7th Pay Commission, OROP will not impact fiscal deficit: Jayant Sinha

Seventh Pay Commission, OROP will not impact fiscal deficit: Jayant Sinha

Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha

NEW DELHI: Increase in salary bill due to Seventh Pay Commission and Implementation of One Rank One Pension (OROP) will not strain government’s fiscal position, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha today said.

“I think we are in a very good shape as far as fiscal management is concerned. That was appreciated by all economists,” he said while interacting with reporters after a meeting of economists which was chaired by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley at NITI Aayog.

He made it clear that the government’s fiscal position is strong enough to bear the impact of implementation of Seventh Pay Commission and OROP.

The Seventh Pay Commission report in December is expected to recommend a hike in salary of central government employees. OROP is likely to result in an outgo of Rs 8,000-10,000 crore this fiscal.

The pre-Budget meeting discussed various issues, including agriculture productivity, job creation and fiscal expenditure.

“We had some of India’s most eminent economists and commentators there. Obviously, it is very early in the cycle to start the consultation. But we felt that if there were good ideas, we could incorporate them even in this fiscal year. Obviously, for the preparation of the current budget, we could begin the work on that right now,” he said.

“It was very good interaction and we look forward to incorporating much of this for this fiscal year as well as coming fiscal.”

There were several topics that came up, Sinha said, adding that “one very important topic that we spent time on is agriculture and what we could do to increase productivity in agriculture”.

The meeting also dwelt at length on fiscal expenditure and how to ensure fiscal expenditure, particularly public investment, could be as productive as possible.

“Third major area that we spoke about is obviously the financial sector… more credit for agriculture, MSMEs and what could we do further to strengthen our banks. The final area that we also spent time on is how to ensure we are able to create more jobs for young people, whether it is in the manufacturing sector or the service sector,” he said.

NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya, Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian and Reserve Bank Deputy Governor Urjit Patel were present.

Besides, the meeting was attended by Finance Secretary Ratan P Watal, Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das, Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia and Financial Services Secretary Anjuly Chib Duggal.

Economists such as Subir Gokarn, Director of Research at the Brookings Institution India, Ajit Ranade, Chief Economist, Aditya Birla Group, and Rajiv Lall, Vice-Chairman IDFC Ltd, also participated.

Inputs with PTI

Revising Retirement age does not come under the purview of 7th Pay Commission

Revising Retirement age does not come under the purview of 7th Pay Commission.

Recently the news about retirement age is blown out of proportion in Social Media. In Social Media it has been signaled casually that the retirement age will be brought down to 58 years. Initially it was said that 7th pay commission going to recommend the criteria for retirement age as either 33 years of Service or 60 Years of age whichever comes first.

And gradually it is reduced to 58years of age or 33 years of service and finally ends up with 30 years of service or at the age of 55 years.

7th pay commission Vs Retirement Age

Does it worth to believe the news circulated in social media about 7th pay commission recommendation and retirement age..? We asked the Federation sources about this and they want to maintain anonymity told that it depends upon the individuals to decide whether it is true or not. We should not blame the media for everything. We should be able to know the difference between the news and rumors.

One of our Sources told that revising the retirement age will not fall under the purview of Pay commission. It should be decided by central government only. No Pay commission has recommended anything about Retirement age so far.

Federation Leaders were asked about this retirement age issue, when it became sensational in Print and e-Media, why don’t they come forward to clear the doubts on this sensational issue?. They told that they didn’t want do give importance to the rumors and hear says.

They said, “We need to clarify the doubts of our cadres across the country whenever it was rumored in social media about their service related sensational issues. But when sensational becomes routine, it’s not our business to respond to such hearsays on daily basis”

“As far as retirement age is concerned we know that 7th pay commission cannot recommend revising the retirement age of central government employees, since it does not fall under the purview of 7th Pay Commission. Even we won’t accept it if the central government tries to reduce the retirement age,” the sources added.

Source: http://govtstaffnews.in/

Recruitment to non-gazetted posts on the Railways

Railway Board had instructed all the recruiting arms to verify the certificates in respect of the candidates qualifications of the non-gazetted posts directly to the Board/University/Institution or the Council as the case may be, provided the said body is run by Central Government/State Government Bodies enacted by Act of Parliament or State Legislature

Ministry of Railways has issued clarification to all recruiting arms to follow the guidelines prescribed in Recruitment to non-gazetted posts on the Railways and complete certification verification directly with the concerned Institution.

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
(RAILWAY BOARD)
****

E(NG)-11/2005/RR-1/8

New Delhi, dated 30.09.2015

The General Manager (P)
All Indian Railways/Pus,
Chairman/RRBs.

Sub: Recruitment to non-gazetted posts on the Railways- Adherence to prescribed qualification in recruitment from open market – Clarification regarding.

****

Attention is invited to this Ministry’s letter of even number dated 28/8/2014 on the above subject. References are being received in this office regarding the applicability of the said instructions w.r.t other aspects as mentioned in para 3 of the letter ibid, apart from recognition of institutions. Accordingly, the matter has been looked into and it is clarified that the issues of duration of a course, equivalence etc. may also be confirmed by the concerned recruiting agency/appointing authority, contacting directly to the Board/University/Institution or the Council as the case may be, provided the said body is run by Central Government/State Government Bodies enacted by Act of Parliament or State Legislature or recognized by Central Government/State Government Bodies enacted by Act of Parliament or State Legislature.

(This also disposes off RRB/Patna’s letter No.RRB/PAT/02/CEN/2010 dated 16/8/2011 and para 2 of RRB/Bhopal’s letter No. RRB/BPL/Rly.Bd.Corres./87–D dated 16/01/2015).

(Neeraj Kumar)
Director Estt.(N)-II
Railway Board

Download Railway Board letter No.E(NG)-11/2005/RR-1/8, dated 30.09.2015

Imposition of penalties of dismissal, removal or compulsory retirement – Determination of appointing authority reg.

Imposition of penalties of dismissal, removal or compulsory retirement – Determination of appointing authority reg.

Ministry of Railways has sent a letter to all the GMs of the Indian Railways and the Production Units regarding Imposition of penalties of dismissal, removal or compulsory retirement and the Determination of appointing authority.

RBE No. 119/2015

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
(RAILWAY BOARD)

No. E(D&A) 2012 Res-34

New Delhi, 30.09.2015.

The General Manager(P)
All Indian Railways and Production Units etc.
(As per standard list).

Sub: Imposition of penalties of dismissal, removal or compulsory retirement – Determination of appointing authority reg.

Attention is invited to Railway Board’s letter no. E(D&A) 2002 RGs-36 dated 25.11.2002 on the above subject relating to determination. of appointing authority for the purpose of imposition of the penalties of dismissal, removal or compulsory retirement on a Railway servant.

2. It was clarified in the above referred instructions that the intention of Rule 2(1)(a) of RS(D&A) Rules, 1968 is that the penalties of dismissal, removal or compulsory retirement from service should be imposed on a Railway servant only by the highest of the following authorities viz. the authority which actually appointed the railway servant to the relevant grade or post, or the authority which. is empowered to make appointment to that grade or post at the time of imposition of penalty. It was further emphasized that the penalty of dismissal, removal or compulsory retirement from service should not be imposed by an authority which has merely issued the offer of appointment or order of promotion with regard to the appointment or promotion ordered by a competent authority higher to that authority.

3. In a PNM meeting with the NFIR, the Federation has stated that inspite of the above mentioned instructions, in some instances, the penalties of dismissal, removal or compulsory retirement were imposed on a Railway servant by an authority lower than the authority which had actually ordered the appointment/promotion of the Railway servant. It is therefore reiterated that a lower authority who has merely issued/signed the order regarding appointment/promotion which has been ordered by a higher authority, is not competent to impose the penalty or dismissal, removal or compulsory retirement from service on such Railway servant. Such action is not only violative of the RS(D&A) Rules but- also unlikely to withstand judicial scrutiny. Railways may therefore impress upon all concerned to adhere to the provisions of Railway Board’s letter no. E(D&A) 2002 RGG-36 dated 25.11.2002, as brought out in para 2 above.

 4. Hindi version will follow. Please acknowledge receipt.

(S.Modi)
Dy. Director Estt. (D&A)
Railway Board

Download Railway Board letter No. E(D&A) 2012 Res-34 dated 30.09.2015

LIC Wage Revision – Joint Session Reporting

LIC Wage Revision – Joint Session Reporting

As scheduled, the discussions on Wage-revision were held today, i.e. on 16th October 2015 at Mumbai. The management was represented by the Chairman Shri S K Roy, all the three Managing Directors & the officials of Personnel department.

NOINO was represented by Shri Dattaraj Prabhukhanolkar, All India GS, NOINO; Shri Y N Murthy, All India Joint Secretary, NOINO; & Shri R Dhayalan, Zonal Secretary, NOINO SZ unit.

The Chief(Personnel) Shri Prakash Chand took stock of the situation. He lauded the role of the Chairman & our MD Smt Usha Sangwan in the wage-revision issue.

Thereafter, Smt Usha Sangwan, Managing Director spoke. She stressed on the need of a better professional approach; setting higher benchmarks in customer service etc.

Thereafter Shri V K Sharma, Managing Director, spoke. He stressed on the importance of agency retention. He also spoke on the issues of Market Share of LIC & the growth of New Business.

Shri S B Mainak, Managing Director expressed concern over the reduction in accounting surplus.
Thereafter, the Chairman spoke. The Chairman in his speech covered the following points:-

We all have put our best efforts during these hard times & expressed confidence that this teamwork will help facing the future challenges
Only thing permanent is ‘Change’
Degrowth of 41% in policies & 10% in FPI as on 31.3.2015
Achievement to budget was only 55% on policies & 82% on FPI.
Total income crossed 4 lakh crore; Asset base crossed 20 lakh crores
Claim settlement 99.77% as on 31.3.2015.
Adoption & use of technology is the need of the hour
Transfer & Mobility policy & Biometric Authentication (for eFEAP) to be applicable from 1st April 2016.

Thereafter the ED(P) gave the wage-proposal. Following are the salient features of the proposal (for Class I Officers):-

• Rise of 13.5% in Basic Pay after 100% Merger of DA in old Basic as on 1.8.2012.
• Rate of DA 0.10%(Old—0.15%)
• HRA—A Class cities—10% of Basic Pay. Maximum 5200; B Class—-8%. Maximum 4320; C Class—7%. Maximum 4200.
• CCA—A Class cities—3% of Basic Pay. Maximum 1275; B Class—-2.5%. Maximum 1210; C Class—2%. Maximum 930.
• Transport allowance—1300(Old 800).
• Cash Medical Benefit—upto Basic 60165—- 13000; above 60165—–19440.
• PG 1 Allowance—1120(Old 680)
• Audit allowance—1405(Old 850).

The Joint Session ended there.

The reporting of the Individual session with NOINO is being done separately.

Source: http://noinocentral.blogspot.in/

Highlights of 27th SCOVA Meeting held on 13.10.2015 – BPS

Highlights of 27th SCOVA Meeting held on 13.10.2015 – BPS

The Managing Committee Member of BPS and the SCOVA Member rom NFRPA Shri.S.M.Kanjilal published the highlights of the 27th SCOVA Meeting held on 13th October 2015 on the official blog of Bharat Pensioners Samaj(BPS).

Brief of 27th SCOVA Meeting

The 27th meeting of SCOVA was held at Vigyan Bhawan on 13th Oct,15 at 11 hrs. The meeting was Chaired by Dr. Jitendra Singh , the Uninon Minister of State(IndependentCharge) for DoNER,Public Grievances & Pension, Atomic Energy and Space . Mr. Harjit Singh ,Joint Secretary ,(P&PW) submitted his welcome address to the house . After that all the Delegates attended the meeting introduced themselves, while as per programme Introductory remarks were placed by Secretary(P&PW).Later Hon’ble MOS(PP), Chairman SCOVA, addressed the meeting. He said that retired employees should become torch bearers of Start-up-India, Stand-up India initiative. Addressing the meeting, he called upon the pensioners to involve their vast experience and resources to assume the role of job creators. He said that the pendency without reason has to be taken care of completely. Sri Devendra Choudhury, Secretary DOP&PW beside others stated that department of P&PW has set a deadline of one months time during which backlog of 2200 pending pension grievances will be settled. He referred several welfare projects of GOI. It is reported that 19 Pensioners Association registered themselves under the initiative Sankalp.After his deliberation discussion was held on ATR on the points raised in the 26th Meeting of SCOVA and on Fresh Agenda items. The brief of the discussions appended below.

ATR of the 26th Meeting of SCOVA:

Item 1. Sl. No.1 of ATR, Status of issue revised PPO : On item (a),(b) and (c) no comments from the representatives of the Pensioners Association. However, on Ministry of Railways , the figure shown is confusing and promptly brought to the notice of the Chairman by the representative of NFRPA. He questioned when it is recorded in 6th CPC report that the total numbers of railway pensioners prior to 2006 was more than 10 lacs how the total revised cases of railway pensioners can be 1,10,543. No positive reply was there from official side. As regards the problems of dispatch of revised PPO to the pensioners address for not having the present address,the suggestion of NFRPA to handover the PPO to the pensioners through PDA had been taken into consideration.

Item 2 Sl.No. 3 of ATR Health Insurance : No comments

Item 3 Sl.No. 5 of ATR : Special Family Pension : Concerned Defence Pensioners Association raised some queries and questioned which have been discussed and noted.

Item 4, 5, 6 : Nothing specific discussed, except some grievances on Medical issues.

Item 7 Sl.No.9 of ATR : On the benefit of Rs. 4600 GP. It is stated that the concerned file is still pending with Department of Expenditure. On being urged to fix a time line by the representative of NFRPA, Guwahati, Assam, it is stated that within 10 days the file will be returned with comments to concerned Department.

Item 8 to 16 issues related to BSNL, Ministry of Health, DOP&PW etc have been discussed by the concerned representatives of the Pensioners Associations.

On Fresh Agenda of 27th Meeting.

1. On issue of acknowledgement to pensioners submitting life Certificate : CPAO formulated a format of Life Certificate which had been supplied to the Delegates and stated that the format will also be available in the website of CPAO.

2. Extension of the benefits of OM dated 28.01.13 less than 33 years : Stated that the matter is subjudiced.

3. On health issues (27.3,27.4) : On CGHS facilities various discussion were held . On RELHS issue NFRPA has proposed to include SMART CARD issue in the agenda which have not been taken. NFRPA representative raised the issue of SMART CARD. But the representative of official side of Railways failed to give any suitable reply.

4. On illegal recovery of pension vis a vis reduction of pension : The matter has been refered to DoPT on 07.06.15. DoPT informed on 30.06.15 that the matter is under consideration especially on the issues of impermissible-ness of recovery based on the letter of OM dated 06.02.14 and recent SC Judgments. It is stated that order may be issued for implementation of the guide lines prescribed by Hon’ble SC. On being insisted by the representatives of NFRPA, it is stated that before 27th Oct,15 the order will be issued.
 NFRPA also requested to review the issue of reduction of pension in fixing the Minimum Pension which has been done in misinterpreting the contents of the 6th CPC Resolutions and OM No. dated 1.9.2008 and 28.1.13respectively, wherein it is categorically stated that minimum pension in no case should be less than 50 % of the minimum pay of the pre-revised scale of the corresponding scale from which pensioner had retired.

5. On implementation of circular of P&PW(A) No. dt 30.7.15 it is directed that revision of pension in respect of all the pending cases must be completed by concerned Dept. by 16.10.15

6. On facility for online railway booking : NFRPA representative requested to extend the facility to Pass holders also so that the Retired Rly Pensioners can also avail this facility.

S.M.Kanjilal
General Secretary(A)
SCOVA Member from NFRPA & Managing Committee Member BPS