Central Government mulls raising retirement age of Group A officers

Central Government mulls raising retirement age of Group A officers.

New Delhi:The central government is taking into consideration suggestions to raise the retirement age of Group A officers to accommodate the increasing number of senior bureaucrats in administration.
A top official of Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) on condition of anonymity said there had been active discussion over the matter and DoPT had received views from certain stakeholders to review the retirement age of Group A officers.

He however said that any changes made to the retirement age of Group A officers would not be done in the near time as a lot of engagements with stakeholders need to be done first.

"The government is looking into that, in fact DoPT has received suggestions that the kind of acumen the Group A officers achieve by the time they reach the age of 60 should be put to use for another two years.
So, the government is seriously thinking of enhancing the retirement age of the Central Group A officers to 62 to cover the cost of ageing population.

"Amongst 48.85 lakh central government employees, 85% are holding Group-'C' posts and 12% are holding Group-'B' posts whereas employees holding Group -'A' posts are only about 3%," he said.

The official said any proposal to increase the retirement age of the Central Group A officers would not be hampering the financial heath of the government as only 3 per cent regular Group A officers, who will get this facility.

Besides Central Group A officers, it will also be implemented to All India Service officers (IAS, IPS and IFS), he confirmed.

He added increasing the bar on retirement age would halt the job progress of those in the lower position to get promoted.

"If government keep raising, those who are supposed to be promoted will be affected … the government accept the idea but government needs to study it thoroughly," he also said.
Earlier Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India has more than 65% of its population below the age of 35, but at the moment the government plans to increase the retirement age of Group A officers as average life expectancy rises.

There are several secretaries heading different departments have to cross their retirement age, but now they may be retained by the government owing to their experience and expertise.

Accepting of E-Aadhaar as Prescribed Proof of Identity for Reserved Journey

ACCEPTING OF E-AADHAAR AS PRESCRIBED PROOF OF IDENTITY FOR RESERVED JOURNEY

Ministry of Railways has decided to incorporate downloaded Aadhaar (e-Aadhaar) as prescribed proof of identity at par with printed Aadhaar card as mentioned in the list of prescribed proofs of identity which are valid for undertaking journey in trains in reserved class. Railway passengers may carry anyone of the below identity proof while travelling in reserved class coaches :

1.Voter Photo Identity Card issued by Election Commission of India
2.Passport
3.PAN Card issued by Income Tax Department
4.Driving Licence issued by RTO
5.Photo Identity Card having serial number issued by Central/State Government.
6.Student Identity Card with photograph issued by recognized School/College for their Students.
7.Nationalised Bank Passbook with Photograph
8.Credit Cards issued by Banks with laminated photograph
9.Printed unique identification card "Aadhaar" or downloaded Aadhaar (e-Aadhaar).
10. Ration Card with photograph of passenger travelling.

Introduction of Special Leave connected to inquiry of Sexual Harassment

Introduction of Special Leave connected to inquiry of Sexual Harassment

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
RAILWAY BOARD

RBE No.51/2017

E(P&A)I-2017/CPC/LE-3

New Delhi, dated 29.05.2017

The General Managers and FA&CAOs
All Indian Railways & Production Units.

Sub: Introduction of Special Leave connected to inquiry of Sexual Harassment.
Consequent upon the decision taken by the Government, the President is pleased to decide that the following rule may be inserted in the Railway Service (Liberalised Leave) Rules, 1949 in respect of female railway employees:-

Special Leave connected to inquiry of sexual harassment – Leave upto a period of 90 days may be granted to an aggrieved female Railway Servant on the recommendation of the Internal Committee or the Local Committee, as the case may be, during the pendency of inquiry under Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 and the leave granted to the aggrieved female Railway Servant under this rule shall not be debited against the leave account.

2. This rule takes effect from the date, the notification was published by the Department of Personnel and Training viz. 15th March, 2017.

3. The provisions of the Railway Service (Liberalised Leave) Rules, 1949 are contained in Chapter-5 of Indian Railway Establishment Code (IREC), Volume-I, 1985 Edition (Reprint Edition-2008). In view of this, in exercise of the powers conferred by the proviso to Article 309 of the Constitution, the president is pleased to direct that a new para 551(F) may be inserted in Chapter-5 of the Indian Railway Establishment Code, Volume - l, 1985 Edition (Reprint Edition-2008) as per enclosed Advance Correction Slip -132.

4. This issues with the concurrence of the Finance Directorate of the Ministry of Railways.

5. Please acknowledge receipt.
DA:- Correction Slip.

sd/-
(Anil Kumar)
Railway Board

Authority: http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/

7th Central Pay Commission Higher Allowance - Central Government Employees

7th Central Pay Commission Higher Allowance - Central Government Employees

Extension of time limit for forwarding of 7th CPC Anomalies for consideration in the Departmental Anomaly Committee

Extension of time limit for forwarding of 7th CPC Anomalies for consideration in the Departmental Anomaly Committee

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
(RAILWAY BOARD)

No. PC-VII/2016/DAC/1

New Delhi, dated 25/05/2017

The General Secretary,
All India Railwaymen's Federation
4, State Entry Road,
New Delhi - 110055.

The General Secretary
National Federation of
Indian Railwaymen,
3 Chemsford Road,
New Delhi - 110055

Dear Sirs,
Sub:- Extension of time limit for forwarding of 7th CPC Anomalies for consideration in the Departmental Anomaly Committee - regarding.

The undersigned is directed to say that in partial modification of this Ministry’s letter of even no. dated 05.10.2016, the time limits for receipt and disposal of anomalies, as mentioned in paragraph 4 of the letter are amended as under

(i) The time limit for receipt of anomalies is extended by three months from the date of expiry of receiving anomalies: i.e. from 04.04.2017 to 04.07.2017; and

(ii) The time limit for disposal of anomalies is extended by three months from the date of expiry of one year for the date of expiry of one year from the date of its constitution i.e. from 04.10.2017 to 04.01.2018.

Yours faithfully,

For Secretary, Railway Board

Signed Copy

7th Pay Commission Allowances related report submitted to Cabinet by Empowered Committee Secretaries

7th Pay Commission Allowances related report submitted to Cabinet by Empowered Committee Secretaries

Highest HRA at 27% as against 30% demanded by Staff Side


As per Zee Business News report, Empowered Committee of Secretaries has presented its report on 7th Pay Commission Allowances to Cabinet for its approval. It is further reported that Cabinet is likely take crucial decision on this issue involving around 50 lakh Central Government Employees during next Week.
Earlier, the Lavasa Committee appointed by the Govt for examining the Allowances related recommendations of 7th Pay Commission submitted its report to Govt recently. Following the usual procedure of examination by Empowered Committee of Secretaries in the case of Financial decision to be taken by Cabinet, the report relating to 7th Pay Commission allowances was also examined by Empowered Committee.

The Empowered Committee of Secretaries (E-CoS) has submitted its report on higher allowances like House Rent Allowance (HRA), Dearness Allowance (DA) and Transport Allowance (TA) under 7th Pay Commission (7th CPC) to Union Cabinet, sources told Alok Priyadarshi of Zee News.

However, the demand of the central government employees that HRA of 10%, 20% and 30% on revised 7th CPC Pay based on classes of cities was not considered in favourably, reports Zee News. Instead, Empowered Committee have recommended highest HRA slab ranging between 25%-27% of the basic as against demand of 30%

7th Pay Commission has earlier recommended house rent allowance at the 24%, 16% and 8% of the 7th CPC revised Basic Pay for Class X, Class Y and Class Z cities respectively.

If the report of the Empowered Committee is acceptable to the Cabinet, it more likely that final decision on revision of 7th Pay Commission Allowances will be taken by Cabinet next week.

National Pension System - New Functionalities to provide benefits of subscribers and nodal offices

National Pension System - New Functionalities to provide benefits of subscribers and nodal offices

Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) takes various initiatives from time to time in order to simplify and improve the operational issues in National Pension System (NPS) like new functionality development under NPS architecture, simplification of account opening, withdrawal, grievance management etc. In this regard, recently many new functionalities have been released by the Central Recordkeeping Agency (CRA) to provide the ease of operation for the benefit of subscribers and nodal offices. These are detailed below:

Functionalities for NPS subscribers:

S.N	Functionalities	Brief Description
1	Online Submission of Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) Declaration	In-order to facilitate quick FATCA compliance, facility to submit online FATCA Self-declaration has been provided to the subscriber in their CRA login (www.cra-nsdl.com). The information regarding the said functionality is also made available on CRA websites. The steps to be followed by the subscriber to submit online FATCA self-declaration are also available on the website.
2	Interoperability between CRAs	Karvy Computershare Pvt. Ltd. (KCRA) was selected as a second CRA under NPS. Now, Subscribers/ Nodal Offices have option to open permanent retirement account with either of the CRAs. The existing Subscriber can also select CRA of his/her choice. To facilitate migration of Subscriber across CRAs (Karvy- CRA to NSDL- CRA and NSDL-CRA to Karvy- CRA), the CRA Interoperability functionality has been developed. The Subscriber will be required to approach target CRA to initiate the shifting request, the target CRA will facilitate the shifting request under NPS. Inter CRA shifting request will be allowed once in a financial year.
3.	New features under eNPS	1. Hindi version of eNPS module The bilingual version of eNPS module has been developed for convenience of NPS Subscriber. The Subscriber shall have option to choose the desired language option (either English or Hindi) for Registration and/or Contribution through eNPS. 2. eSign for Aadhaar based Registration In case of registration through Aadhaar, it was mandatory for Subscriber to submit physical Application Form within 90 days of completion of registration under eNPS. eSign facility (Aadhaar e-KYC services) has been integrated with eNPS platform to enable the Subscriber to sign his/her PRAN Application electronically. This process has eliminated the requirement of submission of physical documents to CRA. 3. New Payment Gateway - Bill Desk In eNPS, along with SBI ePay, Bill Desk has been integrated as the second Payment Gateway Service Provider. This will help the Subscriber to make payment through any service provider as per his/her choice by selecting the available payment options. Addition of Billdesk as new payment gateway has ensured participation of new banks which were not part of SBl e-Payment gateway especially AXIS Bank and HDFC Bank.
4.	New features in NPS Mobile App	1. Tier II Withdrawal Subscriber can now initiate Tier II account withdrawal under NPS using Mobile App. The Subscriber will log into the App with their User ID and password. An option to select Tier II withdrawal and generate One Time Password (OTP) is available in Mobile App. On entering the correct OTP, Subscriber will have an option to select mode of Withdrawal - (i) lump sum (amount), or (ii) scheme wise units. Once the option is selected and relevant details are submitted by the Subscriber, the same will get executed in the CRA system and funds will get transferred to Subscriber's Bank Account registered with CRA. 2. Aadhaar Seeding The Subscriber can now link his/her Aadhaar to NPS account using Mobile App. The Subscriber will log into the App with his/her User ID & password and select the option of ‘Add/Update Aadhaar Number'. The option will be available to the Subscriber to provide his/her Aadhaar. Once Aadhaar is entered, the details of Subscriber registered under NPS will get authenticated with details available in UIDAI database. Post authentication, an OTP will be sent to the Subscriber's mobile number registered with UIDAI. The Subscriber will enter the OTP and on entering the correct OTP, Aadhaar will get seeded for the PRAN. 3. Reset password using OTP Subscriber can now reset his/her password using Mobile App through OTP. The Subscriber is required to enter his/her PRAN, Date of Birth and set his/her new password and generate OTP. On entering the correct OTP received on his/her mobile (registered with CRA), the password becomes active. This option is in addition to the option of resetting password using secret question.
5.	New features under Atal Pension Yojana (APY)	1. ePRAN Card and Transaction Statement The facility to download and/or print ePRAN Card and Transaction Statement is made available to APY Subscriber. The APY Subscriber can access their ePRAN Card and Transaction Statement through CRA NPS Lite website (www.npslite-nsdl.com). The Subscriber have an option to search their ePRAN Card and Transaction Statement with/without PRAN details. The Subscriber are then required to provide minimum details like PRAN and Bank Account Number or Subscriber Name, Bank Account Number and Date or birth registered in the CRA system under APY. 2. Alert for Grievances An Email/SMS alert (along with Token No.) is sent to APY Subscriber on generation and resolution of a grievance in CRA system.

Functionalities for Nodal Offices:

S. N.	Functionalities	Brief Description
1.	Online Subscriber Registration by DDOs	The facility to register Subscriber online using Online PRAN Generation Module (OPGM) is made available to Drawing and Disbursing Office (DDOs) for Government Sector. The DDOs can capture the Subscriber registration details online in the CRA system.  The details entered by DDO needs to be verified by associated PAOs. On verification of registration details in the CRA system, PRAN gets generated online. This facility is an extension to the functionality already available with Pay & Account Offices (PAOs).
2.	Enhancement in Central Grievance Management System (CGMS)	1. Standard Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) along with answers against respective query category are now available to Subscriber & Entity (raising grievance on behalf of NPS Subscriber) in CGMS. The Subscriber raising any query through CGMS will have a provision to view the FAQs & relevant answers based on the category of grievance selected. 2. The fortnightly email alerts are sent to the Nodal Office for pending grievances. Now, these alerts are enhanced to have the details of all pending grievances. 3. A facility is provided to Nodal Office under NPS Lite and APY to download the pending referrals for associated Subscriber. Also, email alerts will be sent to NPS Lite and APY Offices for all grievances raised & resolved during the day. 4. The fortnightly email alerts will be sent to Oversight Offices under NPS Lite and APY regarding the grievances which are pending for more than 15 days under CGMS.
3.	Error Rectification Module (ERM)	An ERM request can be processed by the Nodal Office through whom the contributions were uploaded in CRA system. In addition, now in case of State Govt., the facility to perform a single ERM transaction on behalf of all the underlying Nodal Offices is provided to the Oversight Office. This will save efforts and time of multiple ERM requests being captured by different Nodal Offices.
4.	Online Corporate Registration	A facility for online registration is enabled for Corporates through eNPS platform. Corporate is required to provide the requisite registration details and select a POP for association and submission of the relevant documents for further processing. The registration details captured by the Corporate are to be authorized by associated POP.
5.	Retirement Adviser:	The Retirement Advisers (RAs) are appointed by PFRDA to engage in the activity of providing advice on NPS thereby to extend the reach of NPS. The RAs can be an individual, registered partnership firm, body corporate, or any registered Trust or society. The online platform has been developed and released in the CRA system to facilitate registration of an individual/entity as RA.
6.	Withdrawal Reports / MIS in Nodal Office login	Additional reports related to Withdrawal have now been made available to Nodal Offices for better monitoring: a) Physical withdrawal forms received but online withdrawal request not processed b) Non Receipt of Physical Forms for online withdrawal processed cases c) Online withdrawal requests pending for authorization
7.	New CRA Toll Free Helpline	Dedicated toll free number (1800222081) is made available to Nodal Offices for contacting CRA regarding their general queries / complaints.  This is in addition to an existing toll free number (1800222080) available for NPS Subscribers.

Source : PIB

15th Meeting of the GST Council to be held tomorrow, 3rd June, 2017

15th Meeting of the GST Council to be held tomorrow, 3rd June, 2017

Approval of amendments to the draft GST Rules and related forms and Finalisation of the rates of tax and cess on the remaining commodities are on the Agenda among others for tomorrow's meeting.

The Union Minister for Finance, Defence and Corporate Affairs, Shri Arun Jaitley will chair the 15th Meeting of the GST Council scheduled to be held tomorrow, i.e., Saturday, 3rd June, 2017 at Vigyan Bhavan in the national capital. This meeting is important because it is likely to finalize the rates of tax and cess to be levied on the commodities remaining after the fitment exercise in the 14th GST Council Meeting. Besides it, approval of amendments to the draft GST Rules and related Forms are also on the agenda among others of the aforesaid one day meeting. The meeting is likely to be attended by the Finance Ministers of different States/UTs being the member of the GST Council along with the senior officers.

PIB

Compilation of information about appointments made on the basis of fake/ false caste certificates and follow up action taken thereon

Compilation of information about appointments made on the basis of fake/ false caste certificates and follow up action taken thereon

No.36027/1/2017-Estt. (Res)
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions
Department of Personnel and Training
Establishment (Res-I) Section

North Block, New Delhi
Dated June 1, 2017

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Subject: Compilation of information about appointments made on the basis of fake/ false caste certificates and follow up action taken thereon - regarding


This Department have been 3 receiving references from various Ministries/ Departments regarding appointments made on the basis of fake/ false caste certificates despite the instructions contained in the Department’s OM. No. 11012/1/91-Estt.(A) dated 19.05.1993, which have been re-iterated vide OM. No. 3601 1/1/2012 Estt.(Res.) dated 10.01.2013. The instructions provide that if it is found that a Government servant had furnished false information or produced a false certificate in order to secure appointment, he should not be retained in service. Thus when an appointing authority comes to know that an employee had submitted a false/ fake caste certificate, it has to initiate action to remove or dismiss such an employee from service as per the provisions  of relevant Service Rules.


2. It has been decided to collect information from all the Ministries /Departments about appointments made on the basis of fake/ false caste certificates and follow up action taken thereon. Therefore, all the Ministries /Departments are requested to collect information from all Organisations under their administrative control about the cases where the candidates got/ alleged to have got appointment against vacancies reserved for Scheduled Cates, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes on the basis of false/ fake caste certificate and send a consolidated report in this regard in the enclosed Proforma to this Department by 15.07.2017 positively.

Encls: As above.

sd/-
(Raju Saraswat)
Under Secretary to the Government of India

Source: www.dopt.gov.in

Gratitude expressed on the Government decisions on the VII Central Pay Commission recommendations

Gratitude expressed on the Govt decisions on the VII Central Pay Commission recommendations

No.SG/BPS/17/2017

Dated: 31.5.2017

To
Dr.Jitendra Singh
Hon'ble Minister of State,
(Independent Charge)
Govt. of India
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions,
New Delhi - 110001

Sub: Gratitude expressed on the Govt decisions on the VII Central Pay Commission recommendations - reg.

Respected Sir,

1. Bharat Pensioners Samaj a conglomerate of over 725 Pensioners Associations while expressing its gratitude to Govt. of India for the benevolent decision on the VII Central Pay Commission recommendations on the revision of Pension based on the 'Notional Pay' on last pay drawn basis.

2.Sir, the VII Central Pay Commissions recommendations as well as benefit of revised 'Dearness Relief' have not been implemented in respect of Pensioners retired from the Central Government autonomous bodies under various Central Ministries of Govt of India undertakings and Public Sector undertakings who are eligible to received Pension under CCS(Pension)Rules from the Govt. of India. Kindly order the early revision of Pension with Dearness Relief at the revised rates.

3.  The VII Central Pay Commission has recommended the extension of CGHS benefits to Postal Pensioners as well as takeover of remaining Postal Dispensaries. The VII Central Pay Commission also recommended the introduction of comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme for the Central Government employees and pensioners. These recommendations remain unimplemented so far. The excessive revision of CGHS subscription also causing hardships to the Pensioners.

The Hon'ble Minister may kindly order the examination of these issues and order remedial measures at his earliest convenience.

Thanking you.

Yours faithfully,
sd/-
S.C.Maheshwari
Genl Secy. Bharat Pensioners Samaj

Source: BPS