WORKERS ELIGIBLE FOR INTEREST ON GRATUITY, RULES MADURAI BENCH OF HC

An employee becomes eligible for gratuity on the termination of his employment after he has rendered continuous service for not less than five years, according to Section 4(1) of the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972.

He is also entitled for interest on the gratuity in terms of Section 7(3) and 7(3A). Making these clear, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court directed the Arumuganeri Salt Workers Co-operative Production and Sale Society Ltd, Thoothukkudi district, to pay the amount to its worker, Mr A. Rajan, within 30 days from date of receipt of a copy of this order without further driving him to any other forum.

Mr Justice K. Chandru, hearing a writ petition from the Society challenging the order dated January 27, 2009 of the Appellate Authority under the Act, Madurai (R-2), directing it to make interest payment if gratuity was not paid within 30 days from the date of his order, noted that from the beginning, it was the stand of the petitioner Society that R-1 (Mr A. Rajan) was not eligible for gratuity. If Sections 7(3) and 7(3A) were read together, then there was no difficulty in understanding the eligibility for receiving interest. In the present case, the Appellate Authority had correctly construed the legal provisions and there was no case made out to interfere with the interpretation placed by the Authority.

The petitioner contended that payment of interest would arise only when there was delayed payment, and in this case, there was no delay since they had paid gratuity as ordered by R-2, and hence the question of payment of interest would not arise. This Court was unable to accept the said statement, since the entire controversy was with regard to the legal provision.

Reading Section 4(1) of the Act it would be clear that the date relevant for determination of interest was the date on which gratuity became payable, which in the present case was when R-1 resigned his job on 1-6-2003. When R-1 issued notice for payment of gratuity, petitioner employer did not honour the notice. On the contrary, it was only when R-1 instituted a claim before the Controlling Authority, the petitioner contended about the irregular nature of his employment and his alleged disqualification from receiving gratuity.

In the light of these, the writ petition stood dismissed, the Judge held.

Source: The Hindu

NEW PENSION SCHEME: CHOOSE PLAN TO SUIT RISK PROFILE

Under the New Pension Scheme (NPS), investors save money which is put into the capital market. The sum which you will get after retirement will be dependent on the performance of the capital market. You can make monthly or weekly contributions to the NPS. But for every contribution, your transaction cost will increase.

Prior to NPS, there was the Defined Benefit Plan -one would get certain pension fixed for life. The post retirement proceeds were fixed and if there is a shortfall in this corpus, the government would make good.

NPS is a Defined Contribution Plan where the returns will not be fixed. You will only get what you have contributed and returns that the fund manager generates on it. All new entrants to the central government services (other than armed forces) after January 1, 2004, will compulsorily join this scheme. All citizens, including NRIs, aged 18 to 60 can voluntary join the scheme. The exit age is 60 years.

A minimum contribution of Rs 6,000 is compulsory per year. The minimum amount per contribution is Rs 500 and a minimum of four contributions in a year for each subscriber account is required.
Under the NPS, each subscriber is allotted a unique 16-digit Permanent Retirement Account Number (PRAN). This number is portable. The records of transactions are maintained by the Central Record Keeping Agency (CRKA). The subscriber has the option to invest with seven pension fund managers (PFMs). He also has the option to choose any one or more PFMs to manage his contribution. These PFMs will have three kind of funds categorised as 'E' for equity funds, 'G' for funds investing in government securities and 'C' for fixed income securities other than government securities.
There are two types of accounts:
Tier I account where you cannot withdraw
The Tier I account is the basic NPS account that is non-withdrawable till retirement or death of the subscriber. In this account, the total corpus at retirement age is split, where a minimum of 40 percent of the final corpus has to be compulsorily used to buy an annuity while the subscriber is free to withdraw the remaining 60 percent as a lump sum or in installments.
Tier II account where you can withdraw
The Tier II account is available to only to those who are existing subscribers of the Tier I account. The money contributed into this account can be freely withdrawn as and when the subscriber wishes to except for a minimum balance that needs to be maintained at the end of each financial year.
Charges
The NPS levies an investment charge of .00009 percent of the assets under management. Initial charges of account opening are around Rs 470. From the second year onward the charges are Rs 350 per annum. Also, a charge of Rs 10 is applicable for each transaction. One can make monthly or weekly contributions. But for every contribution, your transaction cost will increase.
Fund managers
These are managed by fund managers. Currently, seven fund houses appointed by the government are available under the NPS.
These are:
LIC Pension Fund Limited SBI Pension Funds Pvt Limited UTI Retirement Solutions Limited IDFC Pension Fund Management Company Limited ICICI Prudential Pension Funds Management Company Limited Kotak Mahindra Pension Fund Limited Reliance Capital Pension Fund Limited
Schemes
There are three schemes available under the NPS. Fund C
In case you invest in this fund, all the money will be invested in fixed income instruments such as corporate bonds and government securities. One should consider investing in this fund if the risk appetite is medium as corporate bonds are not that risky. Fund E
In case one invests in this fund, a portion of not more than 50 percent of the invested money will be put in equity. You should choose this retirement plan only if your risk appetite is high, as up to 50 percent of your money will be linked to the performance of equity.
Fund G
In this case, all your money will be invested in government securities. Hence, this is suited for risk-averse investors. One can choose to invest in any of these funds. You may also invest in a mix of these funds. If you do not choose between these funds, your contributions will be invested in a fund with 15 percent in equity, 45 percent in corporate bonds and 40 percent in government bonds. With increase in age, after 35 years, the government bond exposure will increase with a maximum limit of 80 percent and 10 percent each in equity and corporate bonds.
Fixed income pension plan
The government has proposed to extend the 'fixed income pension plan' to workers in the unorganised sector. The monthly contributions one makes will be invested as per NPS guidelines. The State funds for the savings scheme will be added to this. If any gap exists between the sum guaranteed and sum generated from the two steps, the central government will provide the required funds. The new plan will be started off initially in Haryana, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. This amendment is meant only for workers in the unorganised sector. Central and State government employees will continue to get pension through NPS.
Tax benefit Presently, NPS does not offer any tax exemptions unlike other retirement plans. It falls under the category of exempt-exempt-tax (EET) system which means that maturity benefits you receive after retirement will be taxable. However, with the Direct Tax Code coming in NPS will be tax exempted on withdrawal too.--

PERFORMANCE RELATED BONUS - INCENTIVE SYSTEM FOR GOVT EMPLOYEES MAY BE INTRODUCED NEXT YEAR

An incentive structure akin to one prevalent in private sector could soon be in place for government servants as well, building on the extensive performance review that is already underway for them, a top government official said.

"An incentive system is being worked upon as recommended by the Sixth Pay Commission. It could be implemented by next year," Prajapati Trivedi Secretary Performance management, said at the annual economic editors' conference.
The incentives would be given out from the cost savings achieved by a bureaucrat in his role and will, therefore, not place an additional financial burden on the Government, he explained. Besides, the extensive job performance parameters, these incentives would also depend on cost saving on account of reduction in the use of office stationary and savings in electricity consumption. Cabinet secretary K M Chandrashekhar has already written a letter to all secretaries to the Government of India on their performance targets.
A mid-year review of the performance of Government departments and officials is currently underway, that will give them fair idea of how each fare with respect to their agreed goals.
The Government had put in place a performance monitoring and evaluation system following an announcement in this regard by the President in her address to both the houses of Parliament on June 4, 2009. The first evaluation was carried out last year which was limited to only three months of the fiscal.
The current year's evaluation would be the first comprehensive exercise, which will be illustrated in a report card. This report card will be finalized by May 1 each year.
The new policy is designed on what is already in place in many countries. New Zealand, United Kingdom and USA carry out extensive performance reviews of their government departments.
The results framework document of each ministry or department will be put on its website to ensure stakeholder participation and transparency of the exercises. The concept is based on a paper prepared by the IIM, Ahmedabad.

SOURCE: Economic times.

CHQ writes to Secretary Posts against formation of

"NSPC HUB"

No. R-III/25-3/2010 08-11-2010

To
Secretary,
Department of Posts,
Dak Bhawan,
New Delhi-110 116.


Subject:- Creation of “NSPC HUB”

Respected Madam,

It has been intimated by the Circle Secretary West Bengal Circle that CPMG West Bengal Circle is implementing a new scheme called “NSPC HUB”. W.e.f. 10-11-2010

It is learnt that under this scheme, Speed Post article presently handled by RMS Mail Offices will be diverted to the new “NSPC HUB” and staff from mail Offices will be withdrawn. At present there are about 325 speed post centres handling Speed Post articles and under the new scheme these will be reduced to 90.

This Union is totally in dark about this scheme as neither Directorate nor Circle authorities has discussed this issue with the Union. We are not against any new scheme to improve the efficency of postal services. However, we are of the firm opinion that any new scheme affecting the staff should be discussed with the staff side in order to obtain sincere cooperation of the staff.

It is regretted to inform you that the above order is in violation of the agreements reached with D.G. Posts on 12th July,2010 and 30th November, 2009 with regard to Charter of Demands on strike notice. It was agreed that status quo would be maintained and no office would be closed or merged without taking the staff into confidence. However, the authorities either at The Directorate level or at Circle level did not discuss the issue of “NSPC Hub” with the staff Unions.

We would therefore,urge upon you to keep the formation of “NSPC Hub” in abeyance till the issue is discussed with the Unions at all level.
With Regards

Yours Sincerely,


(Giri Raj Singh)
General Secretary

Charging of enhanced rate of licence fee in case of out of turn Allotment

No.12035/11/97-Policy-II (Pt.)

Ministry of Urban Development

Directorate of Estates

Nirman BhawanNew Delhi

Dated 28.10.2010

Office Memorandum

Subject:- Charging of enhanced rate of licence fee in case of out of turn Allotment.

The undersigned is directed to say that the matter of charging of three time of licence fee in case of out turn allotment till the day the allottee becomes eligible for inturn allotment of a Govt. residence has been reviewed and it has been decided to propose enhanced rate of six times of licence fee in all the cases of all out of turn allotment matures as per his seniority/priority in waiting list for allotment of that type of Govt. residence.

All allotment Sections are requested to submit the proposal for out of turn allotment at six times of licence fee for consideration of CCA.

EXTENSION OF ADHOC ARRANGEMENTS IN HSG-I

Postal Directorate vide letter No.4-16/2002 SPB-II dated 29/10/2010 has intimated to all the Circle Heads that the matter for extending the Adhoc arrangements for a further period of six months has already been taken up with the Department of Personnel &Training and further orders in this regard may be awaited.

In view of the above all the circle heads are ordering further extension of adhoc arrangements in HSG-I until further orders subjected to the conditions prescribed in the earlier memos. This is for the information of the members.

Giri Raj Singh

General Secretary

Circular No 20/2010 Dated: 30th Oct. 2010

Dear Comrade,

The National Secretariat of the Confederation met today as per the notice issued. The following agenda items were discussed. The decisions taken on each item are as under

Item No.1. Review of participation of CGE in 7th September, Strike. Detailed reports on the participation of employees in the strike action were presented to the house by the representatives of various affiliates and State Committees of the Confederation. Reports received at the CHQ were also gone through. It was apparent from the reports that the participation in the strike action could have been much better had certain steps been taken at the appropriate time by the affiliates and the State Committees. It was also noted that wherever the State Committees of the Confederation were in existence and had taken initiative to mobilise the employees, the strike had been very successful. It was also evident from the discussion that wherever the affiliates had taken serious steps ,the strike participation had been very good. The best performance was reported by the Income tax Employees Federation, All India RMS and MMS employees Union and the All India Groundwater Board Employees Association. It was therefore decided that the State Committees must convene a meeting in which the leaders of all affiliates unions of that State (up to the Branch/Unit level) and the strike participation discussed in the presence of the National leadership. The Sectt.(CHQ) will indicate the schedule for such meetings.

Item No.2 Finalisation of the dharna programme at different State Capitals to protest
against the victimisations of employees of the IA & AD. Wherever it was not implemented.
At the instance of the Secretary General All India Audit and Accounts Association, it was decided to defer the implementation of this programme for some time.

Item No.3. Finalisation of charter of demands (common to CGEs) and progamme of actions thereon.
Various issues were discussed which have arisen from the very retrograde recommendations and objectionable implementation of them by the Government. Though the issues have been taken up in the National Anomaly committee and at the National Counil, the meeting felt that no positive outcome should be expected thereof. The house also felt that the large number of anomalies created by the 6th CPC can only be rectified by a total wage revision. Taking this view into account, it was proposed that we should demand a fresh revision of wage structure with effect from 1.1.2011 for the 6th CPC tenure would complete the 5 year period on that date. Since the Government has conceded to effect wage revision in the case of PSU employees after every five years, the meeting felt that this demand is appropriate. The meeting also noted that by 1.1.2011, the D.A component in the wages would exceed 50% . The meeting therefore decided that a comprehensive charter should be adopted at the next meeting of the National Council of the Confederation.

Item No. 4 and 5 were deferred for discussion at the National Council.(Subscription from affiliates and adhoc bonus)

6. Affiliation application: In the case of Bureau of Mines Safety, Dhanbad, the meeting asked the Sectt. to depute a representative to go to Dharnbad and hold discussions with all concerned and submit a report to the Sectt. for taking further decision in the matter In respect of Survey of India, Com. President informed the house that he along with the Secretary General had been to Dehradun sometime back and it was decided that all organisations in the Survey of India including the newly formed Topographical employees association will form a Co-ordination Committee and the same will seek affiliation with the confederation. The meeting decided to request all organisations in the Survey of India to constitute the Co-ordination Committee. The meeting decided to grant affiliation to the Association of Lakshadweep employees. The meeting also decided to depute one of the Sectt. members to go over to A&N Islands with a view to revive the functioning of the State Committee of the Confederation.

Item No. 7. Venue and date of next Council meeting. It was decided to hold the National Council at Mumbai on Ist December, 2010 for which a separate notice is being issued.

Item No.8. Any other matter with the permission of the Chair. At the request of Com. P.V. Ramachandran, the house decided that the Confederation should demand that those cadres which were included in the JCM scheme at the inception (Since they were Group C employees then)should continue to be the categories eligible to participate in the JCM irrespective of the new classification ordered by the Department of Personnel from time to time.
The house also decided to take up the matter of inclusion of all Audit employees including Railway Audit employees to be covered by the CGHS scheme as before.

With greetings,
Yours fraternally,


K.K.N. Kutty
Secretary General.

Direct Recruitment. Postal Assistant / Sorting Assistant

Department issued letter on filling up of the vacancies of Postal Assistant / Sorting Assistant pertaining to the years 2009 & 2010 by Direct Recruitment.
1. Issue Advertisement /Circular of the vacancies - 08-11-2010
2. Last date for receipt of the applications - 08-12-2010
3. Holding of written examination & Completion
of Computer Test - 09-01-2011
4. Declaration of final result / select list - 15- 01-2011
For Order Copy CLICK HERE