EXPECTED DA FROM JULY 2016 BEGINS..! AICPIN FOR JANUARY 2016

EXPECTED DA FROM JULY 2016 BEGINS..! AICPIN FOR JANUARY 2016 

All India Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers on Base 2001=100

The Labour Bureau, under the Ministry of Labour and Employment has now released the AICPIN points for the month of January 2016, the index stands at 269.

The first index point for the year 2016 has been released by the Central Government and the 7th Pay Commission DA Calculation also starts with this first index.

The next issue of CPI-IW for the month of February, 2016 will be released on Thursday, 31st March, 2016

No.5/1/2016- CPI
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF LABOUR & EMPLOYMENT
LABOUR BUREAU

CLEREMONT, SHIMLA-171004
DATED: 29th February, 2016

Press Release

Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW) – January, 2016

The All-India CPI-IW for January, 2016 remained stationary at 269 (two hundred and sixty nine). On 1-month percentage change, it remained static between December, 2015 and January, 2016 when compared with the rise of 0.40 per cent between the same two months a year ago.

The largest upward pressure to the change in current index came from Housing group contributing (+) 1.11 percentage points to the total change. At item level, Wheat, Wheat Atta, Groundnut Oil, Fish Fresh, Eggs (Hen), Goat Meat, Poultry (Chicken), Milk (Buffalo & Cow), Garlic, Sugar, Bidi, Firewood, Medicine (Allopathic), Barber Charges, Flower/Flower Garlands, Tailoring Charges, etc. are responsible for the increase in index. However, this increase was checked by Rice, Arhar Dal, Gram Dal, Masur Dal, Moong Dal, Urd Dal, Mustard Oil, Coconut Oil, Onion, Vegetable and Fruit items, Petrol, etc., putting downward pressure on the index.

The year-on-year inflation measured by monthly CPI-IW stood at 5.91 per cent for January, 2016 as compared to 6.32 per cent for the previous month and 7.17 per cent during the corresponding month of the previous year. Similarly, the Food inflation stood at 7.61 per cent against 7.94 per cent of the previous month and 7.81 per cent during the corresponding month of the previous year.

At centre level, Haldia reported the maximum increase of 8 points followed by Jamshedpur (7 points) and Labac-Silchar (5 points). Among others, 4 points increase was observed in 6 centres, 3 points in another 6 centres, 2 points in 9 centres and 1 point in 14 centres. On the contrary, Bhilai recorded a maximum decrease of 9 points followed by Bokaro (6 points) and Ranchi-Hatia and Varanasi (4 points each). Among others, 3 points decrease was observed in 2 centres, 2 points in 11 centres and 1 point in 10 centres. Rest of the 13 centres’ indices remained stationary.

The indices of 34 centres are above All-India Index and other 40 centres’ indices are below national average. The indices of Salem, Varanasi, Jabalpur and Vishakhapathnam centres remained at par with All-India Index.

The next issue of CPI-IW for the month of February, 2016 will be released on Thursday, 31st March, 2016. The same will also be available on the office website WWW. labourbureaunew.gov.in.

(SHYAM SINGH NEGI)
DEPUTY DIRECTOR GENERAL

Source: www.labourbureau.nic.in

Seeking information about the actual data of parks/allowances given to the CVOs for the financial year 2013-14 and 2014-15

F.No.325/10/2015-AVD-III
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions
Department of Personnel & Training
*****

North Block, New Delhi
Dated the 26th February, 2016

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Subject: Seeking information about the actual data of perks/allowances given to the CVOs for the financial year 2013-14 & 2014-15.

The undersigned is directed to refer to this Department’s O.M. of even number dated 1 st July, 2015 wherein a committee was constituted to decide reassessment of CVO positions in CPSEs and other organizations under different Ministries/Departments and rationalization of pay, incentive, allowances etc. of CVOs, under the chairmanship of Additional Secretary(S&V), DoPT.

2. The Committee in its meeting held on rt February, 2016, has decided to seek information about the actual data of perks/allowances given to the CVOs for the financial year 2013-14 & 2014-15 including all other expenses borne by the organization in respect of CVOs from the concerned administrative Ministries/Departments before taking a final decision for rationalization of pay, incentive, allowances of CVOs.

3. Ministries/Departments are therefore, requested to furnish information about the actual data of perks/allowances given to the CVOs for the financial year 2013-14 & 2014-15 (including all other expenses borne by the organization’in respect of CVOs) in the enclosed proforma at the earliest.

(Gracy Varghese)
Under Secretary to the Government of India
Tel. No. 23094541

Proforma for furnishing details about the pay, incentives, allowances etc. paid to the CVOs for the financial year 2013-14 & 2014-15

Measures for moving towards a pensioned society

Measures for moving towards a pensioned society

While presenting the General Budget 2016-17 in Lok Sabha today, the Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley said that pension schemes offer financial protection to senior citizens. He proposed to make withdrawal up to 40% of the corpus at the time of retirement tax exempt in the case of National Pension Scheme(NPS). In case of superannuation funds and recognized provident funds, including EPF, the same norm of 40% of corpus to be tax free will apply in respect of corpus created out of contributions made after 1.4.2016. Further, the annuity fund which goes to the legal heir after the death of pensioner will not be taxable in all three cases.

He also proposed a monetary limit for contribution of employer in recognized Provident and Superannuation Fund of Rs. 1.5 lakh per annum for taking tax benefit.

He proposed to exempt from service tax the Annuity services provided by the National Pension Scheme (NPS) and Services provided by EPFO to employees. Also, he proposed to reduce service tax on Single premium Annuity (Insurance) Policies from 3.5% to 1.4% of the premium paid in certain cases.

PIB

Limit of Deduction of Rent Increased from Rs.24,000 to Rs.60,000

Limit of Deduction of Rent Increased from Rs.24,000 to Rs.60,000

100% Deduction of Profits for 3 out of 5 Years for Start-Ups

Withdrawal upto 40% of the Corpus to be Tax-Free at the time of Retirement

Deduction of Additional Interest of Rs.50,000 Per Annum for First-Time Home buyers
New Dispute Resolution Scheme to be Introduced

Thirteen Cesses Levied by Various Ministries having Revenue Collection less than Rs.50 Crore to be Abolished

‘E-Sahyog’ and ‘E-Assessment’ to be Expanded Further

100% Deductions for Profits to an undertaking in Housing Project for Flats up to 30 Sq. Mtrs.

The Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley said that taxation is a major tool available to government for removing poverty and inequality from the society. He enlisted 09 categories of thrust in his text proposals which include (1) Relief to small tax payers (2) Measures to boost growth and employment generation (3) Incentivizing domestic value addition to help Make in India (4) Measures for moving towards a pensioned society (5) Measures for promoting affordable housing (6) Additional resource mobilization for agriculture, rural economy and clean environment (7) Reducing litigation and providing certainty in taxation (8) Simplification and rationalization of taxation (9) Use of technology for creating accountability.

Announcing relief to small tax payers Shri Jaitley proposed to raise the ceiling of tax rebate U/s. 87A from Rs.2000 to Rs.5000. With this, individuals having income up to Rs.5 lakh will get a relief of Rs.3000 in their tax liability. He also proposed to increase the limit of deduction of rent paid U/s.80 GG from Rs.24,000 per annum to Rs.60,000 to provide relief to those who live in rented houses. Shri Jaitley proposed to increase the turnover limit under presumptive taxation scheme U/s.44 AD of the Income Tax Act to Rs.2 Crores from existing limit of Rs.1 Crore which will benefit more than 30 lakh small business people. He also proposed to extend the presumptive taxation scheme with profit deemed to be 50%, to professionals with gross receipts up to Rs.50 lakh.

PIB

Reducing black money through a Scheme to declare undisclosed income by paying 45% tax in a given compliance window.

Reducing black money through a Scheme to declare undisclosed income by paying 45% tax in a given compliance window.

While presenting the General Budget 2016-17 in Lok Sabha here today, the Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley proposed a Scheme to declare undisclosed income by paying 45% tax in a given compliance window.

Shri Jaitley proposed a limited period Compliance window for domestic taxpayers to declare undisclosed income or income represented in the form of any asset and clear up their past tax transgressions. This will include paying tax at 30% and surcharge at 7.5% and penalty at 7.5%, which is a total of 45% of the undisclosed income. Regarding income declared in these declarations, there will be no scrutiny or enquiry under the Income Tax Act or the Wealth Tax Act and the declarants will have immunity from prosecution. Immunity from Benami Transaction (Prohibition) Act, 1988 is also proposed subject to certain conditions.
The surcharge levied at 7.5% of undisclosed income will be called ‘Krishi Kalyan surcharge’ which will be used for agriculture and rural economy. Government of India plan to open the window under this Income Disclosure Scheme from 1st June to 30th September, 2016 with an option to pay amount due within two months of declaration.

Shri Jaitley today reiterated Government of India’s commitment to remove black money from the economy. He also suggested that as this one opportunity for evaded income to be declared once is given, government will be further focusing on bringing people with black money to books.

PIB

Highlights of General Budget 2016

Highlights of General Budget 2016

Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley spoke on the Key Reform Measures in his Budget speech 2016-17

1. The Government is firm on its course towards fiscal consolidation without compromising on its development agenda. 3.5% fiscal deficit is targeted for FY 2017.

2. Total allocation for Agriculture, Farmers’ welfare and Irrigation set at Rs. 47,912 cr, which is nearly twice the allocation of the previous year.

3. New Health Protection scheme will provide health cover up to Rs. 1 lakh per family and additional Rs. 30,000 for senior citizens.

4. Free LPG connections will be provided in the name of woman member of a family to 1.5 cr BPL households in 2016-17 and to continue for two more years to cover 5 cr households in total.

5. Massive increase in public spending on infrastructure to Rs. 2.21 lakh cr, an increase of 22.5% over the previous year.

6. Higher Education Financing Authority set up, with an initial capital base of Rs. 1,000 cr to promote higher education. In addition, 10 public and 10 private institutions to emerge as world-class Teaching and Research Institutions.

7. Promoting a tax-friendly regime and minimizing hassles due to litigation through a New Dispute Resolution Scheme with low or zero penalties. Ongoing tax cases can be settled with ease.

8. Increased relief for middle-class tax-payers by raising the ceiling of tax rebate under Section 87A to Rs. 5,000 for individuals with income less than Rs. 5 lakhs and by raising the limit of deduction of rent paid under section 80GG to Rs. 60,000.

9. Directly providing financial and other subsidies benefits to people who deserve them by enacting a new law and developing a social security platform using Aadhar.

10. Boosting formal sector employment by provisioning Rs. 1,000 cr towards contributing 8.33% on behalf of all new employees enrolling in EPFO for the first three years of their employment.

11. Simplified and pro-market tax measures such as laying out the roadmap of phasing out of exemptions under Corporate Taxes, abolishing small cesses, providing complete pass through of income-tax to securitization trusts and reducing period of obtaining long-term capital gains treatment for unlisted companies to three years.

12. Promoting entrepreneurship by increasing the turnover limit under Presumptive taxation scheme to Rs. 2 cr, targeting to disburse loans worth Rs. 1.8 lakh cr under PM Mudra Yojana and providing 100% deduction of profits for 3 out of 5 years for start-ups.

13. Facilitating Affordable Housing by 100% tax exemption for profits from small projects, not subjecting distribution REITs and INVITs to Dividend Distribution Tax and encouraging small first-time home buyers by deducting ¬additional interest of Rs. 50,000.

14. Reducing black money through a scheme to declare undisclosed income by paying 45% tax in a given compliance window.

15. Strengthening the financial sector by allocating Rs. 25,000 cr towards recapitalising Public Sector Banks (PSBs), listing Government-owned General Insurance companies, and spelling out a roadmap for consolidating PSBs.

Source: PIB News

Union Budget 2016-17: I-T slabs remain unchanged

Union Budget 2016-17: I-T slabs remain unchanged

HRA deduction increased to Rs. 60,000 per annum; 40% of withdrawal under NPS to be tax exempt; additional exemption for housing loans.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presents his third Union Budget. With an eye on supporting the small tax-payer and the small investor, the Minister announced a slew of schemes, and income tax exemptions.

As it happened:

12.41 p.m.: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley tables the Union Budget 2016 and the Finance Bill.
12.40 p.m.: Rs. 1,060 crore revenue loss through direct tax proposals, and Rs. 20,670 crore revenue gain through indirect tax proposals. Revenue gain of Rs 19,600 crore in Union Budget 2016 proposals.
12.39 p.m.: 13 different cesses levied by various ministries with collections less than Rs.50 crore a year to be done away with.
12.38 p.m.: No Service Tax for houses built under 60 square metres.
12.35 p.m.: Excise duty on tobacco increased by 10-15 per cent.
12.34 p.m.: Committed to stable taxation regime. No more retrospective amendments.
12.29 p.m.: 4% high capacity tax for SUVs.
12.28 p.m.: Limited period compliance window for domestic taxpayers to declare undisclosed income. Declarations to have immunity from prosecutions.
12.26 p.m.: No changes have been made to existing income tax slabs.
12.25 p.m.: Infrastructure and agriculture cess to be levied.
12.23 p.m.: 1 per cent service charge on purchase of luxury cars over Rs. 10 lakh and in-cash purchase of goods and services over Rs. 2 lakh.
12.22 p.m.: Additional exemption of Rs. 50,000 for housing loans up to Rs. 35 lakh, provided cost of house is not above Rs. 50 lakh.
12.20 p.m.: 40% of withdrawal at the time of retirement under National Pension Scheme to be tax exempt.
12.19 p.m.: Tax holiday for startups for three of five years of setting up the company
12.13 p.m.: Lowering of Corporate IT rate for companies not exceeding Rs. 5 crore turnover to 25% plus surcharge.
12.09 p.m.: People with income less than Rs 5 lakh to get deduction of Rs 5,000, up from Rs 2,000 last year. HRA deduction up from Rs. 24,000 to Rs. 60,000 p.a.
12.08 p.m.: Rs. 100 crore for Deendayal Upadhyay’s birthday celebrations and Guru Gobind Singh 300th birth anniversary.
12.07 p.m.: Classification of expenditure as plan and non-plan to be done away with.
12.06 p.m.: Govt plans to spend Rs 19.78 lakh crore in 2016-17 — Rs 5.5 lakh crore under plan head, Rs 14.28 lakh crore under non-plan head.
12.06 p.m.: Fiscal deficit at 3.5% of GDP in 2016-17.
12.04 p.m.: A bill on targeted delivery of financial services using Aadhar to be introduced.
12.03 p.m.: Amendment to the Companies Act to ensure speedy registration and boost start-ups.
12.02 p.m.: Rs. 900 crore for buffer stock of pulses.
12.01 p.m.: Dept of Disinvestment renamed as Dept of Investment and Public Asset Management.
12 noon: Direct Benefit Transfer for fertiliser subsidy.
11.59 a.m.: EPF at 8.33 per cent for new employees joining the scheme.
11.58 a.m.: Rs. 25,000 crore for recapitalisation of public sector banks. General insurance companies owned by the govt to be listed in stock exchanges.
11.56 a.m.: Amendmends to boost Asset Reconstruction Companies to manage NPAs of public sector banks.
11.55 a.m.: RBI Act to be amended to set up monetary policy committee.
11:53 a.m.: 100% FDI through FAPB route in marketing of food products produced and manufactured in India.
11.49 a.m.: Total outlay on infrastructure in 2016-17 is Rs. 2,21,246 crore
11.47 a.m.: In the power sector, the govt is drawing up a plan for 15-20 years to augment investment in nuclear power. Rs. 3,000 crore per annum for this.
11.45 a.m.: There are 160 airports and airstrips which can be revived.
11.44 a.m.: Motor Vehicles Act to be amended to enable entrepreneurship in the road transport sector.
11.43 a.m.: Total outlay for infrastructure is at Rs. 2.31 lakh crore.
11.42 a.m.: Rs. 97,000 crore for all roads. Total outlay on roads and rails will be Rs. 2.80 lakh crore. 10,000 km of national highways in 2016-17 and 50,000 km state highways to be converted to NH roads.
11.41 a.m.: More than 70,000 road projects were languishing at the beginning of the year. Nearly 85% of these projects have been put back on track.
11.39 a.m.: Small shops should be given the choice to remain open on all 7 days a week.
11.37 a.m.: Rs. 1,700 crore for 1500 multi-skill development centres.
11.35 a.m.: 10 public and 10 private educational institutions to be made world-class. Digital repository for all school leaving certificates and diplomas. Rs. 1,000 crore for higher education financing.
11.34 a.m.: Hub to support SC/ST entrpreneurs.
11.33 a.m.: National dialysis service programme under PPP model. LPG connection for women members of rural homes.
11.30 a.m.: Government to provide health insurance of upto Rs. 1 lakh per family; top up of Rs. 35,000 for people above 60 years. 3,000 stores to be opened for generic drugs.
11.30 a.m.: Total rural sector allocation Rs. 87,769 crore.
11.27 a.m.: Two schemes for digital literacy for rural India to cover 6 crore households in the next three years.
11.26 a.m.: Rs. 9,000 crore for Swachch Bharat Abhiyan.
11.25 a.m.: 5,542 villages have been electrified, more than the last three years combined.
11.24 a.m.: Rs. 38,500 crore for MNREGA. Highest ever for the rural employment scheme.
11.23 a.m.: Rs. 2.87 lakh crore for gram panchayats as per recommendation of 14th finance commission.
11.22 a.m.: Four schemes for animal welfare.
11.19 a.m.: Agricultural credit target of Rs. 9 lakh crore. Govt to allocate Rs 5,500 crore for crop insurance scheme.
11.19 a.m.: Unified e-platform for farmers to be inaugurated on Ambedkar’s birthday.
11.17 a.m.: Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana to bring 5 lakh acres under organic farming.
11.14 a.m.: 28.5 lakh hectares to be brought under irrigation.
11.13 a.m.: Govt will reorganise agricultural policy to double farmer income in five years.
11.11 a.m.: Jaitley announces the nine pillars of his Budget — Agriculture and farmers’ welfare, rural sector, social sector including healthcare, education, skills and job creation, infrastructure, financial sector reforms, ease of doing business, fiscal discipline, tax reforms to reduce compliance burden.
11.11 a.m.: New scheme for BPL families for gas connections. Staturtory backing for Aadhaar platform to ensure delivery of benefits.
11.10 a.m.: CAD is 1.4% of GDP.
11.10 a.m.: FY 16-17 will have the additional burden of implementing the VII pay commission and the defence OROP.
11.08 a.m.: FY 15-16 and 16-17 will be challenging for the government.
11.07 a.m.: Forex reserves are at the highest ever levels — $350 billion.
11.05 a.m.: GDP growth has accelerated to 7.6%. CPI inflation has come down to 5.4%.
11.05 a.m.: Mr. Jaitley says the Indian economy has held strong despite a global slowdown.
11 a.m.: Arun Jaitley rises to present the Budget.
10:46 am: Mr. Jaitley’s Budget speech to begin in 15 minutes.
10:43 am: Union Cabinet clears General Budget for 2016-17.
10:29 am: Cabinet meeting in Parliament ends.
10:05 am: The Sensex falls 59 points in early trade on reduced bets by cautious retail investors amid continued capital outflows by foreign funds ahead of the Budget. More…
9:53 am: Pre-Budget Cabinet meet to begin shortly.
9:40 am: Mr. Jaitley, MoS Jayant Sinha arrive in Parliament.
9:19 am: The stock markets don’t seem very enthused ahead of the Budget — Sensex opens 38.86 points lower, currently at 23,115.44.
9:10 am: The Budget may be given a dash of green with many environment-friendly measures to reduce the carbon footprint, official sources tell The Hindu. The budget is likely to provide incentives to encourage local manufacture and Research & Development (R&D) of electric vehicle components, including lithium-iron batteries.
9:00 am: About 8.5 crore employees whose retirement savings are managed by the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) could get an option to transfer over a third of their EPF contributions to the National Pension System, regulated by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority or PFRDA. Read more…
8:54 am: How well do you know your budget history? Here are 11 landmark Union Budgets that you should know about.
8:45 am: Here’s a ready reckoner for some of the terms that will be a part of Mr. Jaitley’s long speech, that some of us may not be familiar with.
8:30 am: How long will this year’s Budget speech be? Which Finance Minister holds the dubious honour of presenting the longest budget speech, in terms of word count? Here’s a clue: it was an 18,650-word speech given 25 years ago!
8:00 am: Budgets are about numbers and best understood using charts and graphics. In case you missed it, here are the highlights of the previous Budget, captured in eight interactive charts.
7:30 am: The event provides us an opportunity to reflect on the proposals and promises that were made during last year’s Budget. We looked at some of them and checked the status of their implementation. Here’s what we found.
7:00 am: Here’s some interesting information. For Budget 2016-17, the government invited suggestions from citizens through Twitter for the first time, even conducting a series of polls to gauge public priorities and expectations from the Budget.

Source: The Hindu

What are the 7th CPC’s Recommendations Regarding Dearness Allowance? 7th CPC DA Calculation

What are the 7th CPC’s Recommendations Regarding Dearness Allowance? 7th CPC DA Calculation

Dearness Allowance is one of the important issues that the Pay Commission deals with.

The calculation method that was recommended by the 6th Pay Commission was radically different from the ones suggested by all the previous Pay Commissions.

Dearness Allowance, which was increasing by 1 or 2% until the 5th Pay Commission suddenly shot up to double-digit numbers. Until the 5th CPC, the All India Consumer Price Index Number for Industrial Workers 1982 = 100 was used for calculating dearness allowance. From the 6th Pay Commission onwards, CPI (IW) 2001 = 100 was used for calculating the DA.

There was another crucial change that the 6th CPC made. it recommended that the Reference Base Index be changed from 306.33. As a result, 115.76 became the new Reference Base Index from 01.01.2006 onwards.

The report says…

The Commission assuming that the rate of Dearness Allowance would be 125 percent at the time of implementation of the new pay.

The Dearness Allowance (DA) is paid to Central Government employees to adjust the cost of living and to protect their Basic Pay from erosion in the real value on account of inflation. Presently, DA is based on the All India Consumer Price Index (Industrial Workers).

The JCM-Staff Side has suggested that the existing formula for the calculation of DA may continue.


Analysis and Recommendations

The VI CPC had recommended that the National Statistical Commission may be asked to explore the possibility of a specific survey covering government employees exclusively, so as to construct a consumption basked representative of government employees and formulate a separate index. This has, however, not been done.

Keeping in mind that the present formulation of DA has worked well over the years, and there are no demands for its alteration, the Commission recommends continuance of the existing formula and methodology for calculating the Dearness Allowance.

The prices of all items have been sourced from Labor Bureau, Shimla. These prices are used in the calculation of the CPI (IW) and subsequently the calculation of Dearness Allowance. In the current exercise the prices of all items are for the period July 2014-June 2015 and have been used in the calculation of DA at 119 percent operative from 01.07.2015.

7th Pay Commission issue in Parliament – Strike by Railway Employees

7th Pay Commission Latest News – Minister’s reply on Strike by Railway Employees demanding 35 per cent hike on implementation of 7th CPC recommendations

Mr Kotha Prabhakar Reddy, Railway Minister for State has replied to a query regarding proposed Railway Employees Strike for increasing the hike in salary recommended by 7th Pay Commission.

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO: 57

ANSWERED ON: 24.02.2016

Strike by Railway Employees

KOTHA PRABHAKAR REDDY

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:-

(a) whether railway employees association is planning to go on strike in the first week of March demanding 35 per cent hike in their salaries as against 14.29 per cent offered by the 7th Pay Commission and not to accept the recommendation of Debroy Committee report to privatize the Railways, scrapping of new pension scheme, etc;

(b) if so, the details thereof; and

(c) the measures being taken by the Railways to alleviate the problems of railway employees?

 ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS (SHRI MANOJ SINHA)

(a) & (b): The two recognized Railway staff Federations have not given any notice so far, for going on strike. However they have informed that Strike Notice may be served on 11th March, 2016 for ‘Indefinite Strike’ from 11th April, 2016 in case there is no negotiated settlement on the Charter of Demands by that time. The Charter of Demands, amongst various issues, include the items mentioned in the question.

(c): On the Railways, there is well established system of Permanent Negotiating Machinery (PNM) and Departmental Council under the Joint Consultative Machinery (JCM) with the recognized Unions/ Federations. Regular dialogue with the organized labour is maintained through these fora to sort out staff grievances. The Permanent Negotiating Machinery functions at three tiers – Divisional level, Zonal Headquarter level and Apex level at Railway Board. Departmental Council under JCM functions at the Apex level at Railway Board. Further, recognized Unions/Federations are also members of the Group on Participation of Railway Employees in Management (PREM).

Source : loksabha.nic.in