Cabinet approved 6% DA and DR for Central Govt Employees and Pensioners due from 1.1.2016

Cabinet approved 6% DA and DR for Central Govt Employees and Pensioners due from 1.1.2016

Release of additional instalment of Dearness Allowance to Central Government employees and Dearness Relief to Pensioners due from 1.1.2016

Press Information Bureau
Government of India

23-March, 2016

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. 01.01.2016. This represents an increase of 6 percent over the existing rate of 119 percent of the Basic Pay/Pension, to compensate for price rise.

This will benefit about 50 lakh Government employees and 58 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 of Rs. 6796.50 crore per annum and Rs.7929.24 crore respectively, in the financial year 2016-17 (for a period of 14 months from January, 2016 to February, 2017).

PIB

Personal information under RTI Act

Personal information under RTI Act

The Department of Personnel and Training have been impressing upon the public authorities to disclose maximum information proactively, so that public at large need not file RTI applications to seek information held by the public authorities.

In this regard, it was brought to the notice of the public authorities from time to time that they may not disclose personal information of an individual as it does not serve any public interest.
Some of the stakeholders have objected to disclosure of personal information as it would put the lives of the information seekers at risk.

Based on directions from High Court of Kolkata in the matter of Shri Avishek Goenka Vs UOI and in the interest of stakeholders, the DOPT is inviting comments from the stakeholders on draft OM within 15 days. These comments may be sent to Shri R.K. Girdhar, US (RTI) through e-mail only at usrti-dopt@nic.in.

Click here for Draft OM

Training programme of Cook Category for Canteen Employees of Non-Statutory Departmental Canteens – Nominations from Ministries/Departments

Training programme of Cook Category for Canteen Employees of Non-Statutory Departmental Canteens – Nominations from Ministries/Departments

IMMEDIATE

No.25/1/2013-Dir.(C)
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, P.G. and Pensions
(Department of Personnel & Training)
*****

Lok Nayak Bhawan, Khan Market,
New Delhi, dated 22nd March, 2016

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Subject: Training programme of Cook Category for Canteen Employees of Non-Statutory Departmental Canteens – Nominations from Ministries/Departments – regarding.

The undersigned is directed to refer to this Department’s O.M. of even number dated 10th July, 2015 on the subject mentioned above and to say that various Ministries/Deptts. were requested to forward nominations of the canteen employees to impart training. The training programme is mandatory and will be organized in the Institute of Hotel Management/FCIs located across the country. The duration of the training programme would be 6 days. The schedule dates of training programmes would be intimated accordingly. TA/DA for trainees as admissible will be borne by the respective Ministry/Department.

2. The Indian Institute of Hotel Management, Pusa, New Delhi has intimated that they are organising two programmes for Cook Category starting from 18.04.2016 and 25.04.2016 and the dates of subsequent programmes would be informed in due course of time.

3. It is requested that all the Ministries/Department’s may please forward nominations of canteen employees in the enclosed proforma – I to the Department of Personnel and Training by 04.04.2016.

(Abhay Jain)
Under Secretary to the Govt. of India
Tel. No. 24646961

Encl As above.
To
1.All Ministries/Department of the Government of India as per standard list. (Director/Deputy Secretaries Incharge, Administrative Division/Wing) for necessary action/further dissemination to all concerned establishments under them.
2. Sh. Alok Shivpuri, Principal, Institute of Hotel Management, Catering and Nutrition, Pusa, New Delhi.
3. Ministry of Tourism (Shri Vijay Kumar, Consultant), C-1, Hutments, Dalhousie Road, New Delhi.

Proforma-I

Name of the
Ministries/Departments/Offices —————————————-

(For Delhi

S.No.	Designation	Name of the Employee	Remarks
1.	Halwai-cum-Cook
2.	Asstt. Halwai-cum-Cook
3.	Canteen Attendant

DOPT Circular

Vacancies of Assistant Director (Section Officer) and Assistant of CSS in Regional Offices of Staff Selection Commission

No.21/3/2015-CS-I(S)
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions
Department of Personnel & Training

2nd Floor, Lok Nayak Bhawan, Khan Market
New Delhi, the 22nd March, 2016

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Subject: Vacancies of Assistant Director (Section Officer) and Assistant of CSS in Regional Offices of Staff Selection Commission – regarding

The undersigned is directed to refer to this Department’s OM of even number dated 30.11.2015, wherein vacancies of Assistant Directors (Section Officer) and Assistants of CSS in various regional offices of Staff Selection Commission were circulated. As no applications have been received against the following posts, it has been decided to re-circulate these vacancies:

Sl. No.	Name of the post	SSC Regional Office	No. of vacancies
1.	Assistant Director (SO)	Raipur	01
2.	Assistant	Raipur	01

2. Ministries/Departments are once again requested to circulate these vacancies among CSS officers and forward applications of willing officers to CS-I Division, DoPT by 15th April, 2016. The applications should be submitted in the format enclosed. While forwarding applications, vigilance status of the officer should also be indicated.

(Chandra Shekhar)
Under Secretary to the Govt. of India
Ph:24624046

To
All the Ministries/Departments of Government of India
(Under Secretary (Admn.Estt.))

Click to see the ANNEXURE

Tax benefit available under National Pension System (NPS)

Tax benefit available under National Pension System (NPS)

PENSION FUND REGULATORY AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
B- 14/A, Chhatrapati shivaji Bhawan
Qutab Institutional Area,
Katwaria Sarai, New Delhi – 110 016

PFRDA/23/CORP/20/5

25th February, 2016

Dear sir,
Subject: Tax benefit available under National Pension System (NPS)

You would be aware that under the National Pension System (NPS), the subscribers can avail of tax benefit under Sec 80CCD(1), up to 10% of their salary (Basic+DA) which is capped at Rs.1.50 lakhs under section 80CCE. From FY 2015-16, an additional tax deduction over and above the Rs.1.5 Lakhs, is available only to subscribers of NPS if they invest upto Rs.50,000 in NPS under Sec 80CCD(IB) of the Income Tax Act. any citizen of India including persons covered under old defined benefit pension scheme can open NPS account on voluntary basis and avail of the tax benefits u/s 80 CCD (IB) by contributing additionally Rs.50,000/- to NPS.

2. This additional tax benefit on investment upto Rs.50000/- provides an opportunity not only to those employees who are mandatorily covered under NPS, but also to all other employees who may be covered under old pension scheme/provident fund/superannuation fund, as well as to any other Indian citizen between 18 to 60 years of age, to avail of this tax benefit by opening an NPS account on voluntary basis and by investing the required amount.

3. PFRDA has provided an easy and convenient way to subscribe to NPS by recently introducing eNPS, which any individual can make use of to join NPS. A new subscriber can adopt the following eNPS methods for joining NOS:

(a) Using Aadhaar card issued by UIDAI which is authenticated through OTP received from UIDAI on the registered mobile of the applicant. In this case, the subscriber can instantly get himself/herself registered. He/she has to simply visit the eNPS module in NPS Trust website at www.npst.org.in.

(b) Using PAN and net banking of the selected bank chosen by the subscriber. In this case KYC verification is done by the Bank. The NPS account gets activated only after KYC verification by Bank. He/she has to go to eNPS module in NPS Trust website at www.npstrust.org.in.

4. A new subscriber can also open an account physically through any of the Points-of-Presence-Service Provider (POP-SP). The list is available on www.pfrda.org.in.

5. Therefore, your employees who are not NPS members can open their NPS account, and make contributions using any of the three options mentioned above. Existing NPS subscribers can also make additional contributions to avail of the tax benefit by using any of the options as stated above.

6. Contribution upto Rs.50,000 in NPS for the additional tax benefit in the current year has to be made by 31-03-2016 and it is important that this message be conveyed to all your staff members and employees right upto the level of DDOs/DTOs, at the earliest. This will definitely help in their tax planning.

7. We request you to disseminate the above information to all concerned.

with regards,

Yours sincerely,
sd/-
(Mamta Rohit)
Chief General Manager

Source: pcdacc.gov.in

Age limit for entry into various entry schemes in Army & Shortage of Officers in Army

Age limit for entry into various entry schemes in Army & Shortage of Officers in Army

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF DEFENCE
LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO: 2423
ANSWERED ON: 11.03.2016

    Shortage of Officers in Army

KIRTI (JHA) AZAD
Will the Minister of DEFENCE be pleased to state:-

(a) whether there is a shortage of Officers in the Indian Army against the total number of sanctioned posts for officers, if so, the details thereof;

(b) the age limit of officers in combat and combat support cadres at present; and

(c) whether the Government is considering to lower the age limit of officers in combat and combat support cadres, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

    ANSWER


MINISTER OF DEFENCE (SHRI MANOHAR PARRIKAR)

(a) to (c): A statement is attached.

STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (c) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2423 FOR ANSWER ON 11.3.2016

(a) In Army (excluding Army Medical Corps, Army Dental Corps and Military Nursing Service), as on 01.07.2015, against the authorized strength of 49,631 officers, held strength of officers was 40,525 with a shortage of 9,106 officers.

(b) Age limit for entry into various entry schemes in Army is as under:

S. No.     Entry scheme     Age limit
(i)     National Defence Academy     16½ to 19½ years
(ii)     Combined Defence Services     19 to 22 years
(iii)     Technical Graduate Course Entry     20 to 27 years
(iv)     National Cadet Corps Special Entry
[Short Service Commission (Non Technical)]     19 to 25 years
(v)     University Entry Scheme     18 to 24 years (pre-final year)
19 to 25 years (final year)
(vi)     Short Service Commission (Non Technical)     19 to 25 years
(vii)     Short Service Commission (Technical)     20 to 27 years
(viii)     10 + 2 (Technical Entry Scheme)     16½ to 19½ years
(ix)     Army Cadet College (from Other Ranks)     20 to 27 years
(x)     Special Commissioned Officers (from Other Ranks).     28 to 35 years.

(c) Presently, there is no proposal to lower the age limit for entry of officers in Indian Army.

PDF/WORD(Hindi)
PDF/WORD

Implementation of 7th CPC : Minutes of the 2nd meeting of Empowered Committee of Secretaries (E-CoS)

Implementation of 7th CPC : Minutes of the 2nd meeting of Empowered Committee of Secretaries (E-CoS)

A meeting of the Empowered Committee of Secretaries (E-CoS) was held on 1 st March, 2016 in the Cabinet Secretariat under the chairmanship of the Cabinet Secretary to discuss issues raised by Staff„side of JCM

2. Welcoming the members of E-CoS and JCM Staffrside, Cabinet Secretary observed that the meeting had been called to take a note of concerns of Stäff-$ide of JCM regarding recommendations of the 7th CPC and invited the members Of Staff-side of JCM to share their views on the recommendations.

3. Opening the discussion, representative of Staff-side of JCM expressed gratitude to Cabinet Secretary for inviting them for interaction regarding the recommendations of the 7th CPC and requested that more frequent interactions of JCM may be held to resolve outstanding issues across the table. It was expressed that 7th CPC has recommended a meager increase of 14% in the minimum pay as against increase ranging up to 54% during previous Pay Commissions. It was further stated that the recommendations on minimum pay, allowances, advances etc. will cause difficulty to employees. Representative of Staff-side informed that they have already submitted a charter of demands to the Cabinet Secretary bringing out the issues. These have also been discussed in the meeting of JS (IC) with Staff-side of JCM held on 19.02.2016.

4. Major concerns expressed by JCM Staff-side were as under:

The minimum pay of Rs. 18000/- p.m. recommended by the Commission is on lower side and needs to be revised upward by taking into account the prices of commodities as on 01.07.2015 and appropriately factoring in for social obligations & housing.

(ii) New Pension Scheme should be done away with. Persons governed by the NPS are deprived of Family Pension and do not have provision of provident fund. As a result they are at a disadvantageous position as compared to the persons governed by the old system.

(iii) Recommendations on allowances need to be properly examined before taking a decision.

(iv) Fixed Medical Allowance should be increased from existing Rs. 500 p.m. to Rs. 2000 p.m. as majority of cities are not covered under CGI-IS and people residing outside the CGHS covered area are unable to meet their medical needs with meager amount of Rs. 500 p.m.

(v) Recommendation regarding withdrawal of non•interest bearing advances may not be accepted.

(vi) Outsourcing of services should be discouraged as the contract workers are being exploited by contractors and at the game time the service delivery is being compromised due to inefficiency and lack of accountability of low aid contractual staff.

(vii) Enhancement in contribution towards Group Insurance Scheme, is not justified as this would reduce the actual increase in take home salary considerably. If the rates are to be raised, the Government should bear the insurance premium

(viii) The recommendation regarding grant of only 80% of salary for the second year of Child Care Leave need not be accepted as this would deter women from availing of CCL, which was introduced as a welfare measure.

(ix) Annual increments be granted @ 5% instead of existing 3% and increments may be granted on two dates viz., 1 st of January and 1 st of July of every year as in the present system of grant of increment on 1 st July of every year, employees joining/promoted after 1 st January, who do not complete 6 months services as on 1 st July, have to wait for up to 18 months for grant of increment.

(x) The Commission’s recommendation of downgrading the Assistants of Central Secretariat for bringing in parity with their counterparts in the field offices is not appropriate.
(xi) Recommendation regarding PRIS need not be accepted as no scientific mechanism has been devised to assess the performance of employees and the same could e courage favoritism.

5. Issues regarding financial upgradation under MACPS in promotional hierarchy without grading stipulation. grant of two increments on promotion introduction of Productivity Linked Bonus, treating Grameen Dak Sevak as Government employees, removal of pap of 5% on compassionate appointment of  full pay and allowances In case of Work Related Illness and Injury Leave improving promotional avenues for technical and supervisory staff etc. were also raised by members of JCM.

6. During the discussion, representatives of JCM also suggested that the Nodal Officers nominated by various Ministries/Departments may hold interactions with recognized Staff Associations and other stakeholders under their purview so as to identify issues specific to those Ministries/Departments for redressal.

7. After hearing the participants, Cabinet Secretary observed that the deliberations have helped E-CoS in understanding the major concerns of the Staff-side and said that all issues have been taken note of. He assured that fair consideration will be given to all points brought out by JCM before taking a final view. He further stated that the E-CoS needs to examine the Report of the Commission in entirety as well as the issues raised by JCM in consultation with all other stakeholders. As such, it may take some time to take a final call on the recommendations of the Commission.

8. Cabinet Secretary also advised the members of E-CoS to hold interactions with their Staff Associations and other stakeholders under their purview preferably within a week.

9. Meeting ended with vote of thanks to the chair.

Venue: Committee Room, Cabinet Secretariat, Rashtrapati Bhawan
Date of Meeting: Thursday, the 1 st March, 2016
Time of Meeting: 6:45 PM

Members of E-CoS present
1 Cabinet Secretary
2. Chairman, Railway Board
3. Home Secretary
4 Defence Secretary
5 Secretary, D/o Science & Technology
6. Secretary, D/o Personnel & Training
7. Secretary, M/o Health & Family-Welfare
8. Secretary, D/o Pension and Pensioner’s Welfare
9. Secretary (Security), Cabinet Secretariat
10. Secretary, D/o Posts
1 1 . Deputy Comptroller and Auditor General

Secretariat for E-CoS:
1. Joint Secretary, Implementation Cell, D/o Expenditure
2. Director, Implementation Cell, D/o Expenditure

Representatives of JCM (Staff-side):
1 . Shri Shiv Gopal Mishra
2. Shri M. Raghavaiah
3. Shri Rakhal Das Gupta
4. Shri Ch. Sankara Rao
5. Shri J.R. Bhosle
6. Shri Guman Singh
7. Shri R.P. Bhatnagar
8. Shri K.S. Murty
9. Shri K.K.N. Kutty
10. Shri C. Srikumar
11 . Shri R. Srinivasan
12. Shri M. Krishnan
13. Shri M.s. Raja

Source : Indwf.blogspot.in

Dr Jitendra Singh launches the telephonic feedback system for grievance redressal

Dr Jitendra Singh launches the telephonic feedback system for grievance redressal

Minister himself calls three citizens to take feedback

Setting a new precedence, the 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 initiated a telephone feedback mechanism for grievance redressal of the citizens here today. He personally called three complainants chosen on random basis, who had registered their grievances in the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) and their grievances were disposed off. The Minister sought their feedback regarding the response given by the Government to the grievances. These complainants included Shri Vijay V Lambat (Nagpur, Maharashtra) who had complained regarding the refund of money from Income Tax Department. The second person contacted by the Minister was Shri Aravindbabu Pormar from Bangalore. He had complained against Railways and sought refund of money from the Ministry of Railways. The third person contacted was Shri Paladugu Samba Siva Rao from Odisha, who had grievance related to Provident fund with the Ministry of Labour and Employment. The citizens contacted thanked the Minister and the department. They also suggested that the citizens should be contacted once over phone before closing the grievance. The Minister assured that the department is committed to take steps in this direction.

The Minister said that this direct citizen contact through telephone will not only enable us to assess the level of satisfaction received by the complaints after the redressal of grievance, it will also help in offering us valuable inputs required to improve the grievance redressal mechanism. He said that this is in line with the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s dictum of minimum government, maximum governance with citizen centric approach. In the current age of social media and web portal, this approach will also give the citizens a feeling of direct involvement in the government’s grievance redressal mechanism.

The Minister said that in future, he himself will be calling the citizens at random and verify whether their complaints have been disposed off. He also said that the Secretary or senior official from the department will also make call to the citizens to verify the status of grievance. He further informed that during the last one year, ending December 2015, the grievance cell has received nearly 10 lakh complaints as compared to the average of 2-3 lakh yearly complaints earlier. He also expressed his happiness over the fact that nearly 90% complaints are redressed now.

Dr Singh also said that the rising number of grievances being registered by the citizens are an indication of the increasing faith of public in the personal interest in the redressal of grievances of the public by engaging with them over phone. The social media will also be used in the grievance redressal, he added.

Shri Devendra Chaudhry, Secretary, DARPG said that now on an average 1,500 grievances are disposed off in a day and nearly 45,000 grievances in a month. He also said that the department has made a list of more than 12,000 officers across the departments who are being contacted for the redressal of grievances.

The receipts of grievances have increased from about 5 lakhs to about 12 lakhs and at the same time the disposal has also increased from about 4 lakhs to nearly 11 lakh during the period of June, 2014 to February, 2016.

The Centralized Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) Portal, a web based portal, has been designed and implemented in all the Ministries / Departments of Government of India. A customized software with local language interface has also been designed for the state governments. This software is called CPGRAMS – States.

The Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, Ministry of Personnel has Public Grievances Division which is responsible for issuing policy guidelines coordinating and monitoring of issues regarding redress of public grievances and staff grievances in general and for the central government in particular. The state module of CPGRAMS has been implemented in 9 States/Union Territories namely Haryana, Odisha, Rajasthan, Puducherry, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Uttrakhand, Jharkhand and Punjab.

The PG Division also coordinates the Citizen Charter and Information and Facilitation Counters (IFCs) initiative of the Government of India. With the objective of improving public service delivery and making governments citizen-centric, an assessment improvement framework called “Sevottam” has been developed. Support is provided to Ministries / Departments and also State Governments to introduce the Sevottam framework for better service delivery.

The Division also provides secretarial support to the Standing Committee for grievances to the Joint Secretary and above level officers headed by the Cabinet Secretary.

PIB

Declaration of Holiday on 14th April, 2016- Birthday of Dr. B.R.Ambedkar

Declaration of Holiday on 14th April, 2016- Birthday of Dr. B.R.Ambedkar

F. No.12/6/2016-JCA-2
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions
(Department of Personnel & Training)

North Block, New Delhi
Dated the 21st March, 2016.

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Subject: Declaration of Holiday on 14th April, 2016- Birthday of Dr. B.R.Ambedkar.

It has been decided to declare Thursday, the 14th April 2016, as a Closed Holiday on account of the birthday of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, for all Central Government Offices including Industrial Establishments throughout India.

2. The above holiday is also being notified in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 25 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 (26 of 1881).

3. All Ministries/Departments of Government of India may bring the above decision to the notice of all concerned.

(G Srinivasan)
Deputy Secretary to the Govt. of India

1 All Ministries/Departments of the Government of India.

2. UPSC / CVC/C85AG/ National Commission for Linguistic Minorities /National Commission for Scheduled Castes/National Commission for Scheduled Tribes/National Commission for Minorities/ President’s Secretariat /Vice President’s Secretariat/ Supreme Court/ High Court / Central Administrative Tribunal/Central Information Commission/Prime Minister’s Office/Cabinet Secretariat/ Election Commission of India/ National Human Rights Commission/ National Commission for Women/ National Commission for Backward Classes/ Planning Commission/Lok Sabha Secretariat/Rajya Sabha Secretariat.

3. All Sections/Officers in the Ministry of Personnel, PG 85 Pensions

4. All attached Offices/ Subordinate Offices/Autonomous bodies of Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions.

5. Secretary, Staff Side, National Council (JCM), 13-C Ferozeshah Road, New Delhi (with 10 spare copies)

6 .Reserve Bank of India, Parliament Street, New Delhi.

7.Chairman/ Secretaries, Central Government Employee Welfare
Coordination Committees.

8. PIO, PIB, Shastri Bhavan, New Delhi, with the request that necessary publicity may be given in this regard.

9. Facilitation Centre, DOP86T (20 copies)

10. NIC (DOP86T) with the request to place this O.M. on the Website of DOPT.(www.persmin.nic.in)

DOPT Circular

4 Days Bank Holiday from Thursday Onward

4 Days Bank Holiday from Thursday Onward

Customers won’t be able to conduct bank transactions at branches for 4 days in a row this week as all banks will be closed from Thursday, although the lenders assure that they will fully load ATMs for meeting people’s cash needs.

Thursday will be a holiday for celebrating the Holi festival, followed by Good Friday and the weekend.
Banks are closed on second and fourth Saturdays every month. Hence, 4 continuous offs for the bank employees.

Banks are trying to ensure that ATMs remain operational during these days so that people don’t have any cash problem, a senior public sector bank official said.

They are trying to put higher denomination notes in ATM machines to ensure meeting the cash demand, the official added.

IDBI Bank may be closed for an extra day if the strike call given by a section of officers and employees of the bank on March 28 (Monday) materialises.

The staffers, belonging to the All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) and All India Bank Officers Association (AIBOA), have given the strike call to protest against the government move to privatise IDBI Bank.

The government owns around 80 per cent stake in the bank.

In Budget 2016-17, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said the government was open to bringing down its stake in IDBI Bank to below 50 per cent.

PTI