SAD NEWS
Former Lok Sabha Speaker and CPM veteran Somnath Chatterjee breathed his last on Monday morning at a Kolkata hospital after battling kidney ailment, media reports said. He was 89 years old and had suffered a mild cardiac arrest.
All India RMS & MMS Employees Union Group `C` conveys its heartfelt condolences to his bereaved family members and friends.
DoP&T Clarification on CEA,, OTA, Honororium, Leave etc.
EFFECT OF DEMONETIZATION ON THE ECONOMY
LS - Q & A (10-08-2018)
ALTERNATIVE ARRANGEMENT IN PLACE OF EMPLOYEES ON CHILD CARE LEAVE- LOK SABHA Q & A
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCES AND PENSIONS
(DEPARTMENT OF PERSONNEL & TRAINING)
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3587
(TO BE ANSWERED ON 08.08.2018)
ALTERNATIVE ARRANGEMENT IN PLACE OF EMPLOYEES ON CHILD CARE LEAVE
3587. SHRI P. NAGARAJAN:
Will the PRIME MINISTER be pleased to state:
(a) whether the Union Government is aware of the fact that the office work is being totally disrupted due to absence of women employees on account of the long paid maternity leave and child care leave;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether the Government has calculated days and assessed working during maternity/child care leave for making provisions of staff to overcome the shortage or cope up with the work in the absence of women employees who are on maternity and child care leave;
(d) if so, the details thereof; and
(e) if not, the reasons therefore?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCES AND PENSIONS AND MINISTER OF STATE IN THE PRIME MINISTER’S OFFICE
(DR. JITENDRA SINGH)
(a) to (e) : Disruption in the office work due to absence of women employees on account of the long paid Maternity Leave and Child Care Leave has not come to the notice of the Government. Ministries/Departments are authorized to make suitable leave arrangements to cope up the loss of work hours when an employee proceeds on any kind of leave including Maternity and Child Care Leave. There is also provision for creation of leave reserve posts to cover the leave vacancies. No centralized data is maintained in this regard. Source: Lok Sabha
REINTRODUCTION OF OLD PENSION SCHEME
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF FINANCE
DEPARTMENT OF FINANCIAL SERVICES
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4075
TO BE ANSWERED ON AUGUST 10, 2018/SHRAVANA 19, 1940 (SAKA)
REINTRODUCTION OF OLD PENSION SCHEME
Shri Rakesh Singh
Will the Minister of FINANCE be pleased to state:
the details of drawbacks of the New Pension Scheme (NPS) introduced for the Government officials; whether the NPS is not as beneficial monetarily as the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) and if so, the details thereof; whether the Government employees are disgruntled with the NPS and if so, the details thereof; and whether the Government proposes to reintroduce the OPS replacing the NPS, if so, the details thereof and the action taken by the Government in this regard?
ANSWER
The Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance
(Shri Shiv Pratap Shulda)
(a) & (b) National Pension System (NPS) has been designed giving utmost importance to the welfare of the subscribers. Government has made a conscious move to shift from the defined benefit pension scheme to defined contribution pension scheme i.e. NPS, due to rising and unsustainable pension bill. There are a number of benefits available to the employees under NPS. Some of the benefits are enlisted below:
§ NPS is a well designed pension system managed through an unbundled architecture involving intermediaries appointed by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) viz. pension funds, custodian, central record keeping and accounting agency, National Pension System Trust, trustee bank, points of presence and Annuity service providers. It is prudently regulated by PFRDA which is a statutory regulatory body established to promote old age income security and to protect the interest of subscribers of NPS.
§ The pension wealth which accumulates over a period of time till retirement grows with a compounding effect. The all-in-costs of the institutional architecture of NPS are among the lowest in the world.
§ Contribution made to the NPS Tier-I account is eligible for tax deduction under the Income Tax Act, 1961. An additional tax rebate of Rs.50000 is also allowed for contributions made to NPS Tier-I under Section 80CCD (1B) of the Income Tax Act, 1961.
§ Subscribers can withdraw up to 25% of their own contributions before attaining age of superannuation, subject to certain conditions. Further, PFRDA vide “PFRDA (Exits and Withdrawals under the NPS) (First Amendment) Regulations, 2017” dated 10.08.2017 has liberalized norms for partial withdrawals which also include reduction of requirement of minimum years of being enrolled under NPS from 10 years to 3 years from the date of joining.
§ PFRDA has increased the maximum age limit from 60 years to 65 years for joining NPS-All Citizen Model and Corporate Sector Model, vide “PFRDA (Exits and Withdrawals under the NPS) (Second Amendment) Regulations, 2017” dated 06.10.2017.
§ PFRDA vide “PFRDA (Exits and Withdrawals under the NPS) (Third Amendment) Regulations, 2018” dated 02.2018 has facilitated easy exit & withdrawal in case of disability and incapacitation of the subscriber covered under NPS.
§ Transparency and Portability is ensured through online access of the pension account by the NPS subscribers, across all geographical locations and portability of employments.
(c) & (d) Representations have been received which inter alia also include the demand that the Government may revert to old defined benefit pension system. However, due to rising and unsustainable pension bill and competing claims on the fiscal, there is no proposal to replace the NPS with old pension scheme in respect of Central Government employees recruited on or after 01.01.2004.
7TH CPC DEARNESS ALLOWANCE [LOKSABHA QA]
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF FINANCE
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO: 3948
ANSWERED ON: 10.08.2018
DA under 7th CPC
RAMESH BAIS
Will the Minister of
FINANCE be pleased to state:-
(a) whether the Dearness Relief of 119 per cent as effective from 1st July, 2015 was the last one taken into consideration by the 7th Central Pay Commission (CPC) while recommending the formulae for revision of pension for civilian personnel including Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) who retired before 01.01.2016 and if so, the details thereof;
(b) whether the retirees were in receipt of six per cent Dearness Allowance (DA) w.e.f. 01.01.2016 till the implementation of the Pay Commission Report and if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether at the time of implementation of 7th CPC Report, the six per cent has been denied and if so, the reasons therefor; and
(d) the remedial measures taken/being taken by the Government to remove their hardship and to restore the DA denied to them?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE FOR FINANCE
(SHRI P. RADHAKRISHNAN)
(a) to (c) : The pension of Central Government employees including personnel of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), who retired prior to 1.1.2016, has been revised w.e.f. 1.1.2016 based on the recommendations of 7th Central Pay Commission (CPC), as accepted by the Government, taking into account Dearness Relief @ 125%.
(d): Does not arise.
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2018 November 15th Strike - Memorandum to be submitted to Governor, Chief Minister, MP, Leaders of Political Parties, Trade Unions, Eminent personalities etc,.
Dear Comrades,
All the affiliated organizations and C-o-Cs are requested to submit the following Memorandum to all concerned during the month of August, 2018.
While taking the copy, in the first para delete the designations shown in brackets which are not required.
M.Krishnan
Secretary General
Confederation
Mobile & whatsapp:09447068125
mkrishnan6854@gmail.com
Secretary General
Confederation
Mobile & whatsapp:09447068125
mkrishnan6854@gmail.com
============================================
CONFEDERATION OF CENTRAL GOVT. EMPLOYEES AND WORKERS
MEMORANDUM
Memorandum submitted to ..................................................................................................... .................................................................................................................................... (Governor, Chief Minister, MP, Leaders of Political Parties, Trade Unions and eminent personalities etc.) on the grievances of Central Government employees and Pensioners.
No................................. Date.............................
Respected Sir/Madam,
We, on behalf of 32 lakhs Central Government employees and 33 lakhs Pensioners, seek your benign intervention to settle the following genuine grievances pending redressal for the last many years. We have brought these issues to the notice of the Central Government several times and also discussed in the negotiating forum which meets rarely. Inspite of our best efforts the issues could not be settled due to the unhelpful attitude of the Government. Having left with no other alternatives, we have been compelled to declare one day nationwide strike of Central Government employees on 15th November 2018. It is in this background, we are approaching your goodself for your kind intervention, so that the matter will be brought to the notice of the Hon’ble Prime Minister for early settlement.
1. Scrap Contributory Pension Scheme (Known as New Pension Scheme - NPS) and restore Defined Benefit Pension Scheme under CCS (Pension) Rules 1972 to all Central Government Employees, joined in service on or after 01-01-2004.
Contributory Pension Scheme (called as New Pension Scheme - NPS) was introduced through an executive order with effect from 01-01-2004 for all Central Government employees who joined service on or after 01-01-2004. Subsequently Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Act (PFRDA) was enacted to make it statutory. As per the NPS 10% Pay plus DA will be recovered from the employee each month and an equal amount will be contributed by Government. The amount goes to the Pension Fund and from there to share market. As per the PFRDA Act - “There shall not be any implicit or explicit assurance of benefit except market based guarantee mechanism to be purchased by the subscribers”. Thus it can be seen that the contribution in the Pension Fund is fully dependent on the vagaries of share market. There is no guarantee whether pension will be received at the age of 60 years and even if received what will be the amount of pension. Now, many employees who entered service on or after 01-01-2004 has started retiring from service after completing 12 to 13 years service. They receive a megre amount of 900 to 1700 as monthly pension, whereas as per the old pension scheme an employee with minimum 10 years service is eligible for 50% of last pay drawn as monthly pension, subject to a minimum of Rs.9,000/- per month, that too without giving any contribution to the pension fund. With meager amount of Rs.900 to 1700 how a pensioner and his family can survive?
It is this bitter reality that compels the employees to demand scraping of NPS and restoration of the old Pension Scheme for all those employees who entered service on or after 01-01-2004.
2. Honour assurance given by Group of Ministers to the Leaders of National Joint Council of Action (NJCA) of Central Government employees regarding increase in Minimum Pay and Fitment formula for Pay revision from 01-01-2016.
Most of the recommendations of 7th Central Pay Commission (CPC) are retrograde, especially regarding Minimum Pay and Fitment formula. The NJCA representing entire Central Govt. employees had given notice for indefinite strike from 11th July 2016 demanding modifications in the recommendations of 7th CPC.... To avert the inevitable strike action, a Group of Ministers consisting of Shri. Rajnath Singh, Home Minister, Shri. Arun Jaitley, Finance Minister and Shri. Suresh Prabhu, then Railway Minister held discussion with NJCA leaders on 30-06-2016 and assured that the main demand of increase in Minimum Pay and Fitment formula will be considered favourably and for that purpose a High Level Committee will be constituted by the Government which will submit its report within four months time. This assurance was confirmed through a press statement issued by Finance Ministry on 06-07-2016. Even though two years are over since then, neither High Level Committee is constituted by Government nor the assurance given by Group of Ministers implemented. Entire employees and pensioners feel let down and betrayed. Now Government has made it clear in the Parliament that at present, no such proposal for increase in Minimum Pay and Fitment formula is under consideration of the Government.
3. Regularisation and grant of Civil Servant status to Gramin Dak Sevaks of the Postal Department. Implement all positive recommendations of Kamalesh Chandra Committee report without any modifications or dilution:
Consequent upon the appointment of 7th Central Pay Commission, the Government set up a separate committee on 19-11-2015 for revision of wages of three lakhs Gramin Dak Sevaks (GDS) of Postal Department. Even though the Committee submitted its report on 24-11-2016, the Government delayed its implementation for 18 months. Aggrieved by this, entire GDS employees went on 16 days indefinite strike and finally Government approved the wage revision. Even though the revised pay scales recommended by the Committee is approved with effect from 01-07-2018, the formula for pay fixation and calculation of arrears from 01-01-2016 to 30-06-2018, recommended by the Committee is modified by the Government to the detriment of the employees resulting in loss of huge amount of arrears to each Gramin Dak Sevak. Further some other recommendations of the Committee like composite allowance, raising the maximum limit of ex-gratia gratuity to 5 lakhs, three financial upgradations, enhancement of paid leave from 20 to 30, Enhancement of monthly subscription and insurance cover of EDGIS, Enhancement of working hours as per workload upto 8 hours, combined duty allowance, retirement on last day of the month on which GDS attains the retirement age etc. are either modified/curtailed or rejected by the Government. Recommendations like grant of Children Education Allowance, Emergency leave, Accumulation of paid leave upto 180 days, Insurance Scheme, Limited transfer liability, Voluntary Discharge Scheme, lesser qualifying service for Limited Departmental Competitive Examinations (LDCE) etc. are yet to be approved by the Government. Our demand for regularisation and grant of pension as per CCS (Pension) Rules 1972, Introduction of Medical Insurance Scheme, weightage increment for every 3 years service to seniors, etc. are not considered favourably by the Government. In short, the attitude of the Government towards the genuine demands of the GDS employees is not at all positive and Govt. want to continue the inhuman exploitation of GDS.
(b) Regularisation of Casual, Part-time, Contingent and Contract Workers who are engaged for years together to perform the work which are permanent and perennial in nature.
Thousands of Casual and Contract workers are engaged in various Central Government departments against permanent Group-C vacant posts and also to perform other work which is permanent/perennial in nature like sweeping etc. Consequent on introduction of ban on recruitment by successive governments in power, their number increased phenomenally. Government is not ready to regularize them and is not even ready to grant equal wage for equal work reiterated in the latest Supreme Court Judgment.
4. Pension Parity recommended by 7th Central Pay Commision (Option-I):
7th Central Pay Commission, headed by Justice (Rtd) Ashok Kumar Mathur and consisting of experts from various fields, has recommended a new formula called “Option-I” for fixation of pension of all pensioners retired prior to
01-01-2016 which ensure cent percent parity in pension between present and past pensioners. But, the Government has unilaterally rejected the recommendation on the specious plea that it is not feasible to implement. This has adversely affected the pensionary benefits of about 33 lakhs Central Govt. Civilian Pensioners.
01-01-2016 which ensure cent percent parity in pension between present and past pensioners. But, the Government has unilaterally rejected the recommendation on the specious plea that it is not feasible to implement. This has adversely affected the pensionary benefits of about 33 lakhs Central Govt. Civilian Pensioners.
In addition to the above the following demands of the Central Govt. employees are also long pending.
5. Filling up of all vacant posts.
There are about six lakhs vacant posts remaining unfilled in various Central Government departments.
There are about six lakhs vacant posts remaining unfilled in various Central Government departments.
6. Stop closure of Government establishments -
Government has issued orders for closure of 12 Govt. of India Printing Presses out of 17 Presses, inspite of the fact that the Parliamentary Standing Committee has opposed the proposal and recommended twice for revival and modernisation of all 17 printing presses.
7. Implement 7th CPC wage revision and pension revision of all Autonomous body employees and pensioners.
There are about 600 Autonomous bodies under the Central Government. 7th CPC wage revision and pension revision is not yet extended to 80% of the Autonomous body employees and pensioners.
There are about 600 Autonomous bodies under the Central Government. 7th CPC wage revision and pension revision is not yet extended to 80% of the Autonomous body employees and pensioners.
8. Remove 5% condition imposed on compassionate appointments -
Govt. has restricted the compassionate appointments to 5% of the total Direct recruitment quota vacancies earmarked for each year in each recruiting units of various departments. This has resulted in rejection of even genuine and deserving cases of compassionate appointments. The dependents of thousands of employees who died while in service are put to untold sufferings due to this inhuman decision of the Central Government
9. Stop attack on trade union rights and ensure prompt functioning of various negotiating forums under the Joint Consultative Machinery (JCM) scheme at National and Departmental level -
Government has issued instructions banning all peaceful agitational programmes like dharnas, demonstrations etc. Various negotiating forums under the JCM Scheme are not convened regularly and has become almost defunct or ineffective.
10. Grant of five promotions during the entire service career of each employee -
At present almost all employees in the Group B and Group-C cadres retire from service with maximum three promotions only. Our request to ensure minimum five promotions in one’s career is not considered favourably by Government.
The above are some of the main issues agitating the minds of lakhs of central Govt. Employees and pensioners for long. Once again request your kind intervention.
With profound regards,
Yours faithfully,
Place: Name :
Date: Designation :
Union/Assn/Federation’s Name :
or name of C-O-C :
To
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