EPFO Celebrates Digital India Week: Unveils New Website

EPFO Celebrates Digital India Week: Unveils New Website

EPFO Emerging as Centre for Excellence in Governance - Shri Shankar Aggarwal

The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) is on way  of becoming a centre for excellence in governance. This was stated by Shri Shankar Aggarwal, Secretary, Labour & Employment here today while inaugurating EPFO’s new revamped website as a part of ‘Digital India Week’. Shri Aggarwal reiterated various initiatives taken by EPFO in the recent past to bring about a transformative effect on the benefit delivery mechanisms by adopting IT enabled tools and techniques. He further said that EPFO will become truly paperless and extremely subscriber/citizen friendly in the days to come.



On the occasion, a booklet detailing the various digital initiatives taken by EPFO in the recent past was also released. In the recent past, EPFO had taken giant strides in improving its benefit delivery methods and mechanisms. Leveraging Information technology, a host of measures were introduced for greater customer satisfaction:



Universal Account Number (UAN) – The launch of UAN has enabled PF members to access a bouquet of services like dynamically updated UAN card, updated PF passbook including all transfer-in details, facility to link previous members’ ID with present ID, monthly SMS regarding credit of contribution in PF account and facility for auto-triggering transfer request on change of employment.  Already, more than 4.64 crore UAN have been allotted and 58 lakh EPF members have activated their UAN. During the UAN campaign, approximately2.42 crore bank account details, 99 lakh PAN details and 58 lakh Aadhar / NPR numbers of PF members were captured by EPFO.



With the launch of Inoperative Account Helpdesk on the EPFO website, tracing out old or dormant Inoperative Account of PF members has become easy.  Already, more than 42,500 cases registered with the helpdesk have been disposed.



With the introduction of centralized software for generation of certification of coverage (CoC) for international workers, it has been possible to issue more than 63,000 certificates of coverage to members migrating for employment to countries having social security agreement with India.



Online Transfer Claim Portal(OTCP) has made transfer of PF accumulations from one account to another quick and online. Members can file their requests online and there is zero paper movement between the concerned offices of the organisation. More than 5.71 lakh claims have been handled through this facility.



Electronic return for exempted establishment has made the process of submitting the monthly return by exempted establishments easier and hassle free. 1,600 exempted establishments have made use of this facility.



Centralized Monitoring of Compliance related functions has enabled online monitoring by field offices and Head Office. It provides data on defaults by establishments covered under the Act and enables the Organisation to track the status of assessments including levy of damages and also status of recovery and legal cases.



Online Registration of Establishments (OLRE) has made registration of establishment with EPFO web based.  PF code allotment letter is also made available online and more than 53,000 employers have benefited since the introduction of this facility in June, 2014.



Mobile platform based Short Code SMS Service was also launched which could be accessed by PF members who have activated their UAN.  Using this service, member can send SMS to a specific number i.e 7738299899. The format of the SMS is EPFOHO UAN followed by first three characters of the preferred language.



SMS alerts are sent to members   for remittance, withdrawals, interest credit etc.Also, SMS is sent to employers for non deposit of dues.



Central MIS portal has introduced a system of Dashboards which ensures uniformity and consistency in data and results in greater efficiency in monitoring.



Auto-updation of members’ accounts has enabled the organization to update more than 14.5 crore accounts for the year 2014-15 in the beginning of the financial year itself.



In addition to the above, EPFO has lined up a slew of digital initiatives for the future like introduction of centralized pension system, integration with external entities such as UIDAI, steps to ensure direct extension of services to members, initiation of Big Data analytics and progressive introduction of service delivery measures through hand held devices. 



Earlier Shri K K Jalan,CPFC welcomed the guests. Shri Harish Gupta, EPF Appellatet Tribunal Senior officers from the Ministry and EPFO were present.

PIB

Postal Department: Notifying of Holiday Homes at Rameswaram and Puducherry in Tamil Nadu Circle.

Notifying of Holiday Homes at Rameswaram and Puducherry in Tamil Nadu Circle.

Government of India

Ministry of Communications & IT

Department of Posts

(Welfare & Sports Section)

No.14-2/2014-WL/Sports

Date: 18.06.2015

To

All Heads of Postal Circles

All Post Masters General

Subject: Notifying of Holiday Homes at Rameswaram and Puducherry in Tamil Nadu Circle.

Sir / Madam,

I am directed to notify Postal Holiday Homes at Rameswaram and Puducherry in Tamil Nadu Circle. The details of these Holiday Homes are as under:-

Name of Place	Rameswaram, Ramanathapuram	Venkata Nagar, Puducherry
Complete Postal address of Holiday Homes with Pincode	Railway Feeder Road, Behind Rameswaram Post Office-623526 T.No.: 04573 223570	No.10/11, Paradise Aptt., Venkata Nagar, Puducherry-605011 T.No.: 0413 2211866
Controlling Officer with designation and Telephone No.	AD(Staff), O/o PMG Southern region (TN), Madurai-625 002 T.No.: 0452 2531167	The SSPOs, Pondicherry Dn. Puducherry-605001 T.No.: 0413 2344855
No. of suites available in the Holiday Homes	Three suits (Double bed Room – 1, Single bed Rooms – 2)	2 (Two)
Facilities available in Holiday Home	Kitchen, Furniture, Water Heater, Bath Room	Kitchen, TV, Fridge, Dining, Bath Room, etc.
Other additional/useful information like land mark of the Holiday Homes etc.	Landmark: Behind Rameswaram Post Office Places to visit: Ramanathaswamy temple, Agni theertham, Ramar Paatham, Dhanuskodi, Pamban Bridge	Landmark: Raja Theater Signal, Behind Vallalar Salai Children’s Park Places to visit: Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Auroville, Pondicherry Museum, Botanical Garden, Gandhi Statue
Rates for accommodation and other charges for the facilities provided like electricity etc. per day	Rs.5/-	Rs.5/-

 Yours faithfully,

(Daisy Barla)

Director (W&S)

Source: http://www.indiapost.gov.in/dop/pdfbind.ashx?id=1489

Dopt instructions regarding timely issue of Charge-sheet

Dopt instructions regarding timely issue of Charge-sheet

“The reasons for suspension should be communicated to the Government servant concerned at the earliest, so that he may

be in a position to effectively exercise the justify of appeal available to him under Rule 23 (i) of the CCS (CCA) Rules, 1965, if he so desires. The time-limit of forty five days for submission of appeal should be counted from the date on which the reasons for suspension are communicated.”

G.I., Dept. of Per. & Trg., O.M.F.No.11012/17/2013-Estt.(A), dated 3.7.2015

Subject: Central Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1965 – instructions regarding timely issue of Charge-sheet – regarding.

The undersigned is directed to refer to DoP&T O.M. of even no. dated 2nd January, 2014 regarding consolidated instructions on suspension and to say that in a recent case, Ajay Kumar Choudhary vs Union of India Civil Appeal No.1912 of 2015 dated 16/02/2015 the Apex Court has directed as follows:
We, therefore, direct that the currency of Suspension Order should not extend beyond three months if within this period the Memorandum of Charges/ Chargesheet is not served on the delinquent officer/ employee;

2. It is noted that in many cases charge sheets are not issued despite clear prima facie evidence of misconduct on the ground that the matter is under investigation by an investigating agency like Central Bureau of Investigation etc. In the aforesaid judgement the Hon’ble Supreme Court has superseded the direction of the Central Vigilance Commission that pending a criminal investigation departmental proceedings are to be held in abeyance.

3. In this connection, attention is invited to this Department O.M. No.35014/1/81- EsttA dated 9.11.1982 which contained the guidelines for timely issue of charge-sheet to Charged officer and to say that these instructions lay down, inter-alia, that where a Government servant is placed under suspension on the ground of “Contemplated” disciplinary proceedings, the existing instructions provide that every effort would be made to finalise the charges, against the Government servant within three months of the date of suspension. If these instructions are strictly adhered to, a Government servant who is placed under suspension on the ground of contemplated disciplinary proceedings will become aware of the reasons for his suspension without much loss of time. The reasons for suspension should be communicated to the Government servant concerned at the earliest, so that he may be in a position to effectively exercise the justify of appeal available to him under Rule 23 (i) of the CCS (CCA) Rules, 1965, if he so desires. The time-limit of forty five days for submission of appeal should be counted from the date on which the reasons for suspension are communicated.

4. All Ministries/ Departments are requested to bring the above guidelines to the notice of all concerned officials for compliance.

Click to view the order
Authority : www.persmin.gov.in

Why is the Government hesitant to implement OROP? – Is economical burden on the exchequer the only reason?

Why is the Government hesitant to implement OROP? – Is economical burden on the exchequer the only reason?

“When the body and spirit are hale and healthy, our soldiers dedicate their life for the safety of the country. Once the body has worn out and the soldiers retire, they want a secure life. What’s unreasonable about this?

“The 35-year-long demand might look unreasonable at the first glance. But, if the request is studied in depth, the urgency and necessity to implement it can be understood.”

IESM claims that civilians and CRPF cannot demand to be included in this scheme.
The moment a young man or woman enters a government service, his/her future is secure until the age of 57-60. The government pays them salaries, promotions and regular incentives and increments. Post-retirement, there is always the pension. But, the soldiers who join the Army, Navy, and the Air Force, opt for retirement at the age of 37. At the time of retirement, they are offered meager pensions. Is it right to use the same yardsticks to compare the two?

Typically, a man’s most crucial period, in terms of family responsibilities and duties, is between the ages of 40 and 60. “This is also the time when we are left in the middle of nowhere,” they say. The reason? Compulsory retirement with meager pension.

The reason why compulsory retirement is given at the age of 37 is that the army wants young blood. 90% of the soldiers who retire after completing 15 to 17 years of service are usually Jawans. They leave their families behind and work in dangerous and hostile regions, with no guarantee to life. Work conditions are tough and so is the pressure. As a result, they frequently suffer from depression, and stress. Increased casualties, denial of fundamental rights …their miseries are endless. Such is the nature of work in the Army.

The reason for their meager pensions is that the number of years that they had worked is comparatively less. Let’s consider two young men of the same age, who begin working at the same time – one joins the government services, and the other joins the army. The difference becomes obvious if you compare their financial status at the age of 40 and 60.

Compulsory retirement after just 15-17 years of service at age 37 years means that the soldier is effectively denied salary earnings of 25 years which other government employees (including the police forces) receive because they retire at age 57/60 years.

The chances of an ex-serviceman, who was not handicapped during service, finding employment in government services, are very low. It is even worse for others.

What is ‘One Rank One Pension’?
Instead of taking into account the calendar year in which the soldier retires, OROP fixes the pension on the basis of the rank and the number of years the soldier had served, to calculate his pension. Any future enhancement in the rates of pension, it would benefit all the ex-servicemen. This is the most important feature of the scheme.

The pension drawn by soldiers who had retired earlier much less pension, when compared with the pension received by those who had retired recently – this is why the OROP scheme was first put in place.
There is a gap of ten years between each Pay Commission. Based on the rising cost indices, salaries and pensions are hiked considerably. Older defence personnel should also benefit from it – this is the main objective of OROP.

Pay Commissions are constituted in order to revise the salaries and incentives of the existing government servants. It doesn’t apply for generally retirees – this is the argument put forth by detractors. The age of retirement, in this case, for CRPF Police is 57, and 60, for Central Government employees. “Is it right to compare us, who receive pay and perks after 3 or 4 Pay Commission revisions, with Armed Forces personnel who are given compulsory retirement at 37?” they ask.

More than 25 lakh veterans all over the country are hoping that their pensions will be revised based on the 6th Pay Commission, and that pensions will be issued based on their ranks and the number of years that they had served.

Expense to the Exchequer
The Ministry of Defence, in its report dated 17 February 2015 to the Ministry of Finance, said that the scheme would cost Rs.8300 Crores to Rs.43,000 crores of Defence pensions. Add this to the money being spent on pension, and the number comes to Rs.51,000 crores.

When did the demand grow strong? : It began as a tiny murmur around the time when the Fourth Pay Commission submitted its report. The voice grew louder when the 6th Pay Commission was implemented. The armed forces, the largest employer, was not represented in any of the Pay Commissions.

During the 2004 elections, the Congress party promised to implement the OROP scheme.

In 2008, when the UPA government rejected the scheme, more than 20,000 veterans gathered under the IESM banner, and returned their war and service medals, signed with blood, to the government.

They then explained the justness of their demands to the Prime Minister and the finance minister and have since then been trying to put pressure on the government to implement the scheme. Protests and meetings are being conducted regularly by the IESM all over the country.

In 2013, due to the pressure from Member of Parliament, Mr. Rajeev Chandrashekar, and the IESM, the demand was accepted by the Parliamentary Committee on defence.

In 2014, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Narendra Modi promised to implement the OROP, if voted to power. While presenting the budget in July, there was a mention of OROP.

During the celebration rally at Mathura, on May 25, 2015, the country waited to hear about OROP, but Modi spoke not a word about it.

Everybody, including the Prime Minister, finance minister, and the defence minister spoke eloquently about implementing OROP, adding to the hope. Months passed, but nothing materialized.
Making fervent promises in the election campaigns and not doing anything about it for more than 13 months is seen by many as delay tactics. Now, ministers are openly saying that there are lot of complications and practical difficulties in implementing it. This is the reason why open protests have started.

For nearly three weeks now, relay fasts are being conducted at New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar. Protests are also being held by ex-servicemen in many parts of the country. The government keeps giving vague assurances that OROP will be implemented, but the IESM demand a definite date by which OROP would be implemented.

Only time will tell if the scheme will ever be implemented, or if the protests will continue indefinitely.

Source: www.cgstaffnews.in

Reactivation of PRAN post exit from NPS

 Reactivation of PRAN post exit from NPS: PFRDA Instructions
 

PFRDA
PENSION FUND REGULATORY AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY

PFRDA/2015/19/CSG/1

Date: 30th June, 2015

All Central Government Ministries & Departments/ State Governments
PrAOs, PAOs, CDDOs, NCDDOs & other CG Nodal offices;
DTAs, DTOs, DDOs & other SG Nodal offices
Autonomous Bodies

    Subject: Reactivation of PRAN post exit from NPS


PFRDA has been receiving requests from various government nodal offices to reactivate the PRANs for credit of missing NPS contributions, wherein withdrawal requests have already been settled towards final payment to the subscribers.


Currently, the exit process is initiated with the generation of claim ID six months prior to the date of superannuation. As per PFRDA Exit & Withdrawal Regulations 2015, the employee’s and employer’s contributions of last three months prior to superannuation shall not be uploaded in the NPS account but would be credited to the some other account of the subscriber, directly by the employer. During the withdrawal process which stretches over 6 months, both the subscriber and the nodal office have sufficient time to ensure and to confirm that all the missing contributions have been uploaded in the respective PRAN.

In light of the above, PFRDA shall not entertain any such request forthwith, for uploading contributions of arrears/ missing credits after final settlement of exit/ withdrawal of the subscribers and consequent closure of their NPS account. Henceforth, missing credits, if any, should be settled mutually between the subscriber and the Nodal office as per their internal administrative process and outside the NPS architecture, as is currently applicable to last three months contributions before superannuation in line with the guidelines issued by PFRDA in this regard.

Therefore, all government nodal offices are instructed to ensure uploading of all the pending contributions in the PRANs, before initiating/ processing/forwarding the withdrawal requests to the CRA and take necessary action as per this circular.

Ashish Kumar
General Manager

Source: http://pfrda.org.in/MyAuth/Admin/showimg.cshtml?ID=724

7th CPC News – Media require specialised approach rather than a hype

7th CPC News – Media require specialised approach rather than a hype

Need for quality information while reporting actual increase out of 6th CPC and Projection in 7th Pay Commission Pay

After 7CPC itself announced in last week of June 2015 to the effect that it has started finalising the report to be submitted to the Govt, News on 7th Pay Commission has started becoming popular.

It would be Needless to say all Government Employees would be interested in 7th CPC report. Though common man may not show much interest in the elaboration and technicalities of 7CPC report, he/she will also be curious to know the quatum of increase in Pay of Central Government Employees in General. At the same time, a common man will always be depending on various News media such as News Prints and Television channels to get these type of news.

But we could see that Pay Commission related news provided by News Media nowadays are misleading in the sense that they are only projecting the number of times the pay was hiked by previous Pay commissions and likely hike by 7th Pay Commission.

Missing information will always be misleading

Media reports on Pay Commission For instance, it was reported by a daily news paper recently, which was quoted later by many blogs that Govt Salaries are set to increase by 2 to 3 times and that 6th Pay Commission suggested 3 times increase in Salaries. It was also reported that 5th CPC recommended 2.6 times in increase in pay of lower Grade Officials.

A common man who is reading this news would be easily mislead and he/she would come to a conclusion that Salary of Government Employees was increased by 3 times by 6th CPC.

But the factual information's such as 86% of basic Pay paid as Dearness Allowance separately was merged with Pay and increase in pay by 1.86 times is only because of merger of DA with Pay, are missing in this media report.

It is not expected that a news item should report all the intricacies of a pay commission report. But the fact that the net increase in the Pay of Central Government Employees after implementation of 6th Pay Commission report which was around 25% and 40% for most of lower / middle level employees and Higher level employees respectively, should have been correctly reported in the public interest.  This net increase in Pay was made effective from 01.01.2006 after 10 years as the earlier pay revision for Central Government Employees was made on implementation of 5th CPC in 1996.

Even this net increase in pay was only due to introduction of a new pay head called Grade Pay and as far as pre-revised basic Pay is concerned (now called as Pay in Pay band) there is no real increase except merger of DA with Pay.

In the case of Bank Employees wage revision after 10th Wage Settlement signed recently, it was correctly reported in news media that Bank Employees would be getting net increase in pay to the extent of 15%.  This net increase in Pay is exclusive of merger of Dearness Allowance as on Nov 2012 with Pay.  Salary Revision of Bank Employees as per 10th Bipartite Settlement is effective from 01.11.2012 and the same will be valid for 5 Years.

Media Report on Bank Employees Salary revision as per 10th Bipartite Wage Settlement

Source: gconnect.in

Children Education Allowance - Frequently asked questions – Railway Board Orders on 1.6.2015

Children Education Allowance -Frequently asked questions – Railway Board Orders on 1.6.2015

Government of India
Ministry of Railways
(Railway Board)

No.E(W)2008/ED-2/4
The General Manager (P),
All Indian Railways &
Production Units.

New Delhi, Dated: 01-06-2015

Sub: Children Education Allowance -Frequently asked questions.

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

2. Now, DOP&T has inter-alia issued clarification on reimbursement of Children Education Allowance in the form of frequently asked questions (FAQ) in terms of their Office Memorandum No. 1-11020/1/2014-Estt.(AL).

The text of OM is tabulated below for guidance of all concerned.

Completer Railway Board Orders RBE 53/2015 has been uploaded below :-

S.No.	Question		Answer
1	Whether reimbursement of Children Education Allowance is admissible for the
	(a)	Nursery/LKG/UKG as there is no provision of recognition of these classes in most of the States/UTs';	Reimbursement is permissible only if the child is studying in a recognised educational institution.
	(b)	Third child if either of the first two children is disabled to the extent that he/she cannot go to school;	Reimbursement is allowed to only the two eldest surviving children of the Government servant except when the 2nd child birth in multiple births of the Child is born due to failure of sterilization operation.
	(c)	The children borne out of second marriage or the children of second wife/husband in additions to children from first marriage;	Reimbursement is allowed to only the eldest surviving children of the Government servant.
	(d)	Entitlement of number of Note Books;	Reimbursement is permissible for any number of note books as may be prescribed by the recognised educational institution.

Source: AIRF

Hike in Retirement age of Kerala State Employees – 10th Pay Revision Commission may recommend to hike to 58 years

Hike in Retirement age of Kerala State Employees – 10th Pay Revision Commission may recommend to hike to 58 years

According to recent reports published in the ‘Manoramaonline’, the 10th Kerala Pay Revision Commission expected to recommend to hike in retirement age for Kerala State Govt employees by two years from 56 to 58.

Kerala may raise retirement age to 58

“Thiruvananthapuram: Increasing the retirement age for Kerala government employees by two years to 58 may be one of the recommendations of the 10th Kerala Pay Revision Commission. The commission, led by Justice C.N. Ramachandran Nair, will submit its report on July 10.

The commission is expected to recommend the increase of retirement age to balance the extra burden on the treasury due to a pay rise across the board. The report recommends a minimum salary of Rs 16,000 and a maximum salary of Rs 1 lakh for employees.

The youth wings of all political parties are against increasing the retirement age in the government service. Even the United Democratic Front government’s policies do not favour later retirement. The retirement age was raised to 56 from 55 during the previous Left Democratic Front rule.

Other recommendations include lowering the minimum eligibility for full pension to 25 years in service from the present 30. Full pension is equivalent to half of the basic pay. The report would also have recommendations intended to raise the efficiency of the employees along with their pay scale.”

Read more at www.english.manoramaonline.com