Seventh Pay Commission Reports Coming Shortly, Says FM Jaitley

New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said that reports of Seventh Pay Commission for central government employees was coming shortly.

“The recommendations of Seventh central Pay Commission for government employees is coming shortly,” Jaitley told ET NOW.

The Seventh Pay Commission, which was set up by the UPA government, was required to submit its report by August-end.

The Seventh Pay Commission was ready to submit its report by the end of September but government gave nod to submit its report till December 31.

The reports of Seventh Central Pay Commission may be implicated from April next year as Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said that he will get the pay panel reports shortly.

The central 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 revised pay scales will be implemented retrospectively starting 1 January 2016, while recommendations relating to allowances will be implemented prospectively.

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 Commission is headed by Justice A K Mathur. Meena Agarwal is secretary of the Commission.

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.

Central trade unions barring BMS decided to go ahead with their proposed nationwide strike on 02.09.2015

All central trade unions barring the  Bhartiya Mazdoor  Sangh on Friday decided to go ahead with their proposed nationwide strike on  02.09.2015, saying the government failed to give a concrete proposal on their  12-point charter of demands.

 "There is no reason for us to defer the  planned strike and all 11 central unions will be on a one day nationwide strike  to convey the discontent amongst workers," G Sanjeevareddy, chairman of the  central trade unions coordination committee said after a three-hour meeting where the government  offered some sops. However, BMS, which claims to be the second largest trade  union in the country, feels that following the government's proposal, unions  should give it time to deliver. "We have requested all central trade unions not  to go on strike just for political reasons," Vrijesh Upadhyay, general secretary of BMS, said after the meeting. BMS feels  that unions should give government six months to deliver on the proposals. "For the first time, the government has made a positive move  on some of the issues. Let us give them some time to deliver," Upadhyay said.  

An inter-ministerial committee led by finance minister Arun  Jaitley had on Thursday proposed to significantly increase minimum wages and  make them mandatory across the country. It also suggested an increase in the  bonus ceiling as well as widening the coverage of provident fund and health  insurance to include  construction workers and those in schemes such as aanganwadis.

The  unions' decision to go ahead with the strike is a blow for the government that  met trade union representatives thrice in July and twice in August to discuss their 12-point  charter of demands. The government had assured them action on at least four of  their key demands on Thursday while urging unions to reconsider their decision  to go on strike. However, unions felt that whatever assurance has come is not  meeting their demand and hence 10 of the 11 central trade unions will stage a  one-day general strike next week. 

Source :economictimes.indiatimes.com

Happy Rakshya Bandhan to all FNPO family members, friends, well wishers and viewers

Happy Rakshya Bandhan to all FNPO family members, friends, well wishers and viewers

Splitting of one higher denomination account into multiple lower denomination accounts - Directorate Instructions

Strike on 2nd Sep, 2015: Govt assured on Bonus enhancement, Wages formula and Union agreed to reconsider the proposed strike

Strike on 2nd Sep, 2015: Govt assured on Bonus enhancement, Wages formula and Union agreed to reconsider the proposed strike:

Press Information Bureau

Government of India

Ministry of Labour & Employment

27-August-2015 21:05 IST

Inter Ministerial Committee Holds Wider Consultations with Trade Unions on Charter of Demands Appeals to Reconsider Proposed Call for Strike in View of Discussions

The Second meeting of Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) continued discussion on 12 Demands Charter of Trade Unions for the second day here today in continuation of discussions held yesterday. The Committee comprises Shri Arun Jaitley, Finance Minister, Shri Bandaru Dattatreya, MoS(IC) Labour and Employment, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, MOS(IC) Petroleum and Natural Gas, Shri Jitendra Singh, MoS DOPT, and Shri Piyush Goel, MoS (IC),Power. During the discussions Trade Unions expressed concern and asked for clarifications on their demands. Addressing their concerns and expectations, the Finance Minister explained policies on which the Government is working and assured that the Government is committed to welfare of labour. Underlining the importance of role of Trade Unions, Shri Jaitely assured the Central Trade Unions that all labour laws reforms will be done with due discussions and tripartite consultations.

In view of the discussions held in conducive and cordial atmosphere, the IMC appealed to Trade Unions to reconsider the proposed call for strike on 2nd September, 2015.The Trade Unions have agreed to consider the appeal.

In view of the suggestions given by Central Trade Unions in the meetings held on 19th July, 26th August and 27th August, 2015, the Government assured the following :

1. Appropriate legislation for making formula based minimum wages mandatory and applicable to all employees across the country.

2. For the purposes of bonus the wage eligibility limit and calculation ceiling would be appropriately revised. Earlier in 2006-07 the calculation ceiling was decided at Rs.3500/- and eligibility limit was wage of Rs.10,000/- per month which is proposed to be revised to Rs.7,000 and Rs.21,000 respectively.

3. The Government is expanding the coverage of social security and working out ways to include construction workers, Aanganwari workers ,ASHA workers and Mid Day Meal workers.

4. Regarding contract workers the Government assured that they will be guaranteed minimum wages. Moreover, the Government is working out ways so that workers of industries will get sector specific minimum wages.

5. Government has already enhanced minimum pension for EPFO members and every pensioner gets minimum pension of Rs.1000/- per month perpetually.

6. Labour laws reforms will be based on tripartite consultations as already stated by the Prime Minister. The States are also being advised to follow the tripartite process.

7. For strict adherence to labour law enforcement, advisory has been issued to the State/UT Governments and strict monitoring has been initiated by Central Government.

8. For employment generation Mudra Yojana, Make in India, Skill India and National Career Service Portal initiatives have been taken.

9. Abolition of interviews for all primary jobs which do not require any special knowledge/expertise, is being done for transparency and expediting the process of recruitment.

10. Inflation is lowest in the last many years excepting two items onion and pulses. Government is taking necessary steps to contain the higher prices of these two commodities also.

It was further clarified that there is no ban on filling up of vacancies in Government jobs and all concerned Departments are taking necessary action to fill-up these vacancies. It was further assured that the Government is committed to job security, wages security and social security to the workers. The issue of equal wages for equal work for contract workers is an issue requiring wider consultations and a committee will be constituted, if required.

Source : http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=126401

Salary Hike for Government Employees Likely to be Delayed by 2 Months

NEW DELHI:  A salary hike for lakhs of government employees will be delayed by two months by a panel that decides on their salaries, according to sources.

The 7th Pay Commission is not expected to lower or increase the retirement age for 54 lakh government employees, but its final report on salary hike that was to be submitted to the Centre by the end of this month, has been delayed till September 15.

According to sources, there will be no interim report of the Commission, and the new wage salary whenever accepted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's National Democratic Alliance, will be effective from January 1 next year.

The chairman of the 7th Pay Commission, Justice AK Mathur has asked for a two month extension from the government. The Commission was appointed by the previous UPA regime in February 2014, and was given 18 months to submit its report.

Nearly 90 per cent of government employees work in the armed and paramilitary forces, while others are in railways and postal department.

Sources said that the Commission was hoping that the government would take a call on One Rank One Pension, so they could modulate their own formulation in terms of pay revision.

The Commission is also expected to take a call on lateral entry and performance based pay, which has been discussed for years, but with no real solution.

During the monsoon session of Parliament earlier this month, the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework Statement tabled in Parliament said, that the salary outgo of central government employees will rise 9.56 per cent to Rs. 1,00,619 crore in the current fiscal year.

Next year, it could increase further at 15.79 per cent to nearly Rs. 1.16 lakh crore, with the likely implementation of the 7th Pay Commission award, said the statement tabled by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

Some Ruling files in PDF format

1.CCS (Conduct) Rules 

2.CCS (CCA) Rules

3.CCS (Leave) Rules

4.Fundamental & Supplementary Rules

5.Pension Rules

6.New Pension Scheme

7.Provident Fund Rules

8.Medical Attendance Rules 

 

Courtesy : http://finaclesolution.blogspot.in/

Cabinet clears four-month extension to 7th Central Pay Commission

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today gave its approval for the extension of the term of the 7th Central Pay Commission by four months up to31.12.2015. 

The Central Pay Commission was constituted by the Central Government on 28.2.2014. According to the Resolution dated 28.2.2014, by which the Commission was constituted, it is to make its recommendations within 18 months of the date of its constitution that is by 27th August, 2015. 

In view of its volume of work and intensive stake-holders' consultations, the 7th Central Pay Commission had made a request to the Government for a four month extension up to 31.12.201

Source : PIB(Release ID :126354)

Prime Minister expressed concern over the grievances of public relating to post offices

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today chaired his fifth interaction through PRAGATI - the ICT-based, multi-modal platform for Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation. 

In course of his review today, the Prime Minister expressed concern at the grievances relating to post offices. Noting that postal services are vital for the poorest sections of society, he directed the Department of Posts to work towards improvement in service delivery, especially in areas such as payment of policy benefits, money orders, postal savings accounts, and delay in delivery of post. 

The Prime Minister reviewed the progress of key infrastructure projects in the Railway, Road, Power, Telecommunication and Agri-Infrastructure sectors, spread over several states including Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. The projects reviewed also included the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor and Chennai Metro Rail. The Prime Minister urged speeding up of work for early completion of the projects. 

Shri Narendra Modi reviewed the scheme for provision of mobile services in Left Wing Extremism affected areas. Emphasizing that mobile connectivity was extremely essential for the common man, particularly in backward areas, he urged all concerned States to accelerate implementation of the scheme. 

The Prime Minister was given a demonstration of the progress of the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) scheme, through live video conferencing with three police stations in the States of Assam, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka. He called for enhancing both the level of sophistication, and the speed of implementation of this scheme across the country. 
Source : PIB

Reimbursement of Children Education Allowance - Clarifications

Click here to view the DoPT clarifications on children Education allowance communicated vide Postal Directorate letter dated 31.07.2015.

JOIN THE 2ND SEPTEMBER STRIKE ENMASS

Our Federation decided to participate in the 2^ndSeptember strike called by National trade Union centres against the anti labour policies of the Central Government. We have taken this decision last minute based on the feedback and advice received from the various levels.

 The staff side of National JCM already announced strike in November 2015. The policies of the Government and there is no progress on the demands during the negotiations led to the strike decision. All the trade unions participating in the strike including the BMS affiliates.

  Even after 65 years of formation of Indian Republic the ILO basic conventions No 87 & 98 were not ratified by India which is said to be a democratic Union and member country of the ILO from the day of its formation. The ID Act 1947 is protecting the working class for all the years. Since there is no statutory protection, the   laws were amended to help the corporate sectors and SEZs. Disinvestment of Central /State PSUs and FDIs in Railways and defence shocked the working Class about the future. There is no guarantee for the minimum wage and social security for the working population. Employment in the Govt.secter is degenerating replaced by the outsourcing and contracterisation. The Agriculture sector is facing uncertainity.

  In the Government sector the Department of Posts having 3 lakhs GDS employees and their suffering is the same as out sourced contract employees. In the present scenario they are performing the duties of  regular employees and the Govt is harping on the illegality that they cannot be paid more than 5 hours.The Postal JCA served strike notice for inclusion of GDS employees in the purview of 7^th CPC.But it was rejected on the technical grounds and the Department is proposing the officers committee. We have seen the results of the recommendations of these committees headed by the officers which never clinched the basic structure of these GDS employees.

  The cadre restructuring in the Department, though agreements were signed,long ago the recommendations did not see the light in the nodal ministries. The CPC submitting its report. Many issues whre there are agreements in the Department council nothing is implemented.

 The employees are frustrated at all levels. Under these circumstances we have to join the struggle and show our strong resentment over the   Anti employees policies of the Government. Let us make the strike a grand success.

PFRDA to launch online facility to open NPS accounts

MUMBAI: Pension fund regulator PFRDA is set to launch an online facility for opening of accounts under the National Pension System (NPS) to net in prospective customers. 

"We are set to launch the online on-boarding facility for the prospective customers of pension schemes under the NPS," PFRDA chairman Hemant Contractor told reporters on the sidelines of an insurance summit organised by the industry lobby CII here this evening. 

"We have also urged the government to offer tax-breaks to pension schemes falling on the lines of other financial products like mutual funds and insurance, to popularise pension products in the unorganised sector," he said. 

The Pension Funds Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA has sought clarification from the government if the pension products being run by various fund houses and life insurers can be regulated by it

"We have asked the government to clarify whether we can regulate the pension business being run by mutual fund houses and life insurers because the PFRDA Act empowers us to regulate all kinds of pension business," Contractor said. 

On the pension business being managed by the Employees Provident Fund Organisation ( EPFO), he said it is up to the government to decide that who will be regulating it. 

Commenting on the progress of NPS, he said the NPS corpus has already crossed Rs 94,000 crore so far, which includes Rs 7,000 crore from the Atal Pension Yojana. 

He further said, "We've already opened 6,80,000 accounts under the Atal Pension scheme during the past couple of months and we are looking at taking it to 2 crore by December. Out of these 6,80,000 accounts, 65 per cent subscribers come from urban areas and the rest from the rural areas." 

The three state-owned fund managers, who are managing the Atal Pension scheme funds are UTI, SBI and LIC Pension Fund. 

The regulator is getting ready to appoint new fund managers for the NPS, which has seven active fund managers now and also reviewing fund management charges. 

Contractor also said the regulator is planning to increase the tenure of NPS fund managers to five years from the present three. 

"We don't mind paying a higher commission to incentivise fund managers and distributors so as to expand the NPS reach. We are reviewing a proposal in this regard and we will be issuing a request for proposal to appoint new fund managers within a month," he said.

Source : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/

Report of Seventh Pay commission might be submitted by second week of September 2015

The Hindi daily Dainik Baskar quoted in its report published on 22.8.2015 about report of Seventh pay commission that the pay commission report will be submitted by second week of September 2015,

According to its report the Seventh Pay Commission report to be submitted to the government will be examined by  the senior CoS, which will take two months. Then it will be submitted to the Ministry of Finance, which will be  implemented from 1st  January, 2016,

According to sources the fitment formula 2.86 would be recommended by 7th pay commission.

New Delhi: The Seventh Pay Commission is likely to recommend the government to form a permanent pay panel to give recommendations to the government from time to time on issues pertaining to pay structure of central government employees.

The permanent pay panel would recommend regular salary hikes in keeping with the rate of inflation.

The formation of the permanent pay panel would help raise the salaries and allowances of central government officials and employees, an official of the pay panel said.

He added the permanent pay panel would recommend salary and allowance hikes in keeping with the rising inflation rate, which will be implemented by the government. “Then it will not be necessary to form a new commission during the next several years for central government employees.”

However, the Seventh Pay Commission got one month extension to submit its recommendations.

Accordingly it is expected to submit its report by the end of September. The time allotted for the commission ends this month.

The government appointed the Seventh Pay Commission on 28 February 2014 under chairman, Justice Ashok Kumar Mathur, with a time frame of 18 months to make its recommendations

“There are some data points that are missing, which we hope to get by this month end. We are trying to submit the report by 20 September,” the official of the pay panel also said.

The government’s salary bill will rise by 9.56% to Rs 1,00,619 crore with the implementation of the recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission, according to a statement tabled in Parliament by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on August 12.

The recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission, is likely to be implemented in April, next year.

Source : http://www.tkbsen.in/

Inclusion of GDS into 7th CPC efforts by our CS NUGDS

Govt committed to revive postal department: Prasad

Communications minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Thursday said the government will revive the postal department by using over 1.5 lakh post offices for furthering financial inclusion and payments bank is a step towards it. 

The Reserve Bank of India has granted 'in-principle' approval to Postal Department to set up payments bank. 

"We have to make all the preparations in 18 months, which we will do. The Modi government is going to revive the postal segment and post payment bank is an indication to that," Prasad told reporters here. 

He said that the 1.50 lakh post offices from Kashmir to Kanyakumari will play an important role in financial inclusion. 

Prasad said since becoming the communications minister, he has tried that postal department should move forward. 

"You know in e-commerce, postal department is moving forward, they have done business of about Rs 600 crore in the last 2 months," he said. 

The government will soon give handheld devices to all rural post offices, he added. 

The payments bank licence will enable the Department of Post (DoP) to offer banking services to the masses through its vast network of 1,54,000 post offices, of which 1,30,000 are in rural areas. 

As per RBI guidelines, payments bank would offer a limited range of products such as demand deposits and remittances. They will not be allowed to undertake lending activities and will initially be restricted to hold a maximum balance of Rs 1 lakh per customer. 

They will be allowed to issue ATM or debit cards as other prepaid payment instruments, but not credit cards. 

Meanwhile, regarding electronic manufacturing the Minister said, under MSIPS scheme proposals worth Rs 30,000 crore have come and approval has been given to around Rs 12,000-13,000 crore.

Source:-The Times of India

2 nd & 4 th Saturday of every month is declared as Public Holiday for BANKS - Orders of Ministry of Finance

It was notified  vide Dept of Financial services, Ministry of Finance vide letter dated 20.08.2015 that Banks in India will observe Public Holiday on every second and fourth Saturdays of a month with effect from 01.09.2015.

7TH CPC WIL INCREASE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT PAY ONLY BY 15%. SHOULD WE ACCEPT?

 R.ELANGOVAN,
WORKING PRESIDENT, DREU

1.     The Medium Term Expenditure Framework statement has not yet been uploaded in Finance Ministry’s website.However I have taken the figures provided by print media including The Hindu.As per their statement the expenditure on salaries will rise by 9.56% in the fiscal 2015-16 as a result of 7th CPC implementation over the normal estimated expenditure in the 2015-16 budget to Rs.100619 crores. This means that the expenditure projected was Rs.91,839cr which if increased by 9.56% becomesRs.100619 crores.

2.     While going through the earlier framework statements I have come to the conclusion that the ‘salaries’ shown is pay with normal increments plus DA projected.

3.     As per the estimated strength and provision there of statement laid as part of finance budget,the normal projection as PAY was Rs.60731 cr and so DA is Rs 31,108 as deducted from Rs 91 839 cr.The budget document does not give the DA expenditure separately. It gives the total expenditure on all allowances. I have therefore arrived at the figure based on calculations. However I have sought the expenditure on DA, HRA, and Transport Allowance separately through RTI.

4.     The increase proposed is Rs.100619 cr from Rs.91,839cr  which means that there will be an increase of Rs.8780 cr. There won’t be any DA after 1-1-2016 up to 31-3-2016 in the fiscal 2015-16.Therefore the whole increase is on basic pay in this fiscal.

5.     As we have already seen that the basic pay is Rs.60731 cr. the increase of Rs.8780 cr. is over this Rs.60731.This increase is 14.45% only.The expenditure projected for 2016-17 is Rs.1,12,000cr which is Rs.11,400 more over 2015-16 which works out to 11.32%. This is due to Increment, DA,HRA, TRA etc.The projection for 2017-18 is 1,16,000 cr.

6.     If 40%  of Basic Pay is to be given,the increase of expenditure in the fiscal 2015-16  must  be Rs. 24000 cr as against the Rs. 8780 cr. The demand of JCM Staff side is that there must be an increase of 371% of basic pay as on 1-1-2016. With the 119% DA we would be drawing 219% already. The real increase demanded is 152% of Basic Pay.So not the 152% or 40% of 5th and 6th CPC is intended to be given to us. Only around 15% is going to be given.As The Terms Of Reference of 7TH CPC directs them to recommend only what is‘FEASIBLE AND DESIRABLE’to the Government.Now the Government InParliament states only 15% is FEASIBLE AND DESIRABLE. ARE WE TO ACCEPT IT.?Some PSUs got 15%. But that is for 5 years. But for Central Government Employees it is for Ten Years.Are We To Accept?

7.     Pension expenditure for civilian pensioners was estimated to be Rs.27,145cr and defence pension Rs.54,500 cr. The total is Rs.81645 cr. This is expected to go up to Rs.88521 cr, which is an increase of Rs.6876 cr.As there will be no Dearness Relief for the fiscal 2015-16 the increase is to be accounted only to Basic Pension.

8.     I have sought the expenditure break up for dearness relief under RTI. However the rough calculation shows a near increase of same 15% in Pension.

9.     The impact of 6th CPC on expenditure as per estimated strength of establishment and provision there of in respect of Central Government civilian employees was as follows:

ARREARS Rs 26084 cr.  For three  years mostly on Pay and DA regular PAY Increase per annum:   Rs 8685 cr. These are actual figures.The 219% ofRs. 8685 cris  Rs.19000 cr. EVEN THIS IS NOT GIVEN.

10.We must issue a warning to the government afresh demanding acceptance of our demand.I recall my earlier note where in I had quoted BibekDebroy’s report that the 7th CPC will not be that destabilisingto the Government as that of 6th CPC. GOVERNMENT PROVES THAT.

Source:http://postalpensioners.blogspot.in/2015/08/big-expectations-from-7th-cpc-and-low.html

Holiday home at BPC, Tambaram, Chennai

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