NFIR's Decision on Strike Notice - taken up by Honarable Minister of Railways in Lok Sabha.

NFIR's Decision on Strike Notice - taken up by Honarable Minister of Railways in Lok Sabha.
Respected Railwaymen & Women,

 Dt: 21.08.2013

 NFIR, during its working committee meeting held at New Delhi on 30-31st May 2013 put forth 36 demands to be redressed immediately failing which the Railwaymen shall be constrained to go for a strike. On 24th June 2013 during the Steering Committee Meeting held at Mumbai a threadbare review was again done on the demands made during the Working Committee Meeting at New Delhi and it was then and there decided to conduct a "Strike Ballot" in the event of the demands not being met.

HONESTY LEADS TO HEIGHTS: NFIR known for its legacy of putting relentless efforts when it comes to the welfare of Railwaymen, did not stop with this but went one step ahead than any other federation, when GS/NFIR addressed a letter to the Hon'ble Prime Minister of India and Minister of Railways on 28th June 2013 with the list of demands and cautioning them of repercussions in the event of demands not being fulfilled. Once again the ethics of NFIR were evident in these letters wherein it gave a considerable time (four months i.e., upto October 2013) to the Government to resolve the demands. NFIR does not believe in hoodwinking the railwaymen and women neither by misleading nor by misinterpreting the facts but believes only in protecting the interests and welfare of Railwaymen through honest and dedicated working.

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF      RAILWAYS
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED     QUESTION NO    897
ANSWERED ON       08.08.2013

STRIKE BY RAILWAY EMPLOYEES

897 .    Shri GURUDAS DAS GUPTA
   
R. THAMARAISELVAN
P. LINGAM
S. RAMASUBBU

Will the Minister of  RAILWAYS  be pleased to state:-


(a) whether the All India Railwaymen’s Federation and National Federation of Indian Railwaymen have threatened to go on an indefinite strike in case their demands are not met;

(b) if so, the details thereof; and

(c) the reaction of the Railways thereto and the manner in which the Railways propose to address the situation so as to prevent such strike?

ANSWER

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

(a) and (b): All India Railwaymen’s Federation (A.I.R.F.) and National Federation of Indian Railwaymen (N.F.I.R.) have made numerous demands. Some of the demands are setting up of VIIth Central Pay Commission, abolition of New Pension Scheme, merger of Dearness Allowance with Pay, filling up of all vacant posts, implementation of the report of Joint Committee for career growth of Track Maintainer, reduction in duty hours of staff. While A.I.R.F. have indicated that if their grievances are not resolved in a time bound programme, the Federation would be compelled to conduct strike ballot as a first step. N.F.I.R. have decided to give a time of four months to the Government for satisfactorily settling their demands failing which the Federation will be compelled to give call for ‘Indefinite Strike’ on Railways.

(c): Some of the demands like setting up of VIIth Central Pay Commission, abolition of New Pension Scheme, Merger of Dearness Allowance with Pay which are not within the purview of Ministry of Railways are being considered for referring to concerned Ministries/ Departments. In accordance with Government’s policy, other demands of the Federations are given due consideration within the framework of existing rules and financial constraints, and action as considered necessary is taken.

Source: http://www.nfirindia.org/Index.aspx

Grant of Transport Allowance at double the normal rates to the employees disabled due to accident on duty or off duty - reg

Grant of Transport Allowance at double the normal rates to the employees disabled due to accident on duty or off duty - reg

NFIR
National Federation of Indian Railwaymen
3, CHELMSFORD ROAD, NEW DELHI - 110 055
Affiliated to :
Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC)
International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF)

No.II/28/Pt.IV

Dated: 21/08/2013

The Secretary (E),
Railway Board,
New Delhi

Dear Sir,

Sub: Grant of Transport Allowance at double the normal rates to the employees disabled due to accident on duty or off duty - reg.

Ref: (i) NFIR's letter No.II/28/Pt.IV dated 23/06/2012 and 07/07/2012.
(ii) Railway Board's letter No.PC-V/2010/A/TA/1 dated 20/06/2012.
(iii) NFIR's letter No.II/28/Pt.IV dated 07/06/2013.

----------------

Federation vide its letter No.II/28/Pt.IV dated 23/06/2012 followed by another letter dated 07/07/2012 has provided the details of specific case, unfortunately no reply has been received from the Railway Board despite reminder dated 07/06/2013, perhaps the issue has not been finalised even after lapse of over one year's period.

NFIR, therefore, once again requests the Railway Board to decide the case and also issue instructions to the General Managers of the Zones & Productions Units for allowing Transport Allowance at double the rates of normal rate to the disabled railway employees at an early date. Federation may be apprised of the outcome.

Yours faithfully,
(M.Ragavaiah)
General Secretary

Source: http://www.nfirindia.org/Index.aspx

DOPT ORDERS - Model RRs for the posts of Administrative Officer (Group A & B)

DOPT ORDERS - Model RRs for the posts of Administrative Officer (Group A & B)

No. AB-14017/18/2012-Estt(RR)
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, PG & Pensions
Department of Personnel and Training
New Delhi

Dated the 16th August, 2013

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Subject: Model RRs for the posts of Administrative Officer (Group A & B)

The Model RRs for the post of Administrate Officer (Group A & B issued in this Department OM No. AB 14017/82/2007-Estt.(RR) dated 25th January 2008 have been reviewed in the light of 6th CPC recommendations on revision of pay scales, instructions issued by this Department, etc. Accordingly, the revised Model Recruitment Rules for the same are enclosed as Annexure to this Office Memorandum.

2. Ministries / Departments may review the existing rules and notify the revised rules conforming to the Model Recruitment Rules. These may also be forwarded to all autonomous/statutory bodies for adoption. The Ministry of Home Affairs is also requested to forward these Model RRs to the UT Administrations for appropriate action.

3. Hindi version will follow.

sd/-
(Mukta Goel)
Director (Estt.I)

Source: www.persmin.gov.in
[http://ccis.nic.in/WriteReadData/CircularPortal/D2/D02est/AB-14017__18_2012_EsstRR.pdf]

Aadhaar Card as Address Proof

Aadhaar Card as Address Proof

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has notified that the Aadhaar Card is a valid proof for opening of a bank account under the Know Your Customer (KYC) scheme.

RBI vide its circular dated 28.09.2011 has advised banks to accept the Aadhar letter issued by Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) as an officially valid document for opening bank accounts without any limitations applicable to small accounts. Further, the RBI has also advised the banks vide its circular dated 10.12.2012 that if the address provided by the account holder is the same as that on Aadhaar letter, it may be accepted as a proof of both identity and address.

This was stated by Shri Namo Narain Meena, MoS in the Ministry of Finance in written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha.

PIB News

Central Pay Commission recommendations are not applicable to the employees of Public Sector Banks

Central Pay Commission recommendations are not applicable to the employees of Public Sector Banks

Whether the Central Pay Commission benefits are not applicable for employees of banks…?

The question has been raised by the Hon’ble member in Parliament, the concerned ministry replied that the ‘Central Pay Commission recommendations are not applicable to the employees of Public Sector Banks’. And also answered to the supplementary question of how their salaries are revised.

"The pay scales of employees in PSBs are revised every five years on the basis of the Bipartite Settlement signed with Workmen Unions and Joint Note signed with Officers’ Associations by Indian Banks’ Association (IBA).

Accordingly, IBA negotiates salary and service conditions of employees. As part of negotiations, the terms of payment of pension are also discussed alongwith the salary revision.

The service conditions of Central Government employees differ significantly from those of bank employees and the two are regulated by their respective service regulations. Hence, no comparison can be drawn between the two".

Source: http://centralgovernmentemployeesnews.in/2013/08/central-pay-commission-recommendations-are-not-applicable-to-the-employees-of-public-sector-banks/

Demanding of double the Transport allowance to disabled employees due to accident on duty or off duty

Demanding of double the Transport allowance to disabled employees due to accident on duty or off duty.

NFIR demanding once again with reminder letter to Railway board that grant of Transport Allowance at double the rates to the employees disabled due to accident on duty or off duty.

Source: www.centralgovernmentemployeesnews.in

Government Sets up a Committee to Find Out the Reasons For Backlog in Filling up of Reserved Vacancies

 Government Sets up a Committee to Find Out the Reasons For Backlog in Filling up of Reserved Vacancies

The Government has decided to set up a Committee to make in-depth analysis of the reasons for backlog in filling up of reserved vacancies. A 20-member committee headed by the Secretary, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment will suggest measures to enhance the employability of reserved category candidates. The Committee members are from various Central Government Ministries including Ministry of Home Affairs, Department of Personnel & Training, Ministry of Human Resources Development, Ministry of Railways, UPSC, SSC, Railway Recruitment Board etc.

The Committee will submit its report within a period of three months from the date of its constitution.

The Government had launched a Special Recruitment Drive (SRD) to fill up the backlog reserved vacancies of the Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in November, 2008. Progress of the drive was reviewed in July, 2011 and it was decided to re-launch the drive so as to fill up the remaining identified backlog vacancies by 31st March, 2012. The progress of Special Recruitment Drive was reviewed by the Government in May 2013. It was noted out of a total of 64,175 backlog vacancies (DR quota and Promotion quota) which could be filled up, 48,034 vacancies were filled up, indicating overall success rate of the Drive at about 75%.

The analysis of data and consultation with various Ministries indicated that lack of finishing skills or interview skills, less availability of professionally qualified persons, less identification of posts for Persons with Disabilities, dearth of professionally qualified persons especially in Hearing impaired Category of disability etc. are some of the reasons for less employability of SCs, STs, OBCs and PWDs in Government Sector.

*******

RNM/DS/HKJ/BK/COMMITTEE-BACKLOG/21.8.13
(Release ID :98467)
Source: PIB

Death of Government Employee does not entitle family for job: Supreme Court

Death of Government Employee does not entitle family for job: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has held that death of a government employee in harness does not entitle the family to claim compassionate employment and the person seeking appointment must possess the eligibility for the post.

A bench of justices B S Chauhan and S A Bobde also said that the competent authority should examine the financial condition of family of the deceased and job should be offered to the eligible family member only if it is satisfied that they would not be able to cope up with the crisis.

"Mere death of a government employee in harness does not entitle the family to claim compassionate employment. "The competent authority has to examine the financial condition of the family of the deceased employee and it is only if it is satisfied that without providing employment, the family will not be able to meet the crisis, that a job is to be offered to the eligible member of the family. More so, the person claiming such appointment must possess required eligibility for the post," it said.

The bench allowed an appeal filed by MGB Gramin Bank which had challenged a 2010 judgement of the Rajasthan High Court by which one Chakrawarti Singh, son of a deceased Bank employee, was directed to be appointed under a scheme of compassionate employment.

Singh's father, who was working as a Class III employee with the Bank, had died on April 19, 2006 while in harness. Singh had applied for compassionate appointment on May 12, 2006.

The bench set aside the judgements of the High Court, saying, "The reasoning given by the single judge as well as by the division bench is not sustainable in the eyes of law." It also said that "an ameliorating relief should not be taken as opening an alternative mode of recruitment to public employment".

PTI News

CGHS: Details of allocations made for CGHS Unani along with expenditure

CGHS: Details of allocations made for CGHS Unani along with expenditure

The information of allocation made for CGHS Unani was presented by the Minister of Health and Family Welfare in Parliament on 6th August, 2013.

The details of allocations for CGHS Unani during the last three years, year- wise, along with expenditure incurred in Delhi NCR are as under:-

Sr. No.	Year	Allocation of Funds (Rs. lakh)	Actual Expenditure (Rs. lakh)
1.	2012-13	60.00	56.75
2.	2011-12	75.00	72.00
3.	2010-11	45.00	55.00

The details of allocation spent on purchasing Unani medicines from different manufacturers and suppliers in Delhi NCR are as under:-

Sl. No.	Year	IMPCL (Rs. lakh)	Local Purchase (M/s Health care) (Rs. lakh)
1.	2012-13	29.77	26.98
2.	2011-12	40.00	32.00
3.	2010-11	40.00	15.00

Indian Railways: Appointments to senior level positions in Railways

Indian Railways: Appointments to senior level positions in Railways

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF  RAILWAYS
RAJYA SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-1233
ANSWERED ON-16.08.2013

Appointments to senior level positions in Railways

1233 . SHRI ALOK TIWARI, ARVIND KUMAR SINGH
PRABHAT JHA, KUSUM RAI

(a) the details of the procedure and eligibility conditions for appointment of GM, Member, Railway Board and Chairman, Railway Board;
(b) whether many senior positions in Railways are kept vacant deliberately and seniority is bypassed in many cases;
(c) if so, the details thereof for last four years;
(d) the reasons for bypassing seniority and vacancy at senior positions including GM and above, case-wise;
(e) whether Government would frame rules for appointment to the posts of DRM and above to check corruption and if so, the details thereof; and
(f) if not, the reasons therefor?


ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS (SHRI KOTLA JAYA SURYA PRAKASH REDDY)

(a) to (f): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

*****

STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (f) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1233 BY SHRI ALOK TIWARI, SHRI ARVIND KUMAR SINGH, SHRI PRABHAT JHA AND SHRIMATI KUSUM RAI TO BE ANSWERED IN RAJYA SABHA ON 16.08.2013 REGARDING APPOINTMENTS TO SENIOR LEVEL POSITIONS IN RAILWAYS.

(a): The posts of General Managers are filled up as per norms laid down for the same vide Resolution dated 16.07.86, as amended from time to time. The basic norms laid down are that officers belonging to the eight organized Group ‘A’ Railway Services are eligible for being considered for appointments to these posts and inter se seniority list of Senior Administrative Grade officers belonging to these services are drawn up for this purpose. Officers with 25 years of Group ‘A’ service and working in Senior Administrative Grade are considered, the officers working in Higher Administrative Grade being placed above those working in Senior Administrative Grade. Only such officers are considered for empanelment and appointment who have a minimum residual service of two years. The panels are made based on the recommendations of a high level Selection Committee comprising of Chairman, Railway Board, as Chairman and two other Members --- one being Secretary, Department of Personnel and Training and the other being a Member of Railway Board nominated by Cabinet Secretary. The panels are approved by the Appointments Committee of the Committee and specific appointments are also made with the approval of the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.

As for the posts of Members of Railway Board, the same are filled up on the basis of Resolution dated 16.02.87, as amended from time to time. For the posts of Members, an officer should normally have balance tenure of two years from the date of occurrence of vacancy and the officer should normally have worked for a period of one year as General Manager (Open Line). For the post of Financial Commissioner (Railways), the requirement is that of a normal service of one year on any post of General Manager/equivalent. As for the post of Chairman, Railway Board, the officer should normally have a minimum tenure of two years as Member and/or Chairman, including at least one year as Chairman, Railway Board.

(b) & (c): As on date, there are twenty six posts of General Managers/equivalent on the Indian Railways. Out of these, seven posts are vacant. However, looking after arrangements have been made to ensure that the work of these posts does not suffer. Filling up of the vacant posts is a continuous process which involves processing and approvals at various levels of the Government.

(d): The posts of General Managers and Members do not belong to any specific cadre or service. These posts are filled up not by promotion but through appointment and, therefore, the question of making appointments as per seniority does not arise. The posts are filled up as per the availability of the specific vacancy and the clearance given to the officers who are empanelled. There is one more aspect to this issue. It has been laid down that not more than 37.5 % of the total number of posts of General Managers/equivalent (9 out of 26) can be held at any point of time by officers belonging to any one of the eight organized Group ‘A’ services. Therefore, it often happens that when officers of a particular service are already holding 9 posts of General Managers/equivalent, the next vacancy will not be filled up by an officer belonging to that particular service, even though he may be the senior-most officer in the panel.

(e) & (f): There are detailed internal guidelines which are followed for short-listing of Senior Administrative Grade officers belonging to the eight organized Group ‘A’ services as Divisional Railway Managers. It has been laid down that officers in the shortlist who are below the age of 52 years are posted as Divisional Railway Managers. The shortlist is prepared with the approval of Hon’ble Minister of Railways. This system has also been working smoothly over a long period of time.

Source: Rajyasabha Q&A

Risk allowance to Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) personnel deployed in maoist strongholds - Not any proposal under consideration

Risk allowance to Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) personnel deployed in maoist strongholds - Not any proposal under consideration

 GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO 455
ANSWERED ON 06.08.2013

RISK ALLOWANCE OF CAPF

455 . Shri ANANDRAO VITHOBA ADSUL
RAJAGOPAL LAGADAPATI

Will the Minister of HOME AFFAIRS be pleased to state:-

(a) whether any proposal is under consideration of the Government to bring the risk allowance given to Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) including CRPF personnel deployed in maoist strongholds at par with their counterparts in Jammu and Kashmir or the North Eastern Region of the country; and

(b) if so, the details thereof and the time by which a final decision is likely to be taken by the Government in this regard?

ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS (SHRI R.P.N. SINGH)

(a) to (b): At present, no such proposal is under the consideration of the Government. As per the Ministry of Home Affairs order dated 16.4.2009, Risk/Hardship Allowance is sanctioned to the combatized Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) personnel upto the rank of Commandant, based upon their deployment at different places in India including Jammu & Kashmir, North Eastern Region and Left Wing Extremist (LWE) States.

Source: Lok Sabha Q&A

Railway Board Orders - Fixing uniform number of vacations / holidays for Railway school teachers

Railway Board Orders - Fixing uniform number of vacations / holidays for Railway school teachers

RBE No.83/2013

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
(RAILWAY BOARD)

No. E (W)/2011/SC-2/4
New Delhi, dated: 14/08/2013
The General Manager,
All Zonal Railways and CLW & DLW.

Sub : Fixing uniform number of vacations / holidays for Railway school teachers.

In a Court case bearing O.A.No.1239/2005 filed by Shri K.S.Patnaik and 78 other Railway school teachers before Central Administrative Tribunal, Kolkata Bench, Kolkata, regarding vacations / holidays admissible to Railway teachers, the Hon’ble Tribunal has observed

"Leave entitlements and holidays for all teachers in the Railways irrespective of the Zone/State has to be same. This total number should have no relationship with the State in which they are located.

In the aforesaid case Hon'ble Tribunal has accordingly, issued directions that

"This total number can be fixed by the Railway Board on a reference made to it, keeping all factors in view. Once the total number of holidays is fixed it can be left for individual Zones to fix the distribution of such holidays, the overall total remaining the same".

2. The judgement of Hon’ble CAT/Kolkata in above mentioned O.A.No.1239/2005 filed by Shri K.S.Patnaik and Others has been further upheld by Hon’ble High Court of Calcutta in Writ Petition (CiviI) No.304/2011 filed by the Railways.

3. Pursuant to aforesaid directions of Hon’ble CAT/Kolkata as upheld by Honble Calcutta High Court, the matter has been examined in Railway Board in consultation with Legal Adviser/Railway Board, keeping various perspectives in view including the existing number of vacations/holidays admissible to Railway school teachers over various Zonal Railways, number of vacations/holidays admissible to school teachers in Kendriya Vidyalayas, number of holidays available to Railway employees in general and guidelines issued by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), New Delhi, etc.

2. Accordingly, it has been decided to fix uniform number of vacations/holidays for Railway school teachers (including Lecturers/Junior Lecturers in Railway Inter-Colleges wherever existing) over all Indian Railways in the manner as stated below :-

i) Railway schools shall function for 8 hours and 10 minutes duration in a day (total 370 minutes) which shall include assembly/prayer time of 20 minutes at the start in the morning, a recess break of 30 minutes and a total of 8 periods of 40 minutes duration each, distributed evenly before and after the recess.

ii) Number of vacations / holidays admissible to Railway school teachers during the academic session shall be as below:

                 a) Summer - 50 days (starting from a date between vacations 11th & 15th                  May)

                 b) Autumn break / Dussehra holidays - 10 days (as per festival calendar).

                 c) Winter break - 13 days (starting from 23rd 24th December)

The above is the normal schedule of vacations and Zonal Railways are at liberty to distribute these vacations as per local festival/customary requirements or climatic conditions but keeping the total to 73 vacations in a year. Oak Grove School, Jharipani, Mussoorie (Northern Railway) may observe longer winter vacations within the number of vacations prescribed.

iii) 14 compulsory holidays including 3 national holidays to be observed as per calendar circulated by Railway Board every year.

iv) 5 additional holidays from the list of optional holidays / restricted holidays as circulated by Railway Board every year, at the discretion of Zonal Railways.

v) Every Sunday shall be weekly off and every 2nd Saturday of the month shall also be a non-working day in Railway schools.

vi) No separate holiday shall be admissible for Annual Day and Sports Day in Railway schools and these days may be observed by suitable adjustments or compensation.

4. Leave entitlements of vacation staff including teachers are regulated in terms of Liberalized Leave Rules, as amended from time to time.

5. The aforesaid schedule of working/ vacations/ holidays may be implemented in all Railway schools from the academic session 2013-14 and compliance reported to Railway Board.

Please acknowledge receipt.

sd/-
(Debasis Mazumdar)
Director Estt.(Welfare)
Railway Board

Source: NFIR

Railway Board Orders 2013 - Recruitment to posts in Pay Band-I of 5200-20200 (Grade Pay: Rs.1800) on Indian Railways - Filling up of applications online regarding

Railway Board Orders 2013 - Recruitment to posts in Pay Band-I of  5200-20200 (Grade Pay: Rs.1800) on Indian Railways - Filling up of applications online regarding

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA (BHARAT SARKAR)
MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS (RAIL MANTRALAYA)
(RAILWAY BOARD)

No. E (NG)-II/2009/RR-I/10/Pt.
New Delhi, dated: 19/08/2013
The General Manager (P),
All Zonal Railways,

Sub : Recruitment to posts in Pay Band-I of  5200-20200 (Grade Pay: Rs.1800) on Indian Railways - Filling up of applications online regarding.

Ref : Letter of even number dated 05/7/2013.

The issue of laying down uniform guidelines for issuance of notification for open market recruitment for the vacancies accruing during the period 01/1/2014 to 31/12/2014 has been under consideration of this Ministry. The matter has been examined and the decisions arrived at by the Board are apprised for compliance:- .

(a) The current procedure of selection from open market in vogue shall be adhered to and notification adhering to the same may be issued;

(b) While the other Railway Recruitment Cells will restrict themselves to the procedure of calling applications physically, RRC/Southern Railway only, as a pilot project, will give the option to the candidate to apply physically and online;

(c) Instruction contained in Board’s letter No. 2011-E(SCT)1/104/1 dated 25/9/20 12 (copy enclosed) be adhered to while issuing aforesaid notification; and

(d) Vacancies against Ex-servicemen quota will be filled up along with the general recruitment.

Please acknowledge receipt.
(Hindi version will follow)
Ends.: As stated.

sd/-
(Harsha Das)
Director Estt. (N).II
Railway Board

Source: www.indianrailways.gov.in
[http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/railwayboard/uploads/directorate/traffic_comm/Freight_Rate_2K13/ENG_2_190813.pdf]