHQ Blog

Aadhar enabled bio-metric attendance system – Early leaving is also to be treated as late coming…

"As per existing instructions, half a-day’s casual leave should be debited for each day of late attendance, but late attendance upto an hour, on not more than two occasions in a month"...

Govt introduces Aadhar enabled bio-metric attendance system

The Centre on Friday decided to phase-out manual attendance system and use an Aadhar enabled bio-metric attendance system (AEBAS) in all its offices.

“It has been decided to use an Aadhar enabled bio-metric attendance system in all offices of the central government, including attached and sub-ordinate offices, in India,” said an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).

Aadhar is a 12 digit individual identification number issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India on behalf of the central government.

The system will be installed in the offices located in New Delhi by this year end.

In other places this may be installed by January 26, 2015, it said.

The Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) will provide technical guidance for installing the system, the order said.

The equipment will be procured by the ministries or departments as per specifications of DeitY on Directorate General of Supplies and Disposals (DGS&D) rate contract from authorised vendors.

The expenditure will be met by the ministries or departments concerned. “The manual system of attendance may be phased out accordingly,” it said.

The bio-metric attendance system is only an enabling platform. There is no change in the instructions relating to office hours, late attendance etc. which will continue to apply, the order said.

As per existing instructions, half a-day’s casual leave should be debited for each day of late attendance, but late attendance upto an hour, on not more than two occasions in a month, and for justifiable reasons may be condoned by the competent authority.

“Disciplinary action may also be taken against government servants who are habitually late. Early leaving is also to be treated in the same manner as late coming,” the instructions said.

All central government ministries and departments have been asked by the DoPT to follow the orders which comes into force “with immediate effect”.

Source: DDI News

Ceiling limit for purchasing goods in CSD canteens

Parliament Question & Answer - Ceiling of purchasing in 'Military Canteens'

Yes, there is ceiling for purchasing grocery items in CSD Canteens for all categories card holders.

Canteen Stores Department (CSD) Canteens, which is familiar to known as Military Canteens, every card holder can only purchase within the limit and minimum of Rs.3500 per month. This topic discussed in Parliament today, Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar said in a written reply to a question regarding this subject as follows…

“Ceiling for purchasing goods in military canteens has been prescribed taking into account the budgetary allocation to the Canteen Stores Department (CSD) by the Government, actual need / requirement of the individual and their purchasing power. For ceiling purpose the officials have been divided into 5 categories as mentioned under :-

The ceiling was revised on 21st August 2006 and again on 27th October 2008 to be effective from 1st January 2009. At present no change in the ceiling limit is proposed.

Central Civil Services (Leave Travel Concession) Rules, 1988 — Relaxation to travel by private airlines to visit J&K.

No.31011/7/2014-Estt.(A-IV)

Government of India

Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions

Department of Personnel and Training

North Block, New Delhi-110 001

Dated: 28th November, 2014

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Subject:- Central Civil Services (Leave Travel Concession) Rules, 1988 — Relaxation to travel by private airlines to visit J&K.

The undersigned is directed to refer to this Ministry’s O.M. No.31011/3/2014- Estt.(A-1V) dated 26th September, 2014. It has been decided that the Government servants while availing Leave Travel Concession (LTC) to Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) under the special dispensation scheme allowed by the aforesaid O.M. may also travel

by private airlines subject to the following conditions:-

(i) Officers entitled to travel by air may also travel by private airlines from their headquarters;

(ii) Officers not entitled to travel by air may be permitted to travel by private airlines between Delhi /Amritsar and any place in J&K.

2. Air travel by private airlines is to be performed in Economy Class only an at LTC- 80 fare of Air India or less.

3. Air Tickets to be purchased directly from the airlines (Booking counters, website of airlines) or by utilizing the service of Authorized Travel Agents viz. ‘M/s Balmer Lawrie & Company’, ‘M/s Ashok Travels & Tours’ and ‘IRCTC’ (to the extent IRCTC is

authorized as per DoPT’s O.M. No. 31011/6/2002-Estt.(A) dated 02.12.2009) while undertaking LTC journey. Booking of tickets through other agencies is not permitted.

4. All other conditions prescribed in this Ministry’s O.M. No. 31011/3/2014-Estt.(AIV) dated 26.09.2014 would continue to apply.

5. The order will remain in force for a period of one year from the date of issue of this order.

sd/-

(B. Bandyopadhyay)

Under Secretary to the Govt of India

Source :www.persmin.gov.in

Age before duty: Babus to retire at 58 instead of 60

In a move that would help curb the relentless increase in the Centre’s non-Plan spending and ease the way for infusion of more young blood and professionalism into the country’s largely moribund bureaucracy, the Narendra Modi government is planning to reduce the retirement age of central government employees from the present 60 to 58.

The move that comes at a time when the Seventh Pay Commission is mulling another sharp boost to the pay structure of the Centre’s 5-million-strong workforce is also aimed at creating the requisite space for lateral entry of technically qualified professionals into the government, official sources told FE.

The retirement age was last revised in 1998, when the then NDA government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee raised it from 58 to 60 years. The last UPA government had reportedly considered enhancing the retirement age further to 62 just before the general elections, but dropped the move.

The superannuation age was increased from 55 to 58 way back in 1962.

The total wage and salaries bill of the central government, excluding PSUs but including the railways, rose sharply between 2008 and 2010 due to the revised pay scales (along with payment of arrears) implemented as per the Sixth Pay Commission’s proposals.

The wage bill rose from Rs 1.09 lakh crore in 2007-08 to Rs 1.4 lakh crore in 2008-09, and further to Rs 1.7 lakh crore in 2009-10, before the growth moderated to Rs 1.84 lakh crore in 2010-11. The government spent Rs 2.54 lakh crore in wages and salaries in 2013-14. The railways (with 1.4 million employees), defence (civil), home affairs, India Post and revenue account for more than 80% of the total spending of the Centre on pays and allowances.

Thanks to successive pay commissions, the salaries and other emoluments of government employees have, on average, more than doubled in every decade since independence even though lack of sufficient performance incentives is still considered to be a drawback.

A merger of 50% of the dearness allowance with the basic salary, likely to be part of the Seventh Pay Commission’s award, which is to implemented from 2016, is expected to hike the Centre’s wage bill by a third and strain its fiscal situation. In February this year, the government hiked DA to 100%, from 90%, benefiting both its employees and 3 million pensioners.

The Centre’s expenditure on pension stood at Rs 74,076 crore in 2013-14 and the estimate for the current fiscal is Rs 81,983 crore. However, growth in the outgo on pension is expected to moderate due to the National Pension System based on the concept of defined contribution, launched in January 2004. The NPS has been accepted by large sections of central government employees and most state governments have shifted their employees to the new system.

According to Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at CARE Ratings, reducing the retirement age will give the government an opportunity to outsource more jobs, including by bringing in people as temporary consultants, who will then have to be paid only a fixed salary but not pension or provident fund. Their salary component will then show up as administrative costs, rather than as wage bill.

The finance ministry is weighing the pros and cons of the proposal to cut the retirement age. The move, sources said, is also in line with the BJP’s manifesto, which had promised to rationalise and converge ministries, departments and other arms of the government, open up government to draw expertise from industry, academia and society and tap the services of the youth in particular to contribute to governance.

Source : http://www.financialexpress.com/

Whether 7th Pay Commission proposes to submit Interim Report?

Is Interim Relief Likely for Central Government Employees?

Is it really possible for Central Government employees to get an interim relief this time? Let us look at it in detail.

‘Interim Relief’ may be defined as the temporary relief given to employees before the new Pay Commission’s recommendations are implemented. ‘Interim relief will be treated sui generis’, most of the Finance Ministry orders included the sentence when sanctioning interim relief.

If one looks at the interim relief granted in 1983 and 1993, it can also be inferred that interim relief is granted in order to correct the errors in salary revision once every ten years. One gets the feeling as if an entire Pay Commission was lost simply for the sake of a small hike.

During the previous Pay Commission, particularly in 5th CPC, since 50% DA Merger was granted, there was no interim relief.

Here are some of the reasons why interim relief is normally granted :

* It has been granted a number of times before, in the past.

* DA Merger hasn’t been sanctioned this time

* Prices have touched the skies

* Some errors in the formulation of once-in-a-decade Pay Commission…etc.,

Reasons cited for the Government’s refusal to sanction DA Merger/interim relief:

* 7th Pay Commission was constituted at the justify time.

* There was no recommendation for DA Merger in the 6th Pay Commission

* There was a recommendation against DA merger in the 6th Pay Commission (the Commission is, therefore, not recommending merger of dearness allowance with basic pay at any stage).

* In the event that the Price Index is taken as 115.76 instead of 306.33 for the DA calculations.

All the Central Government Employees Unions and Federations are functioning with the intention of getting the DA merged with the basic pay. If that doesn’t happen, these federations are hoping that interim relief will be offered through the 7th Pay Commission’s interim report.

This is very much possible if Modi Government is willing to accept the demand.

And one more updation on this issue, Member of Parliament Shri.Shantaram Naik asked some questions about the 7th Pay Commission including submission of interim report as follows…

RAJYA SABHA

7th Pay Commission

230. SHRI SHANTARAM NAIK: Will the Minister of FINANCE be pleased to state:

(a) the details of meetings, the 7th Pay Commission has taken so far and the items/ issues discussed till date;

(b) the States, visited, by the Commission if any till date and the States which the Commission proposes to visit;

(c) whether the Commission proposes to take the views of the State Governments as regards their pay-scales since invariably, most of the States adopt the Central Pay Commission reports;

(d) whether Commission proposes to submit any interim report;

(e) whether the Commission proposes to make any recommendations to bring in financial transparency; and

(f) if so, the details thereof?

The written answers of above said questions will be available on or after 25th November 2014.

Source: 7thpaycommissionnews.in

KISAN VIKAS PATRA (KVP) RE-LAUNCHED ON 18/11/2014

SALIENT FEATURES OF RE-LAUNCHED KISAN VIKAS PATRA:

1.Amount Invested doubles in 100 months ( 8years 4 months)

2.Available in denominations of Rs 1,000, 5000, 10,000 and Rs 50,000.

3.Minimum deposit Rs 1000/- and no maximum limit.

4.Certificate can be purchased by an adult for himself or on behalf of a minor or by two adults.

5.KVP can be purchased from any Departmental Post office. This facility will also be extended shortly to the designated branches of commercial Banks.

6.Facility of nomination is available.

7.Certificate can be transferred from one person to another and from one post office to another.

8.Certificate can be en-cashed after 2 1/2 years from the date of issue.

Table Showing Premature closure of KVP  (for Den. Rs. 1000)

Period	Amount Payable
2 and half years but less than 3 years	1201
3  years but less than 3 and half years	1246
3 and half years but less than 4 years	1293
4  years but less than 4 and half years	1341
4 and half years but less than 5 years	1391
5  years but less than 5 and half years	1443
5 and half years but less than 6 years	1497
6  years but less than 6 and half years	1553
6 and half years but less than 7 years	1611
7  years but less than 7 and half years	1671
7 and half years but less than 8 years	1733
8  years but before maturity of the Certificate	1798
On maturity of Certificate  8 Years 4 month  = 100 months	2000