Seventh Pay Commissions report to be implemented ahead of states elections in May

Seventh Pay Commissions report to be implemented ahead of states elections in May

New Delhi: Ahead of the states’ assembly elections in May’ 2016, the Central government may implement the recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission after receiving the report of the pay panel within this year, which will benefit 50 lakh central government employees and 56 lakh pensioners including dependents.

“The central government will decide execution time of the pay commission’s proposals after the pay panel submits its report, which will be possible pre-election “special packages” for West Bengal, Assam, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, which are all due for polls by May 2016,” an official of the Finance Ministry said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Just like one rank one pension (OROP) was announced by Modi government on 5th of this month ahead of Bihar Assembly election despite huge financial burden to get majority seats of his party in Bihar Assembly.

OROP announcement not only is pre-election BJP’s special package but also Union cabinet approved six percent increase in DA for central government employees on Wednesday, making the total to 119 percent, on a day the Election Commission announced poll dates for Bihar is a move that would benefit the BJP in Bihar Assembly Election.

Accordingly, JD (U) leader K C Tyagi said, “The Modi government gave a ‘political bribe’ to voters. I welcome the DA hike for central government employees, but, I feel the, timing of the announcement is not correct.”

BJP needs to win most state elections in the next four years to gain control of the Rajya Sabha, where seats are distributed based on the strength of parties in state assemblies.

A defeat for Prime Minister Narendra Modi would harm his chances of consolidating power in parliament, where his reform agenda is being blocked because his party is in the minority in the Rajya Sabha.

So, Modi led BJP government is ready to give any sop to win states assemblies electons.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on August 30, that report of Seventh Pay Commission for central government employees was coming shortly.

However, Chairman of the Seventh Pay Commission, Justice Ashok Kumar Mathur told PTI on August 25, “The Commission will submit its report by the end of September.”

Now, it is expected that recommendations of Seventh Pay Commission, will be implemented before the announcement of West Bengal, Assam, Kerala and Tamil Nadu states assemblies’ election in May 2016.

The Seventh Pay Commission, which was set up by the UPA government, was required to submit its report by August-end.The government constitutes the Pay Commission almost every 10 years to revise the pay scale of its employees and often these are adopted by states after some modifications.

The Commission has already completed discussions with various stakeholders, including organisations, federations, groups representing civil employees as well as Defence services and is in the process of finalising its recommendations.

The recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission are scheduled to come into effect from January 1, 2016.

The Sixth Pay Commission was implemented with effect from January 1, 2006, the fifth from January 1, 1996 and the fourth from January 1, 1986.

TST

6% DA hike from July 2015 – Central Cabinet approved yesterday

6% DA hike from July 2015 – Central Cabinet approved yesterday

“The central cabinet has given its approval yesterday to a six percent hike in dearness allowance from July 2015 onwards, for Central Government employees and pensioners.”

Central Government employees and pensioners get two dearness allowance hikes each year. The dearness allowance for the period of months between January to June is given in March; the DA hike for July to December is given in September.

Accordingly, the second installment of Dearness Allowance, for the months of July to December, has been fixed at 6 percent. The cabinet gave its approval yesterday. The current DA of 113% will, from 01.07.2015 onwards, increase to 119%.

Following the hike, Central Government employees will get a minimum increment of Rs.420 per month. The increase is dependent on the basic pay(Band Pay + Grade Pay) of the employees. For example, let us consider an employee who has been working for 25 years, and receives a basic pay of Rs.16,000 per month. He will get a DA hike of Rs.960.

The current method of calculation of DA was prescribed by the 6th Pay Commission. The method, which has been in effect for nearly ten years now, will be used one last installment to calculate the DA of January (01.01.2016). The subsequent Dearness Allowance calculations will be made based on the method recommended by the 7th Pay Commission. The Commission is expected to submit its recommendations to the Centre by December this year. The recommended revised method of calculations for DA in the report will be follow to arrive DA from 1.1.2016.

Towards the end of this month, the Ministry of Finance will issue relevant orders to give out six percent DA payment to the Central Government employees and pensioners. Only then will the increased DA be given to the employees, along with the arrears of the past two months (July and August).

78 cities were selected from all over the country and the fluctuations in the prices of essential commodities in these cities are tracked. These fluctuations are used to calculate the monthly points (CPI-IW BY 2001 = 100), which are further used to arrive at the dearness allowance.

Source: Govtenews

Privilege Pass, PTO, Post Retirement Complimentary Pass from next year’s account should be issued 5 months in advance

Privilege Pass/PTO/Post Retirement Complimentary Pass from next year’s account should be issued 5 months in advance: Railway Board Order
 

Government of India

Ministry of‘Railways

(Railway Board)

No. E(W) 2007/PS5-1/9

New Delhi dated 02.09.2015

General Manager (P)
Eastern Railway
Kolkata.

Sub: Issue of advance Pass from next year’s account.

Ref: ER’s letter No.G470/0/1/XlV/P dated 31.08.2015.

With reference to ER’s letter cited above, it is advised that Privilege Pass/PTO/Post Retirement Complimentary Pass from next year’s account should be issued 5 months in advance in terms of amendments made to the Railway Servants (Pass) Rules, 1986 (Second Edition-1993) through ACS No.73, issued vide Board’s letter of even number dated 26.03.2012 which are reproduced below:-

Item 3 (xiv) of Schedule-II (Privilege Pass/PTO):-

When an employee has availed all passes due to him/her in a calendar year, one set of passes and/or one set of PTO may be issued to him/her for journeys commencing in the next year only and the Pass/PTO may be debited to the next year’s pass account. Such advance issue of Pass/PTO should not exceed one month more than the Advance Reservation Period i.e. five months at present, of the current year, in general, from the date of issue.

Item (i) under column 4 “other facilities” of Schedule-IV (PRCP):-

A retired Railway Servant may be issued on his/her request one set of Complimentary Pass one month more than the Advance Reservation Period ie. five months at present, in general, in advance of the current calendar year from the date of issue for journeys commencing in the next year duly debiting such issue of Complimentary pass in the next year’s account.

2. Accordingly, passes debitable to next year’s account and valid for travel in January 2016 may issue in September 2015.

(Debasis Mazumdar)

Director Estt.(Welfare)

Railway Board

Source: Indianrailways.gov.in
[http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/railwayboard/uploads/directorate/establishment/E%28W%29/2015/Issue_Adcance%20_Pass_090915.pdf]

Release of additional instalment of Dearness Allowance to Central Government employees and Dearness Relief to Pensioners due from 1.7.2015

Release of additional instalment of Dearness Allowance to Central Government employees and Dearness Relief to Pensioners due from 1.7.2015

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved release of an additional instalment of Dearness Allowance (DA) to Central Government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) to Pensioners w.e.f. 01.07.2015. This represents an increase of 6 percent over the existing rate of 113 percent of the Basic Pay/Pension, to compensate for price rise.

This will benefit about 50 lakh Government employees and 56 lakh pensioners.

The increase is in accordance with the accepted formula, which is based on the recommendations of the 6th Central Pay Commission (CPC). The combined impact on the exchequer on account of both Dearness Allowance and Dearness Relief would be in the order of Rs. 6655.14 crore per annum and Rs.4436.76 crore in the financial year 2015-16 (for a period of 8 months from July, 2015 to February, 2016).

PIB

Bonus Ceiling – NFIR writes to Railway Minister to remove of calculation ceiling for the purpose of payment of productivity Linked Bonus (PLB)

Bonus Ceiling – NFIR writes to Railway Minister to remove of calculation ceiling for the purpose of payment of productivity Linked Bonus (PLB)

Payment of Productivity Linked Bonus (PLB) – Removal of Calculation Ceiling

NFIR
National Federation of Indian Railwaymen
3,Chelmsford Road, New Delhi – 110 055

No.1/10/Part IV

Dated 08/09/2015

Shri Suresh Prabhu,
Hon’ble Minister for Railways
Railway Bhavan,
New Delhi.

Respected Sir,

Sub: Payment of Productivity Linked Bonus (PLB) – Removal of calculation ceiling – reg.
Ref: Item No.4 of 55 Point Charter of Demands of NFIR

Kind attention is invited to the announcement made by the Government of India, Ministry of Labour and Employment on 1st September 2015, conveyed through press Information Bureau, extract of item no.2 the subject reproduced below:-

For the purpose of bonus, the wage eligibility limit and calculation ceiling would be appropriately revised. It is proposed to revise the wage eligibility limit from Rs.10,000 to Rs.21,000 and calculation ceiling from Rs.3500 to Rs.7,000 or the minimum wage notified by the appropriate Government for that category of employment, whichever is higher, with the proposed revision of the minimum wages, the average calculation ceiling would be about Rs.10,000.

In the light of the Government’s announcement as mentioned above. NFIR requests the Hon’ble MR to kindly arrange to take action for removal of calculation ceiling for the purpose of payment of productivity Linked Bonus (PLB) to Railway employees. Incidentally it is mentioned that in the past, as and when the Government had revised the calculation ceiling, the Ministry of Railways have accordingly paid P.L. Bonus to employees.

Yours faithfully
sd/-
(Dr.M.Raghavaiah)
General Secretary

Source: NFIR

Central Government Pensioners above 100 Years

Central Government Pensioners above 100 Years

The number of pensioners above 100 years of age drawing pension from Banks (PSBs) is 1774

An interesting question raised in Rajya Sabha on 4th August 2015 by the Hon’ble Member Shri Ahmed Patel regarding the Central Government Pensioners above 100 years. The Minister of State for Finance Shri Jayant Sinha replied as follows…

The number of pensioners above 100 years of age drawing pension from Banks (PSBs) is 1774, details at Annex. The Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare (DOPPW) in a meeting held on 12.06.2015 with the concerned stakeholders in which common deficiencies in the banks’ data regarding Date of Birth, Mobile number, address of pensioner, Aadhaar numbers and number of pensioners over the age of 100 years were discussed. Banks with large number of pensioners above 100 years of age and having large number of records without date of birth of pensioners, mobile and Aadhaar numbers were asked to launch special drives and update their database. The Central Pension Accounting Office (CPAO) has issued instructions to banks to accept self-certification regarding marriage, income and non-employment. The banks should share master data along with Aadhaar numbers with CPAO for reconciliation of records.

Annex referred to in reply to parts (a)of Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1673 for 04.08.2015 by Shri Ahmed Patel regarding Pensioners above 100 years

S.No.	Bank Name	No. of pensioners drawing pension from Banks above 100 years
1	STATE BANK OF INDIA	792
2	STATE BANK OF BIKANER & JAIPUR	57
3	STATE BANK OF HYDERABAD	1
4	STATE BANK OF MYSORE	23
5	STATE BANK OF PATIALA	43
6	STATE BANK OF TRAVANCORE	18
7	ALLAHABAD BANK	78
8	ANDHRA BANK	1
9	BANK OF BARODA	20
10	BANK OF INDIA	18
11	BANK OF MAHARASHTRA	2
12	CANARA BANK	12
13	CENTRAL BANK OF INDIA	563
14	CORPORATION BANK	0
15	DENA BANK	3
16	INDIAN BANK	14
17	INDIAN OVERSEAS BANK	0
18	ORIENTAL BANK OF COMMERCE	4
19	PUNJAB AND SIND BANK	1
20	PUNJAB NATIONAL BANK	75
21	SYNDICATE BANK	9
22	UCO BANK	32
23	UNION BANK OF INDIA	7
24	UNITED BANK OF INDIA	1
25	VIJAYA BANK	0
26	IDBI BANK LIMITED	0
27	BHARATIYA MAHILA BANK	0
	Total	1774

Source: http://rajyasabha.nic.in/

DA and DR from July to Dec 2015 – Cabinet Committee may approve tomorrow

DA and DR from July to Dec 2015 – Cabinet Committee may approve tomorrow

As per media news, the Cabinet committee in its meeting tomorrow is likely to approve an additional Dearness Allowance for Central Government employees due from July 2015.

The second installment of this year, from July to December 2015, an additional DA is finalized hike by 6% as per the calculations recommended by 6th CPC. Now the Central Government employees and pensioners are getting 113% DA and DR, after the declaration by the Cabinet Committee on DA, it will become 119%.

Central Government favours discontinuing interview for appointment to various posts

Government favours discontinuing interview for appointment to various posts

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh has said that the Union Government is in favour of doing away with the practice of holding interviews for appointment to junior level posts.

Presiding over a meeting of Principal Secretaries of General Administration Department (GAD)/Personnel from different States and Union Territories here today, Dr Jitendra Singh said that the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) has initiated a serious exercise for identifying the posts for which interview for selection can be discontinued and a communique in this regard has been sent to various State Governments, State Public Service Commissions and Staff Selection Commission. He said that this follows the suggestion put forward by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi during his Independence Day address to the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort.

Dr Jitendra Singh said that the government will soon identify all those posts, particularly at junior level like Group III & IV, where an interview is avoidable and will stop this practice. He said, for a post for which an interview is not necessary to determine the capability of a candidate, the provision of interview sometimes leads to scope for manipulation, manoeuvrability and corruption. Therefore, barring such posts where an interview would help in testing special capabilities for a particular assignment, abolition of the provision of interview will not only be in larger public interest but would also offer a level playing field for even those of the candidates who lack resources and come from lower socio-economic strata, he added.

Referring to some of the revolutionary decisions taken by the DoPT during the last 15 months of the present government, Dr Jitendra Singh made a special mention of the introduction of self-attestation of certificates. This, he said, not only eliminated inconvenience caused to the youth for going around to seek attestation of certificates from gazetted officers, etc., but also sent out a reassuring message that the present government has the capacity to trust the youth of this country. Similarly, he also referred to the Pension Department’s plans to finalise Pension Portal which would help in ending the practice of producing life certificates by a pensioner.

Dr Jitendra Singh also informed that a pilot exercise undertaken for three States of Jammu & Kashmir, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu had proved successful wherein, for the first time, an Induction training programme was introduced for the newly inducted State-level functionaries and the same practice is now being extended to other States as well. He also referred to a landmark decision by the DoPT to revise and revisit the pattern and syllabus of IAS and other Civil Services Exam to offer a level playing opportunity for aspirants from different streams.

The meeting was attended among others by Secretary, DoPT, Shri Sanjay Kothari, Secretary, Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances, Shri Devendra Chaudhry and Establishment Officer, DoPT, Shri Rajiv Kumar.

Source: PIB News

All you wanted to know about 7th Pay Commission?

All you wanted to know about 7th Pay Commission?

Government offices are currently buzzing with excitement as employees await the recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission. While the babus may have reason to smile as they may soon have more money in the pocket, it might not be equally good news for others.


What is it?
A Pay Commission is appointed by the government once every 10 years to look at the pay structure of Union and State government employees and pensioners. Typically, the commission takes 18 months to submit its report. The Seventh Pay Commission was constituted in February 2014 under the chairmanship of Justice Ashok Kumar Mathur to submit its recommendations by August 2015.


Pay commissions study the current pay scales and make recommendations on not just pay increases, but also pay structure. For example, the Sixth Pay Commission recommended that transport allowance, which was a lump-sum amount earlier, be paid along with a Dearness Allowance component. Likewise, the House Rent Allowance calculation was pegged to a percentage of pay. From the Seventh Pay Commission, there are expectations of tweaks to retirement age, performance-linked pay and flexible work hours for women and employees with disabilities, apart from pay hikes. The recommendations are expected to be effective from January 1, 2016. If there are delays, the pay revisions would be done with retrospective effect.


Why is it important?
For three reasons. One, it has an impact on government spending and fiscal deficit. For example, after the Sixth Pay Commission was implemented, the fiscal deficit that year doubled to 6 per cent in 2008-09, partly due to the resulting increases.

Currently, Central government pay and allowances account for 1 per cent of the country’s GDP. This could increase if the pay hikes are significant. Based on the medium-term expenditure framework presented to Parliament, a 16 per cent pay increase is likely from the Seventh Pay Commission. This could add 0.2-0.3 per cent of GDP by way of additional expenditure in 2016-17, estimates DBS.

Two, if the government sticks to its fiscal deficit targets, the higher outgo may entail cuts in other items of spending, including capital expenditure.

Three, pay increases granted by the commission can act as a stimulus to the economy by boosting the consumption leg of GDP. At last count, India employed 48 lakh Central government employees and 55 lakh pensioners and over one crore State and local government employees. The Fourteenth Finance Commission estimates that after the Sixth Pay Commission, pay and allowances to Central government employees more than doubled in a four-year period between 2007-08 and 2011-12.


Why should I care?
If you are a government employee, retiree or a job aspirant, you probably would be watching out eagerly for the report. As an investor, you can consider consumption as a theme to bet on — there is a co-relation between pay commission increases and discretionary spending in urban India. Higher disposable income in the hands of the people could aid automobile and property sales.

The country’s fiscal deficit is a cause for concern as it impacts tax policies.

The bottomline
Pay attention to the recommendations of this commission. It matters to the economy, to the deficit and to your portfolio.

Source: www.thehindubusinessline.com

Central Government Employees demand of date of effect from Jan 2014 is fully justified.

Central Government Employees demand of date of effect from Jan 2014 is fully justified.

Comrades,

Now the Government has announced the One Rank One Pension Scheme for Defence veterans. Its Highlights are as follows.

The benefit will be given with effect from 1st July, 2014. Arrears will be paid in four half-yearly instalments. All widows, including war widows, will be paid arrears in one instalment.

To begin with, OROP would be fixed on the basis of calendar year 2013. Pension will be re-fixed for all pensioners retiring in the same rank and with the same length of service as the average of minimum and maximum pension in 2013. Those drawing pensions above the average will be protected.

In future, the pension would be re-fixed every 5 years.

Now we should expect the 7th CPC report to be submitted in next three months( after Bihar Elections)
Now the Defence veterans are now having five years wage revision. The government has allowed Central Public Sector units to revise wages of all non-executive employees every five years instead of 10 years. Bank employees are having five years wage revision.

Why not Central Government employees have the same five years wage revision provided to others and have a permanent wage review body. Now our demand of Central Government employees by the staff side JCM for date of effect from Jan 2014 is fully justified by Government issuing orders for others for five years wage revision as in case of Defence veterans, Bank employees and Central Public Sector.

Comradely yours

(P.S.Prasad)
General Secretary

Source: http://karnatakacoc.blogspot.in/