“Forward ever, backward never: onwards with Breaking Through”

29/12/2015

No Interviews For Govt Jobs From Jan 1; Skill Test May Continue: DoPT
New Delhi: All central government ministries and their Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) were today told to dispense with the requirement of interviews for selections at junior level posts within next two days, however, they may continue with skill or physical test.


The timeliness set regarding completing the process of the discontinuation of interview by December 31, 2015 has to be adhered to strictly, a communique sent by Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) to secretaries of all central government ministries said.


From January 1, 2016, there will be no recruitment with interview at the junior level posts in government of India ministries, departments, attached and subordinate offices, autonomous bodies and PSUs.
“All the advertisement for future vacancies will be without the interview as part of the recruitment process,” it said.
The decision to discontinue interview for recruitments is for all Group C and non-gazetted posts of Group ‘B’ category and all such equivalent posts, the DoPT said.
“It is also clarified that as skill test or physical test is different from interview, they may continue. However, these tests will only be of qualifying nature. Assessment will not be done on the basis of marks for such tests,” it said.
In case of specific posts where the ministry or department wants to continue undertaking interview as a process of recruitment, a detailed proposal seeking exemption will have to be sent to the DoPT with the approval of the minister or minister-in-charge.

The ministries have been asked to send a consolidated report to the DoPT by January 7 in this regard.


“Report so to be furnished with the approval of the minister or minister-in-charge shall include the details of the name and number of posts where the interview is discontinued and posts for which the exemption has been sought within the purview of the administrative ministries or departments,” the order said.


Similarly, the Department of Public enterprises has also asked all ministries to advise PSUs under their administrative control to adopt a revised mechanism of recruitment for the non-executive level posts by dispensing with the practice of interview.
































28/12/2015

Sh. Ravi Shankar Prasad Today Announced That India Post Would Be Launching Payment Banking By March 2017


Press Information Bureau 
Government of India
Ministry of Communications & Information Technology
28-December-2015 18:47 IS


Sh. Ravi Shankar Prasad


Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad Inaugurates Good Governance Week Celebration

23 New Products Launched

Payment Bank to Begin from March 2017



A week-long celebration of Good Governance Week was organized by Department of Electronics and Information Technology starting from 25th December 2015. A National event on Good Governance was inaugurated on 28th December 2015 by Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, the Hon’ble Minister of Communications & Information Technology (MoCIT) in India Habitat Centre at New Delhi. This event involved active participation from Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY), Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and Department of Posts (DoP) and their agencies.



Speaking on the occasion, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad reiterated the commitment of the Government towards the successful implementation of ‘Digital India’ which would help to transform India into a truly digitally empowered society and knowledge economy in the 21st century. He said the government is aiming at empowering people of India through digitalization. Millions of citizens have already joined in this initiative and invited others to do so. He said e-services should reach more people at the earliest and sought cooperation from State Governments, industry and acadmecia in the early achievement of this objective.



Sh. Ravi Shankar Prasad also announced that India Post would be launching Payment Banking by March 2017. He said after the successful turn around of BSNL, new initiatives have been taken for improving performance of MTNL. He also announced launch of free incoming all over the Country by MTNL from New Year.



The event saw the launch / inauguration of new 23 products / eServices.

The key launches are as follows:




Department of Telecommunications

·         Inauguration of Wi-Fi hotspots at Har ki Pauri, Haridwar and Dargah Sharif, Ajmer.

·         Announcement of Pan India Free Incoming Roaming Facility for MTNL Customers.


Department of Posts

·         Launch of Post-Terminals (Rural ICT - RICT) – handing over Post Terminals to rural Post Masters.


Department of Electronics and Information Technology

·         Launch of National Centre of Geo-Informatics

·         Launch of e-Payment Portal

·         Launch of Olabs for Schools

·         Launch of Information Security Education and Awareness (ISEA) Phase-II

·         All India BPO Promotion Scheme

·         North East Business Process Outsourcing Promotion Scheme

·         Transfer of Technology for “ICT Centre on Tactile Graphics” at IIT Delhi

·         Announcement of Setting up of NIC Data Centre at Bhubaneswar


* The detail on each of 23 new products / eservices is available at the Digital India Portal (www.digitalindia.gov.in).


Setting up one-man GDS Committee to examine the wage structure and service conditions of Gramin Dak Sevaks in the Department of Posts. 
27/12/2015
SG FNPO Programme
27/12/2015   to 31/12/2015 – Mangalore
P3, GDS Joint Circle Conference of Karnataka Circle
02/01/2016  to 04/01/2016 - Hyderabad
26/12/2015
Image for the news result
CHENNAI: More than two decades after implementation of Mandal commission report, which mandates 27 percent reservation for OBCs in central government jobs, an RTI data shows that less than 12 percent of employees of central government ministries, departments and statutory bodies are from other backward classes (OBCs) as on January 1, 2015.

What's more, 40 ministries, including social justice and 48 departments held back the information sought by Chennai based scientist E Muralidharan under the Right to Information Act. Among the departments that have not provided any information is ministry of human resources, which is a major employer of group A employees like professors in IITs and other central educational institutions.

Going by the data available, under the group A, B,C and D category of employees, out of 79,483 posts, there are only 9,040 OBC staff.

Surprisingly, data provided by the department of personnel and training, which was the recipient of the RTI appeal and is responsible for the appointments, itself fares poorly in this regard, with 12.91 percent Scheduled Castes (SC), 4 percent Scheduled Tribes (ST) and 6.67 percent OBC forming the pool of employees under the reservation laws. The total number of personnel in the department is 6,879.

This means that a significant number of posts which have been allocated for these communities are yet to be filled, which raises questions on the effective implementation of the Mandal committee recommendations, Muralidharan said.

A closer look at the data indicates that there is not a single OBC Grade A officer in the President's secretariat; less than 9 percent of the 651 Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) staff is from the OBC category. The higher education department employs only 5 percent OBC in Grade A officers and 10 percent OBC staff.

Out of 41 Grade A posts in the department of scientific and industrial research, there is only one OBC officer.

From birth-death proofs,1-page form soon for all govt services

New Delhi, Dec 25 (PTI) Applications for majority of services like birth or death certificates will soon be simplified and converted into one-page form format, the government announced today.

Union Minister Jitendra Singh also unveiled a single-page application form for pensioners on a day being observed as good governance day which coincides with the birthday of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
"For different schemes you have voluminous forms. Today, we are releasing one-page application form for pensioners. We plan to convert all multi-page or voluminous forms to single-page within a year," he told reporters during a press conference here.ingh said the aim behind this initiative is to make the forms as simple and small as possible for the beneficiary. "There should be relevant and minimum information asked for in an application form for government services and not repetitive ones," he said.
Singh, Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, said he is coordinating with state governments and Union territories to replicate the same process.
"Every month we will be holding meetings with at least two central government departments and reviewing forms available for different services under them. Efforts will be to simplify the whole procedure and we hope to achieve the target of single-page form for all government services within a years time," the minister said.
At present, one has to fill lengthy forms for getting birth, death and other certificates.
Secretary in Personnel Ministry Sanjay Kothari said the government plans to integrated Aadhaar number with government services so that people do not have to fill out whole details.
"We will be integrating Aadhaar data base for the services. But this will be possible only when all the people have Aadhaar numbers. It will further benefit people as they will not be required to fill out basic details like their residential address, among other things," he said. (More) PTI AKV SC
25/12/2015

Grant benefits under Modified Assured Career Progression (MACP) Scheme in the promotional hierarchy
Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions
23-December, 2015
MACP on promotional grade
The employees including Group ‘C’ (which includes erstwhile Group ‘D’) are granted three financial upgradations under Modified Assured Career Progression (MACP) Scheme in the next immediate Grade Pay hierarchy as per CCS(Revised Pay) Rules, 2008 on completion of 10, 20 and 30 years of regular service.
There have been instances where Tribunals and High Courts have directed to grant benefits under Modified Assured Career Progression (MACP) Scheme in the promotional hierarchy. However, in such cases, the order of Court is specific to the applicant only.
This was stated by the 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 in a written reply to a question by Shri Kamlesh Paswan in the Lok Sabha today.
Source: PIB
DOPT exempted the parents of differently abled children from the mandatory transfers
The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has taken various initiatives during the year 2015. These initiatives aim at working in the direction of larger public interest and to establish accountability and transparency.
In a landmark decision, the Government scrapped Interviews for recruitment to lower posts wherever it could be dispensed with. This was followed by the Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Dr. Jitendra Singh writing D.O. letters to Chief Ministers of all States in September to take the lead in carrying forward this initiative with respect to State Government jobs.
The discontinuation of interviews will not only be in larger public interest but would also offer a level playing field and benefit youth hailing from the lower socio-economic strata. Interviews will be dispensed with for all Group C and Group D posts which are now reclassified as Group C posts. Interview would also be discontinued for non-gazetted posts of Group B category. The process of doing away with interview for these posts will be completed by 31.12.2015. In those cases pertaining to non-gazetted Group B posts and Group C & D posts, where Recruitment Rules specify the process of selection which includes conduct of interview, the Ministries/authorities concerned will take necessary steps to carry out the requisite amendment to the Recruitment Rules immediately. Necessary directions have also been issued to the Staff Selection Commission in this regard.
In a big relief to the common people, the DoPT discontinued the practice of submission of affidavit by the family members of deceased Government employees for the appointment on Compassionate grounds. Now they are required to submit self-declaration at the time of applying for compassionate appointment. It will ensure fast process of compassionate appointment and help family members of deceased Government employee immensely.
For the first time in the history of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), the Officers of 2013 batch of IAS were posted as Assistant Secretary in the Central Secretariat for a period of three months. Exposure to Central Government functioning will provide insight into policy formulation at the Centre to these officers. These officers left for their field posting with a macro picture of such policies which will help them in effective implementation of the schemes keeping citizen at the centre.

In another novel initiative, the DoPT has started Yoga camps for the Central Government employees and their dependents. The Yoga training sessions are conducted in 29 locations (26 Samaj Sadans of Grih Kalyan Kendra and 3 other places) in Delhi and 12 Samaj Sadans of Grih Kalyan Kendra outside Delhi. Approximately 1900 individuals are benefiting from this scheme per day. With this initiative, the employees would be able to de-stress themselves and also take control over various lifestyle diseases like obesity, hypertension, Hyperglycemias etc. The healthy & happy employees would be able to perform more effectively in their office work.
The Department has also started an innovative scheme for the training of the cutting edge level employees of the State Governments. In the first phase, masters trainers are being trained by the ATIs in collaboration with DoPT. These trainers will impart training to the field level employees. Emphasis of the training will be on citizen centricity. Pilot projects had been started in Maharashtra, J&K and Tamil Nadu. It has now been extended in other States. Training will bring an attitudinal change in these employees which in turn will result in increased citizen friendly environment in the field offices.
DOPT also exempted the parents of differently abled children from the mandatory transfers so that they can take proper care of their differently abled child. This move will ease the pain of these parents and ensure care and upbringing of these children.
A weekly one hour in-house training programme for its employees was started. Three modules of the training programme have been completed and the fourth module is currently running. The employees are imparted up-to-date information on various aspects of day to day work in the office. This gives an opportunity to the employees to clear their doubts and the input given in the session is found very useful for them in discharging their duty more accurately, efficiently and effectively. This has speeded up the rate of disposal of work and the ultimate beneficiary of the same are the citizens.
The scheme of interaction of Officers with School Students has been launched in which the Officers of Government of India visit Schools and share their experiences with the School Students. As a pilot, the Senior Officers of DoPT have visited Kendriya Vidyalayas in Delhi and interacted with the students. The interaction of Senior Officers with School Students will have a long lasting impact on their impressionable minds. They will also get a glimpse of the functioning of the Government.
Source: PIB News

 
23/12/2015
Bonus calculation ceiling revised from April 2014 – Arrears of bonus likely!
LS passes Bonus Bill; benefits to accrue from April 2014

The Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed a bill allowing doubling of wage ceiling for calculating bonus to Rs 7,000 per month for factory workers with establishments with 20 or more workers, with the benefits being applicable retrospectively from April 2014.

The Payment of Bonus (Amendment) Bill, 2015, was passed by a voice vote, with some members objecting to the raising of eligibility limit for payment of bonus from a salary of Rs 10,000 per month to Rs 21,000.


Replying to a debate on the legislation, Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya said the Government has ensured that the interest of workers are protected and there is no infringement on their justifys.

“Because of Bihar Elections this bill got delayed… The Prime Minister spoke to me and asked why should the benefits of this Act should accrue to workers from 2015. It should be made available from the April 2014,” he said while moving an official amendment to the Bill.

PENSION CALCULATORS FOR CG PENSIONERS
The official amendment provides that the benefits of the Act would be deemed to have come into force on April 1, 2014, instead of April 1, 2015.

Dattatreya said the Ministry has held 21 tripartite meetings with all central trade unions while arriving at a decision.

The Bill provides for enhancing monthly bonus calculation ceiling to Rs 7,000 per month from the existing Rs 3,500.

It also seeks to enhance the eligibility limit for payment of bonus from Rs 10,000 per month to Rs 21,000 per month.

“The Government’s paramount intention is to safeguard the interest of workers… There is no infringement of workers’ justifys and whatever the government does will be in the interest of workers,” Dattatreya said.

After the bill was passed, Deputy Speaker M Thambidurai, who was in the Chair, said the government should be congratulated for bringing the measure as also for effecting the benefits retrospectively.

Source: DDI News

The Lok Sabha has approved amendments to the Payment of Bonus Act that seeks to make more workers eligible for bonus by raising the monthly pay eligibility limit of employees to Rs 21,000 from Rs 10,000.

Ratio of minimum and maximum pay in 7th Pay Commission




The pay scale of officers of Secretary level has been recommended Rs 2,25,000/- and minimum pay has been recommended Rs18,000/-. The 7th CPC ratio is 1:12.5

The ratio of minimum and maximum pay (Secretary level, not Cabinet Secretary) was 1:10.66 in 4th CPC. Further it was 1:10.19 in 5th CPC and 1:11.42 in 6th CPC. 7th CPC has extended it to 1:12.5 whereas it had been recommended in previous Pay Commissions the ratio of minimum and maximum pay should not exceed 1:8. The pay scale of officers of Secretary level has been recommended Rs 2,25,000/- and minimum pay has been recommended Rs18,000/-.

Ratio of maximum salary drawn by the Secretary to Government of India to minimum salary drawn by the lowest functionary in the government. The  below table brings out the trend in pay structure in the government of India over the years:



Minutes of Meeting of Standing Committee of National Council (JCM) Staff Side held on Friday, the 9th October, 2015

No.3/1/2015-JCA
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pension
Department of Personnel & Training
Establishment (JCA-I) Section

North Block, New Delhi
Dated the 19 th December. 2015

OFFICE MEMORANDUM
Subject:- Minutes of Meeting of Standing Committee of National Council (JCM) Staff Side held on Friday, the 9th October, 2015 under the Joint Chairmanship of JS(AV), DoP&T — regarding.he undersigned is directed to forward herewith a copy of the minutes of the Meeting of Standing Committee of National Council (JCM) Staff Side held on Friday, the 9th October, 2015 at 1500 hours in Room No. 190, Conference Room, North Block, New Delhi under the Chairmanship of Joint Secretary(AV) for information and necessary action.
Action taken report on the items pertaining to them may also be furnished to this Department at the earliest.

(G. Srinivasan)
Deputy Secretary (JCA)
Telefax No: 23093074
Minutes of the meeting of the Standing Committee of National Council JCM side under the Chairmanship of Joint Secretary( AV), DOP&T with the Staff side at 1500 hours on 09.10.2015


2. Welcoming the participants, Ms Archana Varma, Joint Secretary, DOP&T informed that as authorised by the Competent Authority, this meeting has been convened to take stock of the issues raised by the Staff Side in the Charter of Demands submitted by them in July 2015. The purpose of the meeting is to understand the issues in its proper perspective. This meeting would lay the ground work for holding the meeting of Standing Committee under the Chairmanship of Secretary (Personnel) and thereafter the meeting of the National Council.
3. Initially, the finalisation of meetings of National Anomaly Committee meetings held on 29th May 2015 and 9th June 2015 under the Chairmanship of JS(E) was taken up for discussion. It was noted that the draft minutes of 29th May and 9th June 2015 were drafted by the Official Side and sent to the Staff Side for their perusal and concurrence. The Staff Side had proposed certain suggestions/amendments in the NAC meeting minutes. On those suggestions/ amendments, the views of Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance had been obtained and the minutes are now ready for finalisation. The Staff Side expressed their concern about delay that had taken place in finalisation of these minutes. They suggested that as per past practice, a meeting may be convened in DOP&T to discuss the draft circulated by the Official side and the suggestions/amendments made by the Staff Side. It was decided that a meeting would be convened by DS (JCA) shortly with the Staff side to finalise the minutes of meeting of NAC held on 29th May and 9th June 2015.
4. Various members of the Staff Side explained the background relating to constitution of the Joint Consultative Machinery (JCM). It was informed that JCM is the negotiating machinery to look into the grievances of the Central Government employees. They informed that the continuous dialogue in the form of JCM helps in avoiding confrontation between employees and the Government through resolution of various disputes that can be settled between them. It was noted that the meeting of National Council of JCM had not been convened for more than five years and therefore there is urgent need for convening the meeting of the National Council. Noting that the last meeting of the Standing Committee was held in February 2015 at the level of Secretary (Personnel), the Staff Side suggested that a meeting of the Standing Committee, at the level of Secretary (Personnel), should be convened at the earliest.
5. Thereafter, the agenda items which were listed in the Charter of Demands submitted by the Staff Side were taken up for discussion. The Agenda items discussed and the discussions held on those items are summarised in succeeding paragraphs:-
(a) Effect wage revision of Central Government employees from 1.1.2014
(b) Ensure 5 year wage revision in future
(c) Grant interim relief and merger of 100% D.A.
(d) Ensure submission of 7th CPC report within the stipulated time frame of 18 months
All these agenda items are linked to the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission and were taken up together. The Staff Side noted that in the case of banks and public sector undertakings, the Government has been considering 5 year wage revision and similar facility should also be considered for the central government employees. It was informed by them that the 5th Pay Commission had fixed the tenure of pay revision as 10 years. However, as the dearness compensation crosses the 50% mark normally over a period of five years, the Government should consider pay revision over a periodicity of 5 years. The Staff Side further demanded that the effect of wage revision of central government employees be from 1.1.2014. It was further demanded that as the 7th CPC has been given extension of time to submit its report, the Government should consider granting interim relief and merger of 100% Dearness Allowance.
The Official Side informed that pay revision of Central Government employees based on the recommendations of Pay Commission has generally been made after a gap of 10 years. The last such revision is effective from 1.1.2006 based on the recommendations of the 6th Pay Commission. The Government set up the 7th Pay Commission in February 2014, ahead of the general 10 year interregnum. Therefore, as regards implementation of pay revision from 1.1.12014, the same seeks a much shorter interregnum and is not in keeping with the practice so far followed. The TOR of the 7th Pay Commission also require to it recommend the date of effect of its recommendations and, hence, the decision on the date of effect thereof would be taken after the recommendations of the Commission are received.
As regards the payment of interim relief, as the Government set up the Commission well in advance of the 10-year duration from the date of effect of the 6th pay Commission, the question of Interim relief does not arise.
As regards merger of DA with pay, the existing emoluments’structrure is based on the recommendations of the 6th Pay Commission which made a specific recommendations against merger of DA. The Official Side, therefore, clarified that at this stage it will not be possible to examine any of the four demands listed in (a) to (d) above.
(e) Include Grameen Dak Sewaks within the ambit of 7th CPC
The Staff Side informed that the Grameen Dak Sewaks are the single largest source of postal services in the country and therefore there is need for including this category within the ambit of 7th CPC.
The representative of Department of Posts informed that there are about 1.75 lakh work force working as Grameen Dak Sewaks. Department of Posts had reportedly recommended bringing them under the ambit of 7th CPC. However, as these employees are not full time government employees, based on the advice of Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, it has recently been by decided to constitute a Single Member Expert Committee to suggest pay revision for these employees.
The Staff Side suggested that if a decision had already been taken to constitute a single member expert committee, instead of setting up a departmental head as the expert committee chief, the Government may consider roping in the services of the 7th CPC Chairman for rendering this service, as the 7th CPC is already aware of the working conditions and other relevant factors of central government employees and would be in a better position to decide the pay revision of Grameen Dak Sewaks. Department of Posts would be requested to examine this suggestion of the Staff Side.
(f) Settle all anomalies of the 6th CPC
The Staff Side informed that as a result of implementation of 6th Pay Commission recommendations, various anomalies have come to the notice of the Staff Side which are conveyed to the Government. Meetings of the joint committee to look into the anomalies have been held but the progress of resolution of anomalies is not satisfactory, as felt by the Staff Side. It was informed that there were more than 58 items of 6th CPC which were discussed by the Anomalies Committee and yet remain unresolved. The Staff Side suggested that the Government should take a view on settlement of all anomalies of 6th CPC expeditiously.
(g) No privatisation, PPP or FDI in Railways and Defence Establishments
The representative of Railways informed that discussions are held regularly with the Staff Side on the issue of PPP or FDI in Railways. Since no meetings with Staff Side are being held by Ministry of Defence, the Staff Side suggested that Ministry of Defence may be requested to hold dialogue with the Staff Side on such issues. DOP&T would accordingly take up the matter with Ministry of Defence.
(h) No corporatisation of postal services
The representative of Department of Posts informed that at present there is no proposal on corporatisation of postal services.
(i) No Ban on recruitment/creation of posts
The Staff Side informed that Department of Expenditure insist on the concept of matching savings for recruitment /creation of posts. In departments like Railways where new posts are to be created or employees are to be recruited for performing new functions like running new trains, maintaining newly created assets etc., this condition is not able to be met and therefore should not be insisted upon. The representative of Department of Expenditure clarified that in case of operational posts which are required for unavoidable operational and functional considerations, the need for not insisting on matching savings is considered on a case-to-case basis. However, as regards the suggestion of the Staff Side to issue a general circular on this issue, he clarified that this issue needs to be examined by the Department of Expenditure.
(j) Scrap PFRDA Act and re-introduce the defined benefit statutory pension scheme.
The Staff Side informed that the implementation of New Pension Scheme and its effect on employees appointed on and after 1.1.2004 is a serious issue which is agitating the minds of central government employees. He informed that they had discussions with Department of Financial Services in the past. However, there has been no progress in solving the issues raised by the Staff Side, especially on the issues relating to social security clauses for employees covered under New Pension Schemes. Reportedly, there is no guarantee of minimum pension or gratuity under the new pension scheme. It was informed that this issue would unite all the central government employees and the Staff Side may consider serious action, including Strike, on this issue.
The Staff Side insisted that the New Pension Scheme should be withdrawn and all those employees who are recruited after 01/01/2004 should be brought under the statutory Pension Scheme. Since the official representatives from the Department of Financial Services under whose purview the NPS falls were not present in the meeting, it was decided that the issue would be further discussed with Department of Financial Services.
(k) No outsourcing; contractorisation; privatisation of governmental functions; withdraw the proposed move to close down the Printing Presses, the publication, form store and stationery departments and medical stores depots.
The Staff Side informed that Ministry of Urban Development has fixed a meeting on the issues raised by them concerning that Ministry. The Staff Side was requested to discuss the issues concerning Ministry of Health & Family Welfare with them separately.
(m) Regularise the existing daily rated/casual and contract workers and absorption of trained apprentices; no labour reforms which are not in the interest of the workers
The representative of Ministry of Labour informed that they have been in constant touch with trade unions and other stakeholders on issues concerning the welfare of workers. However, the Staff Side pointed out that in addition to consultation with trade unions, the Government should involve the concerned Staff Side representatives before deciding labour reforms as there are a large number of industrial workers in various departments like Railways, Defence, CPWD etc. The Chairperson requested the officials from the Labour Ministry to examine the request of the Staff Side.
(n) Revive JCM functioning at all levels as an effective negotiating forum for settlement of demands of the Central Government employees
The Staff Side submitted that due to non holding of regular meetings at the Departmental Council levels, even smaller issues which can be sorted out through negotiations, are being taken up in various Courts, thereby resulting in a number of court cases to be defended by the departments/Ministries. They suggested that the institutional mechanism of Departmental Council meetings, Standing Committee meetings and National Council meeting may be revived so that there is continuous interaction between the Staff side and the government.
(o) Remove the arbitrary ceiling on compassionate appointments
The Staff Side gave detailed justification for removing the ceiling of 5% on compassionate appointments. After discussions, it was agreed by the Official Side that this issue would be examined by Establishment Division of DOP&T.
(p) Removing the bonus ceiling
The representative of Ministry of Labour informed that the issue of increase in the bonus ceiling is under consideration of the Government. However, the representative of Department of Expenditure clarified that payment of ad-hoc bonus and Productivity Linked Bonus (PLB) applicable to central government employees is not governed by the Payment of Bonus Act, on which certain changes are under consideration of the Government. The Staff Side however felt that any change in Bonus Act would be an indicator while deciding the payment of bonus to the central government employees. The representative of the Department of Expenditure stated that the issue of PLB and adhoc bonus to central Government employees is covered under the TOR of the 7th Pay Commission and, hence, a view in the mater may be taken based on the recommendations of the Commission.
The Staff Side stated that bonus for Central Government Employees was based on an agreement with the staffside and not based on the recommendations of any pay commission. Moreover, every time when the Bonus Act is amended raising the payment ceiling limit, it is extended to Central Government employees also Therefore the Staff Side suggested that as and when the Bonus Act is amended, the same benefit may be considered for extension to the Central Government employees also.
(p) Ensuring five promotions in the Service career
The Official Side noted that this issue is linked to the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission. Therefore, this issue would be examined after receipt of the 7th CPC report.
The Staff Side from Defence Ministry stated that inspite of various instructions issued by DOP&T cadre restructuring of the various categories of Defence Civilian Employees are not taking place for more than 2 decades. They insisted that the cadre restructuring exercise may be completed before submission of the 7th CPC report.
The meeting ended with thanks to the Chair.