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Aadhar Card for Pension Payment – Central Information Commission

By
igeadmin
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Aadhar Card for Pension Payment – Central Information Commission

CENTRAL INFORMATION COMMISSION
(Room No.313, CIC Bhawan, Baba Gangnath Marg, Munirka, New Delhi-110067)

Before Prof. M. SridharAcharyulu (Madabhushi Sridhar), CIC

CIC/POSTS/A/2017/185367

N N Dhumane v. PIO, Department of Posts

Order Sheet: RTI filed on 27.07.2017, CPIO replied on 24.08.2017, FAO on 22.09.2017, Second appeal filed on 21.12.2017, Hearing on 27.02.2018;

Proceedings on 27.02.2018: Appellant present from NIC Ahmednagar, Public Authority represented by CPIO. Mr. Sandeep Hadgal, from NIC Ahmednagar:

Date of Decision-27.02.2018: Direction, show cause-issued and posted on 23.03.2018

ORDER

FACTS:

1. The appellant Ms. Nirmala Nishikant Dhumane filed two RTI applications (dates 05.07.2017 and 27.07.2017). In her RTI application dated 05.07.2017, she sought:

“My pension for the month of March 2017 was withheld for want of copy of Aadhaar Card, and now also, l am directed by account branch to submit the copy of Aadhaar Card.

I may kindly be furnished the copy of order vide which the Aadhaar Card is required/essential for pension payment”.

2. The appellant filed another RTI application dated 27.07.2017 and stated that this was in continuation of her earlier application dated 05.07.2017. She sought as under:

(i) Copy of the order by which the Aadhaar card is required/necessary for pension payment, and (ii) names of the persons whose pension was held up for want of Aadhaar card for the month of March 2017.

3. The CPIO vide letter dated 24.08.2017 gave following response:-

Point No. 1. Xerox copy of order by which the Aadhaar card is required for pension has already provided under the RTI Act 2005 vide this office letter dated 05.08.2017 for your previous application under RTI Act 2005 dated 05.07.2017.

Point No. 2. There was no held-up of pension. However there was delay in crediting pension to their saving bank accounts.

However, for remaining information, it is informed under the RTI Act that as per the Section 8 (1) (j) of the RTI Act 2005, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of an individual, hence cannot be supplied.

4. As some of information was refused on the pretext that it was personal information she was not satisfied and hence filed first appeal saying:

The Senior Superintendent of Post Office (SSP) Ahmednagar has given the misleading information to my application under the RTI Act. Now the question arises why the pension of only 55 pensioners was delayed and how the pension of remaining pensioners was effected on due dates. The SSPO Ahmednagar has given false information. Necessary action against him may be taken.

There was no order on the subject to link up Aadhaar card to pension account. The action of SR Post Master Ahmednagar to withhold the pension of 55 pensioners contravened the mandatory constitutional provisions of affecting payment of pension on first of each month.

The SSP Ahmednagar has not furnished the names of 55 pensioners and he has taken shelter of provisions of Section 8 (1)(j) of the RTI Act. The furnishing names of 55 pensioners does not amount to right to privacy. It is open fact and withholding the names 55 pensioners is a breach of RTI Act 2005.

5. The FAA ordered on 22.09.2017, as under:-

The appellant had sought certain information vide her RTI application dated 27.07.2017 under Right to Information Act 2005 from Central Public Information Officer (SSPO’s Ahmednagar Division, Ahmednagar). The CPIOs/SSPO’s Ahmednagar Division had provided the information to the appellant vide letter dated 24.08.2017.

I have gone through the documents relevant to the case and uphold the reply given by the CPIO/SSPO’s Ahmednagar Division, Ahmednagar.

6. Not satisfied with the response of the respondents, the appellant filed second appeal contending:-

I sought the information under RTI act 2005 for withholding of pension of 55

Pensioners for the month of March 17.(Copy of my RTI application dated 51712017 and 271712017 are enclosed for ready reference).

The Senior Supdt. of Post Office Ahmednagar had informed vide his letter No ANR/PG/RTI/NND/2017 Dated 241812017 that the names of 55 pensioners cannot be furnished due to unwarranted invasion of the privacy of an individual (copy enclosed for ready reference).

In his letter No. cited above, SSPOS further informed me that there was delay in crediting the pension for the month of March 2017 to the pension accounts of 55 pensioners.

I had preferred appeal to the Director of Postal Services, Pune Region, Pune against the information furnished by SSPOS/SRPM ANR. The director of Postal service informed me vide his letter No. PR/PG/RTI/Appeal-341/2017 Dated 22.09.2017 and upheld SSPO’S reply.

I am not satisfied with the reply of the first appellate authority hence I am submittingsecond appeal to your honour.

The information provided by SRPM Ahmednagar through SSPOS Ahmednagar is totally false.The truth in this case is that the pension of 55 pensioners was withheld for March 2017 due to non-linking up of Aadhaar Card to pension account.

Some of the pensioners of group of 55 pensioners approached the SRPM Ahmednagar on 02.04.2017. He informed them that their pension was not credited to their pension accounts due to not linking of Aadhaar Card. In this case, the SRPM also informed on phone on 31412017 that he did not credit the amount of pension of 55 pensioners for the same reason discussed above.

There were no orders on the subject to link up the Aadhaar Card to pension account and this has been confirmed by him (i.e. SRPM Ahmednagar) to Post Master General Pune on 03.04.2017 that there were no order to link up Aadhar Card. The Sub Regional Post Master(SRPM) Ahmednagar has exceeded his powers to harass the 55 pensioners financially. This resulted to mental torture. Disciplinary action should be taken against SRPM Ahmednagar for taking unconstitutional decision to withhold the pension of 55 pensioners. It is constitutionally mandatory to pay the pension on first of every month and nobody has powers to withhold it.

The SRPM Ahmednagar, had given false information and misguided the appellate authority. Therefore I request you kindly to look into the matter and give me the justice as I am a sufferer among these 55 pensioners for delay in pension payment of March 2017. The Post master general, Pune region, Pune, is protecting the SSPOs and SRPM Ahmednagar and buried the vital issue without taking action against both of them.

Proceedings on 27th February 2018:

7. The appellant Ms. Nirmala Nishikant Dhumane stated that she took voluntary retirement from the post office and is receiving pension on 1st of every month; she was told that her pension for month of March 2017 was held up for want of Aadhaar linking up along with 55 other pensioners who were former employees of this public authority; she filed RTI application about ‘linking-up of Aadhaar number to pension accounts’; that they had no authority to link up the Aadhaar Card to her pension account all of sudden without any notice and stop payment for that reason; she suffered agony, various losses due to delay, could not lead normal life as pensioner etc.

8. Mr. Sandeep Hadgal, CPIO said that he received circular to link the Aadhaar number with the pension accounts from two of their higher officers. However, he agreed that the circular from Sub Regional Post Master Ahmednagar to Post Master General Pune on 03.04.2017 did not order to link up Aadhar Card without any intimation. He also felt that the SRPM Ahmednagar should not have delayed the payment of pension to the 55 pensioners for not linking with Aadhaar.

9. Appellant explained that she was under serious mental apprehension about receiving monthly pension because of Aadhaar, the delay was unreasonable, denial of information on that vital aspect was breach of her right and it was quite illegal to say the names of 55 pensioners would invade somebody’s privacy.

10. The respondent authority submitted that pension was not held-up. However, there was delay in crediting the pension to their saving bank accounts. They also submitted that copy of order by which the Aadhaar Card was made mandatory for pensioners has already been provided vide letter dated 05.08.2017, while responding to her applicant dated 05.07.2017. They denied the names of the pensioners whose pension was held up for want of Aadhaar card on the plea that this is personal information of third party.

11. It is a matter of life and living of 55 pensioners who were totally dependent upon the paltry amount of pension. Though it is a small amount even a day’s delay in payment might disturb the routine life of all or some of them. That is why the information relating to payment pension to retired persons should be considered and categorised as the information concerning the life and should have been responded within 48 hours. Even if the appellant has not asked for immediate delivery of information, the CPIO, being a senior designated officer has a duty to consider this as information concerning the life and answer within 48 hours. it was not done. The public authority has a duty under contract as per Contract Act, Consumer Protection Act, Trusts Act and also under Right to Information Act to pay the pension in time, rectify the problem of delay promptly or give information immediately to the appellant or pensioners suffering like her. The CPIO has chosen last i.e., 30th day to reply from date of RTI application. This reflects the CPIOs mental rigidity to sit over the file for 29 days doing nothing, just to make use of the facilitative provision. He simply ignored the phrase in section 7 that PIO shall ‘as expeditiously as possible’ but totally exploited ‘and in any case within thirty days’. The CPIO did not bother to examine whether this information could fall under category of “concerning life or liberty”. It is inhuman for the CPIO to be so heartless about pensioner’s problems and request for information. The CPIO should have read umpteen number of the Commission orders explaining why such pension related information should have been given within 48 hours.

12. The pensioner-applicant was asking for the list of 55 names of pensioners who suffered like her at the hands of post office. How can that be ‘personal information’ and whose privacy the CPIO was protecting?

13. In addition to the above the Postal authorities have a statutory duty to disclose full facts and circumstances along with reasons why they are linking Aadhaar with pension payment, why should they stop payment of pensions for the sake of such linking, why did they not provide for sufficient advanced information to the pensioners, whether such linking order has legal sanctity to be implemented without any advance notice, etc under Section 4(1)(c) and (d). Referring to an order of SC on 15th October 2015 WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO 494 OF 2012 between Justice K S Puttaswamy (Retd) and another v Union of India, a media report stated:

A Constitution Bench led by then Chief Justice of India H.L. Dattu had held that citizens cannot be forced to produce his Aadhaar to avail themselves of government welfare schemes and benefits.

It had even hinted that the government risked contempt of court if it chooses to continue to make the Aadhaar number a mandatory condition. But the government seemed to have ignored the court’s warning in this case. A petition filed by the All-Bengal Minority Students Council clearly exposed the defiance.

The petition pointed to a letter addressed by the Centre to States and Union Territories to make Aadhaar a mandatory condition for applying for pre-matric, post-matric and merit-cum-means scholarship schemes. The letter, dated July 14, 2016, plainly directed that “submission of Aadhaar is mandatory” for students.

Staying the implementation of the letter recently, the court directed the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to remove Aadhaar as a mandatory condition for student registration from its national scholarship portal.

It stayed the instruction insisting on Aadhaar from government advertisements for the scholarship schemes.

On October 15 last year, the Constitution Bench had extended the voluntary use of Aadhaar cards to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), pensions schemes, Employee Provident Fund and the Prime Minister Jan Dhan Yojana.

The Bench was modifying an August 2015 order restricting Aadhaar use to only PDS and LPG distribution.

The Constitution Bench had directed that the voluntary nature of Aadhaar would continue now. (http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/aadhaar-purely
voluntary-says-supreme-court-but-extends-its-use-to-more-schemes/article7765893.ece)

14. Quoting the order of Supreme Court on 15.12.2017 in WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO 494 OF 2012 between Justice K S Puttaswamy (Retd) and another v Union of India, another media report stated:

The six schemes mentioned in the previous orders are the public distribution scheme (PDS), LPG distribution scheme, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), National Social Assistance Programme (Old age pensions, widow pensions, disability pensions), the Prime Minister’s Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) and Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO).

The order also quotes Shyam Divan, senior counsel for the petitioners, as having urged that since the interim order dated March 15, 2015 governs the field, it was the obligation of the Centre to seek a variation of the interim directions after the enactment of the Aadhaar Act, 2016 before making it mandatory to uplink or provide details of the Unique Identification Number/Aadhaar card for all purposes.

The order quotes another senior counsel for the petitioner, Gopal Subramanium, as having advanced the submission that the issue involves the paramountcy of the court and of the judicial process. “In the submission of the learned counsel, the exercise of the judicial power in the form of the interim order dated 15 October 2015 (and the earlier orders) was to insulate citizens against any form of compulsion, this being in aid of protecting their fundamental rights”, the order adds. https://thewire.in/205416/supreme-courts-interim-order-aadhaar-fails¬bring-relief-uid-holdouts/

15. Because of the above orders of the Supreme Court against linking the aadhaar with more than six categories mentioned, the Postal authorities are expected to explain under what legal authority they have directed the post offices to link their employer’s pension payments with the aadhaar?

16. The Commission directs Mr. A. V. Gaikwad, the CPIO to show-cause why maximum penalty should not be imposed upon him for above reasons. The public authority shall explain why it should not be ordered to pay compensation to the appellant for causing delay, loss and harassment her without giving information sought.

17. The Commission directs the respondent authority to provide certified copies of circulars/orders by which pension of 55 employees was delayed referring to Aadhaar in the month of March 2017 along with names of all the pensioners whose pension was delayed, within 15 days from the date of receipt of this Order.

18. All the explanations must reach to this Commission before 23.03.2018 and the matter is posted for compliance and penalty proceeding on 23.03.2018.

(M. Sridhar Acharyulu)
Central Information Commissioner

PDF Copy – Download here

CGDA : Guidelines regarding expeditious disposal of Disciplinary Cases

By
igeadmin
-

CGDA : Guidelines regarding expeditious disposal of Disciplinary Cases

Office of the Controller General of Defence Accounts
Ulan Satar Road, Palam, Delhi Cantt 110010

No. AN/XIII/13006/Vol-XXI
Dated 26.07.2019

To

The PCsDA/CsDA

(Through website)

Subject: Guidelines regarding expeditious disposal of Disciplinary Cases.

Of late, it has been observed that the finalization of the disciplinary proceedings initiated against Officers and staff of the department are getting delayed on various counts, which defeats the very purpose of initiating the said proceedings. Inordinate delay in finalization of disciplinary cases is a matter of serious concern. The very purpose of the timely finalization of the disciplinary proceedings is to ensure that the delinquent Officials neither get undue benefit due to long pending cases nor subjected to undue harassment if not found guilty at later stage.

2. Besides adherence to rules, regulations, orders, guidelines regarding timely completion of the disciplinary proceedings, the following points may also be kept in mind while processing disciplinary cases so as to ensure early finalization of the disciplinary proceedings.

(i) Initiation of the proceedings: The Competent Authority should study the allegations very carefully and resort to minor penalty proceedings instead of initiating major penalty proceedings, where the circumstances involve minor infringements or cases of procedural irregularities. It has to be kept in mind that a minor penalty swiftly but judiciously imposed by a Disciplinary Authority is much more effective than a major penalty imposed after years spent on a protracted enquiry.

(ii) Memorandum of charges: Consequent to decision of the disciplinary authority to initiate major or minor penalty proceedings against delinquent Officials, the chargesheet I memorandum of charges should be issued expeditiously to the charged officer. In cases where the chargesheet is to be issued by the CGDA, the draft articles of charges along with all the connected documents and full facts of the case should be forwarded to HQrs Office at the earliest.

(iii) Drafting of Charge Sheet: The charge sheet should be drafted with utmost accuracy and precision, based on the facts revealed during the investigation or otherwise and the misconduct involved. It should be ensured that no relevant material is left out and at the same time no irrelevant material or witnesses are included.

(iv) Written statement of Defence: At times, there is undue delay due to repeated requests of the charged officer for time to give his written statement in reply to the charge sheet. As per existing instructions, the charged officer is allowed 10 days to submit his written statement. The charged officer may be allowed 3 – 4 days absence by the Controlling Officer for preparing his written statement in such cases, no extension of time should be allowed beyond the stipulated period of 10 days.

(v) Providing copy of documents relied upon to the charged officer: As far as possible, copies of all the documents relied upon and the statements of witnesses cited on behalf of the Disciplinary Authority should be supplied to the Government servant along with the charge sheet, so that the time taken by the charged officer to submit his written statement of defense is minimised.

(vi) Appointment of IO and PO: The orders regarding appointment of Inquiring Authority and Presenting Officer should be issued immediately after receipt and consideration of written statement of defence by the charged officer to inquire into such of the article of charges as are not admitted or the disciplinary authority considers it necessary to do so. .

(vii) Inquiry by retired government officers: A panel of IO from retired government officers may also be kept ready which may be used when no serving government servant is available for appointment as IO. However, terms and condition for appointing retired officer as Inquiring authority as stipulated by the CVC and the DOPT on the subject from time to time may strictly be adhered to.

(viii) Inquiry by departmental officer: Wherever a Departmental officer is appointed as the IO in Departmental Proceedings, the officer concerned may be relieved from his normal duties for a period up to 20 days in two spells during which he should complete the inquiry and submit the report. During this period so allowed, he will attend to the inquiry on full time basis. These time spells may depend on the need and the feasibility of conducting full-time hearings on a day to day basis.

(ix) Inquiry Proceedings: At times, procedural infirmities in inquiry proceedings viz. the Charged Officer has not afforded reasonable opportunity for his defence, Inquiring Authority does not generally questioned the CO as per provisions of Rule 14 (18) of the CCS (CCA) Rules, 1965 etc, which resulted in remitting the case back for further inquiry. Therefore, the procedure laid down in Rule 14 of the CCS (CC&A) Rules, 1965 and GOI instruction below thereon may strictly be adhered to avoid any infirmity in departmental inquiry at any stage.

(x) Adhering timeline in inquiry proceedings by the Inquiring Authority: Attention is invited to clause (a), (b) and (c) of sub-rule 24 of Rule 14 of the CCS (CCA) Rules, 1965 inserted vide DOPT Notification vide GSR 548 (E) dated 2nd June, 2017 , which stipulates that:

a) The Inquiring Authority should conclude the inquiry and submit his report within a period of six months from the date of receipt of order of his appointment as Inquiring Authority.

b) Where it is not possible to adhere to the time limit specified in clause (a), the Inquiring Authority may record the reasons and seek extens ion of time from the disciplinary authority in writing, who may allow an additional time not exceeding six months for completion of the Inquiry, at a time.

c) The extension for a period not exceeding six months at a time may be allowed for any good and sufficient reasons to be recorded in writing by the Disciplinary Authority or any other Authority authorized by the Disciplinary Authority on his behalf.

(xi) Submission of Inquiry Report: On conclusion of the inquiry proceedings the Inquiring authority shall prepare its report as stipulated in sub-rule 23 of Rule 14 of the CCS (CCA) Rules, 1965 and forward the same along with records of inquiry to the disciplinary authority.

(xii) Providing copy of Inquiry Report to the charged officer by the Disciplinary Authority: A copy of the inquiry report along with reasons for disagreement of the Disciplinary Authority on it, if any, should be provided to the Charged Officer within 15 days from the date of receipt of Inquiry Report.

(xiii) Representation of the charged officer on findings of the Inquiring authority: The Charged Officer may be allowed 15 days to submit, if he so desires, his written representation or submission to the disciplinary authority irrespective of whether the report is favourable or not to the government servant .

(xiv) Penalty Order: If the disciplinary authority having regard to findings of the Inquiring authority, representation of the charged officer and all relevant aspects of the case is of the opinion to impose any of the penalties specified in Rule 11 of the CCS (CCA) Rules 1965 or decided to drop the charges, the case requires to be brought to logical conclusion by issuing a formal order.

Therefore, a self contained, speaking and reasoned Order to be passed and issued over the signature of prescribed Disciplinary Authority.

3. The infirmities in departmental inquiry may leads to un-avoidable delay in finalization of disciplinary proceedings . Therefore , the procedure laid down under CCS (CC&A) Rules, 1965, Vigilance Manual and other Government instruction, guidelines issued on the subject from time to time may strictly be adhered to.

4. It is requested that the disciplinary cases may effectively be monitored and prescribed time-limits should be strictly adhered to, for expeditious finalization of disciplinary proceedings.

Sd/-
(Rajeev Ranjan Kumar)
Dy. CGDA (Admin)

Signed Copy

ECHS : Delay in handing over smart card to beneficiaries

By
igeadmin
-

Delay in handing over of ECHS Smart Card to ECHS Beneficiaries

Central Organisation, ECHS
Adjutant General’s Branch
Integrated HQ of MoD (Army)
Thimayya Marg,
Near Gopinath Circle
Delhi Cantt – 110010

B/49711-MoD/AG/ECHS/DBT

29 Jul 2019

IHQ of MoD (Air Force)
IHQ of MoD (Navy)
HQ South Comd (A/ECHS)
HQ East Comd(A/ECHS)
HQ Wesst Comd(A/ECHS)
HQ Central Comd(A/ECHS)
Northern Comd(A/ECHS)
South West Comd (A/ECHS)
All Regional Centres

DELAY IN HANDING OVER OF ECHS SMART CARD TO ECHS BENEFICIARIES

1. Please refer to Central Organisation, ECHS letter No B/49711-IT/AG/ECHS dated 13 Sep 2018. (Copy enclosed).

2. The procedure of dispatching the 64 Kb ECHS Cards by the Card making company and their distribution by respective station HQ’s was given vide a/m letter. As on 17 Jul 2019, the card making company has printed and dispatched 8,33,468 cards to various station HQ’s through respective Regional Centres. It is seen that only 4,11,948 cards have been physically handed over by the station HQ’s to the beneficiaries. This shows that the rate of distribution by most of the station HQ’s is very low. This has led to dissatisfaction amongst the ESM.

3. In view of the above, it is requested that suitable instruction be passed to Station HQ’s under your justification to handover cards on priority and clear the backlog.

Sd/-
(Rakesh Kakar)
Col (Retd)
Jt Dir (Stats & Automation)
for MD ECHS

Signed Copy

31st meeting of SCOVA – Date, Time and Venue

By
igeadmin
-

31st Scova Meeting Date, Time & Venue – Mandate Form

42/03/2019-P&PW (D)
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, P.G and Pensions
Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare

3 Floor, Lok Nayak Bhawan,
Khan Market, New Delhi-110003

Date: 30th July, 2019

To

All the Pensioners’ Associations included in the SCOVA
vide Resolution dated 31.01.2018

Sub:- 31st meeting of Standing Committee of Voluntary Agencies (SCOVA) under the chairmanship of Hon’ble MOS(PP)- Intimation regarding Date, Time and Venue. reg

In continuation of this Department’s OM of even no. dated 13.07.2019 regarding holding of 31st meeting of Standing Committee of Voluntary Agencies (SCOVA) under the Chairmanship of Hon’ble MOS(PP), the date, time and venue of the meeting is as under:-

Date and Time :- September 6, 2019 (Friday) at 10 a.m.
Venue – Committee Room-A, Vigyan Bhawan Annexe, Maulana Azad Road, New Delhi

2. Due to constraint of the space, only one representative may attend the above said meeting. It is requested that the name of the member nominated to attend the meeting may kindly be sent to the undersigned.

3. Only outstation member will be paid TA/DA and local members will be paid conveyance charges in accordance with the rules/instructions. Outstation members will be paid TA/DA as per their last entitlement on retirement. Representatives of Pensioners Associations who are entitled for journey by air and also entitled to journey by air as per this Department’s letter no. 42/11/2014-P&PW(G) dated 19.05.2014 may purchase their Air Tickets from Air India only (at Booking Counters/website of Air India) or by utilizing the services of authorized travel agency i.e Balmer Lawrie & Company/IRCTC/M/s Ashok Travels & Tours.

4. It is requested to fill up the Mandate Form enclosed. The TA/DA reimbursement would be made through e-payment mode afterwards.

Encl: as above
Sd/-
(Charanjit Taneja)
Under Secretary to the Government of India

Signed Copy

Recording of online APARs on ‘SPARROW’ system

By
igeadmin
-

Recording of online APARs on ‘SPARROW’ system

F. No. 22/15/2018-CS-I(APAR)
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions
Department of Personnel & Training
CS-I (APAR)

2nd Floor, A-Wing, Lok Nayak Bhawan,
Khan Market, New Delhi-3
Dated the 30th July, 2019

Office Memorandum

Subject : Recording of online APARs on ‘SPARROW’ system.

The undersigned is directed to say that it has been made mandatory for all officers in CSS for recording of APARs through ‘SPARROW’. Datelines for recording of remarks by various authorities have been extended vide DoP&T’s O.M. No. 21011/2/2015-Estt (A-II) (Pt.-11) dated 18/4/2019. In term of said OM, Last date for recording of APARs by Reporting Officers is 31/7/2019. An analysis of APARs, generated on ‘SPARROW’ for 2018-19 reveals that there are 2450 APARs which are still pending with Reporting Officers for forwarding to their Reviewing Officers.

2. It is hoped that timely alerts’ have been sent to the officers concerned for doing needful. If not done so far, the Ministries/Departments are requested to. send alerts’ to the Reporting Officers through ‘SPARROW’ system by using the following link :

“Sparrow-css.eoffice.gov.in — home page – select assessment year- view more details -click on number of officers which is pending with reporting officer — select all — send alert”.

(Chandra Shekhar)
Under Secretary to the Govt. of India

Signed Copy

Closure of Railway Printing Presses – AIRF writes to Railway Minister

By
igeadmin
-

airf

No.AIRF/174

Dated: July 26, 2019

Hon’ble Minister for Railways,
Ministry of Railways, Rail Bhawan,
New Delhi

Respected Sir,

Sub.: Closure of Railway Printing Presses – Regarding

Ref.: Railway Board’s letter No.2018/RS/Ptg. & Sty./AP/PP/IR dated 04.06.2019

The issue of closure of Railway Printing Presses, being burning one, has been repeatedly deliberated by AIRF at various levels during the last two years. After detailed discussions, including deliberations held in the PNM Meeting of AIRF with the Railway Board on our captioned agenda item(item No.35/2018), it was assured that the following five Railway Printing Presses would not only continue to function, but also be modernized by providing latest printing machinery and plant.

(i) Byculla(CR), (ii) Howrah(ER), (iii) Shakurbasti(NR), (iv) Royapuram(Chennai) and (v) Secunderabad(SCR)

It was also advised to this federation that the workload of those printing presses, other than the above-mentioned five, which are to be closed, would also be transferred to these printing presses. It may also be noted that, Ministry of Railways has spent substantial money with a view to modernize the aforesaid five printing presses as was assured to this federation.

Previously, the undersigned had also discussed this issue with your goodself and you also assured that, five printing presses would be allowed to function with due modernization thereof to cater the requirement of various money value and other items used in the Railways. To our utter surprise, Railway Board had issued above referred to letter, vide which it was communicated to close the remaining five printing presses which were to continue functioning as per assurance given to this federation. You may also appreciate that, the above orders have been issued in total disregard of your personal assurance given to us on the subject. This action of the Railway Board tantamounts to complete breach of negotiated settlement, and it is further regretful that, your personal assurance, to continue five printing presses, quoted above, has also not been honoured. This would definitely result in shaking of trust and credibility of the Railway Administration, as the assurance, given at the MR’s level, is also not honoured in the instant case.

We, therefore, request your goodself to personally look into the matter, so that, the assurance given to AIRF, to continue five printing presses to function, is honoured and implemented.

With Regards,

Yours faithfully

(Shiva Gopal Mishra)
General Secretary

Source : AIRF

Grant of TA / DA and Air Travel permission to Retired Railway Officers

By
igeadmin
-

Grant of TA / DA and Air Travel permission to Retired Railway Officers

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
(RAILWAY BOARD)

No. F(E)I/2019/AL-28/44

New Delhi, dated 23.07.2019

The General Manager,
All Indian Railways / PUs,
(As per standard mailing list).

Sub: Grant of TA / DA and Air Travel permission to Retired Railway Officers to attend Courts for deposition as prosecution witnesses as sanction for prosecution authenticating authority.

The proposal regarding grant of TA / DA and Air Travel permission to retired railway officers to attend Courts for deposition as prosecution witnesses as sanction for prosecution authenticating authority has been considered by Board (MS & FC) and it has been decided that: :

(i) TA / DA to such Retired Railway Officers may be considered in the same lines as applicable to Retired Inquiry Officers (RIOs) as per para 815.1(5) of Indian Railways Vigilance Manual, i.e. in cases where the travel becomes inescapable, and so approved by the Competent Authority, the rate of TA / DA will be the same as applicable to the serving Railway Officers of equivalent rank.

(ii) Grant of Air Travel permission to Retired Railway Officers may be dealt with on case to case basis as is being done presently considering distance, place of journey, modes of travel available, time taken and number of days involved. Competent Authority may consider eligibility same as applicable to the serving Railway Officers of equivalent rank.

While deciding Air Travel, the aspect that whether journey can be performed by overnight train would need to be seen as being done for serving officers and as is also applicable on civil side. On Air Travel issue, CRB had decided that need of the journey by Air and urgency that necessitate it should be seen. For example; while Delhi-Bangalore-Delhi would qualify for Air Travel, Delhi-Mumbai-Delhi can easily be covered by train comfortably.

This will also be subject to the other Terms & Conditions / instructions issued from time to time by Ministry of Finance / Board’s Office on ‘Air travel’.

(Jitendra Kumar)
Dy.Director Finance Estt-I
Railway Board

Signed Copy

Revised pay limits for entitlement of Passes/PTOs

By
igeadmin
-

7th CPC Revised pay limits for entitlement of Passes/PTOs

RBE No.No. 120/2019
ADVANCE CORRECTION SLIP No. 81

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
(RAILWAY BOARD)

No.E(W)2016/PSS- 1/8

New Delhi, dated 26.07.2019

The General Managers (P)
All Zonal Railways &
Production Units.

Sub: Revised pay limits for entitlement of Passes/PTOs.

Consequent to implementation of 7th Central Pay Commission’s recommendations and notification of Railway Services (Revised Pay) Rules, 2016, the “Grade Pay” component has been dispensed with and “Pay Level in Pay Matrix” (PLPM) has been introduced in the pay structure of railway servants. Hence, switching over to 7th CPC based PLPM to determine pay limits for entitlement of Passes/PTOs has been under consideration.

2. The Competent Authority has now accorded his approval for amending the extant provisions of Railway Servants (Pass) Rules-1986 (Second Edition-1993) (RSPR-1986) to switch over to “Status (i.e. Gazetted/Non-gazetted) cum PLPM” basis to determine the entitlement of Passes/PTOs, as indicated in the enclosed Advance Correction Slip No.81.

3. The extant provisions of RSPR-1986 and other administrative instructions issued from time to time shall continue to apply in all other respects.

4. If a railway servant, who is presently entitled to First Class Pass becomes ineligible to First Class Pass on the basis of revised criteria, the First Class Pass may be allowed as personal to the employee.

5. This issues with the concurrence of the Finance Directorate of the Ministry of Railways.

(V. Muralidharan)
Dy. Director Estt.(Welfare)-I
Railway Board

Signed Copy

 

Rationalisation of working hours of Branch Post Offices

By
igeadmin
-

Implementation of recommendation of GDS Committee on rationalisation of working hours of Branch Post Offices

No.17-31/2016-GDS
Government of India
Ministry of Communications
Department of Posts
GDS Section

Dak Bhawan, Sansad Marg,
New Delhi-110 001
Dated: 29.07.2019

To
All Chief Postmasters General

Subject : Implementation of recommendation of GDS Committee on rationalisation of working hours of Branch Post Offices.

The undersigned is directed to refer to the recommendation at para 10.29 of GDS Committee report and this office O M No. 17-3112016-GDS dated 25.06.2018 regarding implementation of recommendation of One Man Committee on wages and allowances of GDS,-

(i) As per Para 2.1 of Department of Post O.M. No. 17-31/2016-GDS dated 25.06.2018 the working hours of all GDS (BPM/ABPM) have been revised to 4 and 5 hours depending upon the TRCA slab. Hence, the working hours of all Branch Post Offices is to be revised to minimum 4 hours and maximum to 5 hours.

(ii) Further, all GDS Branch Post Offices should remain open and conduct business for 4 Hours and 5 Hours, as per the TRCA slab of the BPM.

(iii) All Heads of Circles are therefore requested to ensure that working hours of all the BOs have been revised suitably and send a compliance report to the Directorate on or before 30.08.2019.

(SB Vyavahare)
Assistant Director General (GDS/PCC)

Signed Copy

Corporatisation of Indian Ordnance Factories – Indefinite Strike

By
igeadmin
-

Joint letter to Defence Minister regarding Indefinite Strike

ALL INDIA DEFENCE EMPLOYEES’ FEDERATION
INDIAN NATIONAL DEFENCE WORKERS FEDERATION
BHARTIYA PRATIRAKSHA MAZDOOR SANGH
(RECOGNIZED FEDERATIONS OF DEFENCE CIVILIAN EMPLOYEES)

Ref. No. 07/AIDEF/INDWF/BPMS/19

Date : 26.07.2019

To,

Shri. Rajnath Singhji
Hon’ble Defence Minister
Government of India,
South Block, New Delhi – 110 001.

Subject : Serious discontentment prevailing amongst Defence Civilian Employees and their families against the proposed decision of the Government to Corporatize the Ordnance Factories in violation of the previous assurances / agreements with the recognized Federations.

Reference : 1) Joint representation of the 3 Federations dated 13.07.2019 addressed to the Hon’ble RM.
2) Joint notice of agitation of the 3 Federations dated 16.07.2019 addressed to the Defence Secretary.
3) Joint Letter of the 3 Federations dated 20.07.2019 informing the Hon’ble RM about the decision for Indefinite Strike.

Respected Sir,

Your kind attention is invited to the above mentioned correspondence of the three Federations on our protest against corporatization of Ordnance Factories. It is most unfortunate that we have not received any response from the Government on the subject matter and it is now understood that the Cabinet Note for corporatizing the Ordnance Factories with your approval have already gone to the PMO / Cabinet Secretariat. If it is a fact then it is a clear violation of the assurances given to the Federations and the agreement reached in the past on different occasions when the proposal of converting the Ordnance Factories into a Corporation / PSU was considered by the Government based on the recommendations of Nair Committee, Kelkar Committee and Raman Puri Committee etc. The details of the assurances given by the Government in the past to the three Federations that Ordnance Factories would not be corporatized is given below for your kind information :-

1) In a meeting held with the Defence Secretary on 19.04.2002 the following written assurance were given to the three Federations.

“10) Regarding Government’s policy on private participation in Defence Production, corporatization of the Ordnance Factories, downsizing of the Government Machinery, Defence Secretary clarified that the reports of the Nair Committee on Corporatization and Jafa Committee on reorganization of DGQA and MES had been received. The recommendations contained therein were to be studied and before any decision was taken, the issues would be discussed with the Staff Side.”

2) In the meeting held on 22.04.2002 with the three Federations chaired by the then Defence Minister late Shri. George Fernandes to discuss about the demands given in the Strike Notice the Hon’ble RM has given the following written assurance.

“i) There was no proposal for privatization / corporatization of the Ordnance Factories or any other Defence Establishment at present. In fact, the Government would encourage growth of Ordnance Factories.”

3) In another meeting held on 18.09.2006 with the three Federations chaired by the then Hon’ble RM Shri. Pranab Mukherjee to discuss the recommendations of “Kelkar Committee Report” on establishing RURs and corporatization of Ordnance Factories, the Hon’ble RM gave the following written assurance.

“2) At the outset, Hon’ble RM welcomed all the participants. He observed that the Federations have expressed certain concerns and apprehensions regarding two recommendations contained in Kelkar Committee Report. One of the recommendations is that Ordnance Factories should be corporatized. Hon’ble RM stated that the Government has not decided to corporatize Ordnance Factories and that there is no intention to implement this recommendation. Thus there is no cause of action for the Federations to begin an agitation on this issue.”

4) In another meeting held under the Chairmanship of Secretary (DP) on 31.08.2006 with the three Federations the Secretary (DP) has given the following written assurance.

“2) Secretary (DP) stated that except recommendation relating to corporatization of Ordnance Factories, no other recommendations of the Kelkar Committee affected the OFB. He informed the representatives of the Federations that no decision has been taken on the recommendation relating to corporatization of Ordnance Factories and assured them that all stake-holders including the Federations would be consulted by the Government before taking a decision on this issue.”

5) In the meeting held with the three Federations on 26th June, 2007 under the Chairmanship of the then Defence Minister Shri. A.K.Antony the following assurance were given in writing.

“2) RM further observed that as the Federations were opposed to corporatization of OFs, his predecessor had categorically assured them that there was no intention to implement the recommendation of the Kelkar Committee relating to corporatization of Ordnance Factories. He said that the present policy is the same.”

6) In a DO Letter dated 18th June, 2007 the then Defence Minister Shri. A.K.Antony has given the following assurance to the General Secretary of AIDEF.

“ As already assured, the Government does not, at present, intend to corporatize the Ordnance Factories. We do not intend to breach the agreement between the Ministry of Defence and its employees by indirectly converting the Ordnance Factories into a corporation module, as apprehended.

However, to strengthen the OFB, further a monitoring mechanism is proposed to be put in place where by the health of the Ordnance Factory Board can be monitored periodically with reference to clearly defined parameters like customer satisfaction, quality, capacity utilization, e-procurement / application (which is a mandate of CVC & MOF) & inventory Management.”

7) In the meeting of the Standing Committee of the National Council (JCM) held under the Chairmanship of Secretary / DOP&T the following decision was taken with regard the recommendations of Kelkar Committee to corporatize the Ordnance Factories.

“6 (iv) to take final decision on the Kelkar Committee Recommendations of the Ministry of Defence after consultations were made with the Staff Side.”

8) Subsequent to our meeting with the then Hon’ble Defence Minister Shri. Manohar Parrikar on 12.01.2015 wherein he has assured that there is no proposal to corporatize the Ordnance Factories and thereafter to our representation addressed to him dated 07.02.2015 the Ministry of Defence vide its Letter dated 15th April, 2015 have responded that at present there is no proposal to corporatize the Ordnance Factories.

9) To an Unstarred Question No. 833 raised in the Rajya Sabha by the then Member of Parliament Shri. Tapan Kumar Sen the then Minister of State for Defence has given the following reply.

“RAJYA SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 833
TO BE ANSWERED ON 03.03.2015
CORPORATIZATION OF ORDNANCE FACTORY BOARD 8.33 SHRI. TAPAN KUMAR SEN

Will the Minister of DEFENCE be pleased to state :

(a) whether Government is considering any proposal to convert the Ordnance Factory Board, a Department Organization under Ministry of Defence consisting of 41 Ordnance Factories into a Corporation, if so, the details thereof;

(b) whether all the stake-holders including the Federations of Defence Civilian Employees are taken into confidence; and

(c) whether, in the past, assurances were given by Government to the Employees Federations that Ordnance Factories would not be converted into a Corporation ?

ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF DEFENCE
(RAO INDERJIT SINGH)

(a) No, sir, There is no proposal at present to corporatize the Ordnance Factories
(b) Does not arise.
(c) Yes, Sir.

Therefore, in the Parliament also the Government has stated that in the past assurances were given by Government to the employees Federations that Ordnance Factories would not be converted into a Corporation.

Violation of assurances and breach of trust

1) On 10.07.2019 the Cabinet Secretary have issued a DO Letter to Secretary (DP) in which it has been stated that based on the recommendations of the Sectoral Group of Secretaries and further consideration by the Group of Ministers (GoM), it has been decided to implement 167 transformative ideas as the 100 days programme of the Government. So far as DDP is concerned the following two transformative ideas have been given for implementation in 100 days.

i) Corporatization of Ordnance Factories.
ii) Defence Testing Infrastructure Scheme (DTIS)

Accordingly, the Secretary (DP) has directed the concerned Joint Secretaries to prepare the Cabinet Note by 15.07.2019. Secretary (DP) in turn has directed the Joint Secretaries under him to prepare the Cabinet Note for corporatizing the Ordnance Factories.

2) Chairman / OFB was called to MoD on 18.07.2019 and in a meeting held in the presence of Defence Secretary, Secretary (DP) and Secretary (Finance) and Hon’ble Defence Minister the issue of corporatization of Ordnance Factories was discussed and the Hon’ble RM has given the go ahead for finalizing the Cabinet Note for corporatizing the Ordnance Factories. Accordingly, it is now understood the Cabinet Note has been prepared and it has been forwarded to different Ministries for inter-ministerial consultation before forwarding the Cabinet Note to PMO / Cabinet Secretariat.

The above act on the part of MoD is a clear violation of the repeated assurances given by the Ministry of Defence to the three Federations in writing and also the assurance given in the Parliament. The Ministry of Defence have violated its own assurances “that all stake-holders including the Federations would be consulted by the Government before taking a decision on this issue”

Why the Federations oppose corporatization of Ordnance Factories ?

1) For the past 218 years the Ordnance Factories have been kept as a Departmental Organization due to the reason that considering the special nature of Defence Industry like volatility, non uniform demand from Armed Forces and Para Military Forces, uneconomic quantities to be produced to meet strategic needs etc. which a public sector / corporation will not be able to manage.

2) OFB are the forth force of the Defence of our Country and to be treated as “War Reserve” at par with the Armed Forces to maintain idle capacities to take care of surge demand in emergent war situation.

3) In a purely commercial term, maintaining idle capacity would be detrimental to the business interest of the Corporation / PSU. Therefore, Ordnance Factories should continue as a Departmental Organization.

4) Converting the Ordnance Factories into a PSU / Corporation is not a commercially viable option due to :

i) Fluctuations in Orders.
ii) Orders after Long Gap.
iii) Uneconomical Order Quantity.
iv) Life Cycle support required for 30-40 Years after introduction of equipment.

5) Risk to national security in case of growth of private players in the event of possible failure of the proposed OFB Corporation resulting in disinvestment, closure etc.

6) The so called private vendors are not able to supply even raw materials, spares and components in time to the Ordnance Factories, which affects the timely manufacturing of the allotted workload. Therefore, their ability to supply to the Armed Forces after the Ordnance Factories Corporation becomes sick due to withdrawal of placement of indent through nomination system.

7) The experience of BSNL even though it is a revenue earning service PSU which is struggling even to disburse the monthly salaries to their own employees, what will be the fate of the Ordnance Factories which totally depends on the orders from the Armed Forces and the Government.

8) Market principles cannot be applied in the case of Ordnance Factories since the Defence Industry represents a genuine domain based on Government Orders as to what to produce, what resource to use, what price to charge and even to whom to sell and to whom not to sell.

9) Interference and expectations from Political / Bureaucracy would increase.

10) The experience for the past two decades is corporatization / PSU is a route to privatization against the service conditions of the employees who are basically recruited as Central Government Employees / Defence Civilian Employees.

Why OFB should continue in the present structure with more empowerment ?

1) OFB has played a major role in achieving self reliance in Defence. With regard to import dependency, OFBs performance is far better when compared to the Defence PSUs. The following figures will prove the same.

Company Import Depedency of Sales (%)
HAL 46
BEL 30
BDL 15
BEML 17
MDL 96
GRSE 5
GSL 45
HSL 27
OFB 11

2) OFB has always stood by the Indian Armed Forces during its times of need in all the wars the Country has faced after Independence. For the contribution of OFB during the Kargil crisis, OFB was appreciated by the then President of India in the Parliament, the then Chief of Army Staff and Parliamentary Standing Committee. Since, OFB was having spare capacity it stretched its capacity in manufacturing all the critical items required for the Indian Army. The former Chief of Army Staff General V.P.Malik has stated the following in his foreword to “Arming the Indian Arsenal” “Indian Ordnance Factories, which could produce ammunition and some equipment for which they had the necessary technology, rose to the occasion. But we faced considerable problems in procuring items that had to be imported at short notice”.

3) The then MGO while deposing before the Nair Committee in December, 2000 has stated the following :-

“I congratulate OFs for their commendable performance during and after the Kargil crisis. Supplies from overseas suppliers are unreliable during operations and OFs are the backbone of the efficiency of the Indian Armed Forces”. In August, 2000, DCOAS (P&S) stated : “Existence of OFB is essential for Defence preparedness”. Thus, existence and growth of OFB is needed for ensuring Defence preparedness.

4) After the Kargil crisis the CAG Report stated that out of 129 contracts worth Rs. 2175.40 crore placed on other than Government Industries only 81% suppliers could materialize and that to 6 months after the Kargil War.

5) Ordnance Factories at present is having the following strength :-

i) Multi Technology / discipline infrastructure.
ii) Highly trained and skilled manpower.
iii) Leader in land systems.
iv) Stretch during war times.
v) Ability to restart production lines even after long gaps.
vi) Supporting Operational capability of Army by supply of large number of spares to increase the life time of the equipments.
vii) Overhauling capacity for major platforms like Tanks.
viii) Unique facility for manufacturing Strategic Battle Dress, Artillery Guns, Ammunition, Vehicles, Small Arms, Armored Vehicles, Parachutes, Tents and Optical Instruments etc.
ix) Training thousands of unemployed youths as Apprentices as part of the “Skill India” Mission.
x) Fulfilling the requirements of Para Military Forces and State Police Forces.
xi) Steps taken recently to strengthen in house R&D, resulting in successful launch of new products including Bullet Proof vest and Jackets.
xii) Already started large scale export.
xiii) All Factories are ISO 9000 Certified and all Labs are NABL accredited.
xiv) Supporting and encouraging Ancillary Industries / MSME’s etc.
xv) Welfare practices as a modal employer with Integrated Residential Colonies, Schools and Hospitals.
xvi) Some Factories are located in remote localities and they are playing a crucial role to the local development.
xvii) An Organization with more than 200 years experience in taking care of all the requirements of Army.

6) In view of the facts mentioned above as agreed by the Ministry of Defence in the Strike negotiations held on 17.12.2018 and 11.01.2019 with the three Federations the salary expenditure of the Ordnance Factories may be separately allotted so that it need not be added to the cost of the products manufactured in the Ordnance Factories and the Army will be able to purchase its requirement from the Ordnance Factories in an affordable price.

7) It is also pertinent to mention here the OFB of its own has developed many new / modern equipments required for the Armed Forces which includes Dhanush Gun, Assault Rifles, Bullet Proof Vest and Jackets and many other items.

APPEAL TO THE HON’BLE RM

We appeal to your honour considering all the above aspects and also the fact that the future life of more than 82000 employees and their family members will be ruined in case Ordnance Factories become a Corporation / PSU. Out of the 82000 employees more than 44000 are recruited after 01.01.2004 and at the age group of 25 to 40 years. They have all joined the Ordnance Factories with lot of aspiration and expectations. Their Pension right is already taken away since they are governed under the no guarantee NPS Pension Scheme. They have planned their life requirement based on the present income which they are getting as wages from the Ordnance Factories. All these will be completely disturbed and destroyed for no fault of theirs. All of them including the young talented Officers and Workers are worried about their future which has now become uncertain. Therefore, in the interest of national security and achieving self reliance in Defence the decision of corporatization of OFB may be withdrawn.

CONCLUSION

In view of all the above justifications given by us, the three Federations unanimously have come to the conclusion that corporatization of OFB is not going to help either the Armed Forces or the employees and hence to outright reject the same and we propose that the Ordnance Factories should continue to remain in its present structure and if the Government wants further improvement in the functioning of the Ordnance Factories we are open for a discussion and a negotiated settlement in this regard.

We are confident that the Hon’ble RM will appreciate the concern expressed by us and do the needful by withdrawing the proposed decision of corporatizing the Ordnance Factories.

It is also pertinent to mention here that considering the un helpful nature of the Government so far on the subject matter the three Federations have now decided to observe one month (30 days) 20/08/2019 to 19/09/2019 strike by the employees of Ordnance Factories and DGQA Units attached with Ordnance Factories demanding to withdraw the decision of the Government to Corporatize the Ordnance Factories

Awaiting for your earlier and favourable response please.

Yours Sincerely,

(C. SRIKUMAR)
GENERAL SECRETARY
AIDEF
09444080885
[email protected]

(R. SRINIVASAN)
GENERAL SECRETARY
INDWF
09444125799
[email protected]

(MUKESH SINGH)
GENERAL SECRETARY
BPMS
09335621629
[email protected]

Source : BPMS

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