Year End review: Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions
Following are the highlights of the activities of Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions during the year 2017:
Prime Minister presents awards to civil servants on Civil Services Day; a
record number of 2,345 entries were received to compete for the
prestigious "Prime Minister's Award for Excellence in Public
Administration 2017". The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi,
presented awards for Excellence in Implementation of Priority Programmes
and addressed Civil Servants on the occasion of the eleventh Civil
Services Day on April 21, 2017. The Prime Minister presented a total of
12 awards, which included 10 under the five Priority Programmes (Pradhan
Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana,
e-National Agriculture Market (e-NAM), Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti
Yojana, Start-Up India & Stand-Up India) and 2 under Innovation in
Public Governance category.
A record number of 2,345 entries were
received to compete for the prestigious "Prime Minister's Award for
Excellence in Public Administration 2017". Of the 2,345 entries received
for the awards, 1,515 have been received from 599 districts under the
priority programmes category and 830 from various organizations and
government agencies under innovation category.
PM addresses IAS Officers of the 2015 batch. The
Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, addressed IAS Officers of the 2015
batch at the Inaugural Session of Assistant Secretaries on July 3, 2017.
The Prime Minister advised young IAS officers to avoid getting into a
mindset that resists change, and fill India's administrative system with
the energy of 'New India.' As part of their Valedictory Session as
Assistant Secretaries, IAS officers of the 2015 batch on September 26,
2017 made presentations before the Prime Minister.
First 'Pension Adalat' by DoP&PW held on September 20, 2017. MoS
(PP) Dr Jitendra Singh inaugurated the first 'Pension Adalat' on
September 20, 2017 at the Pre-Retirement Counselling Workshop organised
by the Department of Pensions & Pensioners' Welfare (DoP&PW).
During the Pension Adalat, out of the 29 selected cases, 19 cases were
resolved in the Adalat itself. 18 out of these 19 cases were resolved by
accepting the claims of the Pensioners. As on November 30, 2017, out of
29 grievances raised in Adalat, 26 have been resolved.
The
'Anubhav' awards 2017 were presented to 16 pensioners for their
contribution towards creating institutional memory for the departments.
Till date, 4,406 write-ups have been published on Anubhav.
DARPG starts 'DARPGSEVA' to address issues related to public grievances and administrative reforms. The DARPG started its Twitter Seva on February 1, 2017. The Twitter Handle is
'DARPGSEVA'. The
Twitter Seva aims to address issues relating to the DARPG like Public
Grievances and Administrative Reforms etc. The Twitter Seva enables the
DARPG to reach out to the common public and various stakeholders for
facilitating redress of grievances and other issues of importance
relating to the department.
Prompt disposal of grievances
by Government; DARPG writes to States Governments to link their
Grievance Cells to Government's CPGRAMS. The number of
grievances lodged by the people have increased 7 fold since 2014, from
about 2 lakh grievances to about 14 lakh this year. This is due to the
prompt response given by the Department to their grievances. Now about
99% grievances are being disposed by the DARPG. The average response
time to the grievances has been reduced, e.g. in Department of Revenue,
it has reduced from 108 days in 2014 to 25 days this year and similarly
in Department of Telecom, it has reduced from 19 days in 2014 to 12 days
this year. The DARPG is also writing letters to the Chief Secretaries
of the states to link their Grievance Cells to the CPGRAMS Portal of the
Union Government. It will bring uniformity and ease of disposal. It
will also provide a comprehensive view of the grievances.
DARPG Grievance Study Analysis of 20 Ministries released. The
DARPG's Grievance Study Analysis of 20 Ministries was released on
August 25, 2017. The "Grievance Analysis & Systemic Reforms" Study
was conducted for 20 ministries in the year 2015. As a result, 65
reforms have been introduced which has a positive impact on governance.
Study has been undertaken for 20 more ministries in 2017 and 180 reforms
have been suggested. Steps have been taken to identify focus issues
and arrive at the root cause of grievance so as to enable systemic
reforms to be put in place to alleviate the root cause. A Project
Management Unit has been set up for monitoring these reforms in
consultation with concerned Ministries/Departments. A dedicated team has
been engaged who conduct intensive deliberations with the concerned
Ministries/Departments for identifying the reforms that have been
implemented and draw up the monitoring metrics indicating impact of
these reforms.
Centralised Pension Grievance Registration and Monitoring System (CPENGRAMS). Concerted
efforts are being made to bring down the pendency of old grievances
while maintaining the quality in disposal for which regular review
meetings were held with the Nodal Officers of various
Ministries/Departments. As a result, 22,027 grievances were disposed off
during the period 01.04.2017 to 24.11.17. The time limit to redress
grievances is 60 days. During the same period, 84.2% grievances were
disposed of within 60 days.
New training programme 'COMMIT' launched for State Government officials. MoS,
Dr. Jitendra Singh launched a new training programme, 'Comprehensive
Online Modified Modules on Induction Training' (COMMIT) for State
Government officials on June 29, 2017. The objective of this training
programme is to improve the public service delivery mechanism and
provide citizen centric administration through capacity building of
officials who interact with the citizens on day-to-day basis.
7th edition of the Vigilance Manual released; online version also released for the first time. The 7th edition
of the Vigilance Manual of CVC was released on September 7, 2017. The
present edition of the Vigilance Manual is a public document accessible
through CVC's website
www.cvc.nic.in.
The online version has been released along with the printed version for
the first time. The 2017 edition of the Vigilance Manual incorporates
567 Paras divided into 11 Chapters with appropriate citations
.
CVC to develop Integrity Index of 25 Organizations. In
line with the broader strategy and emphasis on preventive vigilance,
the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) announced in October that it
believes that the next level of systemic change can be through the tool
of Integrity Index. The CVC has therefore decided to go in for
development of the Integrity Index-based on bench-marking of internal
processes and controls within an organisation as well as management of
relationships and expectations of outside stakeholders.
Online Software for Departmental Proceedings launched. The
online software for Departmental Proceedings was launched on June 22,
2017. The online system will enable monitoring of the departmental cases
more effectively to complete inquiries within stipulated timeframes and
fix accountability at different stages. The online portal will
initially be adopted in respect of IAS officers posted in the Central
Government and will subsequently be extended to AIS officers in the
Central Government as well as Central Group 'A' employees. The State
Governments will also be involved in the subsequent phases for
consideration of extension to AIS officers serving in the States.
Government lays down specific 'timeline' for completing enquiry against officers and members of All India Services (AIS). The
AIS (D&A) Rules, 1969 have been amended to provide specific
timelines at different stages of the enquiry, with a view to complete
the disciplinary proceedings against the members of AIS in a time-bound
manner.
MoU between LBSNAA, Mussoorie and Namibia Institute of Public Administration and Management (NIPAM. In March, 2017
the
Union Cabinet gave its approval for signing of a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) between Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of
Administration (LBSNAA), Mussoorie and Namibia Institute of Public
Administration and Management (NIPAM), Namibia in the field of capacity
building of public officials of Namibia and other training activities
for the benefit of both the institutes.
Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI), Hyderabad and Central University of Jammu sign MoU. Signed
in New Delhi on February 10, 2017, the MoU facilitates joint activities
and synergy in areas such as capacity building, evaluation studies,
executive education and related areas. It included activities such as
design, development and delivery of teaching and training programmes;
reciprocal recognition of each other's degrees, diplomas, certificates
etc.
2,149 Public Authorities aligned with the RTI Online Portal. 2,149
Public Authorities have aligned with the RTI Online Portal. This portal
is in line with the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi's vision of
Digital India. The emphasis of the Government has always been on
transparency and good governance. The government is persuading the
States to implement the RTI Online portal. The RTI online portal will
also curb delays in responding to the RTIs.
Mobile App for pensioners. Moving
from e-governance to m-governance, various facilities for pensioners
have been brought under Mobile App. MoS-PP, Dr Jitendra Singh launched
the Mobile App on September 20, 2017 that has been created to avail the
services of Pensioners' Portal. With the App, a superannuating central
civil government official will be able to monitor the progress of his
pension settlement, and retired officials will be able to self-assess
their pension through the pension calculator and are also able to
register their grievances, if any, and get updates on orders issued by
the Department.
Scrapping of Interview by States and UTs. 18
States and 7 Union Territories have discontinued the practice of
interview in recruitment for lower level posts. The objective of
discontinuation of interview in selection process at lower level posts
is to curb corruption, more objective selection in transparent manner
and substantially easing the problems of poor aspirants.
Online Vigilance System of Board and below Board Level Executives of CPSEs and e-Service Book of the DoPT employees launched. The
Online Vigilance System of Board and below Board Level Executives of
Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) was launched on March 30,
2017. The e-Service Book of the DoPT employees was also launched on the
occasion. The Online Vigilance System is a technology based mechanism
introduced to obtain vigilance status of 120-130 Board Level executive
appointments made annually of CPSEs timely, accurately and objectively
so that process of their appointment is expedited. The system would
enable efficient vigilance clearance of officers on real time basis who
apply for these senior level posts. The e-service book has been
implemented by DoPT for its 661 employees and is taking concrete steps
to roll out e-service book in respect of all Central Govt. employees in a
time bound manner with the support of NIC and involvement of Cadre
Controlling Authorities. In this regard a workshop of all Cadre
Controlling Authorities (CCAs) was organised in April, 2017 to discuss
the roll out plan in all Ministries and Departments.
Liberalisation and simplification of GPF Rules. In
a major relief for government employees, Department of Pensions &
Pensioners' Welfare in March, 2017 announced several relaxations in
General Provident Fund Rules, with liberalization and simplification,
particularly relating to advances and withdrawals by the
subscriber/employee. As per the liberalised rules, limits for
withdrawals have been raised and procedures simplified especially for
activities of house building and education of children, where the costs
have gone up manifold over the last two decades. In furtherance of the
Government's commitment towards self-certification, subscribers will be
allowed to withdraw funds based on a simple declaration. No further
documentary evidence will be required.
20th National Conference on e-Governance organised in Vishakhapatnam on January 9-10, 2017. Organised
by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances
(DARPG), in association with the Ministry of Electronics &
Information Technology, and Government of Andhra Pradesh, the Conference
was addressed by Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Shri Nara
Chandrababu Naidu. National Awards for e-Governance 2016-17 were
presented on the occasion.
Regional Conferences on "Good Governance and Replication of Best Practices" A
two-day Regional Conference on "Good Governance and Replication of Best
Practices" involving 12 States and 4 UTs of Northern, Western and
Central Region of India held on July 7-8, 2017 in Nainital. Another
Regional Conference on the subject was held in Goa on September 14-15,
2017. Delegates from 25 States/UTs (of Southern, Central, Eastern, North
Eastern Regions and 5 other States/UTs) participated in the conference.
On December 22-23, 2017 the Regional Conference on Good Governance was
held in Guwahati, where delegates from 36 States and UTs participated.
The
DARPG has so far organized 27 such regional conferences to share
experiences in the formulation and successful implementation of Good
Governance practices and to facilitate speedy and efficient delivery of
public services.
Vice President inaugurated the Vigilance Awareness Week, 2017. The
Vice-President Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated the Vigilance
Awareness Week, 2017 on October 30, 2017, organised by the Central
Vigilance Commission. The theme of the week this year was "My
Vision-Corruption-free India".
12th Annual Convention of Central Information Commission held on December 6, 2017. Vice
President Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated the 12th Annual Convention
of Central Information Commission (CIC) on December 06, 2017. While
delivering the inaugural address, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu said that the
information has to be given in a language which is understandable to
everyone, especially the one who applies for it. The Commission had
about 26,000 cases pending as on 31.03.2017 as compared to about 35,000
pending cases as on 01.04. 2016. More than 3,500 queries have been
answered by CIC through facilitation desk. In the year 2016-17, the CIC
conducted about 15,000 video conferences. Prior to the Annual
Convention, two seminars were held in May and July this year, to discuss
'Implementation of the Right to Information Act 2005' and 'Land Records
and RTI Act' respectively.
29th meeting of the Standing Committee of Voluntary Agencies (SCOVA) held in New Delhi on January 12, 2017. Organised
by the DoP&PW, the SCOVA meeting was chaired by MoS (PP) Dr.
Jitendra Singh. During the meeting, the Minister said that minimum
pension has been increased to Rs. 9,000 per person and ex-gratia amount
has been increased from Rs. 10-15 lakh to Rs. 25-35 lakh.
Jeevan Pramaan. Launched
by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in November, 2014, more than
11 lakh pensioners availed this Aadhar-based scheme for online
submission of digital life certificate through banks during the
month November, 2017. The scheme benefits pensioners specially the old
and infirm who can submit life certificate from the comfort of their
homes anywhere in the country or abroad. Till date about 93% of the
pension bank accounts of Central Government pensioners drawing pension
through banks have been seeded with Aadhaar Numbers.
PIB
