GRANT OF INTERIM RELIEF & MERGER OF DA (DEARNESS ALLOWANCE) TO CENTRAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES APPEAL FOR SUO-MOTO CONSIDERATION

GRANT OF INTERIM RELIEF & MERGER OF DA (DEARNESS ALLOWANCE) TO CENTRAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES APPEAL FOR SUO-MOTO CONSIDERATION

 INDIAN RAILWAYS TECHNICAL SUPERVISORS ASSOCIATION
(Estd. 1965, Regd. No.1329, Website http://www.irtsa.net )

No:IRTSA/7th CPC/Memo/2014-2

Date:28.7.2014

CHAIRMAN,
SEVENTH CENTRAL PAY COMMISSION,
NEW DELHI.
(Through: Secretary, Seventh CPC by Email to secy-7cpc@nic.in)

Sir,

SUBJECT:- SUPPLEMENTARY MEMORANDUM -
 APPEAL FOR SUO-MOTO CONSIDERATION FOR “GRANT OF INTERIM RELIEF & MERGER OF DA (DEARNESS ALLOWANCE) TO CENTRAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES”.

Reference:- i) Terms of Reference para “5” of the Pay Commission - Gazette Notification of Government of India No.1/1/2013-E.III(A) Dated 28.2.2014.
ii) Our Memorandum Dated 26th May, 2014, to 7th CPC.

In continuation of our detailed Memorandum to the Pay Commission, cited above, we make the following submissions for the kind consideration of the Pay Commission, requiring immediate and urgent attention of the Pay Commission to mitigate the serious and ever rising hardship of the Central Government employees and Pensioners.

1. SUO-MOTO CONSIDERATION FOR GRANT OF INTERIM RELIEF FOR INTERIM REPORT – TO MITIGATE EXISTING HARDSHIP:

Grant of Interim Relief and Merger of DA, as justified hereunder, may please be considered under Para ‘5’- of Terms of Reference of the Seventh Pay Commission which inter-alia states that - “The Commission may consider, if necessary, sending interim report on any of matters as and when recommendations are finalized.”

Finalisation of Report of the Pay Commission is bound to take considerable time. Meanwhile the employees will continue to seriously suffer on account of various reasons given below. It is therefore, imperative that adequate Interim Relief be provided to them to mitigate their ever rising hardship.

Term of Reference for an Interim Report by the Pay Commission, allows & facilitates the Pay Commission under its inherent suo-moto powers to consider and recommend for grant of an of Interim Relief and Merger of DA to Central Government employees and Pensioners – on following grounds besides others:

2. URGENT NEED FOR GRANT OF INTERIM RELIEF & MERGER OF DA:
1.1 There is an urgent need for grant of Interim Relief and Merger of DA (Dearness Allowance) to the Central Government Employees & Pensioners to mitigate the serious hardship suffered by them because of the following reasons:

 i) Serious Impact of heavy inflation and price rise and consequential erosion of real wages since the implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission:

Cost of living had increased in “back-breaking” proportions. High inflation has eroded the real value of money. The Pay & Allowances fixed after the Sixth Pay Commission, had lost their real value which has seriously eroded over the years due to fast changes happening around the world as well as within the Country. Major changes in the pattern & requirement of Education, Housing & Health system in the country and changes in the pattern of diet and food requirements have all added to the financial needs of a common man– especially at the Lower and Middle levels.

ii) Unrealistic and erroneous compilation of Price Index (for Industrial Workers) on which calculation of DA is based:
Compilation of Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (CPI – IW) (on which payment of DA is based) –is totally unrealistic and not in accordance with the actual Market rates prevailing all over the Country for all the Consumer items. Weightage given to various items for compilation of Consumer Price Index, are disproportionate and not in accordance to the existing pattern of consumption by the working class due to changed economic and social requirements, especially in respect of Housing, Education and Other elements.
Cost of living as per actual rise of prices has gone up by over 200% but the DA being paid is only 100% from January, 2014.

iii) Non-Merger of DA on crossing 50% DA since 1st January, 2011 and 100% DA since 1st January, 2014 – which is unprecedented & unjust:
DA had crossed 50% mark in January 2011, and the 100% mark in January 2014. But unlike in the past, it is for the first time in the last 40 years - since the Third Pay Commission - that the DA had not been merged with Pay on the grounds that it had not been recommended by the Sixth Pay Commission. This was one of the most retrograde part of the Report of Sixth Pay Commission.

Employees have become very restless and frustrated – both on account of erosion of wages due to inflation and non-merge the Dearness Allowance. This was most unjustified and against the practice and recommendations of all the previous three Pay Commissions (from 3rd CPC to 5th CPC) all of whom had recommended for automatic Merger of DA with Basic Pay/Pension whenever it crosses 50%.

iv) Changes in the Economic scenario since Sixth CPC;

Major changes have taken place in the economic scenario especially in India, during the last 8 years – after the Sixth Central Pay Commission recommendations effective from 01.01.2006 – as apparent from the vital statistics given below:

VITAL CHANGES SINCE 6th CPC:

a) Per Capita Net National Product (NNP) had grown by 126.9% between the financial year 2005-06 and 2011-12 as per Current Prices and by 46.2% between the financial year 2005-06 and 2011-12 as per Constant Prices. Rise of NNP formed the basis for wage revision by Fifth CPC.

b) Major increase in Revenue Receipts:- Total Revenue Receipts of Central Government have increased from Rs. 4,30,940 crores in 2005-06 to Rs. 9,10,556 crores in 2011-12 i.e. by (+) 111.3%.

c) Revenue Expenditure has also grown by 141.4% and GDP (Gross Domestic Product) has also grown by 61.2%.

d) DECLINE IN PERCENTAGE OF EXPENDITURE ON PAY & ALLOWANCES: Expenditure on Pay & Allowances – as percentage of Total Expenditure has gone down by 2.4%.

v) More frequent revision in the Wages in PSUs & elsewhere in the country;

There is a major disparity of wages with Public Sector Undertaking on account of higher Pay Scales but also on account of other benefits – including much higher HRA, C.C.A. and other allowances as well as Ex-gratia payment in lieu of Bonus – ranging from Rs.25,000 to Rs.50,000 or even more P.A. in the PSUs. In comparison Railway-men and other Central Government employees are paid PLB of less than Rs.9000 P.A. Thus the gap or disparity of wages is very high between the PSUs & the CG employees..

Disparity has become even more enormous on account of more frequent revision of wages (after every 5 years) in comparison to a 10 years gap in the revision of wages of Central Government employees.

vi) Other related factors.


a) Dearth of talent in Govt. Service due to brain drain to Private & Corporate Sectors:

Talented and meritorious personnel are no more attracted to Government jobs due to low wages & perks. They are all seeking employment in Private and Corporate Sectors – both in the initial and intermediate levels – for greener pastures.

b) Impact of Globalization:- Globalization and market economy has changed the entire economic scenario in the country. Multinationals, Corporate Sector and Private Companies – have come up in a big way –in the existing and entirely new sectors, thereby offering numerous job opportunities with attractive salaries and wage packages etc. Globalization has also affected everyday life in many other ways. This is not reflected in the CPI (IR).

vii) Grant of Interim relief therefore becomes all the more imperative and essential to make good for the larger gap of time between the wage revisions of the Central Government employees as compared to PSUs and others.

3. CONCLUSION & DETERMINATION OF QUANTUM OF INTERIM RELIEF:

i. All the forgoing facts fully justify the urgent need and desirability for grant of Interim Relief to the Central Government employees, forthwith, pending final recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission.

ii.  The criteria adopted by the Fifth Pay Commission to determine the Minimum Pay of each Pay Scale could be adopted by the Seventh Pay Commission to determine the quantum of Interim relief to be granted forthwith.

iii. The quantum of Interim relief may therefore, be 50% of the Basic Pay based on rise of per capita NNP on constant prices.

 4. APPEAL:- It is, therefore, requested that:- the Pay Commission may please consider and recommend the following under its inherent suo-moto power:

i) 50% of basic pay may please be granted as Interim Relief w.e.f. 1.1.2014, to all the Central Government employees.

ii) 50% of Pension & family pension may please be granted as Interim Relief to all Pensioners w.e.f. 1.1.2014.

iii) 100% DA may please be merged with basic pay & pension for all purposes w.e.f. 1.1.2014.

Thanking you.

With kind regards,
Yours faithfully,
 (Harchandan Singh)
General Secretary, IRTSA

Source:http://www.irtsa.net/pdfdocs/Supplementary_Memo_for_IR_&_Merger_of_DA_to_7CPC.pdf

New Pension Scheme Contribution Kept Under PF/CPF

New Pension Scheme Contribution Kept Under PF/CPF

NPS Contribution Kept Under PF/CPF

The New Pension Scheme (NPS) was implemented in Delhi Cantonment Board for the employees appointed on or after 01.01.2004 with effect from 01.04.2011. During the intervening period these employees made contributions to the Provident Fund (PF) account maintained by the Board. After implementation of the New Pension Scheme contributions made in the PF account were utilized for depositing prescribed subscriptions with the National Securities Depository Limited under Tier-I of NPS alongwith the equal amount of the employer’s share, for the period prior to 01.04.2011.

In the case of 61 employees after adjusting the subscriptions payable towards Tier-I of NPS certain amounts still remain in the PF accounts of these employees. As PF accounts cannot be held after the introduction of NPS, these employees have been asked to give their option either for deposit of the amounts under Tier-II of NPS or for their refund alongwith the interest accrued.

This information was given by Defence Minister Shri Arun Jaitley in a written reply to SmtBimlaKashyapin Rajya Sabha today.

Holiday Home at Tirupati – DD in favour of booking agency CPWD

Holiday Home at Tirupati – DD in favour of booking agency CPWD

The advance booking for Holiday Home at Tirupati commenced from 1.7.2014. The rates for the rooms will be charged under the existing rules ‘Category C’.

The amount for the rooms will be payable through bank DD. And it is instructed to get the bank Demand Draft in respect of booking agency CPWD, Hyderabad will be in favour of ‘EE, HCD-I, CPWD, Hyderabad instead of Chief Engineer (SZ-II), CPWD, Hyderabad.

Click to view the original order and know kore details please visit the Holiday Home portal.

Pay Revision for Contractual Employees of DRDO

Pay Revision for Contractual Employees of DRDO

Contractual Employees of DRDO

Some employees have been appointed in the Department of DRDO, Rajaji Marg, Delhi in the posts of office assistants and peon on contractual basis. Job contracts have been awarded to contractors for performing skilled and non-skilled jobs in Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) HQrs, New Delhi.

Salaries are revised from time to time as per Government Notifications. As a result, there has been an increase in salaries for skilled workers from Rs.7,826/- on 1st April 2011 to Rs.10,374/- on 1st April 2014 and non-skilled workers from Rs.6,422/- on 1st April 2011 to Rs.8,554/- on 1st April 2014.

There is no provision of Casual Leave in job contract. The contracts for outsourcing are for specific service / work for a specified duration.

This information was given by Defence Minister Shri Arun Jaitley in a written reply to Shri P Bhattacharya in Rajya Sabha today.

Income Tax Scrutiny Notice – Don’t panic if your return is under scrutiny

Income Tax Scrutiny Notice – Don’t panic if your return is under scrutiny

Don’t panic if your return is under scrutiny

For most taxpayers, scrutiny or audit of tax return means long-drawn hassles, furnishing multiple documents and negotiating with officials. Tax returns are randomly selected for scrutiny, where the income-tax officer seeks additional information to verify the taxable income as stated by the assessee. The notice is given under Section 143(2) of Income-Tax Act, asking the assessee to visit the department’s office and produce additional documents. A receipt of a notice does not indicate any crime; it simply means an investigation to find out if any income has escaped assessment.

An individual need not panic if his case is up for scrutiny and must reply to all queries raised either through a letter or by appearing in person. The tax official can demand salary certificate or Form 16, which gives details of gross salary paid and taxes deducted, rent receipts and rent agreement with the landlord, if any rent exemption is claimed, and bank statements. The TDS certificate in Form 16A must be preserved and produced before the income-tax official.

The income-tax department can send the notice within a year from the end of the month in which the assessee filed the return. The notice has a predefined format with the taxpayer’s name, address, Permanent Account Number and the year for which it has been issued, as well as the date and time when the taxpayer should appear before the income-tax officer.

The assessee can also take help from a chartered accountant and produce all documentary evidence to support the tax positions in his return. If one plans to send an authorised representative, a valid power of attorney in his favour is required. If the assessee or his representative cannot be present, an adjournment application should be filed before the date of hearing.

In most cases, the tax official will look into the bank details of the taxpayer and examine cases of interest-free loans, if any, interest earned from fixed deposits, capital gains from mutual funds, etc. Documents supporting them must be preserved for at least three previous financial years and must be produced on demand. Tax experts say most assesses do not preserve these documents and do not even bother to update their passbooks.

The income-tax official will also look at any windfall gains the taxpayer may have received. Proper records should be maintained of the gifts received, including gift deed, as gifts received from non-relatives over R50,000 would be taxable as income of the receiver. However, gifts from relatives and those received on marriage of the individual are exempt without any limit.

After examining the details, the income-tax official will forward the assessment order and the taxpayer’s file to the commissioner of income tax or the additional commissioner. For the income-tax department, the scrutiny and assessment must be completed within 21 months from the end of the relevant assessment year. One must cooperate with income-tax officials as failure to do so will lead to completion of assessment on a “Best Judgment” basis, which means the department can confirm the assessment and finalise one’s income and tax liability.

Source: Financialexpress