pay

Incentive increments to the sportspersons for outstanding sports achievements

2010-05-10T00:43:00.000-07:00

No.61212008-Pay-1

Ministry of Personnel, Public

Grievances and Pensions

Department of Personnel and Training

New Delhi the 61h May 201 0

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Subject:: Incentive increments to the sportspersons for outstanding sports achievements at National and International levels.

Reference is invited to this Department’s OM of even umber dated 6th Aguest 2008 and subsequent reminders dated 3rd October, 2008, 12 th December,2008, 3rd September,2009 22 nd October,2009 and on 181h December,2009 hereby it has been requested to furnish views regarding the quantum of lump-sum incentives to be granted to sportspersons who win a Gold, Silver or Bronze medal in the Nationalllnternational Tournaments. A copy of the OM dated 26Ih August, 2008 has been uploaded on the DOPT’s website.

2. All the MinistrieslDepartments are again requested to expedite the matter and furnish their considered views by 31’’ May 2010 failing which it will be presumed that the MinistrylDepartment has no comments to furnish.

The Indian government is finally going the corporate way

2010-05-10T00:41:00.000-07:00

The Indian government is finally going the corporate way. The stage has been set for introducing performance-linked payouts which may force over five million central government employees to deliver their best.

What may make even corporate executives envious of the new bonanza for central government employees, particularly of the brass, is the proposal of a 20% hike for the best performers over and above the raise that they had received after the sixth Pay Commission’s recommendations two years ago.

Yet for the babus, it won’t be a cakewalk either, as the formula of assessing the government employees as proposed by performance management division under the cabinet secretariat, has ruled out paying even a penny to an official if his ministry scores 70 or below in a scale of 100.

But a secretary of a high performing ministry which meets 100% target will be eligible to receive Rs 2.4 lakh extra per year if the cabinet secretariat’s proposal of a 20% performance-linked payout is endorsed by the government, according to an official in cabinet secretariat.

The first round of assessment, initially for three months from January to March 2010, is over and three out of 59 central government departments have got a 100% score. There is a strong possibility that a large number of government employees would receive an extra pay once the new formula is adopted.

"We are extending the performance monitoring and evaluation system to 62 departments from the current fiscal. According to our system, a department sets a target, fixes the weightages of each target, and if it succeeds meeting all its targets, it gets a score of 100. Now, we are proposing that if a department meets all its targets, the head of the department would be given a performance bonus of 20% or more of his basic salary. And other employees too will get such bonuses,” said an official in performance management division.

He further says how the government has failed to implement performance-linked incentives for its employees for the last 20 years though such recommendations were mooted by successive pay commissions including the more recent Sixth Pay Commission.

Several countries such as Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Netherlands, Denmark, UK, US and Finland have moved away from the traditional government administrative model to a management model under which officers act like corporate managers as they get greater operational freedom, but are held accountable for results. In fact, New Zealand is considered to be the leader of the pack where performance of government agencies are weighed in by setting targets and adopting regular evaluations.

Though there were several attempts in India too to bring in performance management in an institutionalised way, the process got kickstarted only after World Bank’s senior economist Prajapati Trivedi was appointed as secretary to the government of India with the responsibility for performance management early last year. Dr Trivedi, along with cabinet secretary KM Chandrasekhar, introduced a tool called Results Framework Document (RFD) which will set targets for each ministry and will finally be the basis for yearly evaluation.

Dr SP Parashar, a former director of IIM Indore, says that the government had in the past too dealt with the subject by introducing themes such as Programming, Planning, Budgeting (PPB), Zero Base Budgeting (ZBB), and Outcome Budgeting (OB), to name a few. “You might be wondering what happened to them? They went with their champions. Lets hope that Results Framework Document (RFD) stays. The real challenge and test of any change program in our kind of democracies is its continuity...” he says.

He agrees that at concept level, Results Framework Document captures international best practices in respect of government performance management, but it misses the heart of good performance being implemented in the corporate world. “It is fixing individual responsibility in addition to departmental responsibility. The Results Framework Document as currently devised and adopted uses departmental responsibility and score as proxy for individual responsibility and score,” he says.

Yet, with 62 government ministries and departments on board with a few exceptions like PMO, home and defence, the performance of central ministries is under close watch. Though SundayET has learnt that only three ministries met 100% targets and some could not even meet 50%, it remains to be seen when and how the government makes those report cards public.

The Finance Ministry regarding granting Grade Pay Rs.4200 to MCM

2010-05-08T01:31:00.000-07:00

The sources close to the South Block told that the proposal approved by the Finance Ministry (Department of Expenditure) regarding granting Grade Pay Rs.4200 to MCM in Ministry of Defence, facing a surprising twist in its non ending long journey.

It has been told that all the three federations (AIDEF, INDWF, and BPMS) are opposing this proposal as it was not the same as they accepted in Fast Track Committee. Hence it is believed that the Defence Ministry now sent the file back to MOF for the approval of the proposal accepted in Fast Track Committee.

In the old proposal it has been recommended that there will be 4 Grade Structure, in which Skilled-45%, Highly Skilled II-20.5%, Highly Skilled I-20.5%

Rajya Sabha is planning to give deemed deputation to Prasar Bharati employees

2010-05-08T01:30:00.000-07:00

Government informed Rajya Sabha that it is planning to give Prasar Bharati employees, who had joined the public broadcaster till October 5, 2007, the status of being on deemed deputation.

Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting C M Jatua, in a written reply to a question, said, "government has proposed to amend Section 11 of Prasar Bharati Act based on recommendations of the GoM dated October 5, 2007 and September 26, 2008".

Section 11 of Prasar Bharati Act recommends that the right of taking a decision whether they want to be government employees or public broadcaster’s employees, should rest with the employees of Prasar Bharati.

When Prasar Bharati was established as an autonomous corporation by an Act of Parliament, it was entrusted with the functions discharged by All India Radio and Doordarshan.

Around 40,000 odd DD and AIR employees had joined it on deemed deputation, but were not getting any facilities meant for Central Government employees.
After a prolonged agitation by workers, the GoM had recommended in September 2008 that employees recruited upto October 5, 2007 would continue to be government servants on deemed deputation to Prasar Bharati till retirement and will enjoy all facilities at par with Central Government employees.

It had further said that employees recruited after October 5, 2007 will be Prasar Bharati employees.

Accordingly, the government is in the process of amending Section 11 of the Act to implement the GoM’s decision.

The minister said the government has referred to the reconstituted Group of Ministers (GoM) the issue of whether a Parliamentary committee of Prasar Bharati should be constituted as per provisions of Prasar Bharati Act.
"The issue whether a Parliamentary committee is to be constituted as per Section 13 of Prasar Bharati Act 1990 or Section 13 of the Act is to be deleted, has been referred to the GoM, which has been reconstituted on February 10, 2010 for taking a view," he said.

The NPS has not generated enough interest among the masses

2010-05-08T01:28:00.000-07:00

Despite government initiatives, the NPS has not generated enough interest among the masses. What needs to be done to prop up this excellent scheme?

Investors have not responded with much enthusiasm to the ‘Swavalamban’ initiative extended by the government under which it will contribute Rs1,000 per year (for a period of four years) to every New Pension Scheme (NPS) account opened this year with at least a matching contribution from the subscriber. Citizens in the non-government segment continue to abstain from investing in the NPS. The number of non-government subscribers to NPS registered as of 30 April 2010 has touched 5,532. Although the figure is more than double that of October 2009 when non-government subscribers were 2,321, the absolute numbers are still small.

The total central government employees registered under the NPS have gone up to 6,09,376 from 5,38,276 in October last year. However, there has been a large increase in numbers from among the state government employees during the same period. The number of subscribers under this category rose to 2,55,903 from the earlier 1,10,024.

An officer from one of the point of presence service providers (PoP-SP) pointed out that there have been no significant additions since the budget announcement. He said, “The momentum has not picked up much despite various initiatives from the government and banks. We have been told that this product should be bought and not sold. So we are not expected to advise customers in any way. The policy is that we wait for the customers to approach us. We are fully equipped and ready to accept subscriptions in the NPS.”

Incidentally, this PoP-SP has commissioned more than 300 of its branches to provide NPS registration facilities to the subscribers. Several other banks have also mobilised a chunk of personnel and designated a part of their infrastructure for catering to the NPS subscriptions. Another PoP service provider confirmed, “Although there is an improvement in the NPS accounts, it is not as much as what was expected.”

Commenting on what needs to be done to popularise the scheme, the official stated, “We need to approach private sector companies and talk to employees about the benefits of the scheme. The government could also probably offer a minimum dividend or guarantee as people may be worried about what they will end up with after so many years. Things will change if the scheme assures a minimum return.”
Speaking about the possible actions being considered to promote the scheme, an official from the Pension Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) said, “The Swavalamban initiative has seen a slow and steady rise from the earlier rate of enrolment. The first phase of implementation is almost over. We are now looking at various promotional and monetary incentives for enrolment. We are considering media campaigns and strengthening the regulatory mechanism through monitoring the PoPs more closely and how to make them promote the scheme better.”

The still lukewarm response to the NPS is unfortunate considering that it is a product that is actually tailor-made for the requirements of the masses. It is among the least expensive balanced investment products in the market and the cheapest pension product in the offing, which would make a huge difference to long-term wealth.

Lack of confidence in the product is also a mitigating factor. Investors are wary about how much they will end up with after the contribution period. Investors should be advised by the PoPs regarding the portfolio allocation to debt and equity before investing. Awareness among the masses still remains a concern for the pension regulator and hence, its plans to promote the scheme need to take shape for the NPS to achieve its true potential.

Model Recruitment Rules for Group 'C' posts in Pay

2010-05-04T23:46:00.000-07:00

No.AB-140171612009-Estl (RR)
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances 8 Pensions
Department of Personnel 8 Training
New Delhi, dated the 301h April 2010
OFFICE MEMORANDUM
Subject:- Model Recruitment Rules for Group ’C’ posts in Pay
Band-I, with Grade Pay of Rs.1800/- (pre-revised Group
’D’ posts)

The 6th CPC recommended that all Group ’D’ posts in the
Government will stand upgraded to Group ’C’, Pay Band-I with Grade Pay of Rs.1800, along with the incumbents (after suitable training , wherever required). The other recommendations of the Commission, in this regard
include:
(i) There will be no further recruitment in Group ’D’.
(ii) The existing Group ’D’ posts will be placed in Group
’C’ Pay Band-I with Grade Pay of Rs.1800.
(iii) The minimum qualification for appointment to this
level will be either loth pass or IT1 equivalent
(iv) Multi- skilling, with one employee performing jobs
hitherto performed by different Group ’D’
employees.
(v) Common Designation for these posts,
2. Model Recruitment Rules (Annex-I) have been framed keeping in
view the recommendations of the Pay Commission.
All the Ministriesl
Departments are requested to amend the Recruitment Rules for the
erstwhile Group’ D’ posts as per the Model RRs and the recommendations
of the Pay Commission.
3. Powers for framing1 amendment of RRs for Group ’C’ posts have ,
already been delegated to Ministriesl Departments. Therefore the RRs
may be framed accordingly, in consultation with Ministry of Law without
further reference to this Department. This Department needs to be
consulted only if any deviations from the model RRs are proposed.
4. Ministries1 Departments may adopt the designation of MULTITASKING
STAFF for some common categories of posts in the secretariat
offices. Annex-ll indicates the categories of erstwhile Group ’D’ posts
which may be given this designation and illustrative list of duties attached
to these posts. For other categories of posts, Ministries1 Departments may
adopt single designation for posts whose duties are similar in nature and
where the officials can easily be switched from one task to another. In all
cases it may be ensured that:
a) The posts are classified as Group ’C’
b) The posts are placed in Pay Band-I with Grade Pay
of Rs.1800.
c) The minimum qualification for appointment is
prescribed as loth passs. Where technical
qualifications are considered necessary, IT1 in the
relevant subject may be prescribed as the minimum
qualification.
5. Ministry of Home affairs etc. are requested to bring the contents of
this 0.M to the notice of all their Attached1 Subordinate Offices. The
autonomous1 statutory bodies may adopt the same with the approval of
the competent authority as per their rules1 statutes.
6. Hindi version follows.
Deputy Secretary

Assam Cabinet cleared the way for revision of the pay scales of the teachers

2010-05-04T23:45:00.000-07:00

The State Cabinet cleared the way for revision of the pay scales of the teachers of universities, colleges, engineering colleges and polytechnics, while, the issue of revision of the pay scales of the teaching staff of the medical colleges will be finalized in the next meeting of the Cabinet.

Official sources said that the State Cabinet, which met under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi this evening, cleared the proposal for payment of the new UGC and AICTE pay scales to the teachers of the universities, colleges, engineering colleges and polytechnics. Sources said that provisions have been made in the State Budget for the current year for revision of pay scales.

Sources said that the Cabinet discussed the need for revision of the pay scales of the employees of the state public sector undertakings and directed the Personnel Department to examine the issue. Sources said that the Government has decided to divide the state PSUs into three categories - profit making, marginal and loss making. The employees of the profit making PSUs would get revised pay as per the sixth pay commission recommendations, while, the Personnel Department would examine the matter of pay revision of the employees of the other two categories of the PSUs.

Sources said that the Cabinet decided to bifurcate the Public Works Department and it would now have two commissioners. The PWD will now be bifurcated into PWD (Roads) and PWD (National Highway and Building). The Cabinet further decided to form a high power monitoring committee to ensure speedy implementation of the schemes announced in the State budget. Sources said that the Cabinet further said that the heads of the departments would be given special powers to ensure speedy implementation of the schemes.

Source : The Assam Tribune.

Suburban train services in Mumbai limped back to normalcy

2010-05-04T23:43:00.000-07:00

Suburban train services in Mumbai limped back to normalcy this evening after motormen of both the Western and Central Railways called off a hunger strike that they began yesterday morning to press their demand for higher pay and allowances.
The agitation had crippled the suburban railway system in the metropolis that carries about 6.9 million passengers a day. The Railways were forced to cancel most of their 3300-odd suburban services today.

The strike was called off by the motormen after talks between their leaders and Maharashtra Home Minister R R Patil, who assured them that the State Government would take up their demands with the Ministry of Railways and the Central Government.

He told them that he would also request the Railways to withdraw the disciplinary action agaist the striking employees and assured them that the State Government would withdraw action initiated against them.

Mr Patil told mediapersons later he had also impressed upon them the need to withdraw their agitation immediately in view of the great incovenience caused to the travelling public.

Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Ashok Chavan had held a meeting with some of his colleagues and top officials of the Railways, the police and the transport department on ways of handling the situation and minimising the difficulties caused to commuters.

There was a move to use the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) against the striking employees, but the Chief Minister had said that it would be done only as a last resort. Mr Patil said ESMA was not used because the State Government was in talks with the representatives of the motormen.

Mr Chavan told journalists that 4200 buses were pressed into service in the city to provide some relief to commuters. He said traffic on the suburban system had fallen to 20 per cent of normal numbers and attendance in the State Government Secretariat was in the range of 10-15 per cent today.

"Generally, life in the city was paralysed," Mr Chavan said. He said he had taken up the matter with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh while in Delhi yesterday and had also discussed the issue with Railways Minister Mamta Banerjee, who was away in West Bengal.

The issue was raised in the Lok Sabha by members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Left parties and many others, including Mr Sanjay Nirupam of the Congress. The Opposition said Ms Banerjee must make a statement on the issue.
In Delhi, Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrashekhar reviewed the situation at a meeting with Railway Board Chairman S S Khurana and other senior officials.

The Western Railway said it had made special arrangements to keep the local trains running though the number of services would be fewer and the travel time would be more than usual.

The Railway appealed to people in Mumbai to plan to travel by the suburban trains only if it is absolutely necessary. It said about 250 local services would run today, about 20 per cent of the normal number.

A statement from the Western Railway said that every 20 minutes there would be a train from Churchgate to Borivali and Virar, alternatively, stopping at all stations.

Similarly, every 40 minutes there will be a train from Virar and Borivali, alternatively, for Churchgate which will stop at all stations. There will be a few services originating from Andheri to Vasai Road and Bandra to Bhayander. These trains will be run from 05.00 hrs to 23.00 hrs and will take additional travel time.

On the fast corridor, about 110 additional train services will be run with 10 coaches each of long distance trains. These trains will be run between Churchgate- Virar, Mumbai Central - Virar and Dadar- Virar. These trains will halt at Dadar, Bandra, Andheri and Borivali and at all stations between Borivali and Virar. All suburban tickets and passes will be valid in these trains.

The authorities have also made arrangements for running additional buses from various stations like Churchgate, Dadar, Bandra, Andheri, Borivali and so on.
The Western Railway has set up a special helpline 10721 to provide information about the situation to members of the public.

The statement also appealed to the motormen to not resort to the hunger protest in the interest of the commuters.In Delhi, the Ministry of Railways said the motormen were demanding higher pay than recommended by the 6th Central Pay Commission and additional allowances which were not part of the recommendations of the Pay Commission.

An official press release said that some of their demands regarding national holidays and night duty allowances had already been met.

It pointed out that the Indian Railways had 1.4 million employees on their rolls and, traditionally, the grievances of all sections of staff are resolved through consultation with their recognised federations. The release said the agitation by the motormen was not supported by any of the recognised federations, unions and associations of the Railways.

According to the release, Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee had also met the representatives of the agitating motormen and it had been explained to them that their genuine grievances were being looked into.

It said the grievances of the motormen were also before the Regional Labour Commissioner, Mumbai and a conciliation meting between the management and the employees was held on April 29. The Regional Labour Commissioner has advised the motormen not to resort to their protest action and fixed the next conciliation meeting on May 12, it said.

The release said any precipitative action taken during the conciliatory proceedings was unlawful under the Industrial Disputes Act.

The release said that, despite appropriate action by the Railways, the motormen had resorted to unlawful action, which had resulted in the cancellation of many suburban trains and caused a lot of problems for commuters.

It said the General Managers of the Central and Western Railways had been asked to take all necessary steps to ensure that appropriate alternative arrangements were put in place in coordination with the State Government to cause minimum inconvenience to the travelling public. The Central Government was also being kept fully informed in the matter, the release added.

Manipur Chief Minister has reiterated the 6th Pay Commission

2010-04-24T00:11:00.000-07:00

Manipur Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh has reiterated that his government has no capacity to include arrears while recommending the 6th Pay Commission in the State due to lack of adequate financial resources.

Briefing the media soon after a State Cabinet meeting here on Thursday afternoon, Ibobi said that the Cabinet minutely discussed the demands of the striking employees with inputs from financial experts and thereafter decided to exclude the arrears. “We are not reluctant to award the employees’ demand,” he said. “So we once again appeal the employees to rethink and reconsider their steps and withdraw the strike,” he added.

Over 60,000 State government employees under the banner of the Joint Administrative Council of All Manipur Government Employees’ Organisation and All Manipur Trade Union Council are on a cease work strike since January 16 last demanding implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations in the State should also include payment of arrears.

The Chief Minister further explained that an additional amount of Rs 69.68 crore was required to meet the State’s monthly expenditure of Rs 292.28 crore against the monthly income of Rs 222.61 crore.

JAC Secretary Th Chandramani has, however, said that Chief Minister’s appeal failed to convince the striking employees. “He (Ibobi) has been saying this since the beginning of our strike,” Chandramani said when contacted over phone. “Why is he not ready to sit with us and discuss it (the issue). This hints of some hidden agenda of thegovernment,” he opined.

Indian Banks Association are likely to ink the final settlement

2010-04-24T00:08:00.000-07:00

Bank unions and the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) are likely to ink the final settlement of the industry-level wage revision on April 27 in Mumbai. The wage revision for the banking industry is due from November 2007.

The decks have been cleared for the final settlement after a delegation of the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), led by its convenor Mr C. H.Venkatachalam, met the Union Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, at North Block on Wednesday, sources privy to the developments said.

In November 2009, the UFBU and IBA had agreed for a 17.5 per cent increase in wages under the proposed ninth bipartite settlement, which would span five years until October 2012. It was also agreed to give both existing as well as certain retired employees another chance to opt for pension benefits.

As many as 7.75 lakh employees from 26 public sector, 12 private and eight foreign banks would benefit from the final wage settlement.

The annual wage bill for the public sector banks, including the State Bank of India Group, was Rs 27,500 crore for the year ended March 31, 2007. This ninth bipartite settlement would lead to an additional annual outgo of Rs 4,816 crore for the public sector banks and Rs 400 crore for private and foreign banks.

About 2.6 lakh existing (non SBI) employees are to get another chance to switch to pension from Provident Fund as a retirement benefit. Also, about 60,000 retired employees, who are PF optees, will now be given another chance to switch to pension benefits.

Public sector bank employees can currently avail themselves of only two retirement benefits - pension or provident fund and gratuity. In the eighth bipartite wage settlement, the bank unions had settled for 13.25 per cent hike.

The modalities for Housing Loan proposed by 6cpc are yet to be framed

2010-04-20T23:44:00.000-07:00

Even after two full years are over from the date when Government received the recommendations of Sixth Pay Commission, the modalities for Housing Loan proposed by 6cpc are yet to be framed. In the mean time Ministry of Urban development issued an interim order for grant of HBA after implementation of Sixth Pay Commission.

It could be seen that the maximum Housing loan that could be obtained after implementation of sixth pay commission report is only Rs.7.5 lakhs. We feel this would serve no purpose and Govt should come up with the new modalities for HBA as early as possible.

You might be aware of the recommendations of 6cpc in respect of Housing loan. As per 6cpc recommendations the existing system of lending directly by the government it to be dispensed with and nationalized banks would lend to government employees at a subsidized Interest rates.

This is the extract of 6cpc’s recommendations regarding HBA.

First round of negotiations between the agitating employees and Manipur govt

2010-04-19T00:27:00.000-07:00

First round of negotiations between the agitating employees and the Ministerial team constituted to iron out differences on the issue of 6th Pay Commission recommendations is likely to begin tomorrow afternoon, even as representatives of the employees are scheduled to meet the Governor on the same issue

According to a senior Minister in the SPF coalition, ahead of the negotiations with the agitating State Government employees, the Ministerial team specifically formed to chalk out means for ending the present administrative crisis, would discuss relevant issues under the chairmanship of Th Debendra.

Th Debendra, who holds the Revenue, Forest, Law and Legislative Affairs portfolios along with Minister members of the team and top ranked officials are supposed to meet before holding talks with the employees’ representatives.

the senior Minister further said that the meeting between the Ministerial team and Government officials would be followed by a formal invitation to the JAC of AMGEO and AMTUC spearheading the cease-work strike.

The Minister also expressed hope that the proposed talks would end on a positive note that could pave the way for resolving the over three month long agitation.

Meanwhile, welcoming the Government’s move of setting up the Ministerial team to hold negotiations with the agitating employees, publicity secretary of the employees’ JAC Priyobratta expressed that the employees are keen to perform normal duty rather than waste time by resorting to agitation.

strongly advocating that only through negotiations could all outstanding differences be addressed, he also confided that representatives of Manipur secretariat Services Association, JAC, pensioners and teachers’ body would meet the Governor at 11.30 am tomorrow during which a detail account of the employees’ demands would be placed before Gurbachan Jagat.

Mention may be made that after Secretariat employees joined the agitation some days back the State administration had been crippled to a significant extent.

The modalities for Housing Loan proposed by 6cpc are yet to be framed

2010-04-17T01:01:00.000-07:00

This is the extract of 6cpc’s recommendations regarding HBA.

All constituents of UFBU are striving to reach the settlement on pension

2010-04-17T00:56:00.000-07:00

Circular No.11/V/2010
April 15, 2010
To:
ALL UNITS / STATE COMMITTEES
Comrades,

MOU dated 27.11.2009
Developments in small committee meetings

Ever since we signed the MOU dated 27.11.2009 all constituents of UFBU are striving to reach the settlement on pension and revision of pay at the earliest.

However, the first destablising development came when IBA after MOU dated 27.11.2009 was signed on the basis of existing parameters of costing in the industry, brought SBI pension balancing, a factor which was not there in earlier two settlements and after SBI employees got 120 crores as compensation on the pension scheme introduced in Banks. IBA brought this after MOU keeping UFBU in dark till we signed MOU 27.11.2009 and they did not accept our legal demand to keep this amount of nearly 300 crores outside the load, without reducing the load factor of 17.5% to 16.5%.

But IBA using the pressure on the unions to expedite the settlement imposed the questionable addition to reduce our load factor.

Another destabilsing aspect took place amongst officers’ Associations when we met IBA Chairman to plead for higher starting basic and stagnation, it was decided by the unions that we will work out scale of pay adjusting incremental pattern to reach 15000 starting pay.

However AIBOC unilaterally met IBA and announced completion of small committee work and wanted us to agree to their scheme. We had prepared our chart at 15000 with suitable adjustments in incremental pattern and said that we would go with them on other matters if starting pay is agreed at 15000/- so as to reduce the difference with Govt. officers which have increased by leaps and bounds due to grade pay etc., after VI Pay Commission implementation.

AIBOC expressed its inability to go further and despite other small improvements, Junior officers are again left in the lurch. Without delinking Executives pay, we unnecessarily reduced their pay in the process sealing our prospects to improve our wages in future.

This policy of AIBOC to negotiate with IBA on separate lines has led us to difficulties. While AIBOC was always critising UFBU, they flouted 20+ demand of united UFBU to land us at 17.5%. Thereafter they revisited SBI demand to make it 16.5%. They wanted higher wage for officers but did not accept AIBOA’s proposal to place separate demands and to pursue the charter with IBA and Govt., separately. Instead they sat with UFBU till date of effect and merger points were decided and showed a picture as if they are not agreeing with 17.5% but eventually made it 16.5% in favour of SBI. Convenient stand was taken at every point of time to distribute the load on the basis of numbers without basic principles of fair loading principles to all sections.

Another sad feature of AIBOC negotiation is that while HRA we had differed with IBA costing excess nearly 50 crores, they have not even declared this publicly. Similarly after reducing starting pay to Rs.14500/- now AIBOC is complaining of relativity problem as workmen get special pay of Rs.1000/- wef 1.5.2010.

However more than anything above AIBOA is worried that IBA is adopting standards and methods questionable in nature to push higher level of recovery from the load factor and from individuals nor incumbent to pay the deficit on account of delayed option. Having extracted higher appropriation in respect of incremental cost sharing and deficit funding, IBA has so far denied normal feature of pension like DA neutralization, updation, anomaly rectification for the last10 years With further recovery for incremental cost for 276600 persons and deficit recovery, IBA has achieved higher cost of pension taking nearly 5% more than PF cost of 10% with which pension was exchanged in the beginning. Slowly pension is proving more costlier than the benefits especially after this settlement.

It is this trend of negative bargaining by IBA to pauperise the community that make us generally worried about the state of collective bargaining in the industry and the need for transparency to evolve demands below which the unions will not accept any settlement with Bankers.

With greetings
/R.J.SRIDHARAN/
GENERAL SECRETARY

PSEB ended their agitation against bifurcation of the body

2010-04-17T00:54:00.000-07:00

Employees of Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) ended their agitation against bifurcation of the body after Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal assured them that their interest will be protected.

"The chief minister has assured us that there will be no privatisation and the interest of employees will be taken care of," Manjit Chahal, spokesman of Joint Forum of PSEB employees’ bodies, said here.

"That is why we have decided not to extend our agitation and employees will join their duties tomorrow," he said.

Punjab government yesterday gave its nod for bifurcation of PSEB.

A group of employee leaders including Surinder Pehalwan representing Employees Federation met Badal this afternoon.

Chahal said that during the meeting, Badal "assured us that service norms involving pension, gratuity and leave encashment would be framed within ten days".

An April Fool prank allowances to please colleagues in central government offices

2010-04-15T00:15:00.000-07:00

Was it an April Fool prank or a case of an adventurous babu arbitrarily announcing increase in overtime allowances to please colleagues in central government offices?

The case in question is that of a “fake” order being circulated in these offices on increasing allowances on the basis of a circular issued by the finance ministry on April 1 last.

Although a high-level inquiry has been ordered by the finance ministry and the department of personnel and training (DoPT), no clue has yet been found on who was behind the mischief. The office memorandum number 1(4)/2010E-II dated 27/3/2010 was issued by the finance ministry with the signature of under secretary S Rajan Chandranaydu.

“The case is being probed by senior officials. But nothing as yet has been found,” a DoPT official said. “The possibility of it being an April Fool prank is also being looked into. But even in such a case, the guilty could face the music,” he said.

The official clarified that it had nothing to do with DoPT, which is the nodal department on such issues. “It pertains to the finance ministry and they are probing it,” he said.

The issue came to the notice of DoPT after enthusiastic central government officials started seeking details of the hiked overtime allowances, such as the date from which they would become operative. Acting swiftly, DoPT got in touch with the finance ministry, only to discover that the order was fake.

To set the record straight, DoPT issued a fresh office memorandum to clear doubts about the veracity of the order. “It is clarified that no such instruction has been issued by either DoPT or the finance ministry. The ministries and departments are advised not to take cognisance of the fake instructions being circulated in central government offices,” the office memorandum signed by DoPT director Simmi R Nakra said.

80 per cent of State Bank of India officers resigned from the membership

2010-04-15T00:11:00.000-07:00

Unhappy with the wage settlement, 80 per cent of State Bank of India (SBI) officers in the senior management grade have resigned from the membership of the officers’ association.

The finer details of the industrywide wage revision for bank employees have already been worked out and the agreement will be made official next week.

“There has been an exodus from the officers’ association from the Mumbai Corporate centre alone”, said an employee involved in the issue.

Referring to the dissatisfaction among officers, TN Goel, president of the All-India State Bank of India Officers’ Federation, said the basic issue with the decision for just a 17.5 per cent hike, which was making it difficult to structure the pay scales. Hence, various groups feel they are getting a raw deal. Specific issues regarding SBI staff and officers will be taken up after the industry-level pact is signed.

However, SBI officials who have resigned from the association are of the view that the wage negotiations are more focused on issues other than a decent wage package. Officers allege that the first priority of the present settlement is giving a second pension option to those who did not opt for the scheme in 1993.

The second priority of the settlement had been providing “stagnation increments” to officers in scale I to III, they said. The position in the SBI cadre increases in an ascending order from scale I to scale V. Scale IV and V comprise senior management.

“The stagnation benefit creates an anomalous situation whereby a person in a lower scale, who was either not found fit for promotion or did not opt for promotion, draws the same basic salary as a person who is shouldering higher responsibilities after being promoted to a higher scale. Moreover, the wage settlement does not extend the same benefit to scale IV or V officers, where stagnation is more than 12 years and is followed by frequent transfers”, they said.

“The most objectionable part of the settlement is that the representatives of the SBI officers’ association, rather than struggling for higher wages for members, have settled for less. This is because IBA had proposed pay scales of Rs 15,000-54000 as increase in basic salary across the board whereas the association settled for Rs 14,500-52,000”, said the officers.

GD Nadaf, general secretary, All India Bank Officers’ Association, said that from around two-and-a-half years of arrears, employees opting for the second pension scheme might have to forgo seven to eight months of arrears as contribution to the pension fund in lieu of the provident fund.

Modified Assured Career Progression Scheme for central government employees

2010-04-12T00:12:00.000-07:00

This is a classic example of how a clarification order could misinterpret the original order. As you all know, the office memorandum for implementation of Modified Assured Career Progression Scheme for central government employees was issued on 19.5.2009 by DOPT with effect from 1.9.2008.

In fact the said order is self contained one and there is very little scope for any confusion. However, while implementing the same administrative authorities attached to Customs and Central excise department had certain doubts, for which Ministry of Finance has issued a clarification order on 2.2.2010. The said clarification order dated 2.2.2010, attempts to clarify seven types of doubts raised. We provide here the issue involved relating to Point No: 3 of Clarification order dated 2.2.2010. While a clarification order ought to have been issued for correctly interpreting the original order, the clarification dated 2.2.2010, complicates the MACPS and in fact denies the very benefit provided under MACPS.
What clarification Order dated 2.2.2010 issued by MOF says:

It was sought to be clarified with MOF that whether a UDC who got earlier two promotions (to the grade of tax assistant & Inspector) after completion of 5 years of service is eligible for 3rd MACP (financial upgradation) after he completes 10 years of service in the grade of Inspector.

In respect of this question the MOF has clarified that in such circumstances 3rd MACP would be granted after completion of 30 years or whenever a person has spent 10 years continuously in the same grade pay whichever is later. Obviously, in this case the completion of 30 years would fall later when compared to completion of 10 years of service in the same grade/grade pay
What the Original OM dated 19.5.2009 for MACPS says:

The Original OM dated 19.5.2009, provides for three financial upgradations under the MACPS, counted from the direct entry grade on completion of 10, 20 and 30 years service respectively. In addition, financial Upgradation under the Scheme will be admissible whenever a person has spent 10 years continuously in the same grade-pay. It is apparent that there is no provision in the OM dated 19.5.2009, to the extent that one of the two conditions viz., 1. completion of 10, 20 and 30 years service and 2. completion of 10 years continuously in the same grade-pay, whichever falls later has to be applied whenever an employee crosses the milestone of 10, 20, or 30 years of service.
New condition not provided in Original Order introduced:

However, the clarification order dated 2.2.2010 brings this new term “whichever is later” for the first time into the picture, while there is no advocation for such a kind of procedure in the original MACPS order. This misinterpretation is proved to be very costly as per the clarification dated 2.2.2010, as whenever an employee is promoted to the next cadre within the period of 10 years service, say 5 years, he has to wait for his 2nd MACP till the completion of 20 years of service.
Why it’s proved to be costly for employees:

Take the case of another employee who gets his first promotion after completion of 18 years in same grade will be eligible for 2nd MACP only after completion of 10 years of service in the promoted grade/grade pay. So, he will be eligible for 2nd MACP only after completion of 28 years of Government service, since completion of 10 years of service in the same grade pay will only fall later than the completion of 20 years of service for getting 2nd MACP in his case. On the contrary, as per the original order dated 19.5.2009 for MACPS issued by DOPT he will be getting his 2nd MACP after completion of 20 years of govt service.
What does the Para 28 (i) of MACPS say:

The original MACP order very clearly advocates that if the first promotion is given say after completion of 8 years, 2nd MACP has to be granted after completion of 18 years not withstanding the fact that the regular service criteria for getting 2nd MACP is 20 years, since the said employee has completed 10 years of service in the same grade/grade pay. (please see the illustration given in Para 28 (i)).

We can say Ministry of Finance has got its wires crossed in this issue by mistaking the two types of conditions envisaged in the original MACPS issued by Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions (DOPT). In fact, the original MACPS order simplifies many issues by providing suitable flow diagrams. For instance, the illustration that we discussed in the previous para was well explained through the flow diagram (Please see Page No: 10 of annexure-1 to the Original MACPS order dated 19.5.2009 - Diagram under the heading Para 28 (i) & (ii). It could be seen that the clarification given under point no: 3 of the clarification order dated 2.2.2010, totally contradicts the Para 28 (i) of the original MACP order dated 19.5.2009 and the illustrative flow diagram given under Para 28 (i) and (ii).

We hope MOF should look into this aspect immediately as it’s very easier to sort out these sort of misinterpretations at an early stage.

Another round of wage negotiations between IBA and workmen’s unions

2010-04-12T00:00:00.000-07:00

Another round of wage negotiations between IBA and workmen’s unions has been held on 7th and 8th April, preceded by a meeting of the unions with Dr Khandelwal Committee, on Human Resource matters in Public
During the course of 2 days’ discussion on wage related matters the followings items were finalized :
HRA - Where quarters are provided recovery of rent will be 0.50% of first stage of scale of pay.
LFC - One more option to change block of years. For encashment, employee to be on leave for, at least, 1(one) day.
Travel by own car with permission of the bank.
Special Area Allowance - In line with Government of India Notification.
FPP - Area I Area II Area III Area IV
Clerk Rs.940/- Rs.930/- Rs.920/- Rs.915/-
Sub Staff Rs.470/- Rs.465/- Rs.460/- Rs.460/-
At places where
accommodation is provided by the bank : Rs 860 for clerks and Rs 430 for sub. staff and increment component in all cases Rs.800/- for clerk and Rs.400/- for sub staff.
Halting Allowance - Area I & II Area III Area IV
Clerk Rs 500/- per diem Rs 375/-per diem Rs. 300/- per diem
Sub. Staff Rs 375/- per diem Rs 250/- per diem Rs. 185/- per diem
PQP/Graduation Pay - Rs.250/- after 1 yr, Rs.490/- after 2 yrs., Rs.740/- after 3 yrs., Rs.990/- after 4 yrs.,
Rs.1230/- after 5 yrs, all per month.
Implementation - Items Date of effect
Scale of pay, Stagnation increment, DA, 1st November 2007
PQP,FPP,HRA,Transport,Medical Aid, Allowances under the Heads : Special Area , Hill & Fuel, Washing, Split Duty, Cycle, Project Area; PF & Gratuity .
Part Time Employees - Upto 3 hrs - Rs 1030/- 1st November 2007
Upto 6 hrs - Rs 144o/-
Elevation to 1/3rd Scale Wage 1st May 2010
Halting Allowance 1st May 2010
LFC, Hospitalisation, Leave or Hysterectomy,Road Date of settlement Milage, Family Defination.
Discussion was also held for improvement of Hospitalisation Scheme but is yet to be finalised. On outsourcing and Duty of
Special Pay carrying posts, proposal of IBA have been opposed and no conclusion could be reached.
Next round of talks will be held on 13th April.

Striking government employees took to the streets to protest over the Jammu and Kashmir

2010-04-09T00:17:00.000-07:00

With ESMA in force, police detained six leaders of employee unions agitating for release of arrears under the 6th Pay Commission, even as the determined protesters extended the strike to April 13.

Striking government employees took to the streets here on Tuesday to protest over the Jammu and Kashmir Government’s decision to invoke the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) against them.

The employees, who have been on strike for the last three days to press their demand for the release of arrears prescribed by the Sixth Pay Commission Report and the enhancement of retirement age from 58 to 60, held protests at different places across the city.

It has been reported that over 450,000 employees have gone on strike, affecting all government-run institutions.

The Joint Consultative Committee (JCC), Employees Joint Action Committee (EJAC) and Civil Secretariat Employees union (CSEU) called the strike after talks between the government and the employees failed to break the deadlock over the staff’s demands for release of arrears prescribed by the Sixth Pay Commission Report.

"The government had promised to pay our arrears last year, but now it is not fulfilling its promise. Employees were not in favour of strike, but after looking at the despotic attitude of the state government, now we have decided to go against ESMA till April 12," said Ram Kumar Sharma, a leader of the EJAC.

The employees were told that their salaries would be changed as per the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission and would be paid to them after the assembly elections in November-December 2008.

The hiked salaries were given to the employees from Aug 1, 2009, but the arrears due to them from Jan 1, 2006, to July 31, 2009, have not been paid.

The state’s cabinet on Monday, at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, decided to impose ESMA, which will deny employees their salaries if they do not come for work.

All government offices, government schools, civil secretariat and Public Service Undertakings (PSUs) remained closed on Monday on a call given by various employee unions. Only emergency services in hospitals continued unhindered.

All directorate level offices in Srinagar remained closed, including the directorate of the Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution (CAPD).

IBOC issued its circular No.43 on wage revision

2010-04-09T00:15:00.000-07:00

IBOC issued its circular No. 43 on wage revision. We are reproducing the circular here for our readers.

CIRCULAR NO:43 Date: 05.04.2010

TO ALL AFFILIATES/MEMBERS:

EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION OF WAGE LOAD TO OFFICERS UP TO SCALE VII

With further reference to our Circular No. 42 dated 3.04.2010, we furnish the following additional data for information of our members.

a) A chart showing the present and revised scales from JMGS-I to TEG Scale VII is
enclosed. The fitment will be on stage to stage basis.

b) Additional stagnation increments will be granted after three years from drawing the last stagnation increment. Similarly 2nd additional stagnation increment will be granted three years after drawing the first additional stagnation increment. Those who have completed more than 6/3 years of service as on 1.11.2007 after drawing last stagnation increment in the existing scale, will be granted Two/One additional stagnation increment with effect from 1.11.2007.

c) D.A. Chart w.e.f 1.11.2007 for various scales is enclosed.

d) C C A is frozen, hence existing CCA will continue to be paid

e) H R A payable w. e. f. 1.11.2007 is enclosed

f) Revised Hill & Fuel allowance is as follows
2% of B.P. Max Rs. 550/- PM
2.5% -- // -- ---- Rs. 680/- PM
5% ---//-- ---- Rs. 1570/- PM

g) Project area allowance
Group .A. centers ---- Rs. 290/- PM
Group .B. Centers ---- Rs. 255/- PM

h) FPP, PQP and Split Duty Allowances are being revised. The details will be advised in due course.

The meeting with four officers. organizations and Core Committee of IBA commenced on 03.04.2010 at 5.pm. Hectic parleys up to the last minute were made by us with the IBA officials to improve upon the various components of salary and allowance. Finally representatives of Officers. Associations and the Core Committee members initialed the distribution chart of wage load which is the basic foundation to arrive at the revised scales and allowances. S/Shri K. Ramakrishnnan, CEO, K. Unnikrishnan Dy. CEO, B.B. Das CGM (HR) SBI, K. Venugopal, Special Officer represented the IBA.

Com. K.S. Shetty, President and Com. G.D.Nadaf General Secretary representated
AIBOC. On behalf of the four Officers. organizations. Com. G.D. Nadaf, Convenor, led the team. The moment initials were affixed to the distribution chart, messages were flashed throughout the country to share the joyous moment. A large number of members who gathered outside the IBA office were eager to know the details and thank the leadership for their relentless efforts in clinching one of the best bipartite settlements in the industry.

It is proposed that next round of discussion on residual issues be held on 9th and 10th April 2010 to finalise the joint note for officers. The UFBU will hold a meeting with IBA on 12.04.2010 to finalize the draft settlement on pension related issues. We expect that by 15th April 2010, final settlement on pension and salary revision will take place.

Comrades we once again compliment all of you for the maturity, conviction and commitment displayed towards the confederation. Thanks for your greetings/ messages. Let us march on to celebrate the 9th Bipartite along with our Silver Jubilee Celebrations in a grand style.

All is well, that ends well. Kindly wait for the defining moment in the history of bipartite settlements on Salary Revision and another Option for Pension.

With greetings

(G.D. NADAF)
GENERAL SECRETARY

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Grant of Dearness Allowance to the West Bengal State Government employees

2010-04-09T00:12:00.000-07:00

Government of West Bengal
Finance Department
Audit Branch
No. : 2580-F(P) Kolkata, the 6th April, 2010.

M E M O R A N D U M

Subject : Grant of Dearness Allowance to the State Government employees
and further ad-hoc increase in the wages of daily rated workers
under the Government with effect from April 01, 2010.

1. The Governor is pleased to decide that the whole time State Government employees drawing Basic Pay (i.e. Band Pay + Grade Pay, NPA, if any) upto Rs.80000/- p.m. shall draw Dearness Allowance @ 27% with effect from April 01, 2010.

The calculation of Dearness Allowance shall be made taking into
account the revised Band Pay, Grade Pay & NPA, if any but shall not include any other types of pay.

2. The Dearness Allowance sanctioned herein-above should be rounded off to the nearest rupee in each case.

3. The Governor has also been pleased to decide that there will be a further ad-hoc increase in the existing daily rate of wages by Rs.10/- (Rupees Ten) only with effect from April 01, 2010 for the daily rated workers under the Government whose wages are not regulated by any statutory provisions like the Minimum Wages Act, etc.

Sd/- S. K. Chattopadhyay
Special Secretary to the
Government of West Bengal
Finance Department

Download the Order

The Supreme Court has slammed the government for treating army personnel

2010-04-06T00:32:00.000-07:00

The Supreme Court has slammed the government for treating army personnel “bravely defending the country even at the cost of their lives” shabbily and upheld a higher disability pension to an officer who lost his hand in the Siachen.

“This is a pittance (Rs 1,000 a month, plus dearness allowance). If this is the manner in which the army personnel are treated, it is extremely unfortunate…. We regret to say army officers and armymen in our country are being treated in a shabby manner by the government,” Justices Markandey Katju and A.K. Patnaik said.

The government had appealed a Punjab and Haryana High Court order giving C.S. Sidhua higher pension.

The apex court found no reason to interfere with the order. Instead, it was scathing in its criticism of the government for trying to justify such a meagre disability pension. “If a person goes to any part of Delhi and sits for begging, he will earn Rs 1,000 every day and you are offering a pittance of Rs 1,000 per month for a man who fought for the country in the high altitudes and whose arm was amputated?” the two-judge bench said.
Sidhu had joined as a short-service commission officer on June 22, 1968. On November 21, 1970, he met with an accident in the Siachen after which his right arm had to be amputated. He also suffered a compound fracture of the femur (thigh bone) and fracture of the mandible (jaw bone). He was released from service on June 23, 1978.

The army authorities insisted on taking into account the period from June 22, 1968, to November 21, 1970, to calculate his pension. But the high court said the entire commissioned service, from June 22, 1968, to June 23, 1978, should be counted and ordered the authorities to pay the disability pension and other benefits accordingly.
The apex court, upholding the high court order, asked the authorities to clear the arrears within three months, along with interest at the rate of 8 per cent annually. “Army personnel should be treated in a better and more humane manner by the government authorities, particularly, in respect of their emoluments, pension and other benefits,” the bench said.

At yesterday’s hearing, the government was represented by an additional solicitor-general. Sidhu was not present, but the apex court dismissed the government’s appeal without waiting for the officer to place his version.

“… We are in full agreement with the high court that for the purpose of qualifying service for disability pension, the entire period of commissioned service rendered by the respondent has to be taken into account,” it said.

Bihar university and college teachers to go on an indefinite strike from April 8

2010-04-06T00:30:00.000-07:00

Ram Vilas Paswan on Thursday demanded implementation of the UGC package in toto for university and college teachers to maintain the academic ambience on campuses across the state.

Claiming that nearly 20 of the 28 states were already following the 6th Pay Commission pay scale, the LJP chief said: "In Bihar, university and college teachers are being forced to go on an indefinite strike from April 8."

Paswan said though chief minister Nitish Kumar had announced at least three times in the Assembly that his government would enhance the retirement age of university and college teachers from 62 to 65 years and that they would be paid according to the 6th Pay Commission, nothing tangible has happened yet.

Accusing the government of curtailing the powers of the chancellor, the head of all universities, Paswan said only academics of repute should be considered for the post of VC in the state.

Kerala State Government has decided to implement the revised payscale

2010-03-31T00:44:00.000-07:00

The State Government has decided to implement the revised payscale recommended by the University Grants Commission (UGC) for college teachers from the March salary which will be distributed in April.The order to this effect was signed by Finance Minister T M Thomas Isaac on Wednesday. The package will be implemented with retrospective effect from January 1, 2006. However, the UGC pay package is being implemented without hiking the pension age.The issue of date of payment of the arrears will be decided later after the Central Government releases the additional assistance.

As per the Chadda Committee recommendation, the Central Government has to provide 80 percent assistance for the additional expenditure for four years till March 31, 2010 to implement the recommendations.This is for the first time in 13 years that the payscale of college teachers is being revised.The revised salaries will be two to three times higher than their present salary. The UGC pay panel has recommended the renaming of the post of lecturer as assistant professor.

The Chadda Committee for pay revision had also recommended multi-source assessment of teachers including self-assessment, assessment by students who have been taught a course by the teacher and assessment by academic heads. The committee had also asked the UGC to evolve parameters relevant to universities and colleges respectively for carrying out such evaluations throughout the country in a uniform manner.As per the recommendation, a teacher should spend at least five hours everyday for five days a week in the institution for teaching, holding tutorials, guiding research or carrying out co-curricular activities.