Grant of Special Casual Leave to Railway employees from Hudhud Cyclone & J&K Flash floods effected

Grant of Special Casual Leave to Railway employees from Hudhud Cyclone & J&K Flash floods effected : Railway Board Order

RBE No. 72/2015
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
RAILWAY BOARD

No. E(G)2015/LE 1-1

Rail Bhawan, New Delhi, dated 30-06-2015

The General Manager(s)
East Coast Railway, Bhubaneswar.
Northern Railway, Baroda House, New Delhi.



    Sub: Grant of special leave to the Railway staff who remained absent from duty to Hudhud Cyclone that affected badly coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha States (EcoR) and the flash floods in Jammu and Kashmir State.


The matter regarding grant of Special Casual Leave to Railway employees who could not attend duty due to hudhud cyclone which badly affected the coastal areas ofAndhra Pradesh and Odisha States in the 2nd week of October, 2014, and the flash floods in the State of Jammu and Kashmir, was taken up by All India Railwaymen's Federation(AIRF).

The issue has been carefully considered by the Board and it has been decided that Special Casual Leave upto a maximum of three days may be granted to the affected employees who stay at places far away from their Headquarters, as a result of which they have to commute a long distance to their office, and due to dislocation of traffic arising out of the aforesaid natural calamities they were not able to undertake the journey and report to the Headquarters for duty.

This issues with the concurrence of the Finance Dte. of Ministry of Railways.

(D. Joseph)
Dy. Dir. Estt. (Genl.)

Source: http://www.airfindia.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/RBE_72.pdf

Tamilnadu State Govt Employees Contributory Fund (CPF) for 2014-15 and 2015-16

Tamilnadu State Govt Employees Contributory Fund (CPF) for 2014-15 and 2015-16

Govt of Tamilnadu has issued an Abstract regarding interest for Contributory Pension Scheme be fixed at 8.7% for the year 2014-2015 and 2015-2016.

GOVERNMENT OF TAMILNADU

Abstract

Pension-  Contributory  Pension  Scheme-  Employees  contribution  and
Government  contribution-  Rate  of  interest  for  the  year  2014-2015  and 2015-2016 – Orders – Issued.

FINANCE (PGC) DEPARTMENT

G.O.Ms.No.183                                                                                                       Dated: 26.06.2015

Read:
1.    G.O.Ms.No.222,    Finance    (Pension)    Department, dated.3.6.2008.
2.   G.O.Ms.No.38,  Finance  (PGC)  Department,  dated 11.2.2013.
3.   G.O.Ms.No.155,  Finance  (PGC)  Department,  dated 9.5.2013.
4.    G.O.Ms.No.106, Finance (Allowances) Department, dated 28.4.2014.
5.   G.O.Ms.No.129, Finance (Allowances) Department, dated 27.4.2015.

—–

ORDER:

In  the  Government  orders  first  to  third  read  above  orders  were issued fixing the rate of interest for accumulations at the credit of the subscribers   to   Contributory   Pension   Scheme   for   the   period   upto  31.03.2014.

2.  In the Government orders fourth and fifth read above, the rate of interest for General Provident Fund was fixed at the rate of 8.7% for the year 2014-2015 and 2015-2016.

3.   The Government now direct that the rate  of  interest on  the accumulations at the credit of the subscribers to the Contributory Pension Scheme be fixed at 8.7% for the year 2014-2015 and 2015-2016.

4.   The above rate of interest will remain until further orders are issued in this regard.

(BY ORDER OF THE GOVERNOR)

K. SHANMUGAM
PRINCIPAL SECRETARY TO GOVERNMENT

Download Govt of Tamilnadu G.O.Ms.No.183 dated 26.06.2015

Traffic Assistants cadre in Metro Railway, Kolkata restructured

Cadre restructure of Traffic Assistants in Metro Railway Kolkata implemented RBE No. 69/2015

Railway Board has issue a letter to GM, Metro Railway regarding Restructuring of cadre of  Traffic Assistants.

GOVERNMENT   OF INDIA
MINISTRY   OF RAILWAYS
RAILWAY  BOARD

RBE No.69/2015

No.PC-111/2013/CRC/2                                                                                                           New Delhi, dated 29-06-2015
The General Manager,
Metro  Railway,
Kolkata.

Sub. :      Restructuring of cadre of  Traffic Assistants.

Keeping in view  the  fact that  the  cadre of Traffic  Assistants  in Metro   Railway,  Kolkata   is  a unique  cadre   performing    both Operational   and Commercial   duties,   the  percentage   distribution of posts for  restructuring    of this  cadre  as proposed   by Metro   Railway  administration    was under consideration  of the Ministry  of Railways   for  some time.   As a  result  of the ‘review undertaken   on the  basis of  functional,    operational    and  administrative     requirements,    it  has been  decided  with the approval   of  the  President   that   benefit   of  cadre  restructuring    may  be  given  to  the  Traffic Assistants.  Metro   Railway,  Kolkata   as per the   percentage   distribution  of  posts  indicated   in  the enclosed  Annexure   ‘A’.    While   implementing  these orders,  the  following  detailed   instructions
should  be strictly  adhered  to  :

Date of effect	1. The  restructuring  of  the  cadre  will  be with    reference   to  the sanctioned        cadre  strength     as  on   the  date  of  issue of  these orders.        The staff  who  will  be placed  in higher  grade  pay as  a result of  implementation   of  these   orders   will   draw   pay  in higher  grades w.e.f   date  of issue of these orders. The  benefit of   restructuring·    will   be  restricted    to   the   persons   who   are working  in the  cadre  on  the  cut-off-date  i.e.  date  of  issue of these  orders.
Applicability    to   various cadres	2.    These   orders   will   be  applicable    to   the   permanent regular posts   of   Traffic    Assistants   cadre    (excluding surplus   & supernumerary posts)  of  the   Metro    Railway  establishment. Only those  temporary  posts which  are in operation   for  atleast three  years  may also be taken  into  account  for  the  purpose  of applying     revised     percentage.         This    will    be   subject    to certification  that  these  posts  are  meant   for  regular   activities which  will  continue   and not for  any sporadic  requirements.2.1  These   orders   will   not   be applicable    to   ex-cadre &  work charged   posts  which   will   continue   to  be  based  on worth of charge.
Pay Fixation	3.      The pay of staff  promoted  against  the  additional   higher  grade posts as a  result  of restructuring (including  chain/resultant vacancies)  will   be  fixed   as per  Rule  13 of  RS(RP) Rules,2008 with  the  benefit   of   one  increment  @  3%   of  basic   pay,   with the  usual option  for  pay fixation   as   per extent  rules.
Existing classification and   filling    up   of  the vacancies	4.      The existing  classification    of the  posts covered  by these   orders as   ‘selection’   and   ‘non-selection’,    as the  case may  be remains unchanged.    However,  for  the  purpose   of  implementation   of these     orders,    if    any   Traffic    Assistant      becomes     due    for promotion  to  a  post classified as   a  ‘selection’   post, the  existing selection    procedure   will  stand  modified   in such   a  case    to the extent    that   the   selection    will   be  based   only  on  scrutiny    of service record and confidential reports   without    holding    any written        and/or     viva-voce test. This  modified selection procedure   has  been  decided   upon  by the  Ministry of  Railways as   a  one time  exception  by special dispensation,     in view   of the numbers involved,    with    the    objective     of  expediting     the implementation   of  these   orders.   Similarly   for  posts   classified as     ‘non-selection’  at   the   time    of   this    restructuring,       the promotion  will   be  based   only  on scrutiny    of  service   records and confidential  reports.4.1      Normal  vacancies   existing   on the  date  of issue of these  orders (except     direct   recruitment  quota)   and  those   arising    on  that date   from   this   cadre   restructuring  including    chain/resultant vacancies    should  be tilled   in the  following  sequence:(i)     From  panels   approved   on  or  before  the  date  of  issue  of these  orders   and   current  on that date;(ii)  and the  balance   in the  manner   indicated   in para 4 above. 4.2      Such    selections   which  have  not  been  finalized   till  the  date   of issue   of these  orders   should  be cancelled/abandoned. 4.3      All  normal   vacancies   arising   from     the   next    day  of  issue    of these  orders  will  be filled  by normal  selection   procedure. 4.4      All   vacancies    (including    chain/resultant      vacancies)     arising purely  due  to  this  cadre  restructuring    should    be filled   up  by senior    employees     who    should    be   given    benefit    of  the promotion from  the  date of issue of these  orders   whereas  for the  normal   vacancies    existing   on the  date   of  issue     of  these orders,    junior    employees     should     be   posted    by   modified selection    procedure     but  they  will  get  promotion  and  higher pay from  the  date   of taking  over the posts as per normal   rules. Thus  the  special  benefit   of  the  promotion  from    the   date   of issue of these  orders   is  available   only  for  vacancies  arising    out of  cadre   restructuring  and  for   other  vacancies,   the   normal rules  of  prospective    promotion  from   the  date  of filling   up of vacancy will apply. 4.5  In cases where   percentages   have  been   reduced   in the  lower grade  and  no additional  post  becomes   available  as a  result     of restructuring   (including  chain/resultant  vacancies), the existing  vacancies  on the  date  of issue of these  orders    should be filled   up by normal  selection procedure. 4.6       Direct   recruitment  percentages   will    not  be  applicable   to  the additional posts  arising  out  of these  restructuring orders   as  011 the   date   of   effect.   The   direct   recruitment     percentage    will apply    for   normal     vacancies     arising     on’  or   after     the   date following   the  date  of  effect.   The  direct   recruitment  quota    as existing  prior    to   the   date   of   effect    will   continue    to   be maintained. 4.7       Employees  who   retire/resign   or  expire  in between  the  period from   the  date  of  effect  of these  orders    to  the  date  of  actual implementation    of these  orders,  will  be eligible  for the  fixation benefits      and  arrears   under   these   orders   from   the   date   of effect,  if they  are  otherwise   eligible  for  the  said benefit. 5.        Extant    instructions     for    D&A/Vigilance      clearance    will     be applicable   for  effecting  promotions  under  these orders with reference   to  date  of  effect  of these  orders.
Minimum years of  service  in each grade	6.       While    implementing     the    restructuring      orders,     instructions regarding   minimum     period  of  service  required   for  promotion issued   from  time   to  time  should   be followed.    However,   while considering   any  relaxation   in the  residency   period    prescribed for   promotions,     General   Manager   would   personally    ensure that  the  safety aspect   of Metro   Railway  is  not  compromised.
Basic   functions duties and responsibilities	7.      Since  the  cadre  as detailed   in  the annexure   to  this   letter    is being            restructured      on      functional,       operational        and administrative  considerations,   the  posts  being  placed  in higher scales  of  pay  as a   result   of  restructuring   should   include    the duties  and responsibilities     of greater  importance.
Adjustment of excess number  of posts.	8.       If  prior   to   issue  of  these   instructions   the   number   of  posts existing     in    any  grade   in    any   particular   cadre   exceeds    the number  admissible    on  the   revised   percentages,   the   excess may   be  allowed   to  continue   to  be  phased   out  progressively with  the  vacation  of the  posts   by the  existing   incumbents.
Provision   of reservation	9.      The  existing   instructions  with   regard  to  reservation   of  SC/ST wherever applicable  will  continue  to apply.
Refusal of promotion	10.      Such  of  the  Staff  as had  refused   promotion  before   issue   of these    orders    and   stand    debarred    for   promotion   may   be considered      for    promotion,     in    relaxation     of   the     extant provisions   as   a  one  time  exception,    if they  indicate   in   writing that   they   are    willing   to   be  considered     for   such  promotion against  the  vacancies  existing   on  the  date  of  issue    of  these orders   and  arising   due  to   restructuring    on  the   date.     This relaxation   will  not  be applicable  to  vacancies    arising    after  the date of effect.
Matching  Savings	11.      Entire  scheme    of  restructuring   is   to  be  a   self-financing     and expenditure    neutral   proposition.     Financial    implications    should be    worked    out   taking   into   account   the   revised    basic   pay (including    the  Grade  Pay)   corresponding     to  the   midpoint     of the  pre-revised  pay scales   in respect    of   each    post   as   listed in the  fitment   table  circulated   vide  Railway   Board’s   letter    no. PC-Vl/2008/1/RSRP/1 dated     11-09-2008     and    12-09-2008, along  with   the  Dearness    Allowance   as   applicable on date  of effect  of these  orders.11.1 After   working  out   the   financial    implications,   the    matching savings   should   be effected   from  the  category   itself.    Wherever it   is     not   possible    to   do   so   from   the   category    itself,    the matching   savings  should  be arranged   from  the  department     at zonal  level.    But  before   restructuring   the   cadre  as per  the revised  percentage    distribution   of  posts,   matching    savings will   have  to   be  ensured   by  surrender  of  24  posts   at  the lowest  grade.        While    effecting      surrender       of    posts     of equivalent    financial   value,  the  existing    vacant  posts   available in the  category  on the  date  of effect  should  be considered    for the   purpose   of  off-setting the cost   of  restructuring/financial effects of   restructuring.  Board   desires  that  the    General Manager  should ensure that  the  restructuring is  implemented expeditiously  with   matching   saving without   any exception     and difficulty.    There  would   be no restructuring     without    matching savings  by surrender  of posts.11.2     Revised percentage   distribution  of posts as   per these   orders   is to  be based   upon the sanctioned   cadre  strength  as   on the  date of issue  of these  orders.   Surrenders  are to  be effected   on this sanctioned   strength   and  the  resulting   imbalance/variation     in the   cadres   is  to   be reviewed  at   the   time   of  next    annual review  as indicated   below.
Annual   review	12.     The   next   Annual    Review   will   be  undertaken    from    01.04.2016 taking    into   account  the  cadre   strength   as on  01.04.2016.

This  issues   in  consultation    with    the   Establishment    Directorate    and   with    concurrence of the Finance Directorate of this   Ministry.

The  receipt   of this  letter    may   please   be acknowledged.
Hindi Version will follow.

DA :   Annexure  –  A

(Vikram Gulati)
Director, Pay Commission  –  II
Railway  Board

No.  PC-111/2013/CRC/2

New Delhi,
dated 29-06-2015

STATEMENT    REGARDING   RESTRUCTURING   OF
TRAFFIC  ASSISTANTS,   METRO   RAILWAY,    KOLKATA

Annexure   to  Board’s   letter    No.  PC-111/2013/CRC/2   dated   29-06-2015.

Category	Pay Structure as per 6th  CPC		Existing  %age after merger of Grade(s)	Revised percentage
	PB	GP (Rs)
TRAFFIC ASSISTANTS	PB-2	4600	—–	13
	PB-2	4200	—–	40
	PB-1	2800	—–	22
	PB-2	2000	—–	25

*******

Download Railway Board letter No.PC-111/2013/CRC/2 dated 29.06.2015

Clarifications sought by Chairman & Members of 7th CPC during oral evidence by IRTSA

CLARIFICATIONS SOUGHT BY CHAIRMAN & MEMBERS OF 7TH  CPC DURING ORAL EVIDENCE & PRESENTATION BY IRTSA ON 12-12-2014 AT JODHPUR

 

Inter-action by the Chairman, Secretary & the Members of 7th  CPC with IRTSA and clarification placed by IRTSA delegates during the Presentation.

 

1. Ques. (by Chairman 7th CPC) You said that Senior Technicians are taking instructions from JEs; while the Chief OS (Office Superintendent) took instructions from SSE and you also told that it is Office of Senior Section Engineer which controls all activities and all of them working within that – It appears that there is clear command line available, How it interferes in your Grade Pay?

 

Ans. i. Principle recommended by 6th CPC, which was also accepted by Govt, that, the senior post should be given Higher Grade Pay need to be followed duly considering duties, responsibilities, accountabilities, etc. but the same is being violated by placing the JEs in the same Grade Pay of Rs.4200 as that of Senior Technician whom they supervise and by placing SSE (Senior Section Engineers) in same Grade Pay of Rs.4600 as that of Chief OS whom the SSE supervise. This is against the settled law that an equal cannot be over an equal.

 

ii. 5th CPC recommendations & Supreme Court Judgement supports this argument.

 

iii. Take an example: A senior technician welder working in Bogie Frame manufacturing section is responsible to the extent of welding done by him, where as a Technical Supervisor is responsible for the quality & quantity of output of not only of that welder but for entire section which may contain 20 to 30 Technicians besides others.

 

iv. More than that man, material, machine, other infrastructure etc, are controlled by Technical Supervisors, which possess higher responsibility & accountability than other posts.

 

v. Similar is the case of certification of train, P.Way, Bridge, Power Distribution, Locos, etc.

 

vi. Categories like Ch.OS don’t have direct responsibility on performance & safety of Railways, whereas JE/SSE and their counterparts (CMT, Store) in all Technical Depts. bear direct responsibility in core activities of Railways.

 

2. Ques. Is all 4 tier of Technicians work under your category in all areas?

 

Ans. Yes. In all areas 4 tier of Technicians, along with one Group ‘D’ category besides clerk, material / stores clerk, OS, Ch.OS work under our category.

 

3. Ques. Who writes ACRs for Ch.OS who are working in office of SSE?

 

Ans. Respective AMWs/AEs/AEEs etc.

 

4. Ques. Why can’t SSE write ACRs for Ch.OS who are working in their office?

 

Ans. SSEs who are in the same GP of Rs.4600 cannot write the ACRs for Ch.OS.

 

5. Ques. Who writes ACRs of Senior Technicians who work under JEs?

 

Ans. Senior Technicians’ ACR are written by SSEs

 

6. Ques. What would be the reason for non application of common multiplication factor of 3.25 to SSE (S-13) scale by 5th CPC?

 

Ans. i. 5th CPC had applied common multiplication factor of 3.25 to all scales except to SSE (S-13) scale.

ii. This had been done merely to accommodate a new scale in Gazd scale (Rs.7500-12000) above S-13.

iii. SSE scale had been kept Rs.50 below than Rs.7500, ie.Rs.7450.

 

7. Ques. How the disadvantage of non-application 3.25 multiplication factor carried through to 6th CPC?

 

Ans. i. Initially 5th CPC recommended Rs.7000-11500 to SSE compressing it to accommodate the newly introduced Gazetted scale.

 

ii. If 3.25 multiplication factor had been followed by 5th CPC, the scale would have been placed in 8000-12000 by the 5th CPC and correspondingly Rs.5400 GP in 6th CPC.

 

iii. After the implementation of 5th CPC recommendations, based on demand from staff side when Govt. decided to modify the scale of SSE (S-13) instead of placing it in scale 8000-12000, it had been decided to modify minimum of the scale from Rs.7000 to Rs.7450 to keep it below newly created scale of Rs.7500-12000.

 

iv. Since corresponding increase of Rs.450 had not been done for maximum of scale, Span of the scale has been reduced to 18 years which was 20 years for all other scales.

 

v. The principle of 6th CPC to calculate the Grade Pay as 40% of maximum of the fifth pay commission scales put SSE scale in further disadvantageous position since maximum of scale was low because of 18 years span & non application of 3.25 multiplication factor.

 

8. Ques. You said that there were proposals sent to Finance Ministry from Railway Ministry to upgrade the Grade Pay of SSE from Rs.4600 to Rs.4800 and that have been returned back without throwing proper light into it, can you produce copy of the proposals?

 

The proposals and communications between both the Ministries were very well available with Railway Board. (Later Secretary Pay Commission confirmed availability of Railway Board proposals sent to Fin. Ministry) (Copy of it is also attached herewith as Annexure – 14/2)

 

9. Ques. Is there any link available between the cadre of Group ‘C’ and ‘B’?

 

Ans. No. Promotional avenue from Technical Supervisors in Group ‘C’ to Group ‘B’ is restricted to the vacancies arising from 4200 Group ‘B’ posts, which may be around 0.5% only.

 

10. Ques. As you said, Previous Pay Commissions recommended Group ‘B’ status to your scale DoPT also given their orders, it is only Railway Ministry not followed the classification, is it not Railways to take decision?

 

Ans. i. It is true that Railways have not implemented the classification of posts recommended by Pay Commissions & DoPT orders.

 

ii. We bring to your notice, submission made by DoPT before 5th CPC that even though there were some exemptions in following the classification rules, but the effort was to ensure that posts carrying similar functions were given the same classification.

 

iii. Similarly placed posts in departments like CPWD, Ordinance Factory, MES, Department of Telecom etc, are all classified as Group ‘B’ Gazetted.

 

v. State Governments which are following central pay commission pattern have also followed DoPT orders in classification of posts.

 

v. Railway Board also agreed on the need to increase the managerial posts (from the senior supervisor) on functional justification, but didn’t implement.

 

vi. Hon’ble 7th CPC is requested to give specific instruction for Railways not to deviate from classification rules recommended for all Government Departments.

 

11. Ques. What are all the reasons for lack of promotion to your category?

 

Ans. i. Recruitment happens in the apex scale of Group ‘C’ in the Grade Pay of Rs.4600 with Graduate in Engineering qualification and Railways is the only dept which recruit Engineering Graduates in Group ‘C’.

 

ii. Available Group ‘B’ posts are very meagre to the extent of 4200.

 

iii. For example in Mechanical department of Integral Coach Factory sanctioned cadre strength of Group ‘B’ is only 16. Cadre strength of Technical Supervisors in Mechanical Department (JE & SSE) is 1200. There are roughly 60 Engineering Graduate entrants available many of them completed 20 years of service. There is not enough opportunity available because of meagre Group ‘B’.

 

iv. Confining Cadre Restructure within each Group C, B & A was the main cause of stagnation in Group C.

 

v. Combined cadre structure for Group ‘A’, ‘B’ & ‘C’ is not available in Railways.

 

vi. Apex scale of SSE never received the benefit of Cadre Restructuring.

 

vii. Upgradation from Group ‘D’ to Group ‘C’ and from Group ‘B’ to Group ‘A’ is being done in Railways, but no upgradation done from Group ‘C’ to Group ‘B’.

 

viii. Ratio of Group A& B Gazetted officers vis-à-vis Group C are the lowest on the Railways as compared to all other Departments.

 

ix. During previous 8 years number of Group-B employees in Central Govt Departments have increased by 36% even though employee strength reduced by 25%, But Railways never increased Group ‘B’ posts.

 

x. Gazetted posts were not increased in tune with increase of Railways performance including financial performance. Railways outlay was increased from Rs.60,600 crores during 10th plan to Rs.5.5 lakh crore during 12th plan Railways. Many of increased activities / work load are being managed by outsourcing, since there is negative growth in staff strength.

 

Source: http://www.irtsa.net/pdfdocs/Supplementary_Memorandum_to_7th_CPC.pdf

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