Confederation Of Central Government Employees And Workers Karnataka State
C/o Civil Audit & Accounts Association
Principal Accountant Generals Office A&E
Park House Road, Bangalore, Karnataka 560001
website http://karnatakacoc.blogspot.in/
Ref : COC/Karnataka-2017-189
Date:14/3/2017
To
The Editor
Sub: All India Central Government Employees Strike on 16/3/2017
Sir,
The Central Government employees working in following departments such as Postal, Income Tax, RMS, CGWB, AG’s, Postal Accounts, Civil Accounts, Survey of India , Census etc. Are participating in the one day All India Central Government Employees Strike on 16/3/2017 in respect of 21 charter of demands , the main demands are as follows. The strike shall be held in all Central Government offices of the Karnataka State.
CHARTER OF STRIKE DEMANDS
1) Revision of minimum wage from Rs 18000/ to Rs 26000/- for Central Government employees.
2) Revision of fitment formula from 2.57 to 3.60 ie wage hike provided by the 7th CPC shall be hiked from present 14% to 50%.
3) Revision of house rent allowances and restoration of old HRA rates and restoration of all allowances with effect from 1/1/2016.
4) Scrap PFRDA Act and New Pension System (NPS) and grant Pension/Family Pension to all Central Government employees under CCS (Pension) Rules 1972.
5) No privatization, outsourcing, contractorisation of Government functions.
6) Treat Gramin Dak Sevaks as Civil Servants and extend all benefits on pay, pension and allowances of departmental employees. Implement GDS committee report.
7) Regularize casual, contract, contingent and daily rated workers and grant equal pay and other benefits as per Supreme Court orders.
8) Fill up all vacant posts by special recruitment. Lift ban on creation of new posts.
It’s requested to publish the same in your esteemed news paper for publication.
Recruitment rallies are conducted in different parts of the country to provide opportunity to youth from these areas to join the Armed Forces. Recruitment in the Armed Forces is a continuous process. Efforts are made to cover entire country including remote, border, tribal and hilly areas.
Presently there is no proposal to open any new recruitment centre.
For recruitment in Army, certain relaxations in physical and educational standards are available for candidates of tribal / hilly and other backward areas. In the case of Navy and Air Force, there is no provision for relaxation in educational standards. However, some relaxation in height is given to candidates from certain areas.
This information was given by Minister of State for Defence Dr. Subhash Bhamre in a written reply to Shrimati Kamla Devi Paatle and Shri Harinarayan Rajbhar in Lok Sabha today.
Status of revision & payment of arrears to Defence Forces Retired Personnel as per 7th CPC
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF DEFENCE LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO:1774
ANSWERED ON: 10.03.2017
Implementation of Seventh Pay Commission Report
ARVIND GANPAT SAWANT
Will the Minister of DEFENCE be pleased to state:-
(a) whether there has been delay in the implementation of the recommendations made in the Seventh Pay Commission report for Defence forces personnel;
(b) if so, the reasons therefor; and
(c) the present status of revision and payment of arrears of retired personnel of defence forces as per the implementation of the recommendations made in the Seventh Pay Commission report?
ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE (DR. SUBHASH BHAMRE) IN THE MINISTRY OF DEFENCE
(a) & (b): The following steps have been taken to implement the recommendations of 7th Pay Commission Report in respect of Armed Forces personnel:
(i) Issue of Resolution dated 25th July 2016 by Ministry of Finance.
(ii) Issue of Resolution dated 5th September 2016 by Ministry of Defence.
(iii) Issue of orders dated 10th October, 2016 by Ministry of Defence for payment of ad-hoc arrears equal to 10% Basic Pay and Dearness Allowance.
(c) The order for revision of pension to ex-servicemen pursuant to the recommendations of 7th Pay Commission Report was issued on 29th October, 2016. As per information available in respect of pre-2016 pensioners, 24 public sector banks have revised pension of 18,99,697 pensioners and have paid Rs.5883.27 crore (approx) on account of arrears of pension / family pension.
Government yet to receive 7th CPC Allowances Report from the Committee
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF FINANCE
Department of Expenditure
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO: 1778
ANSWERED ON: 10.03.2017
Committee on Allowances of Seventh Central Pay Commission
SULTAN AHMED
DUSHYANT CHAUTALA
Will the Minister of
FINANCE be pleased to state:-
(a) whether the Government has set up a Committee to examine the various allowances in the light of recommendation made by the Seventh Central Pay Commission;
(b) if so, the details and terms of reference thereof;
(c) whether the said Committee on allowances has submitted its report to the Government, if so, the recommendations made by the Committee along with the follow-up action taken by the Government thereon;
(d) if not, the reasons therefor and the time by which the said report is likely to be submitted; and
(e) whether the Government proposes to give arrear of House Rent Allowance and other allowances with effect from the month of notification of implementation of Seventh Central Pay Commission, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE (SHRI ARJUN RAM MEGHWAL)
(a) & (b): Yes. The Committee on Allowances has been constituted vide order dated 22.07.2016. The Committee is to examine the recommendations of the 7th CPC in regard to various allowances having regard to the representations made by the Staff Associations and the suggestions of the concerned Ministries/Departments and make recommendations as to whether any changes in the recommendations of the 7th CPC are warranted and if so, in what form.
(c) to (e): The Committee has not submitted its report to the Government. The deliberations of the Committee are in the final stages. Decisions on implementing the Report will be taken after the Report is submitted by the Committee
Parliament passes bill to raise maternity leave to 26 weeks
Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016 passed in the Parliament
The Bill seeks to increase maternity leave available to working women from the current 12 weeks to 26 weeks for the first two children
The Lok Sabha has passed the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016 today. The Bill had already been passed by the Rajya Sabha during the Winter Session. With this, the Bill stands passed in the Parliament.
The Bill seeks to amend the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 to provide for the following:-
(i) Maternity leave available to the working women to be increased from 12 weeks to 26 weeks for the first two children.
(ii) Maternity leave for children beyond the first two will continue to be 12 weeks.
(iii) Maternity leave of 12 weeks to be available to mothers adopting a child below the age of three months as well as to the “commissioning mothers”. The commissioning mother has been defined as biological mother who uses her egg to create an embryo planted in any other woman.
(iv) Every establishment with more than 50 employees to provide for crèche facilities for working mothers and such mothers will be permitted to make four visits during working hours to look after and feed the child in the crèche.
(v) The employer may permit a woman to work from home if it is possible to do so.
(vi) Every establishment will be required to make these benefits available to the women from the time of her appointment.
The Minister of Women and Child Development, Smt. Maneka Gandhi thanked the Minister for Labour and Employment, Shri Bandaru Dattatreya for taking up the demand of lakhs of women across the country and for having steered the Bill through Rajya Sabha as well as the Lok Sabha. In her message to the working women, Smt. Gandhi congratulated the women who are planning to have a child and has stated that the Ministry of Women and Child Development will continue to work for the empowerment of women.
The amendments in the Bill were taken up following the request by the WCD Minister to the Hon’ble Labour Minister to bring about these changes so that a working woman gets time to exclusively breast-feed her child for 6 months after the birth. This period also enables the working mother to recuperate herself before she goes to back to work. In her communication to the Labour Ministry, the WCD Minister had also highlighted the concerns of commissioning and adopting mothers who also require maternity leave.
With a view to facilitate transfer from recognised provident funds to the National Pension System (NPS), Clause (iv) in Rule 8 of Part A of the Fourth Schedule to the Income Tax Act has been inserted through the Finance Act 2016 so as to provide exemption from taxation to one time portability from a recognised provident fund to the NPS. Further, a sub clause (v) to section 10(13) of Income Tax act has been inserted so as to provide for the exemption from tax to any payment from an approved superannuation fund by way of transfer to the account of the employee under NPS referred to in section 80CCD and notified by the Central government. With introduction of this provision in the said clause, transfer of funds of an assesse employee from his existing superannuation fund to a pension account under National Pension System (NPS), is not liable to be treated as income of such assesse for the said Assessment Year.
Accordingly, in case the subscriber is interested to get his recognised provident fund/superannuation fund transferred to NPS, he may follow the below mentioned process:
1. The subscriber should have an active NPS Tier I account which can be opened either through the employer (where NPS is implemented) by filling up the prescribed subscriber registration form or through the Points-of-Presence(POPs) (Banks/non-banks entities registered as POPs with PFRDA) or online through eNPS on the NPS Trust website www.nrstrust.org.in
2. The subscriber presently under Govt./Private Sector employment is required to approach the recognised provident fund/Superannuation Fund Trust through the current employer by giving request for transfer of his recognised provident fund / superannuation fund to his NPS account.
3. The Recognised Provident fund/Superannuation Fund Trust may initiate transfer of the Fund as per the provisions of the Trust Deed read with the provisions of the Income Tax Act, 1961.
4. The Recognised Provident fund/Superannuation Fund may issue the cheque/draft in the name of :
In Case of Govt. employee: Nodal Office Name (PAO or CDDO Name)<> Employee Name<> PRAN (12 Digit No.)
5. In case of Subscriber presently under Private Sector including All Citizen Model: POP (Name of the POP) Collection Account-NPS Trust<>Subscriber Name<>PRAN (12 Digit No.)
6. In case of Government Employee, the employee should request the recognised provident fund/ Superannuation Fund to issue a letter to his present employer mentioning that the amount is being transferred from the recognised provident fund/ superannuation fund to be credited in the NPS Tier I account of the employee.
7. The Present employer/POP i.e. nodal office shall while uploading the fund may mention the transfer from recognised provident fund/ superannuation fund in the remarks column while uploading it through Arrears mode. The upload may be made as per the request letter of the ex-employer.
8. In case of Private Sector employee including subscriber covered under All Citizen model, the employee should request the recognised provident fund/ Superannuation Fund to issue a letter to his present employer/POP as the case may be mentioning that amount is being transferred from the recognised provident fund/ superannuation fund to be credited in the NPS account of the employee/individual Tier I account.
9. The POP will get the amount collected and the same may be uploaded by the POP in the NPS account of the subscriber.
It may be noted that as per the provisions of the Income Tax Act, 1961 the amount so transferred from recognised provident fund/Superannuation Fund to NPS is not treated as income of the current year and hence not taxable. Further, the transferred recognised provident fund/superannuation fund will not be treated as contribution of the current year by employee/employer and accordingly the subscriber would not make IT claim of contribution for this transferred amount.
Dearness Relief to CPF beneficiaries in receipt of ex-gratia payment w.e.f. 01.01.2016.
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF RAIWLAYS
(Railway Board)
S.No.PC-VI/375
No.PC-VI/2009/A/DR/1
RBE No.16/2017
New Delhi, datd 28.02.2017
The General Managers/CAO(R)
All Indian Railways & PUs
(As per standard mailing list)
Sub: Grant of Dearness Relief to CPF beneficiaries in receipt of ex-gratia payment w.e.f. 01.01.2016.
A copy of office Memorandum No.42/06/2016-P&PW(G), dated 03.05.2016, of Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions (Department of Pension & Pensioners’ welfare) on the above subject is sent herewith for your information and necessary action.
2. In Pursuance of the enhanced rates of ex-gratia to the surviving SRPF(C) retirees issued vide Board’s letter No.F(E)III/98/PN1/Ex-Gr./3 dated 15.11.2006, para 1(i) of DoP&PW’s O.M. dated 03.05.2016 may be read as under:-
‘The surviving Group A,B,C and D SRPF (contributory) beneficiaries who had retired from service during the period from 01.04.1957 to 31.12.1985 and have been sanctioned enhanced slab-wise ex-gratia @ Rs.3000/-, Rs.1000/-, Rs.650/- per month respectively w.e.f 01.11.2006, in lieu of uniform rate of Rs.600/- p.m are entitled to Dearness Relief Rs.245% w.e.f. 01.01.2016.”
3. A concordance of various instructions and orders referred to in the enclosed office memorandum with reference to corresponding Railway instructions is indicated below:-
S.No
Para No, and Date of OM
No and date of Deptt. of Pension & Pensioners’ welfare’s 0.M.
No. & date of Corresponding orders issued by Railway Board.
1
Para-1 of OM dt,03.05.2016
OM No.42/10/2014-P&PW (G) dated 28.10.2015
PC-V/2009/A/DR/1 dated 13.05.2016
2
Para-1 of OM dt.03.05.2016
OM No.45/52/97-P&PW (G) dated 16.12.97
F(E)III/97/PN1/EX-Gr/3 dated 31.12.1997
4. This issues with the concurrence of the Finance Directorate of the Ministry of Railways.
Last date of submission of Digital Life Certificate through Jeevan Pramaan Patra extended upto 31st March 2017
EPF & MP Act, 1952 made applicable to all staff employed in ECHS on contractual basis
A single page composite claim form in death cases replaces Form 20, form 5-IF and Form 10-D
Noticing that many pensioners are yet to submit Aadhaar authenticated Jeevan Pramaan as life certificate for continuation of drawal of pension, the EPFO has further extended the last date of submission of Digital Life Certificate through Jeevan Pramaan Patra upto 31st March 2017. Earlier the last date was 28th February 2017.
Members and pensioners of the Employees’ Pension Scheme, 1995 are required to furnish Aadhaar number by 31st March 2017. In case a member has not been allotted Aadhaar Number, a copy of Aadhaar Enrolment ID slip is required to be attached for settlement of claim under EPS, 1995, namely for pension processing and monthly pension payments. Aadhaar number however is not required in case a member of pension scheme having less than 10 years of service chooses to withdraw by making an application in Form 10-C.
An Employee Enrolment Campaign-2017, started by EPFO on January 1st 2017 to cover left out workers, continues upto 31st March 2017. Under the scheme:-
· The employee’s share of contributions if not deducted by the employer is waived.
· Nominal damages to be paid by the employer, in respect of the employees for whom declaration has been made under this campaign, is at the rate of Rupee One per annum.
· Administrative charges have been waived.
Even though the EPF & MP Act, 1952 does not differentiate between casual, contractual and regular employees, it was noted that a large number of contractual employees hired by principal employer including those by the government departments, PSU and autonomous Organizations have remained out of coverage under EPFO. It is the duty of the principal employer to ensure compliance of their outsourced / regular / contract / casual / daily wager to the schemes under EPF Act.
To ensure coverage of workers, principal employers have been advised to ensure that their contractors are registered with EPFO before award of any contract or making any payments. EPFO provides relevant information in this regard to principal employers online.
A health care scheme called ECHS was formulated by Ministry of Defence for its ex-servicemen. The contractual workers of ECHS till now were deprived of the social security benefits under EPFO. The ECHS now has been brought under the ambit of the EPF Act. Ministry of Defence has issued necessary directions to the ECHS for enrolling their contractual staff. Similarly, all eligible workers engaged by contractors working with Military Engineering Services (MES) and Indian Railways have also being requested to ensure coverage of contractual employees under EPFO.
Towards continuous strive to bring increased conveniences and efficiency, a single page Composite Claim Form (Aadhar) replaces Forms No. 19 (UAN), 10C (UAN) & 31(UAN) for subscribers seeding their Aadhar number with UAN. This can be submitted without the attestation of employers. For subscribers who are yet to seed Aadhaar and Bank details with their UAN, a new Composite Claim Form (Non-Aadhar) replaces the existing Forms No. 19, 10C & 31.
In addition, a Composite Claim Form in death cases replaces the existing Forms No, 20, 5-IF and 10-D. The claimants can apply for claim of Provident Fund, Insurance Fund and monthly pension through this single page composite claim form in case of death of a member.
International Womens Day Greetings from Confederation Women’s Committee
MARCH 8th – INTERNATIONAL WOMENS DAY
Dear comrades,
Its my pleasure to greet you all on International Womens Day.
Today is an occasion to mark, to observe, to acknowledge, to appreciate and to salute the wonderful roles that women play in making this world a habitable, liveable, lovable place of living. We see women as scientists, politicians, doctors, software engineers, advocates, financial analysts; in media, fashion, entertainment, tax administration, police, sports, business management, industry. In every field, we have stellar examples of women achievers.
This is not an easy journey to start, or to continue.
As a tiny fledgling bundle of joy, eager to emerge into this world from the mother’s womb, girl children in many households still suffer from the existential threat of female foeticide or infanticide. It’s not a coincidence that there are only 940 females in India for 1000 males (2011 census). As she grows up, quite often, not only in rural areas but in urban too, girl children are deprived of education. Unrelenting education campaigns are yet to weed out the stigma in many households about educating girls. Even if the stigma is dispensed with, if there is a boy child and a girl child in a family that can educate only one of them, boy is sent to school. In lower economic strata, girls are looked upon as home keepers, and domestic help supplements, or petty employable commodities, for petty wages, even from their childhood. They are subjected to abuse and violence. Even in upper economic strata, in homes, in societies, in media, in films, girls are victims of wrong stereotypes.
In spite of such deprivations, disadvantages and discriminations, it’s amazing that girl children, from all kinds of economic strata, braving many odds, have grown into achievers, in different fields, trailing a blaze of success.
President of Intel India, IBM India; Chairmen/CEOs/ MDs of SBI, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, Cap Gemini, Britannia Industries, Wockhardt Hospitals, Lupin, National Stock Exchange, CRISIL, LIC; Country Heads of Morgan Stanley India, Facebook India, Hewlett Packard India, Diageo, Bank Of America Meryll Lynch, Accenture India are all women. Women scientists played a major role in the historic ISRO’s 104 satellite launch. Our sportsmen who saved the blushes in Olympics are sportswomen – PV Sindhu, Sakshi Malik, Dipa Karmakar. 19 women got Padmasri’s last year. Women have arrived to claim their rightful share of achievement. We need to celebrate their achievements. Project them. Make them icons of inspiration, for generations to derive energy from.
At the same time, we should be aware about the vast sea of women who are still shackled to the pathos of poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, lack of opportunities for a sustainable livelihood.
I saw a picture in a newspaper – a village bus stand – two grown up daughters along with their father / mother, about to board a bus. Father was a farmer or a wage earner, who lost his livelihood. They are migrating to city, in search of livelihood. The picture haunts me – I wonder – what happened to that family, those girls – in a city which is new to them, a city where they have to find a place to live, find work, with no resources to bank upon. What if they couldn’t? This is not the story of the girls in the picture alone, this is the story of thousands of girls from families ravaged by poverty, loss of livelihood; cornered, uprooted and thrown into an unknown arena of exploitation. As I think more and more about it, it makes me agitated more and more, to fight for the safeguards that women should be guaranteed – the most important being the right to education. Women should be enabled with education, with skills – with employable skills -at various ages and stages of life, so that they are endowed with the skill-set to earn decent livelihood. To save themselves from exploitation.
The task doesn’t stop there. Once women gain employment, they should be endowed with right to equality, right against discrimination in workplace. Women should be assured dignity of labour, equal wages, beneficial facilities and additional safeguards which compensate for their lack of level playing field. These safeguards and benefits should be made statutory, institutionalised, and implemented thoroughly. Because these are the safeguards that we have achieved through ages of fighting. We should make relentless fight for safegaurds that we are yet to achieve. We should be very vigilant. Because there will always be attempts to mock, sneer, and trample on the safeguards and the genuine benefits that we rightfully deserve.
In this context, I am reminded about an interview given by Anima Patil Sabale, a scientist – astronaut select, working at Intelligent Systems Division at NASA Ames Research Centre. She said : I wake up at 4 am everyday, cook lunch, pack lunches for everyone, lay out breakfast and clothes for the boys and then come to work. After I leave work, I travel for an hour to get home. My boys come home from school then I can help them with their homework, do the dishes and start cooking.
This is the story of everyone of us. Whether we are an astronaut in NASA or a scientist in ISRO, or a researcher in DRDO or an auditor in AG’s office or an Inspector in Incometax or an executive in a bank or a clerk in Civil Defence or a staff member of Indian Post or an announcer in AIR, or a surveyor in Geological Survey; name any job, any cadre, in any department, the story is the same. A woman is always an eco-system, balancing multiple roles, multiple commitments, at multiple places of work – both in office and also at home. There might be CL, EL etc in office, but there is not a single CL or EL in house. Good health or bad health, the tasks of bringing up children, and other home-making works don’t give any break. These realities necessitate the additional safeguards.
Comrades, we have travelled a long road, but we also have a long road ahead. Women need to be in more leadership positions, women should stand up as role models. Women should help other women grow, and women should form a strong bond of unity.
This day is a reminder of the road ahead, the enormity of the tasks that still stare at us. This day is a day to resolve, to rededicate ourselves to the task of women emancipation and empowerment.
UNO declared the campaign slogan as “Women in the changing World of Work : Planet 50=50 by 2030’, for gender equality. The theme for this year’s International Women’s day is rightfully coined as “Be Bold for Change”. On this occasion, as Chairperson of the Women’s Committee of the Central Government Employees and Workers, I call upon everyone to join hands and give a clarion call – Yes, we will make it happen.
Believe in yourself.
Sd/-
(Usha Bonepalli)
Chairperson,
Women’s Committee,
Confederation of Central Government Employees and Workers,
New Delhi.
