Cut-off eligibility date for promotion and calculation of Vacancies including chain Vacancies

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Features of India Budget 2014-2015

CLICK HERE    Key Fea tures of Budget 2014-2015

Budget 2014: Unused money lying in postal schemes to be utilised

NEW DELHI: Huge amounts of "money lying unused in postal schemes" will be utilised, especially for the welfare of senior citizens, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said Thursday.
"A large amount of money is lying unused in postal schemes... I propose to set up a committee to examine how this can be utilised," he said while presenting his maiden budget.
"The committee will present its report in December," Jaitley added.

PLI / RPLI : Financial powers at various levels revised

         After the implementation of PLI / RPLI Central Processing Centres to decentralize the work from CO/DO to Head Office level, the financial powers for accepting the proposal, maturity claim and death claim has been revised. Following are the revised financial powers.

Limits for acceptance of new proposals and settlement of maturity, survival benefit claims by different authorities:

1. Postmaster of CPC of Has headed by Sr. Postmaster/ Head Postmaster - upto Rs 5 lakhs of Sum Assured.

2. Director of CPC of New Delhi HOI Kolkata GPO/ Mumbai GPO and Postmaster of CPC of GPOs headed by Chief Postmaster - upto Rs 10 lakhs of Sum Assured.

3. Head of Division - above Rs 5 lakhs of Sum Assured and upto Rs 10 lakhs of Sum Assured.

4. Postmaster General of the Regional Office/ Circle Office - above Rs 10 lakhs of Sum Assured.

Limits for settlement of death claims by different authorities:

1. Postmaster of CPC of Has headed by Sr. Postmaster/ Head Postmaster - up to Rs. 2 lakhs of Sum Assured.

2. Director of CPC of New Delhi HO/ Kolkata GPO/ Mumbai GPO and Postmaster of CPC of GPOs headed by Chief Postmaster - upto Rs 10 lakhs of Sum Assured.

3. Head of Division - above Rs 2 lakhs of Sum Assured and upto Rs 10 lakhs of Sum Assured.

4. Postmaster General of the Regional Office/ Circle Office - above Rs 10 lakhs of Sum Assured.

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Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) Re-Introduced

Press Information Bureau

Government of India

Ministry of Finance

10-July-2014 14:00 IST

Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) Re-Introduced

Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) is being re-introduced to encourage people, who may have banked and unbanked savings to invest in this instrument. Announcing this during his maiden Budget Speech in the Lok Sabha today, the Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley said that KVP was a very popular instrument among small savers and is being re-introduced to promote saving.

Income Tax exemption limit raised to Rs 2.5 lakh

Salaried class has got something to cheer with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today raising tax exemption limit to Rs 2.5 lakh from Rs 2 lakh, providing a relief of Rs 5,000.

"I propose not to make any changes in the tax rate. However, with the view to provide relief to small and marginal and senior citizen, I propose to increase the personal income tax exemption limit by Rs 50,000 from Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 3.

Seeking to boost household savings, the government on Thursday hiked the exemption limit for investments by individuals in financial instruments to Rs 1.5 lakh.

Presently the investments and expenditures up to a combined limit of Rs 1 lakh get exemptions under Sections 80C, 80CC and 80CCC of the Income-Tax Act.

The announcement to hike tax savings limit was made by finance minister Arun Jaitley in his speech while presenting the Union Budget, 2014-15.

HBA interest limit raised from 1.5 lakh to 2 lakh 

HSG-II Promotions issued by Circle Office on 10.7.2014

Cleanliness Drive to be carried out in the Post Offices

Admit cards for LDCE PM Grade-I scheduled to be held on 20.07.02014

CLICK HERE    to login & download the Admit card.

6 Day Week for Central Govt Employees issue – DoPT rejects 6-day week schedule amid protests from women

Department of personnel and training rejects 6-day week schedule amid protests from women

NEW DELHI: The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) will soon inform Parliament that the government is not going back to a six-day week for its employees, even as a senior representative of the central government employees said that women employees were biggest opponents of any such change by the new government.

A senior DoPT official told ET on Tuesday that all individual ministries would be advised that before they ask employees to come to work on Saturdays, they were expected to first consult the Joint Consultative Machinery set up in each ministry which has representatives from the staff side before implementing the same. There was confusion among government ranks last week after the road ministry issued an order asking employees to report to work on all Saturdays except the second. The same was apparently withdrawn after women employees in the ministry took it up with transport minister Nitin Gadkari.

Employees in many other ministries have also been asked informally to report to work on Saturdays in case senior officials or the respective minister is in office. ET has learnt that DoPT will soon inform Parliament that the government would continue to work 5-days-a-week to end all speculation on this as it has received questions on the same from MPs.

Shiva Gopal Mishra, Secretary (staff side) of the National Council, JCM, told ET that “no government ministry can enforce six-day week on employees without the concurrence of the DoPT. “Not just DoPT’s concurrence, the government also needs to consult employees on the same through the JCM mechanism.

There will be no use of going back to a six-day week system as it will only raise electricity costs of the government. Also, women employees form a sizeable proportion of the workforce and they are strongly against any move to resort to a six-day week,” Mishra, who is also general secretary, All India Railwaymen’s Federation, told ET.

Most women employees use the weekend for pending household chores. The JCM, chaired by the Cabinet Secretary, is a joint group of various staff unions of central government employees supposed to act as a platform for constructive dialogue between the representatives of the staff side and the official side for peaceful resolution of all disputes.

ROLE OF OFFICIALS AT HEAD OFFICES IN C/W PLI / RPLI WORK

FOR ORDER CLICK HERE

Proposal for Rs 1,000 minimum monthly pension approved: Government

NEW DELHI: Government has approved minimum monthly pension of Rs 1,000 under Employees Pension Scheme 1995 (EPS-95) run by the retirement body Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), Parliament was informed today. 

The decision of the government would immediately benefit 28 lakh pensioners including 5 lakh widows getting less than Rs 1000 as pension every month. In all, there are 44 lakh pensioners under the EPS-95 scheme. 

"Yes, Government has approved mi"Yes, Government has approved minimum pension of Rs 1000 per month to the pensioners under the EPS-95," Minister of state for Steel, Mines, Labour and Employment Vishnu Deo Sai said in a written reply to Lok Sabha. 

According to the Minister, several representations have been received for enhancement of pension under EPS-95 and based on those, "government has approved minimum pension of Rs 1,000 to pensioners under the EPS-95."

Earlier, Labour Minister Narendra Singh Tomar had discussed the proposal with trade unions on June 24 and assured the government will take a decision within two weeks. 

As per the proposal, pensioners were to get the benefit with effect from April 1 this year. The government would have to provide an additional amount of around Rs 1,217 crore to ensure a minimum pension of Rs 1,000 for 2014-15.

A senior official said the new government did not want to provide this entitlement merely for one financial year and wanted this to be implemented for all times to come. That is why the proposal was reviewed. 

The proposal was already approved by the UPA government for the current financial year but could not be implemented as it was not notified.

However a senior EPFO official, when contacted, said that the body has not yet received any notification or official order in this regard from the Labour Ministry. 

According to him, the government could formally announce this entitlement in the forthcoming budget on Thursday.

Besides, the EPFO is also awaiting government's approval for enhancing the wage ceiling for organised sector workers under EPFO ambit to Rs 15,000 per month from the existing Rs 6,500. This was also approved by the previous government but could not be notified due 

to coming into force of the model code of conduct during that time. 

The decision to increase basic wage ceiling to Rs 15,000 per month is expected to bring in 50 lakh more workers under the EPFO's ambit. 

The notification regarding the decision of the EPFO trustees to reduce administrative charges paid by employers to EPFO is also awaited. It was proposed to reduce administrative charges paid by employers to EPFO is also awaited. It was proposed to reduce administrative charges from 1.10 per cent of basic wage to 0.85 per cent. 

Source : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com

Centre Plans Changes in Labour Laws – ‘Flexible Working Hours’ implementation…

Since most of the labour laws being followed in this country were implemented prior to Independence and have therefore become redundant and outdated, the newly formed government at the centre, under the leadership of Narendra Modi, is seriously contemplating a revision of the existing laws. The Government intends to step up productivity by bringing forth these changes.

Changes in Britain: A law was recently implemented in Britain, one of the developed countries of the world. Employees working in factories and offices cannot be henceforth compelled to report to work at only a particular time. The law states that the employees shall be given flexi-time options to report to work at times that suit them and complete their tasks. For a casual observer, it might look as if the law is very pro-employee and anti-employer. But the law is actually intended to step up productivity. Experts in Britain felt that insisting on being seated for long hours or compelling workers to report to duty at a particular time or do only a particular task could be counterproductive. The changes were brought forth as a result.

Flexi-time work hours: The Indian Government too is planning to make similar changes in its labour laws. Changes like these, also known as “Flexible Working Hours”, are very likely to be implemented in India too, especially in the manufacturing sectors in order to step up the productivity. But these changes will be brought forth in such a manner that they bring forth the true potentials of the employees.

Also, changes like bringing in more and more workers within the minimum-wages slab, increasing overtime, enabling women to work in night shifts in factory environments, are also going to be implemented. The reforms are intended to minimize friction between the management and employees and thus increase productivity. As far as India is concerned, such reforms are only rarely implemented in the service sector, and almost never in the manufacturing sectors. Although India is the world’s third largest economy, more than 56% of the productivity comes from the service sector. Only 15% of the country’s productivity comes from the industrial and manufacturing sectors. In comparison, more than 45% of China’s productivity comes from its industrial workers.

The Government believes that there could be a tremendous increase in the country’s productivity by implementing reforms in the labour laws.

Disciplinary proceedings cannot be Initiated or Continued after Retirement: Supreme Court

Once the appellant had retired from service on 31.3.2009, there was no authority vested with the respondents for continuing the disciplinary proceeding even for the purpose of imposing any reduction in the retiral benefits payable to the appellant. In the absence of such an authority it must be held that the enquiry had lapsed and the appellant was entitled to get full retiral benefits.

The question has also been raised in the appeal with regard to arrears of salary and allowances payable to the appellant during the period of his dismissal and upto the date of reinstatement. Inasmuch as the inquiry had lapsed, it is, in our opinion, obvious that the appellant would have to get the balance of the emoluments payable to him.

The appeals are, therefore, allowed and the judgment and order of the High Court are set aside and the respondents are directed to pay arrears of salary and allowances payable to the appellant and also to pay him his all the retiral benefits in accordance with the rules and regulations as if there had been no disciplinary proceeding or order passed therein. No costs.

REPORTABLE

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION

CIVIL APPEAL NO(s).5848-49 OF 2014

[Arising out of Special Leave Petition (Civil) Nos.29550-29551 of 2010]

Dev Prakash Tewari

-vs‑

U.P. Cooperative Institutional Service Board, Lucknow & Ors.

Date of Order- June 30, 2014

Taxpayers to share their email-id, cell phone in Income-Tax returns

Taxpayers filing their I-T returns this year will now have to share their email-id and mobile phone number with the tax department. 
The Central Board of Direct Taxes ( CBDT), the administrative authority of the Income Tax department, has introduced a new column in the I-T returns Forms asking for the tax filers personal email-id and mobile number. 
"The new step has been taken in order to communicate directly with the taxpayer with regard to any issues arising after the returns are filed. 
"This is a step taken to communicate better with the taxpayer and smoothen the process of ensuring timely refunds," a senior I-T officer said. 
Till now, the taxpayers had to mention similar details of their CAs or tax filing helpers in the existing column asking for personal details of the filer. 
In case, a taxpayer changes his CA or is not in touch with him, it was found, any communication made by the I-T to the taxpayer used to languish without reaching the desired person. 
The department, which is facing issues of pending refunds and ensuring other tax related information to the taxpayer, has designed the new I-T forms so that in case of emergency a tax officer could directly get in touch with the individual tax filer. 
The new measures have been implemented both for e-filers and manual filers of I-T returns.

"Do's and Don'ts" and Guidelines for Post Masters and Staff

ANNEXURE-I

Important do’s and don’ts to educate the depositors with regard to Small Savings Schemes for safeguard of their interest.

1. Never accept the receipt on blank piece of paper even if it is date stamped by the Post Office and always insist for prescribed receipt at the time of opening new account at Branch Offices/GDS Sub Offices.

2. Examine your passbook carefully after every transaction to see that the entries are correctly made therein and the last balance shown is correct

3. If there are any suspicious corrections in your passbook, please report the matter immediately to the Head Post Postmaster maintaining your ledger account. The name of the Head Post Office is stamped on the inside of the cover of your passbook. 

4. Hand over your passbook for entry of interest and verification of balance immediately after 31st March every year. 

5. Whenever you hand over your passbook to the Post Office for any purpose please insist for printed receipt in form of SB-28.Please also ensure that correct balance as given in the passbook has been entered in the receipt 

6. Always obtain counterfoil of the Pay –in –Slip duly stamped and signed by the counter assistant/Postmaster for a deposit made in the account by cash or by cheque. 

7. Never keep your specimen signature or a signed withdrawal form in the passbook. 

8. Always keep your passbook under proper custody. 

9. Do not allow your passbook to remain in the unauthorized possession of Postal Official / Authorised Agents 

10. Do not forget to report the loss of your passbook to the Post Office immediately. 

11. Do not forget to intimate your change of present address to the Post Office. 

12. Do not leave the passbook with the post office for indefinite period 

13. Always give receipt of the amount of withdrawal on the withdrawal form only after actual payment is made. 

14. Do not get the withdrawal form filled in by the Post Office staff or Authorized agent 

15. Do not keep the certificate and identity slip together. 

16. Always take a receipt for the money/cheque given to the agent for opening of accounts or purchase of certificates and also write the name and authority number of the agent on the application form for opening of account and purchase of certificates. 

17. While making deposit/Investment in Small Saving Schemes through cheque please ensure proper endorsement for credit of amount under dated signature on the back side of the cheque and not leave it to the authorized agent. 

18. Do not give the blank signed cheque to the authorized agent for any kind of deposit in the Small Saving Schemes. It should be filled up properly. 

19. Before entering into the business with India Post through agent or directly customers are required to know about the features, conditions applicable for deposit/investment proposed to be made and after being satisfied transaction should be made. 

20. Avoid implicit trust in SPM/BPM/Counter PA/Authorized Agent as sometimes they misuse the trust and deceive. 

21. Ask the agent to show her Certificate of Authority issued by the competent authority and ensure that her agency is valid. 

22. Fill up account opening form in your own handwriting as far as possible or check it carefully if filled in by the agent before signing it. Always make nomination. 

23. Issue account payee cheque in favour of the Postmaster as far as possible and particularly for higher deposits. 

24. Do not issue cheque in favour of agent. 

25. Write to the appointing authority of the agent/Regional Director, National Savings Institute of your area if the agent commits some irregularities or indulge in malpractices. 

ANNEXURE- II

Guidelines for Post Masters and Staff with regard to Small Savings Schemes-Common lapses noticed against the Departmental Officials contributing the commission of frauds. 

1. The passbooks in which transactions have taken place after 31st March are not called for entry of interest by the Head Post Office. 

2. The list of savings Accounts in which interest was not posted is not furnished to the Inspector of Post for verification of balances. 

3. Non verification of the list when sent to the Head Office by the Inspector Post/Inspecting Officers. 

4. Failure on the part of Head Post Offices to compare signature on the warrants of payments where necessary. 

5. Non obtaining the passbooks by the Inspecting officer from the depositors personally for verification of balance in the passbook 

6. Non verification of withdrawal of Rs.10000/- and above made at branch office and single hand sub post offices by the Inspector and other field staff authorized to perform the inspection work. 

7. Failure to watch the continuity of the serial number of receipts in formSB-26 and SB-28 in account office/Head office. 

8. Allowing the work of verification of ledger balances into arrear in SBCO. 

9. Failure to check the annual statement of unsold certificates by the Head office and Postal accounts Office. 

10. Not carrying out the proper check of the unsold certificate with reference to the Invoices received from CSD/HO by the Inspecting authority at the time of Inspection of the Office. 

11. Allowing extension of tenure to the single hand postmaster by the Divisional head. 

12. Non observance of Rules and instructions of the Department issued time to time to avoid occurrence of fraud. 

13. Restrictions on SAS/NS/MPKBY agents and not giving access of unauthorized persons/agents into the working area of the Post offices and security of Stamps and Seals. 

14. Security of computerized operations be ensured by the concerned APM/PM/SPM. 

15. Access of Sanchay Post Programme to the inspecting authority to see that if any attempt has been made to encash lost/stolen cash certificates. 

16. The payment of commission at source to the authorized agents be made only after he produced the copy of receipt taken from the depositor/Investor in token of having received the Passbook / certificate. 

17. Access to the Post Office records/ledger/guard files containing purchase applications/computer monitor with password to the authorized agents should be strictly prohibited. 

18. Cheque proceeds for deposit/ investment tendered by the depositor/Investor should not be credited into the accounts of authorized agents in any circumstances. 

19. Without proper endorsement on the back side of the cheque by the depositor/Investor cheque should not be accepted. 

20. Each and every transaction made at the counter should be verified by the concerned APM/SPM personally and they need not share the password with the counter assistant in any circumstances. 

IT Modernisation Project Update

AP Postal Circle Philatelic Exhibition(APPEX-2014) at Vijayawada from 24.07.2014 to 26.07.2014

Chief Post Master General (A.P circle) B.V. Sudhakar at the unveiling of APPEX-2014 publicity van 'Naandi Ratham' in Vijayawada on 01.07.2014.

The Department of Posts will organize a State-level philatelic exhibition (APPEX-2014) at Vedika Function Hall here from July 24 to 26.

This was announced by Chief Post Master General of A.P Circle B.V. Sudhakar here on Tuesday. Three special covers would be released on each day on themes like environment, art, culture and adventure.

Speaking to media persons after flagging of the APPEX publicity van ‘Naandi Ratham’ and inaugurating the department’s blog spot prospectus, Mr. Sudhakar said philatelic exhibitions were organized in 2003 and 2007 in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam respectively. The upcoming event would be a great opportunity for A.P postal circle to showcase hobby of collection of postage stamps.

A quiz competition would be conducted in all postal divisions on July 4 and the successful ones would be participating in the regional competition to be held on July 10 and the finals scheduled for July 26. Mr. Sudhakar said collection of stamps was growing as an alternative investment channel in the sense that they fetch handsome dividends as their face value increases over a period of time due to their issue in limited numbers.

The Naandi Ratham would be moving around Vijayawada during the month (July) for creating awareness on collecting postage stamps, Mr. Sudhakar added. Post Master General (BD) Sandhya Rani, PMG (Vijayawada Region) M. Sampath, PMG (Visakhapatnam) Sharda Sampath and Directors of Postal Services V. Upender (Visakhapatnam), N.R. Visalatchy (Hyderabad) and K. Somasundaram (Vijayawada) were present.

Sorce : Hindu

Expected DA 7% wef 1.7.2014

The Labour Bureau released the AICPIN points for the month of May yesterday. The AICPIN points, which had remained stagnant at 242 has increased by 2 points to touch 244 now. This has led to an increase of the Dearness Allowance for the month of May from 105.02 to 106.17.

With only one month left for the calculation of the second installment of additional Dearness Allowance of the year, one can be almost sure that it would bring a hike of 7%.

The two previous rounds of Dearness Allowance revision brought hikes of 10% each. One could sense an air of disappointment and lack of enthusiasm among the employees this time.

Another reason for the disappointment is the fact that despite the Dearness Allowance increasing by more than 100%, it has still not been merged with the basic pay. There was a lot of expectation that the new Government at the Centre will implement this much-awaited and much-expected change.

But, nothing has been done about this yet. All the employee federations continue to stress upon this change. The federations are hell bent on getting either the DA merger or an interim relief this time. Will their dream come true?

Source: CGEN.in

Message of Secretary (Posts) for the staff and officers of the Department over the IT Project

Dear colleagues,

It gives me immense pleasure to update you about the ambitious IT Modernization project of the Department of Posts. As you know, with this project we have embarked upon a transformational journey. I take this opportunity to congratulate and thank each one of you for your dedication and hard work to bring about this historic transformation.

At this point in time, we have already networked close to 23,000 locations, making our the largest WAN in the country. Implementation of our Core Banking System and PLI solutions have attained a critical mass, which will enable us to undertake performance testing & certification before further roll outs. Core SI solutions relating to Mail Operations, Human Resources and F&A are in the UAT stage; and we are nearing identification of a vendor for the Rural Hardware program to support the modernization of our rural post offices.

Implementation of the CBS and Core-PLI solutions has been gradual by design so that we can pinpoint errors/ defects in the solutions and address them appropriately, before graduating to an exponential roll-out phase. As expected, officers and staff are facing some challenges during the initial implementation phase. While we continue to strengthen the solutions based on these valuable experiences, the extra mile that you all have traversed in order to manage these challenges is commendable. 

As the implementation gathers steam, I would request each one of you to keep up the energy & commitment you have demonstrated so far. We will make sure that the required technical and administrative support for success is made available.

The primary objective of the IT modernization project has been to enhance customer, satisfaction through better service delivery. The project will enhance the Post Offices capabilities, and enable it to deliver more efficient services, and more add-on services & products. Hon’ble Prime Minister of India has also urged the Department to fast-track the IT-modernization project and improve the quality of service. Thus, being sensitive and responsive to the customer is the need of the hour.  

You will agree that it is a matter of great pride for each one of us to be associated with this huge transformational project. We must now work hand in hand to make this historical transformation happen quickly.

Together we can, and we will do it!!

Kavery Banerjee

Secretary (Posts)