NC JCM demands on various allowances

 Classification of Posts in 7th Pay Commission – NC JCM Staff Side Suggestion

Classification of Posts.
Except the 2nd CPC, all other earlier Commissions had recommended for the retention of the four Groups of classifications. The 2nd Pay Commission was of the
opinion that the grouping of Central Government employees into four categories served no practical purpose. Rather, they commented that it had only created an
unhealthy psychological effect. The 4th CPC therefore suggested for abandoning the classification of civil servants in 4 groups. They had examined the practice followed
by other countries including those with a large and complex civil service, where it had not been found necessary to super impose upon their civil service grade and
occupational groups.

During the last six and half decades, our country has moved quite far away from the colonial system of governance in substance and form. The 3rd CPC justified the
grouping on an assumed equivalence of the work content in different levels of the various occupational groups. Over the years, changes in the scale of pay of many
grade and cadres have taken place, even though there had been no change in the value or level of responsibility of the assigned jobs. Ddespite having no such addition
to the level of responsibility to assigned jobs, the grades had to move from one group to another, because of the pay scale based grouping.
It is the view of he Department of Personnel on classification that has ultimately survived. It may not be out of place to mention that the service condition of Government employees are still governed by the rules enunciated, whether country was a British Colony. Despite the specific provision in the constitution (Article 309) making it incumbent upon the parliament to enact the legislation to govern the service conditions of civil servants the fact remains that no Government which took over the reins of governance in the country could find time to introduce a Bill in the parliament for that purpose. It is not therefore surprising that the DOPT stuck to the conservative position of maintaining the status quo.
The four grouping which presently refers the classification, we must sadly state has taken the shape and content of “varnashram”. In almost all the PSUs, the classification is “Executive and Non Executives”. In our opinion all cadres, which were characterised as “Gazetted” in 1960s may be placed in the Group of Executive and the rest in non-executive.
We, therefore, request the 7th CPC to make recommendation on classification of posts on the basis suggested by us.

NC JCM STAFF SIDE SUGGESTION ON HOUSE RENT ALLOWANCE

National Council JCM Staff Side given suggestion on House Rent Allowance for Central Government employees as under…

House Rent allowance.

The present scheme of HRA is based on the recommendation of the 6th CPC, which is as follows:

Population criteria	classification	Rate as a % of pay + Grade Pay + MSP +NPA
50 lakhs and above	X	30%
50 to 5 lakhs	Y	20%
Below 5 lakhs	Z	10%

We reproduce hereunder the recommendation made by the third Central Pay Commission in the matter of grant of house rent allowance. (Para 29 Part I. Vol. IV.Chapter 56), which would be the best if implemented even today.

While we find it difficult to accept the kind of parity suggested above, we are aware of the acute problem caused by the lack of adequate government housing and by the inadequate government housing and by the inadequacy of the existing rates of house rent allowance and recommend as follows:-

Government should take houses on long lease and make residential accommodation available to its employees on payment of 10% of their pay.

(ii) Government should lay down appropriate house rent allowance rates in different cities and towns based not on population criteria, but on an actual assessment of the prevailing levels of rent in different cities and towns. Alternatively, certain notional rents for different types of accommodation meant for officers and personnel of specified pay groups should be laid down for particular cities after studying the actual conditions in that city. The difference between the actual rent paid and 10% of pay should be reimbursed subject to a maximum of the difference between the notional rent and 10% of the pay. The existing norms in regard to entitlement of accommodation, size of rooms etc. could, if necessary, be reduced depending on the housing situation and the norms usually adopted by different income groups in
renting accommodation in the various cities. Such notional rents should, to start with, be applied to all stations falling under the description of classified cities for purposes of House Rent Allowance, Additions could also be made to the list later on by including other cities deserving similar treatment.

(iii) Till the Government is able to make arrangements recommended in the preceding sub-paragraphs, the rates of HRA should be as follows:-

Class of city/town	Rate of HRA
1. A, B-1 and B-2	15% of pay subject to a maximum amount of Rs.400 as house rent allowance.
2. C class	7 ½ % of pay subject to a maximum amount of Rs.200 as house rent allowance

The above said recommendations is still to be acted upon by the Government and the transitory provisions suggested by them i.e. payment of allowances at a pre- determined rate on the basis of classification made of the cities depending upon the population continue to be employed. The non-implementation of the above
recommendation of the third CPC , has without exception, gone to depress the wage of all sections of Central Government employees as they are perforce to spend
more than what they receive as HRA for obtaining and retaining the accommodation.

The rates prescribed by the 6th CPC, though an improvement over its predecessor Commission, it has not improved the situation. The real estate value throughout the
country has skyrocketed and owning an accommodation within the city/Municipal limit has become impossible for Government employees. There is not a single
town/village where the real estate boom has remained unaffected. The phenomenal increase in the value of land has naturally impacted the rent, one is to pay on
leasing house/flat. The house rent allowance does not bear even a small percentage of the rent. The 7th CPC may recommend to the Government to act upon the suggestion made by the 3rd CPC without any further delay. Pending action on the part of the Government, the Commission may suggest the following rates of
House Rent allowance;

X classified cities:	60%
Y classified towns	40%
Z classified places	20%

Demand to calculate House Rent Allowance based on Census 2011 should gain prominence..!

Demand to increase House Rent Allowance Must Get Stronger!

House Rent Allowance to Central Government employees is now calculated on the basis of the population census of 2001. The cities and towns are classified as X, Y, and Z, based on their population. Employees in these towns are eligible for 30%, 20% and 10% House Rent Allowances respectively.

Population census is conducted once every ten years. The most recent census was held in 2011. Official information and findings of the Census was sent by the registrar General & Census Commissioner to the Finance Ministry a long time ago.

It is well known that the Confederation Secretary General had recently sent a letter to the Finance Ministry reiterating that the House rent Allowance must be recalculated on the basis of the new Census-2011 report.

Based on the 2001 Census, Central Government employees residing in towns with population of more than 50 lakhs are given a House Rent Allowance of 30% of their basic pay. Employees living in towns with population of more than 5 lakhs are given House Rent Allowance of 20%. Those living in all the other towns are given a HRA of 10%.

Similarly, Transportation Allowance too is given in two categories A-1, A, and Other places. 13 towns are currently classified as A-1 and A categories.

The general feeling is that the demand for the revision of HRA based on the Population Census 2011 should come from all sides.

Take the cities of Ahmadabad and Pune, for example. Populations in these towns have crossed the 50 lakh mark (Ahmadabad’s population is 63,52,254; and Pune’s population is 50,49,968). Similarly, according to Census 2011, the population of many smaller towns have crossed the 5 lakh mark. There is no doubt that a revision of House Rent Allowance based on the 2011 Population Census will benefit hundreds of thousands of employees.

Click here for the details of the population and town classifications, based on the Population Census that is now in force.
Urban Agglomerations & Towns...

Here is the difference in the Population Census of 2001 and 2011 for some of the major cities:

CITY	POPULATION 2001 CENSUS	POPULATION 2011 CENSUS
DELHI (UA)	1,28,77,470	1,63,14,838
GREATER MUMBAI (UA)	1,64,34,386	1,84,14,288
KOLKATA (UA)	1,32,05,697	1,41,12,536
CHENNAI (UA)	65,60,242	86,96,010
BENGALURU (UA)	57,01,446	84,99,399
HYDERABAD (UA)	57,42,036	68,09,970

NC JCM Staff Side suggestion on Children Education Allowance 
Children Education Allowance
The Children Education allowance was introduced w.e.f. 1-9-2008 on the basis of the recommendation of 6th CPC. In the background of escalation of school fees, and
other expenses connected with education of Children, the present scheme has been a big relief for the Government employees. Presently the allowance is admissible for
two children, for studying in a recognised school upto XII standard.
The maximum ceiling is stipulated at Rs.18000/- since this allowance had been hiked by 50%
because of the DA component in salary having been crossed 100% on 1.1.2014. We suggest doubling of this allowance and increasing the same by 50 % whenever the DA crosses over by 50% .
The insistence of receipt for each and every expense to claim the allowance is a cumbersome procedure, which serves no purpose at all. In order to avoid a
probable misuse, the employer may be asked to produce an affidavit to the effect this child/children were bonafide student of the school. The production of receipt
may be dispensed with.
We also suggest that the scheme may be extended to cover children studying for Graduate/Post Graduate and Professional courses. This suggestion is being made in
view of the huge expenses involved for the children’s higher studies, especially in the background of the Government with… from “higher education sector and allowing
private institutions to come up and extract exorbitant changes for … courses.Since the quantum of allowance is fixed with a ceiling on maximum, our suggestion … increase the coverage.
We request our suggestion in the matter may be kindly be recommended to the Government for its acceptance.


NC JCM Staff Side demanding five promotions in the service career
Career progression: Grant five promotions in the service career.
For the efficient functioning of an institution, the primary pre-requisite is to have a contended workforce. It is not only the emoluments, perks and privileges that motivate an employee to give his best. They are no doubt important. But what is more important is to provide them a systematic career progression. The present system of career progression available in the All India Services and the organised group A Civil services attracts large number of young, talented and educated persons to compete in the All India Civil Service Examination. No different was the career progression scheme available in the subordinate services in the past.

Persons who were recruited to subordinate services were able to climb to Managerial positions over a period of time. The situation underwent vast changes in the last two decades. In most of the Departments, stagnation has come to stay. It takes decades to be promoted to the next higher grade in the hierarchy. It was the recognition of the lack of promotional avenue in the subordinate services that made the 5th CPC to recommend a time bound two career progression scheme.
The three time bound scheme of MACP instead of improving the situation has been found less beneficial and has therefore not gone to address the inherent problem of de-motivation that has crept in due to the high level of stagnation. In most of the Departments, the exercise of cadre review which was considered important was not carried out. Any attempt in this regard was restricted to Group A services.
The discontent amongst the employees in the matter is of high magnitude today. The VII CPC therefore, should recommend that the cadre revies are undertaken wherever not done sofar to ensure five hierarchical promotions to all employees in their career on the pattern obtaining for Group A Officers.

 Should the GRADE PAY STRUCTURE continue in the 7th CPC too?
Once every 10 years, the Central Government revises the pay grades of its employees. It is common knowledge that the Cabinet had ordered the formation of the 7th CPC (CENTRAL PAY COMMISSION) and has also given its approval to the TERMS OF REFERENCE.
The Central Government has, until now, constituted six CPCs. The 6th CPC has the distinction of having introduced the GRADE PAY STRUCTURE. Until then, there was only the PAY SCALE. It was the 6th CPC that changed it to PAY BAND, GRADE PAY and PAY IN THE PAY BAND. It was then said that the reconstitution was made to reduce the number of categories in the PAY SCALE. They also explained how GRADE PAY was calculated.
Until then, it was difficult to immediately deduce an employee’s BASIC PAY. It was often explained on the Government’s behalf that, after the 6th CPC, the BASIC PAY would amount to the sum of GRADE PAY and PAY IN THE PAY BAND.
Since the difference between each GRADE PAY was not uniform, the employees came under lot of stress. Between 1900 and 2000, the difference was just Rs. 100. But, after Rs. 2800, the next GRADE PAY was Rs. 4200. These differences continue to remain unacceptable.
‘GRADE PAY HIERARCHY’ was introduced as a crowning feature of it all. For years, each CENTRAL GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENT has its own ‘PROMOTIONAL HIERARCHY’ in place. Promotions were given only on the basis of this sequence. Based on their PROMOTIONAL HIERARCHY, in the 5th CPC, each employee was given an ACP (ASSURED CAREER PROGRESSION). ACP is a scheme under which those who didn’t get any promotions for 12-24 years were given financial upgradations. This didn’t create any big problem.
The 6th CPC introduced MACP (MODIFIED ASSURED CAREER PROGRESSION) in the place of ACP. A scheme was introduced to give FINANCIAL UPGRADATION to those who weren’t given any promotions in 10, 20 or 30 years. This was where the Government ordered that promotions should be given only on the basis of GRADE PAY HIERARCHY.
The confusion that began with implementing the GRADE PAY HIERARCHY, which was common to all, instead of PROMOTIONAL HIERARCHY for promotions continues, and remains unresolved until now.
There is no doubt that most of the anomalies created after the 6th CPC related to MACP stem from the ‘GRADE PAY HIERARCHY’.
Central Government employees now wonder if the ‘GRADE PAY’ method is even required in the first place.
Source: www.employeesnews.in

Suggestion on Transport Allowance by NC JCM Staff Side

Transport allowance

The 5th CPC had introduced transport allowance for employees working in classified towns on account of various factors like unprecedented growth of city limits, increase in volume of traffic and non availability of residential accommodation at reasonable rents near offices, which are usually located in the heart of cities. If these were the factors it appears that the 5th CPC did not take into account that it is usually a low paid employee who finds residence at a very long distance from his office whereas officers are offered residences very near to their offices.

If, therefore, transport allowance was meant to defray the transportation charges from residence to office and back the higher rates should have been recommended for the low paid employees who were residing at a distant places. Since the 6th CPC?s recommendation in this regard was implemented, there had been several rounds of increase in the fuel charges making a cascading impact on the public transport fares.

Taking these factors into account, we suggest that the following rates of transport allowance may please be recommended.

Pay Range	X classified city	Y classified towns.
Pay upto Rs. 75,000	Rs. 7500 + DA	Rs. 3750 +DA
Above Rs. 75,000	Rs. 6500 +DA	Rs. 3500+ DA

Foreign Tour for CG Employees – Demanded by NC JCM Staff Side
Explore the possibility of allowing an employer to undertake tour outside India once in his life time in lieu of the LTC.
Leave Travel Concession
Leave Travel Concession is a facility extended to the Government employees, which enables scheme to avail holidays and undertack travel as a tourist with his family.
The facility provides him with an opportunity to be away from the monotonous daily routine and be with his family without the botherisation of the official duties. It is an
established fact that if employer is encouraged to take such holidays they will reform rejuvenated and the employer is benefitted through his increased productivity.

Over the years, on representation from employees, the concession has been widened. However, some aspects of this facilities require certain further relaxations/improvements. We enumerate those as under:-
1. Permission for air journey for all categories of employees to and from NE Region.
2. Permission for personnel posted in NE Region for a journey within NE Region.
3. To increase the periodicity of the LTC once in two years.
4. Explore the possibility of allowing an employer to undertake tour outside India
once in his life time in lieu of the LTC.
We request the 7th CPC to consider recommending our suggestion for improvements
to the Government.