Central Government Employees can go skiing, rock climbing at government’s expense

Central Government Employees can go skiing, rock climbing at government’s expense

New Delhi: Central government employees can now go skiing in the sylvan surroundings of Gulmarg or rock climbing in Manali, all while enjoying a special casual leave granted by the government which will also bear the expenses for their outing.

To foster the spirit of risk-taking and team work, the Modi government has asked the 50 lakh central government employees to participate in adventure sports.

The measure was also aimed at tackling “the alarming situation of stress and impact of sedentary life” on them.

“It would create and foster spirit of risk taking, cooperative team work, capacity of readiness and vital response to challenging situations and endurance,” the Office Memorandum No.125/1/2015-16/CCSCSB dated December 4 issued by Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) said.

As per the scheme, the DoPT will sponsor programmes for five to seven days by six institutes–including Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports, Manali, Himachal Pradesh, Indian Institute of Skiing and Mountaineering, Gulmarg, Jammu and Kashmir, National Institute of Water Sports, Vasco da Gama, Goa and Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarkashi–for this purpose.

The activities under the programme will include trekking, mountaineering, rock-climbing, cycling in a difficult terrain, skiing, surfing, boat sailing, snorkeling, rafting, parasailing, ballooning, paragliding, jungle safari, desert safari, beach trekking and environmental awareness camps.

An expense of upto Rs 20,000 will be reimbursed by the government, besides grant of special casual leave to the employees to help them participate in these activities, an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training on Friday said.

Financial assistance of 100 per cent of programme fee would be provided in a calendar year to two officials of each ministry or department who have been awarded for excellence in service and nominated for the programme.

PTI

Modified Assured Career Progression (MACP)-7th Pay Commission Report

Modified Assured Career Progression (MACP)-7th Pay Commission Report

Modified Assured Career Progression (MACP):

i. This will continue to be administered at 10, 20 and 30 years as before.
ii. In the new Pay matrix, the employees will move to the immediate next level in the hierarchy.
iii. In the interest of improving performance level, the benchmark for MACP has been recommended to be enhanced from ‘Good’ to ‘Very Good.’
iv. The Commission has proposed withholding of annual increments in the case of those employees who are not able to meet the benchmark either for MACP or a regular promotion within the first 20 years of their service. (paras 5.1.44-5.1.46)

Withholding Annual Increments of Non-performers after 20 Years

There is a widespread perception that increments as well as upward movement in the hierarchy happen as a matter of course. The perception is that grant of MACP, although subject to the employee attaining the laid down threshold of performance, is taken for granted. This Commission believes that employees who do not meet the laid down performance criterion should not be allowed to earn future annual increments. The Commission is therefore proposing withholding of annual increments in the case of those employees who are not able to meet the benchmark either for MACP or a regular promotion within the first 20 years of their service.

This will act as a deterrent for complacent and inefficient employees. However, since this is not a penalty, the norms for penal action in disciplinary cases involving withholding increments will not be applicable in such cases. This will be treated as an “efficiency bar”. Additionally, for such employees there could be an option to leave service on similar terms and conditions as prescribed for voluntary retirement.

7th CPC Pension Calculation : OROP for the pensioners cannot be justified

7th CPC Pension Calculation : OROP for the pensioners cannot be justified

One of our reader Mr.GS Joahi writes to us regarding the pension calculation recommended by the 7th Pay Commission with an illustration as follows…

The commission recommends the following pension formulations for all pensioners who retired prior 01.01.16 :- First – All the personnel who retired prior 01.01.16 shall be fixed at pay matrix being recommended by the commission on the basis of the pay band and grade pay at which they retired at the minimum of the corresponding level in the matrix. The amount shall be raised to arrive at the notional pay of the retiree by adding number of increments he/she had earned at that level while in service at the rate of three percent. Fifty percent of total amount so arrived at shall be the revised pension.

“This is totally injustice because the length of service which individual served in his previous levels are not considered. For example X&Y persons completed same length of service and retired in the year of 2000. The person of X retired from 4600 grade pay (level 7) where he earned 12 increments from his last level. The person Y promoted frequently and his last promotion got just before one year of his retirement and he retired from 5400 grade pay (at level 10) where he earned only one increment at this level. As per the VI pay commission the pension of X is fixed at Rs.8250/- and the pension of Y is fixed at Rs. 10500/-.”

On the basis of VII pay commission recommendations the pension of both person are calculated as follows :-

The pension of X Person

Formula No. 1
6th pay commission basic pension – Rs.8250/-
Initial basic pension fixed using a multiple of 2.57 – Rs.21203/-

Formula No. 2
Retired at the minimum of the corresponding level in the matrix – Rs. 44900/-Individual earned 12 increments at that level while in service – Rs.64100/-

Revised Basic pension – Rs.32050/-

The pension of Y Person

Formula No. 1
6th pay commission basic pension – Rs.10500/-
Initial basic pension fixed using a multiple of 2.57 – Rs.26985 /-

Formula No. 2
Retired at the minimum of the corresponding level in the matrix – Rs. 56100/-
Individual earned 01 increment at that level while in service – Rs 57800/-

Revised Basic pension – Rs.28900/-

On the above example OROP for the pensioners can not be justified without considering the service render at his previous levels during his service. There are a lot of cases where individual promoted at higher ranks at the time of retirement where they served only for one, two or three years of service. In the above case the person who was not promoted and served more service at lower level are more beneficial than the person who are promoted and retired from higher level.

Even the pension of the person retired from higher level can not be cross the pension of person who’s pension will be fixed by OROP, if higher level retiree initial basic pension fixed using a multiple of 2.57

Source: 7thpaycommissionnews.in

Government order on One Rank One Pension: Salient features of the OROP

One Rank One Pension

Government order on One Rank One Pension (OROP) has been issued on 07.11.2015.

Salient features of the OROP are as follows:

• Pension of the past pensioners would be re-fixed on the basis of pension of retirees of calendar year 2013 and the benefit will be effective with effect from 01.07.2014.
• Pension will be re-fixed for all pensioners on the basis of the average of minimum and maximum pension of personnel retired in 2013 in the same rank and with the same length of service.
• Pension for those drawing above the average shall be protected.
• Arrears will be paid in four equal half yearly instalments. However, all the family pensioners including those in receipt of Special / Liberalized family pension and Gallantry award winners shall be paid arrears in one instalment.
• In future, the pension would be re-fixed every 5 years.

Certain ex-servicemen associations have been demanding for changes in methodology for fixation of pension, periodicity of its revision, coverage of future PMR cases etc. The Government has decided to appoint a Judicial Committee to look into anomalies, if any, arising out of implementation of OROP.

Personnel who opt to get discharged henceforth on their own request under Rule 13(3) 1(i)(b), 13(3)1(iv) or Rule 16B of the Army Rule 1954 or equivalent Navy or Air Force Rules will not be entitled to the benefits of OROP. It will be effective prospectively and in future, the pension would be re-fixed every 5 years.

This information was given by Minister of State for Defence Rao Inderjit Singh in a written reply to Shri Gopal Shetty and others in Lok Sabha today.

PIB