Expected DA July 2016 Begins.... - AICPIN for the month of January 2016

No.5/1/2016- CPI

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

MINISTRY OF LABOUR & EMPLOYMENT

LABOUR BUREAU

CLEREMONT, SHIMLA-171004

DATED: 29th February, 2016

Press Release

Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW) – January, 2016

The All-India CPI-IW for January, 2016 remained stationary at 269 (two hundred and sixty nine). On 1-month percentage change, it remained static between December, 2015 and January, 2016 when compared with the rise of 0.40 per cent between the same two months a year ago.

The largest upward pressure to the change in current index came from Housing group contributing (+) 1.11 percentage points to the total change. At item level, Wheat, Wheat Atta, Groundnut Oil, Fish Fresh, Eggs (Hen), Goat Meat, Poultry (Chicken), Milk (Buffalo & Cow), Garlic, Sugar, Bidi, Firewood, Medicine (Allopathic), Barber Charges, Flower/Flower Garlands, Tailoring Charges, etc. are responsible for the increase in index. However, this increase was checked by Rice, Arhar Dal, Gram Dal, Masur Dal, Moong Dal, Urd Dal, Mustard Oil, Coconut Oil, Onion, Vegetable and Fruit items, Petrol, etc., putting downward pressure on the index.

The year-on-year inflation measured by monthly CPI-IW stood at 5.91 per cent for January, 2016 as compared to 6.32 per cent for the previous month and 7.17 per cent during the corresponding month of the previous year. Similarly, the Food inflation stood at 7.61 per cent against 7.94 per cent of the previous month and 7.81 per cent during the corresponding month of the previous year.

At centre level, Haldia reported the maximum increase of 8 points followed by Jamshedpur (7 points) and Labac-Silchar (5 points). Among others, 4 points increase was observed in 6 centres, 3 points in another 6 centres, 2 points in 9 centres and 1 point in 14 centres. On the contrary, Bhilai recorded a maximum decrease of 9 points followed by Bokaro (6 points) and Ranchi-Hatia and Varanasi (4 points each). Among others, 3 points decrease was observed in 2 centres, 2 points in 11 centres and 1 point in 10 centres. Rest of the 13 centres’ indices remained stationary.

The indices of 34 centres are above All-India Index and other 40 centres’ indices are below national average. The indices of Salem, Varanasi, Jabalpur and Vishakhapathnam centres remained at par with All-India Index.

The next issue of CPI-IW for the month of February, 2016 will be released on Thursday, 31st March, 2016. The same will also be available on the office website WWW. labourbureaunew.gov.in.

Sd/-

(SHYAM SINGH NEGI)

DEPUTY DIRECTOR GENERAL

Source: www.labourbureau.nic.in

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Highlights of General Budget 2016

Press Information Bureau 

Government of India

Ministry of Finance

Highlights of General Budget 2016

Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley spoke on the Key Reform Measures in his Budget speech 2016-17

1. The Government is firm on its course towards fiscal consolidation without compromising on its development agenda. 3.5% fiscal deficit is targeted for FY 2017.

2. Total allocation for Agriculture, Farmers’ welfare and Irrigation set at Rs. 47,912 cr, which is nearly twice the allocation of the previous year.

3. New Health Protection scheme will provide health cover up to Rs. 1 lakh per family and additional Rs. 30,000 for senior citizens.

4. Free LPG connections will be provided in the name of woman member of a family to 1.5 cr BPL households in 2016-17 and to continue for two more years to cover 5 cr households in total.

5. Massive increase in public spending on infrastructure to Rs. 2.21 lakh cr, an increase of 22.5% over the previous year.

6. Higher Education Financing Authority set up, with an initial capital base of Rs. 1,000 cr to promote higher education. In addition, 10 public and 10 private institutions to emerge as world-class Teaching and Research Institutions.

7. Promoting a tax-friendly regime and minimizing hassles due to litigation through a New Dispute Resolution Scheme with low or zero penalties. Ongoing tax cases can be settled with ease.

8. Increased relief for middle-class tax-payers by raising the ceiling of tax rebate under Section 87A to Rs. 5,000 for individuals with income less than Rs. 5 lakhs and by raising the limit of deduction of rent paid under section 80GG to Rs. 60,000.

9. Directly providing financial and other subsidies benefits to people who deserve them by enacting a new law and developing a social security platform using Aadhar.

10. Boosting formal sector employment by provisioning Rs. 1,000 cr towards contributing 8.33% on behalf of all new employees enrolling in EPFO for the first three years of their employment.

11. Simplified and pro-market tax measures such as laying out the roadmap of phasing out of exemptions under Corporate Taxes, abolishing small cesses, providing complete pass through of income-tax to securitization trusts and reducing period of obtaining long-term capital gains treatment for unlisted companies to three years.

12. Promoting entrepreneurship by increasing the turnover limit under Presumptive taxation scheme to Rs. 2 cr, targeting to disburse loans worth Rs. 1.8 lakh cr under PM Mudra Yojana and providing 100% deduction of profits for 3 out of 5 years for start-ups.

13. Facilitating Affordable Housing by 100% tax exemption for profits from small projects, not subjecting distribution REITs and INVITs to Dividend Distribution Tax and encouraging small first-time home buyers by deducting ¬additional interest of Rs. 50,000.

14. Reducing black money through a scheme to declare undisclosed income by paying 45% tax in a given compliance window.

15. Strengthening the financial sector by allocating Rs. 25,000 cr towards recapitalising Public Sector Banks (PSBs), listing Government-owned General Insurance companies, and spelling out a roadmap for consolidating PSBs.

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Certain Tax Reliefs Announced for Small Tax Payers and others.

Press Information Bureau 

Government of India

Ministry of Finance

Certain Tax Reliefs Announced for Small Tax Payers and others. 

While presenting the General Budget 2016-17 in Lok Sabha here today, the Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley said that the taxation is a major tool available to Government for removing poverty and inequality and this has to be cautiously exercised. But, he would like to give relief to small tax payers, the Finance Minister added. 

Thus the ceiling of tax rebate under Section 87A of IT Act has been proposed to be raised to Rs. 5,000 from Rs. 2,000 for individuals with income less than Rs. 5 lakhs. He said that above 2 crore tax payers would get a relief of Rs. 3,000. The limit of deduction of house rent paid under section 80GG has also been raised to Rs. 60,000 from the existing Rs. 24,000 per annum to give relief to employees who live in rented houses. 

Under the presumptive taxation scheme under Section 44AD of the Income tax Act, the limit of turnover or gross receipts has been raised to two crore rupees from the exiting one crore rupees to benefit about 33 lakh small business people. It frees a large number of such assesses in the MSME category from the burden of maintaining detailed books of account and getting audit done. 

The presumptive taxation scheme is to be now extended to professionals with gross receipts up to Rs. 50 lakh with the presumption of profit being 50% of the gross receipts. 

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Limit of Deduction of Rent Increased from Rs.24,000 to Rs.60,000

Press Information Bureau 

Government of India

Ministry of Finance

Limit of Deduction of Rent Increased from Rs.24,000 to Rs.60,000 

100% Deduction of Profits for 3 out of 5 Years for Start-Ups 

Withdrawal upto 40% of the Corpus to be Tax-Free at the time of Retirement 

Deduction of Additional Interest of Rs.50,000 Per Annum for First-Time Home buyers

New Dispute Resolution Scheme to be Introduced

Thirteen Cesses Levied by Various Ministries having Revenue Collection less than Rs.50 Crore to be Abolished

‘E-Sahyog’ and ‘E-Assessment’  to be Expanded Further

100% Deductions for Profits to an undertaking in Housing Project for Flats up to 30 Sq. Mtrs.

            The Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley said that taxation is a major tool available to government for removing poverty and inequality from the society.   He enlisted 09 categories of thrust in his text proposals which include (1) Relief to small tax payers (2) Measures to boost growth and employment generation (3) Incentivizing domestic value addition to help Make in India (4) Measures for moving towards a pensioned society (5) Measures for promoting affordable housing (6) Additional resource mobilization for agriculture, rural economy and clean environment (7) Reducing litigation and providing certainty in taxation (8) Simplification and rationalization of taxation (9) Use of technology for creating accountability.

            Announcing relief to small tax payers Shri Jaitley proposed to raise the ceiling of tax rebate U/s. 87A from Rs.2000 to Rs.5000.  With this, individuals having income up to Rs.5 lakh will get a relief of Rs.3000 in their tax liability.  He also proposed to increase the limit of deduction of rent paid U/s.80 GG from Rs.24,000 per annum to Rs.60,000 to provide relief to those who live in rented houses.  Shri Jaitley proposed to increase the turnover limit under presumptive taxation scheme U/s.44 AD of the Income Tax Act to Rs.2 Crores from existing limit of Rs.1 Crore which will benefit more than 30 lakh small business people. He also proposed to extend the presumptive taxation scheme with profit deemed to be 50%, to professionals with gross receipts up to Rs.50 lakh.

            Announcing the measures to boost growth and employment generation Shri Arun Jaitley said that the accelerated depreciation provided under IT Act will be limited to maximum 40% from 1st April 2017.  The benefit of deductions for research would be limited to 150% from 1st April 2017 and 100% from 1st April 2020.  The benefit of Section 10-AA  to new SEZ units will be available to those units which commence activity before 31st March 2020.  The weighted deduction U/s.35-CCD for skill development will continue up to 1st April 2020, Shri Jaitley said.

            Announcing Corporate Tax proposals Shri Arun Jaitley said that new manufacturing companies incorporated on or after 1st March 2016 will be given an option to be taxed at 25% + Surcharge and Cess provided they do not claim profit- linked or investment-linked deductions and do not avail of investment allowance and accelerated depreciation. He further proposed to lower the Corporate Tax rate for the next financial year for relatively small enterprises i.e., companies with turnover not exceeding Rs.5 crore (in the financial year ending March 15), to 29% +Surcharge and Cess.

            Recognizing the importance of start-ups in employment generation and as key partners in Make in India programme, Shri Jaitley proposed 100% deduction of profits for three out of five years for start-ups set up during April 2016 to March 2019 entailing MAT liability. He also proposed 10 per cent rate of tax on income from worldwide exploitation of patents, developed and registered in India by a resident. In order to get more investment in Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARCs) he proposed complete pass through of Income Tax to securitization trusts including trusts of ARCs.  Securitization Trusts will be liable to deduct tax at source.  Period for getting benefit of long term Capital Gain regime in case of unlisted companies will be reduced from 3 to 2 years.  Non-banking financial companies shall be eligible for deduction to the extent of 5% of its income in respect of provision for bad and doubtful debts.  Shri Jaitley said that determination of residency of foreign company on the basis of place of effective management (POEM) will be deferred by one year and reiterated commitment to implement General Anti Avoidance Rules (GAARs). He further proposed exemption of Service Tax on services provided under Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gramin Kaushalya Yojana and services provided by assessing bodies empanelled by Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.  He also announced exemption of Service Tax on general insurance services provided under Niramaya Health Insurance Scheme launched by National Trust for the Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disability.   Shri Jaitley also announced reduction of basic custom and excise duty on refrigerated containers to 5% and 6% respectively.

            To promote Make in India campaign of the Government Shri Arun Jaitley proposed changes in Customs and Excise Duty rates on certain inputs to reduce costs and improve competitiveness of domestic industry in sectors like Information Technology Hardware, Capital Goods, Defence Production, Textiles, Mineral Fuels and Mineral Oils, Chemicals and Petrochemicals, Paper, Paperboard and Newsprint, Maintenance Repair and Overhauling (MRO) of aircraft and ship repair.

            Announcing measures for pensioners Shri Arun Jaitley said that withdrawal up to 40% of the corpus at the time of retirement will be tax exempt in the case of National Pension Scheme (NPS).  Annuity Fund which goes to legal heir will not be taxable.  In case of superannuation funds and recognized provident funds, including EPF, the same norm of 40% of corpus to be tax free will apply in respect  of corpus created out of contributions made on or from 1st April 2016.  Shri Jaitley also proposed limit for contribution of employer in recognized provident and superannuation fund of Rs.1.5 lakh per annum for taking tax benefit.  Exemption from Service Tax for annuity services provided by NPS and services provided by EPFO to employees will be given. He also announced reduction of Service Tax on single premium annuity (Insurance Policies) from 3.5% to 1.4% of the premium paid in certain cases.

            To address the housing needs of all and more specifically the poor, in a time-bound manner, Shri Arun Jaitley announced 100% deduction for profits to an undertaking in housing project for flats up to 30 sq mtrs. in four metro cities and 60 sq. mtrs. in other cities, approved during June 2016 to March 2019 and completed in three years.  However, Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) will be applicable.  The Finance Minister announced deduction for additional interests of Rs.50,000 per annum for loans up to Rs.35 lakh sanctioned in 2016-17 for first time home buyers, where house costs does not exceed Rs.50 lakh.  He also proposed that distribution made out of income of SPV to the REITs and INVITs having specified shareholding will not be subjected to Dividend Distribution Tax (DDT), in respect of dividend distributed after the specified date.   Shri Jaitley also proposed to exempt Service Tax on construction of affordable housing up to 60 sq. mtrs. under any scheme of the Central or State Government including  PPP Schemes. He also proposed Excise Duty exemption presently available to concrete mix manufactured at site for use in construction work to ready-mix concrete.

            Announcing resource mobilization measures for agriculture, rural economy and clean environment Shri Jaitley said that additional tax @ 10% of gross amount of dividend will be payable by the recipients receiving dividends in excess of Rs.10 lakh per annum.  Surcharge will be raised from 12% to 15% on persons, other than companies, firms and cooperative societies having income above Rs.1 Crore, he said.  Shri Jaitley said that tax will be deducted at source @ 1% on purchase of luxury cars exceeding value of Rs.10 lakh and purchase of goods and services in cash exceeding Rs.2 lakh.  He proposed to increase security transaction tax in case of ‘Options’ from 0.017 to 0.05 per cent.  Equalization levy of 6% of gross amount for payment made to non-residents exceeding Rs.1 lakh a year in case of B2B transactions was also proposed.  He further proposed Krishi Kalyan Cess @ 0.5% on all taxable services w.e.f. 1st June 2016.  Proceeds from this would be exclusively used for financing initiatives for improvement of agriculture and welfare of farmers, he said.

            Expressing concern over pollution and traffic situation in Indian cities, Shri Jaitley proposed an Infrastructure Cess of 1% of small petrol, LPG, CNG cars; 2.5% on Diesel Cars of certain capacity and 4% on other higher engine capacity vehicles and SUVs.  No credit of this Cess will be available nor credit of any other tax or duty be utilized for paying the Cess, he said.  Shri Jaitley also proposed levy of Excise Duty of ‘1% without input tax credit or 12.5% with input tax credit’ on articles of jewellery (excluding silver jewellery, other than studded with diamonds and some other precious stones), with a higher exemption and eligibility limits of Rs.6 Crore and 12 Crore respectively.  The Finance Minister further proposed to raise Excise Duty on ready-made garments with retail price of Rs.1,000 or more to 2% without input tax credit or 12.5% with input tax credit.  He also proposed to increase Clean Environment Cess on coal, lignite and peat from Rs.200 per tonne to Rs.400 per tonne.   Excise Duty on various tobacco products other than bidi was also proposed to be raised by about 10 to 15%.  Proposing amendment to Finance Act 1994 he said that assignment of right to use the spectrum and its subsequent transfers will be a service leviable to Service Tax and not sale of intangible tax.

            Highlighting Government’s priority towards a lower tax regime with non-litigious approach the Finance Minister desired to give an opportunity to the earlier non-compliant to move to the category of compliant. He reiterated government’s commitment to provide a stable and predictable taxation regime and reduce black money.  Shri Arun Jaitley announced that domestic tax payers can declare undisclosed income or such income represented in the form of any asset by paying tax at 30%, and surcharge at 7.5% and penalty at 7.5%, which is a total of 45% of the undisclosed income.  Such declarants will have immunity from prosecution.  He said that Surcharge levied at 7.5% of undisclosed income will be called Krishi Kalyan Surcharge to be used for agriculture and rural economy.  Announcing New Dispute Resolution Scheme he said that no penalty will be charged in respect of cases with disputed tax up to Rs.10 lakh.  Cases with disputed tax exceeding Rs.10 lakh will be subjected to 25% of the minimum of the imposable penalty.  Any pending appeal against a penalty order can also be settled by paying 25% of the minimum of the imposable penalty and tax interest on quantum addition, he said.  Shri Jaitley announced a High Level Committee chaired by Revenue Secretary to oversee fresh cases where Assessing Officer applied the retrospective amendment.   In case of mis-reporting of facts, the Finance Minister proposed penalty rates of 200% of tax and 50% penalty in case of under-reporting of income.   He said this allowance will be limited to 1% of the average monthly value of investments yielding exempt income, but not exceeding the actual expenditure claimed under Rule –AD of Section -14A of Income Tax Act.  There will be a time limit of one year for disposing petitions of the tax-payers seeking waiver of interest and penalty.  It will be mandatory for the Assessing Officer to grant stay of demand once the assessee pays 15% of the disputed demand while the appeal is pending before Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals).  Shri Jaitley said that the monetary limit for deciding an appeal by a single member Bench of ITAT will be enhanced from Rs.15 lakh to Rs.50 lakh.  He also announced creation of 11 new Benches of Customs, Excise and Service Tax, Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) to remove backlog of cases.

            Stressing on simplification and rationalization of taxation the Finance Minister said that 13 cesses, levied by various Ministries in which revenue collection is less than Rs.50 Crore, will be abolished.  For non residents providing alternative documents to PAN Card will be allowed and TDS provisions for Income Tax will be rationalized.  Facility for revision of return will also be extended to Central Excise Assesses.  With respect to non-taxable services for reversal of input tax credits, additional options to banking companies and financial institutions, including NBFCs will be provided.  Exporters and importers with proven track record will be extended the facility for deferred payment of customs duties. At major ports and airports starting from next financial year customs single window project will be implemented.  Shri Jaitley also announced increase in free baggage allowance for international passengers.  Filing of baggage declaration will be required only for those carrying dutiable goods.

             Emphasizing use of technology in taxation department in a big way to make life simpler for a law-abiding citizen.  Shri Arun Jaitley announced expansion in the scope of e-Assessment to all assesses in seven mega cities in the coming years.  Interest @ 9% per annum against normal rate of 6% per annum for delay in giving effect to Appellate Order beyond 90 days will be chargeable.  To reduce compliance cost especially for small tax payers ‘e-Sahyog’ will be expanded, he said.  Shri Jaitley said that direct tax proposals would result in revenue loss of Rs.1060 Crore and indirect proposals are expected to yield Rs.20670 Crore which means a revenue gain of Rs.19610 Crore.  The Finance Minister said that government have a desire to provide socio-economic security to every Indian, especially the farmers, the poor and the vulnerable; a dream to see a more prosperous India; and a vision to ‘Transform India’.

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No Hike in Passenger Fare - Railway Budget 2016-2017

Press Information Bureau 

Government of India

Ministry of Railways

No Hike in Passenger Fare - Railway Budget 2016-2017

65,000 Additional Berths and 17,000 Bio Toilets to be Installed

Operations Audit to Improve Punctuality of trains Proposed

Wi Fi Facilities in 400 more Stations

Stations to be Developed Under PPP Mode

Award of Civil Contracts for Dedicated Freight Corridor to be  Over by the end of this Financial Year

Capacity of E-Ticketing System to be Enhanced

Increased Quota of Lower Berth for Senior Citizens and Women

820 Robs / Rubs constructed

Operating  Ratio to Increase from 90% to 92% Proposed

Nargol- Hazira Port Connectivity to be taken up under PPP Mode

There is no hike in passenger fare in this year’s Railway Budget.  Presenting the Railway Budget 2016-17  in the Parliament today Railway Minister Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu said   the budget seeks to fulfil the  long-felt desires of the common man such as   reserved accommodation on trains available on demand, time tabled freight trains, high end technology to improve safety record, elimination of all unmanned level crossings, improved punctuality, higher average speed of freight trains, semi high speed trains running along the golden quadrilateral, zero direct discharge of human waste by the year 2020. He said Cabinet approval has been received for re-development of stations under PPP mode.

Shri Suresh Prabhu said the Indian Railways budget  proposes to   overcome challenges by Reorganizing Restructuring and  Rejuvenating Indian Railways with the Slogan “Chalo, Milkar Kuch Naya Karen’”.  The strategy  for this will have  three pillars  i.e. Nav Arjan – New revenues, Nav Manak – New norms, and Nav Sanrachna – New Structures.

In order to make travel on Indian Railways more comfortable, the Indian Railways proposes to give more facilities to the passengers . 65,000 additional berths will be provided in the trains and 2500 water vending machines  will be installed .  The railways have developed world’s first Bio-Vaccum toilet and 17,000 Bio-toilets will be provided in the trains.  With the purpose of improving punctuality of trains  operations audit  from Ghaziabad to Mughalsarai section will be introduced.   The Indian Railways  proposes  to introduce  1,780 Automatic Ticket Vending Machines all over the country with  mobile apps and Go India smart card for cashless purchase of UTS and PRS tickets. The  capacity of  e-ticketing system will be enhanced  from 2,000 tickets per minute to 7,200 tickets per minute to support 1,20,000 concurrent users as against  40,000 earlier.  400 more stations will be provided  with Wi Fi facilities.

As a part of social initiatives, online booking of wheelchairs and Braille enabled new coaches will be introduced for the Divyang. Increased quota of lower berths for senior citizens and women and reserving  middle bays for women in reserved coaches has been proposed.   Passengers security will be enhanced through more helplines and CCTVs.

To reduce accidents at level crossings, the budget proposes to eliminate 1000 unmanned level crossings and closures of 350 manned level crossings.  820 Rail Over Bridges (ROB)/ Rail Under Bridges (RUB) will be completed during the current financial year and work is going on in additional 1350 of them. 

Referring to the progress of  Dedicated Freight Corridor Project the Railway Minister said that almost all contracts for civil engineering works will be awarded by the end of this financial year.  He said Rs.24,000 crore worth contracts  were awarded since November 2014 as against Rs. 13,000 crore contracts awarded during the last six years.   Shri Prabhu said Railways proposes to take up North-South, East-West and East Coast freight corridors through innovative financing including PPP.

Underlining the importance of Jammu and Kashmir and North East the Minister said work on Katra-Banihal section of Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link Project  is progressing satisfactorily and 35 kms of tunnelling out of total of 95 kms has been completed.  He said decongestion work on Jalandhar - Jammu section is in full swing and doubling of two bridges will be over  by next month, while the other two bridges will be completed by 2016-17.  In North East , Mizoram and Manipur will  shortly come on BG map of the country with commissioning of the Kathakal-Bhairabi and Arunachal-Jiribam Gauge conversion projects.

Giving the progress card of port connectivity projects the Minister informed that Tuna Port  connectivity project has been commissioned and rail connectivity projects to ports of Jaigarh, Dighi, Rewas and Paradip are  under implementation.  He said implementation of rail connectivity for the ports of Nargol and Hazira  will be taken up under PPP in 2016-17.

Referring to the financial performance the Minister said during  2015-16  a saving of Rs.8720 crore could be achieved  neutralizing the most of the revenue shortfall with operating ratio of 90%.  He said the budget proposes operating ratio of 92%,  restricting  growth of ordinary working expenses by 11.6% after building in immediate impact of 7th PC, reduction in  diesel and electricity consumption and Revenue generation  of Rs. 1,84,820 crore for 2016-17.  He said during 2015-16 investment would be close to double of average of previous five years.

Shri Suresh  Prabhu said  Railways would be able to achieve annualized  savings of  Rs.3000 crore in the energy sector during the next financial year itself, a year earlier than announced.  He said this could be achieved by procuring power directly at competitive rates.

The Railway Minister said social media will be used  as a tool to bring in transparency. All procurement including procurement of works  will be moved to e-platform.  He said  the trial of awarding tender electronically  was successful and it will be rolled out  on Pan India basis  in 2016-17.

Giving an outline of the way ahead, the Minister informed Parliament that his Ministry proposes to take various measures to improve quality of travel which will include introduction of unreserved superfast Antyodaya Express Trains, introduction of Tezas train with the speed of 130 Km. and above  with onboard entertainment and Wi Fi  etc., unreserved Deen Dayalu coaches  with portable water and higher number of mobile charging points and introduction of AC and non AC double decker trains on busy routes with the potential to  increase carrying capacity by almost 40%.  Sale of tickets through hand held terminals; e- ticketing facility to foreign debit/credit cards; bar coded tickets,   expansion of Vikalp – train on demand to provide choice of accommodation in specific trains to wait-listed passengers. E-booking of tickets facility on the concessional passes available to journalists;      facility of cancellation through the 139 helpline post verification using ‘One Time Password’ sent on registered phone number,  CCTV cameras on tatkal windows  and periodic audit of PRS website will also be introduced.

Shri Suresh Prabhu said it is proposed to convert all operational halts into commercial halts for the benefit of common man.  The Minister said  Sarathi Seva in Konkan Railway will be expanding  to help the old and disabled passenger. The existing services for enabling passengers to book battery operated cars, porter services, etc. on a paid basis in addition to the existing pick up and drop, and wheel chair services will be strengthened. All stations under redevelopment  will be accessible for Divyang. There will be at least one Divyang friendly toilet at each platform in A1 class stations during the next financial year and  availability of wheelchairs in sufficient numbers at these stations will be ensured.  Children’s menu items, baby foods, hot milk and hot water would be made available under Janani Sewa.

SMART (Specially Modified Aesthetic Refreshing Travel) Coaches  will be introduced to ensure higher carrying capacity and provision of new amenities including automatic doors, bar-code readers, bio-vacuum toilets, water-level indicators, accessible dustbins, ergonomic seating, improved aesthetics, vending machines, entertainment screens, LED lit boards for advertising, PA system.   It is also proposed to  integrate all facilities into two mobile apps dealing with ticketing issues and for receipt and redressal of complaints and suggestions. With a view to improve customer interface   information boards in trains enumerating the on-board services and  GPS based digital displays will be installed  inside coaches to provide real time information regarding upcoming halts. Work  is underway  for the  installation of a high-tech centralized network of 20,000 screens across 2000 stations for enabling real time flow of information to passengers and also to unlock huge advertising potential. All A1 class stations will be manned with duly empowered Station Directors supported by cross functional teams, to make one person accountable for all facilities on trains.

Shri Suresh Prabhu said it is proposed  to take up on priority the provision of passenger amenities and beautification on stations at pilgrimage centres including Ajmer, Amritsar, Bihar Sharif, Chengannur, Dwarka, Gaya, Haridwar, Mathura, Nagapattinam, Nanded, Nasik, Pali, Parasnath, Puri, Tirupati, Vailankanni, Varanasi and Vasco. Aastha circuit trains will be introduced  to connect important pilgrim centres.

He said  optional travel insurance for rail journeys at the time of booking  and clean my coach through sms will also be introduced in due course.  High speed passenger corridor from Ahmedabad to Mumbai  will be developed  with the financial assistance from Government of Japan.  FM Radio Stations will be invited to provide train borne entertainment,  Rail Bandhu Mazagine  will be provided in all reserved coaches in all regional languages.

Referring to the financial performance of 2015-16  the Railway Minister said Stringent economy and austerity measures adopted to contain the Ordinary Working Expenses (O.W.E.) due to which budgeted OWE  of Rs 1,19,410 crore decreased in the Revised Estimates 2015-16 to Rs. 1,10,690 crore i.e. by Rs 8,720 crore. BE provided for an appropriation of Rs. 34,900 crore to the Pension Fund. However, based on trend, the pension outgo moderately decreased to Rs. 34,500 crore in RE. Internal resource generation diminished and appropriation to DRF moderated to Rs. 5,500 crore in RE from the BE 2015-16 provisioning of Rs. 7,900 crore.  Excess of receipts over expenditure in RE 2015-16 stands at Rs. 11,402.40 crore.  Plan size for 2015-16 is currently estimated at 1,00,000 crore i.e. the BE level.

Regarding Budget Estimates 2016-17 the Minister informed that the Gross Traffic Receipts are  kept at Rs 1,84,820 crore . Passenger earnings growth has been pegged at 12.4 % and earnings target budgeted at Rs. 51,012 crore. The freight traffic is pegged at incremental traffic of 50 million tonnes, anticipating a healthier growth in the core sector of economy. Goods earnings is accordingly proposed at Rs. 1, 17,933 crore. Other coaching and sundries projected at Rs. 6,185 crore and Rs. 9,590.3 crore respectively. OWE provides for the implementation of the 7th CPC.Pension outgo budgeted at Rs 45,500 crore in 2016-17.  Higher staff cost and pension liability impacts the internal resource position of the Railways. Accordingly, appropriation to DRF from revenue placed at Rs 3,200 crore and that from Production Units at Rs 200 crore. A withdrawal of Rs 3,160 crore from DRF on net basis proposed though the gross expenditure to be met from DRF in the Annual Plan estimated at Rs 7,160 crore. Rs 5,750 crore proposed to be appropriated to the Capital fund. With a draw-down of Rs 1,250 crore from previous balances in the fund, plan requirement of Rs 7,000 crore for repayment of principal component of lease charges to IRFC have been met.  Railways are preparing a Plan size of Rs. 1,21,000 crore in 2016-17, the Minister added.

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Sarathi Seva to help old and Disabled Passengers to be Extended to More Stations - Railway Budget 2016-2017

Press Information Bureau 

Government of India

Ministry of Railways

Sarathi Seva to help old and Disabled Passengers to be Extended to More Stations - Railway Budget 2016-2017

Hourly Booking of Retiring Rooms at Stations 

Smart Coaches to be Introduced 

Presenting Railway Budget 2016-17 in Parliament today, the Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu announced that all operational halts will be converted into commercial halts, for the convenience of passengers. He also said that, Sarathi Seva was introduced in Konkan Railway to help the old and disabled passengers requiring assistance at stations. this service will be expanded at many more stations. The existing services for enabling passengers to book battery operated cars, porter services, etc. on a paid basis in addition to the existing pick up and drop, and wheel chair services will be strengthened.

Indian Railways is working with insurance companies to offer optional travel insurance for rail journeys at the time of booking.

Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu proposed to commence hourly booking of retiring rooms instead of the existing minimum of 12 hours to fulfil the unmet need of passengers. Further, the retiring rooms will be handed over to IRCTC to ensure that these can be managed in a professional manner.

Indian Railways will pilot availability of children’s menu items on trains. Further baby foods, hot milk and hot water would be made available on stations and changing boards for babies would be provided in train toilets.

With a view to enhancing passenger comfort, Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu proposed to re-imagine the design and layout of our coaches to ensure higher carrying capacity and provision of new amenities including automatic doors, bar-code readers, bio-vacuum toilets, water-level indicators, accessible dustbins, ergonomic seating, improved aesthetics, vending machines, entertainment screens, LED lit boards for advertising, PA system and more. These new SMART (Specially Modified Aesthetic Refreshing Travel) coaches would cater to emerging needs of our customers and also ensure lower unit cost of operations due to higher carrying capacity. 

He said that Indian Railways is making arrangements for skilling front-end staff and those employed through our service providers. Further, the uniforms of all customer facing roles will be refurbished to clearly distinguish them. Information boards will be installed in trains enumerating the on-board services and also GPS based digital displays inside coaches to provide real time information regarding upcoming halts. These services would be provided through private sector engagement. Work is underway on the installation of a high-tech centralized network of 20,000 screens across 2000 stations known as Rail Display Network. This will enable real time flow of information to passengers and also unlock huge advertising potential.

He also said that Indian Railways intends to take up on priority the provision of passenger amenities and beautification on stations at pilgrimage centres including Ajmer, Amritsar, Bihar Sharif, Chengannur, Dwarka, Gaya, Haridwar, Mathura, Nagapattinam, Nanded, Nasik, Pali, Parasnath, Puri, Tirupati, Vailankanni, Varanasi and Vasco. He said that Indian Railways also intends to run Aastha circuit trains to connect important pilgrim centres.

Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu had appealed to all States to come forward and partner in setting up more satellite terminals through PPP mode.

He also proposed to provide porters with new uniforms and train them in soft skills in line with the evolving image of Indian Railways, adopting modern technology yet traditional in its ethos of treating passengers with respect.

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Government Servant getting Retirement Benefit from Deputation Office

Press Information Bureau 

Government of India

Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions

Government servant getting retirement benefit from deputation office 

Appointment to a post on deputation basis is made for a period normally specified in the Recruitment Rules of the deputation post, unless the period of deputation is extended by the Government in terms of prevailing instructions. After expiry of such deputation period, the Government servant is required to revert back to the parent organization/ office. The Guidelines regulating premature repatriation from Central Deputation also provide for repatriation to parent cadre in certain cases such as to avail benefit of promotion. However, there are no specific instructions which require a Government servant on deputation to be reverted back to the parent organization/ office before retirement only to facilitate fixation of pensionary benefits. 

Rule 33 of Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules prescribes the emoluments to be taken into account for calculating pension. 

This was stated by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions and Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Dr. Jitendra Singh in a written reply to a question by Shri Motilal Vora in the Rajya Sabha today. 

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Minutes of the Meeting of Joint Secretary (IC) with the Members of the Staff-Side of the Standing Committee (National Council-JCM) held on 19.02.2016

Minutes of the Meeting of Joint Secretary (IC) with the Members of the Staff-Side of the Standing Committee (National Council-JCM) held on 19.02.2016

A Meeting was held under the chairmanship of Joint Secretary (Implementation Cell), Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, with the Members of the StaffSide of the Standing Committee (National Council-JCM) on 19.2.2016 to discuss the issues raised by the National Joint Council of Action (NJCA) {Joint Consultative Machinery (JCM)} in their letter No. NJC/2015/7th CPC dt. 10.12.2015, addressed to the Cabinet Secretary, regarding their Charter of Demands on the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission. The Secretary, Staff-Side of the Standing Committee (National Council- JCM), who is the convener of the NJCA, along with other office bearers attended the meeting. The list of the participants from the Staff-Side is attached at Annexure.

2. Welcoming the members of the Staff-Side, JS(IC) mentioned that the meeting has been convened to enable the Staff-Side to bring out their concerns on the recommendations of the 7th CPC in the light of the Charter of Demands made by them in the aforesaid letter of NJCA so that same could be examined in the Implementation Cell and submitted for consideration of the Empowered Committee of Secretaries. He informed the office bearers that before arriving at a decision, the ECoS would also hold separate discussions with the Staff Side.

2. Commencing the discussions from the Side of the Members of the Staff-Side, Secretary, Staff-Side, Standing Committee (National Council-JCM), explained that they have already placed their Charter of Demands as per the letter of NJCA dated 10.12.2015. He mentioned that the reasons based on which these demands have been made have also been explained therein. He, however, highlighted that the Staff-Side is not at all happy with the recommendations of the 7th CPC and, in fact, no section of the employees is satisfied, as the Commission has recommended a minimal pay increase as compared to the previous Pay Commissions. He mentioned that the Staff-Side does not agree with the minimum pay of Rs. 18000 and the reason as to why the methodology adopted by the 7th CPC to arrive at this figure is not correct has been explained in their letter dated 10.12.2015. He stated that Staff-Side demands enhancement of the minimum pay to Rs. 26000 and the reasons in support of this have been given in their aforesaid letter. He further stated that an amicable and mutually negotiated settlement of these demands is necessary as non-acceptance would further cause resentment in the employees. He informed that Staff-Side has already made their stand clear to go on strike from 11th April, 2016 if their demands are not considered and no amicable settlement happens.

3. Thereafter, the other members of the Staff-Side also expressed their arguments for acceptance of these demands and all of them emphasised that the minimum pay needs to be revised. Consequently, the fitment multiple of 2.57 would also need commensurate change. The leader of the Staff-Side explained that the office bearers who were present in the meeting represent various sections of Central Government employees including railways, defence civilians, postal employees etc., the number of which is around Rs. 32 lakhs.

4. The Staff-Side brought out their concerns on all the 26 demands included in the Charter of Demands and all the points brought out by them in the letter of the NJCA dt.  10.12.2015 were reiterated. However, following issues in support of their demands were highlighted :-

(i) Minimum Pay needs to be revised to Rs. 26000 p.m. and the minimum pay of Rs. 18000 p.m. as recommended by 7th CPC is not acceptable. This would require upward revision in the fitment multiple of 2.57 and change in the Pay Matrix. It was argued that if the 10% of the pay for NPS contribution and the recommended increase in the CGEIS contribution are taken into account, there would be a drop in the take-home salary of the employees at the

minimum pay of Rs.18000.

(ii) Central Government employees need to be excluded from the National Pension Scheme (NPS), which has been a long pending demand of the StaffSide. The Staff-Side stated that the Pension Fund which has been created under NPS to generate annuity for employees, would not ensure reasonable pension. Rather it is quite likely that it may generate negative returns because of the dismal performance of the financial market to which the fund is

invested, leaving the employees without any reasonable social security benefit.

(iii) The 7th CPC has recommended abolition of 52 allowances without properly appreciating the justification of these allowances. The example of break-down allowance in case of Railway employees was given, stating that this allowances is given so that the concerned employees take up the necessary follow up action in the case of breakdown on an urgent basis and therefore its withdrawal is not justified in operational interests of Railways.

(iv) The withdrawal of advances, especially LTC, TA, Medical, National Calamity Advance, was not justified. It was argued that these advances are recovered from the employees and, therefore, the same should be retained. (v) In regard to enhancement of contribution under Group Insurance Scheme, it was argued that increase in the contribution from the employees was not justified and if the same is to be raised, the Government should bear the

insurance premium.

(vi) The post of LDC should be upgraded to UDC and as part of delayering, Grade Pays of Rs. 1900, Rs. 2400 and Rs. 4600 should be abolished and merged with the next higher Grades.

(vii) The rate of increment needs to be raised from 3% to 5% because pay is revised in the Central Government after 10 years. It was mentioned that in the PSUs the pay is revised after 5 years and the rate of increment is also higher.

(viii) Two increments in the feeder post may be granted as promotion benefit.

(ix) Fixed medical allowance for pensioners who are not covered by CGHS and REHS needs to be increased from Rs. 500 p.m. to Rs. 2000 p.m.

(x) The recommendation regarding grant of only 80% of salary for the second year of Child Care Leave need not be accepted and the existing provisions may be retained

(xi) It was also demanded that though the D/o Expenditure has sought the comments of the Ministries/Department on the issues pertaining to them after consulting the Staff Associations, administrative Departments are not inviting the Staff associations for discussions.

5. After detailed explanation by the Staff-Side on all the demands included in the Charter of Demands, JS(IC), while concluding the discussions, assured the Staff-Side that the concerns and demands made by them would be placed before the Empowered Committee of Secretaries for consideration after examining the same in the light of the recommendations of the Commission. He also mentioned that in cases where the comments of the administrative Ministries/ Departments would be necessary, e.g., the case of break-down allowance pertaining to Ministry of Railways, the same would be considered before the issues are placed before the E-CoS. As regards the issue raised that the administrative Departments are not inviting staff associations for discussions, JS(IC) mentioned that the Departments have to formulate the views keeping in view the representations made by the Staff Associations.

6. Thereafter, the meeting ended with thanks to the chair.

Source:http://finmin.nic.in/the_ministry/dept_expenditure/notification/7cpc/Minutes_jcm_meet19022016.pdf

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7th CPC Implementation Cell Seeks Comments and Views from all Ministries/Departments

F No.30-1/2016-IC

Government of India

Ministry of Finance

Department of Expenditure

Implementation Cell (7th CPC)

Dated: 15th February, 2016

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Subject: Comments of the Ministries/Departments on Recommendations of 7th Central Pay Commission – Request to Expedite – regarding.

All the Ministries/Departments, vide the D.O.No.1-4/2015-EIII.A dated 21.11.2015 from Joint Secretary (Pers), Department of Expenditure were requested to formulate their views/comments on the issues and the posts/services under them with reference to the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission and forward it to the Department of Expenditure within a period of three weeks.

2. The action involved on part of the administrative Ministries/Departments was also discussed, in detail, in the meeting with the Nodal Officers on 02.02.2016 and all the Nodal Officers were requested to furnish their comments in the ‘prescribed proforma’ circulated in the meeting, along with soft copy to the ‘jsic-cpc@nic.in within two weeks i.e. by 17.02.2016. The responses received so far are not satisfactory and comments of the most the Ministries/Departments are still awaited.

3. The Implementation Cell which is working as the secretariat of the Empowered Committee of Secretaries (E-CoS) has been asked to furnish considered views of the Ministries/Departments on the recommendations of the 7th CPC.

4. In view of the above, the comments of the Ministries/Departments may be furnished to the Implementation Cell. Department of Expenditure, immediately.

This may be treated as most urgent.

Sd/-

(R.K.Chaturvedi)

Joint Secretary (IC)

Source: www.finmin.nic.in

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List of Nodal Officers for Implementation of 7th CPC Recommendations

List of Nodal Officers for Implementation of 7th CPC Recommendations

Nomination of Nodal Officers including the major ministries like Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Ministry of Railways…the complete list of Officer’s Name, Address and Contact details are given below…

List of Nodal Officers Click here....

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Modified Assured Career Progression Scheme (MACPS): Views of Indian Audit & Accounts Department

Modified Assured Career Progression Scheme (MACPS): Views of Indian Audit & Accounts Department

Assured Career Progression was introduced in 1999 with a view to grant at least two financial up gradations at an interval of 12 and 24 years where officials are stagnating for want of promotion. It was further modified to 03 financial up gradations on the recommendations of the 6th CPC. However, the 7 th CPC recommended continuing with the same without any change. Also the bench mark has been increased from ‘Good’ to ‘ Very Good’

There should be at least four financial upgradations in entire service career of an employee at regular interval of 8 years. Hence, the MACPS may be granted to an employee after completion of 8, 16, 24 and 32 years of service.

Further, the bench mark for financial up gradation may be continued as per the existing practice – i.e. the bench mark prescribed for the post for promotion.

Source: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7nIuoyYNiJUZkdmYWQySk1QTnM/view

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CEA, CCL, SCL – Views of Indian Audit & Accounts Department

Child Care Leave (CCL):- The 7th CPC has proposed that CCL should be granted at 100 percent of the salary for first 365 days, but at 80 percent of the salary for the next 365 days. However, CCL has been extended to single parent also. 

It is proposed that the CCL be paid at 100 percent of salary for the entire period.

Children Education Allowance (CEA): The Commission has recommended CEA @Rs.2250/- per month and Hostel Subsidy @Rs.6750/- per month.

Keeping in view the steep rise in tuition fees, cost of stationery, Books, Uniform etc. the CEA and Hostel Subsidy may be increased @ Rs.3000/- and @ Rs.8000/- per month respectively.

Special Casual Leave (SCL): SCL is granted to employees to cover their absence from duty for various occasions like sports events, cultural activities, participation in Republic Day Parade, voluntary blood donation, Trade Union meetings, etc. Full pay is granted during SCL and it can be sanctioned with retrospective effect also.

The Pay Commission has expressed its concern at the widespread use of SCL as a means of getting away from duty. However, because of the extensive scope and case specific nature of this leave, no concrete recommendations have been made.

It has suggested that the government may, however, consider the following:

(a) Review the purposes for which SCL is presently granted.

(b) Limit the number of purposes for which an employee can be granted SCL in a year.

(c) Limit the total number of days that an employee can be granted SCL in a year.

Since SCL is granted to employees to cover their absence from duty for various occasions like sports events, cultural activities, participation in Republic Day Parade, voluntary blood donation, Trade Union meetings/ casting votes in their constituency, it may be continued to be granted as per existing practice.

Source:https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7nIuoyYNiJUZkdmYWQySk1QTnM/view

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LTC Advance - Views of Indian Audit and Accounts Department

Under LTC facility the expenses incurred on travel to visit the destination is reimbursable. Advance upto 90% of expenses on travel to visit the destination place is admissible. This amount serves as great help to the employees to undertake the journey in arranging train/air tickets. Without this advance, the employees will find it difficult to purchase train/air tickets for his family.

Besides travelling expenses, an official has to incur expenditure on account of Boarding and lodging/local travel also.

As per the recommendation of 7th CPC, officials of pay level 05 to 08 are entitled to travel by train. The travel tickets for family of four will cost more than Rs. 18000/- for a journey from Delhi to Thiruvananthapuram. Further, for level 9 and above the return tickets in economy class for the same destination i.e. Delhi to Thiruvananthapuram will cost more than Rs. 2 lakh.

A government official cannot afford such a huge amount to spent upfront for performing journey for availing home town LTC or All India LTC. Hence LTC advance is required to be continued as per extant provisions.

Source:https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7nIuoyYNiJUZkdmYWQySk1QTnM/view

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Festival advance, Bicycle Advance, Warm Clothing Advance, Interest Bearing Advances – Views of Indian Audit and Accounts Department

Festival advance, Bicycle Advance, Warm Clothing Advance, Interest Bearing Advances – Views of Indian Audit and Accounts Department

Bicycle Advance, Warm Clothing Advance

Festival advance, advance in the event of natural calamities like Flood, Drought, Cyclone etc

Advance of TA to a family of a deceased Govt. Employee.

Interest Bearing Advances:- The Pay Commission has recommended abolishing of Motor Car/Motor Cycle Advance.

Views of Indian Audit and Accounts Department

These advances may continued to be paid as per existing rules as these are admissible only to low paid employees upto Grade Pay of Rs.2800/- (Level 5)

These advances may continue to be paid as per existing rules as these interest free advances are payable to Group ‘B & C ‘employees as a welfare measure.

This advance may continue to be paid as per existing rules as this helps the family of a deceased Govt. employee to cope with immediate expenses for travel to their place of settlement.

The Pay Commission has abolished the Motor Car/Motor Cycle Advance on the plea that there are several schemes available in market. There are several schemes in the markets for House Building Advance also. However, the Pay Commission has not only recommended to continue with HBA but also proposed to increase the ceiling. Therefore, the plea of the commission to discontinue MCA on the basis that schemes for purchase of vehicles are available in the market does not hold good.

Further, several documentation/guarantees are required for seeking the said advances from the market. As it is convenient and safe for a Government Servant to avail such advances from the office without any hassles, these interest bearing advances may be continued as per the extant provisions.

Source:https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7nIuoyYNiJUZkdmYWQySk1QTnM/view

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7th CPC Recommendations on Minimum Pay Calculation

The Commission has estimated the minimum pay (the calculations for which have been tabulated in the Annexure) through the following steps:

Step 1 : The food, clothing and detergent products listed and their respective quantities specified by the 15th ILC have been adopted. These quantities indicate the monthly consumption of the listed products by a family comprising three consumption units. [For e.g. for the product ‘Dal’ the quantity specified for daily consumption is 80 grams per consumption unit per day. The monthly consumption of Dal by a consumption unit thus works out to 2.4 kg (80 x 30). Accordingly the monthly consumption of Dal by a family comprising 3 units is 7.2 kgs (2.4 x 3).]

Step 2 : The quantities have been multiplied by their respective product prices to arrive at product wise cost. The price adopted for each product is the average of prices of various items that are included in the product. The price of an item is the average of its prices prevailing in each month from July, 2014-June, 2015. [At monthly family consumption of 7.2 kg the Commission has estimated the monthly expenditure on Dal at ₹704.44 after calculating the price of Dal at ₹97.84 per kg. The price of Dal has been calculated as the average of prices of Toor, Urad and Moong Dal items specified under the product Dal and whose prices have been determined at ₹87.86, ₹109.66 and ₹96.00 respectively. The prices of these three Dal items are the twelve monthly average prices for the period July, 2014–June, 2015.] The prices of all items have been sourced from Labor Bureau, Shimla. These prices are used in the calculation of the CPI (IW) and subsequently the calculation of Dearness Allowance. In the current exercise the prices of all items are for the period July 2014-June 2015 and have been used in the calculation of DA at 119 percent operative from 01.07.2015.

Step 3 : The cost of food, clothing and detergent products obtained from Step 2 has been divided by 0.8 to arrive at a total, of which 20 percent provides for fuel and lighting expenses. This addresses the fifth component under para 4.2.3. The fourth component on housing under para 4.2.3 has not been addressed at this stage as its quantification at the final stage of pay estimation is considered more appropriate by the Commission.

Step 4 : The cost estimated from Step 3 is divided by 0.85 to arrive at a total, of which 15 percent is towards recreation, ceremonies and festivities. The prescribed provision of  25 percent to cover education, recreation, ceremonies, festivals and medical expenses has been moderated to 15 percent because expenses on educational and medical necessities are being separately provided for through relevant allowances and facilities and thus need not be provided here. This partially addresses the first of the two components outside the 15th ILC norms.

Step 5 : The cost estimated from Step 4 is increased by 25 percent to account for the skill factor, following the reasoning that there is no unskilled staff in the government after the merger of Group D staff in Group `C’. This addresses the second of the two components outside the 15th ILC norms.

Step 6 : The cost estimated from Step 5 is divided by 0.97 to arrive at a total, of which 3 percent provides for housing expenses. This is done in view of the observation that license fees for government accommodation is about 3 percent of the total pay. This addresses the fourth component stated under para 3 but partially so, as the 15th ILC norms had fixed the housing provision at 7.5 percent.

Step 7 : The cost estimated from Step 6 is as on 1 July, 2015 when the DA was 119 percent. The DA is assumed to be 125 percent as on 1 January, 2016, the day from which the Commission expects its recommendations to be implemented by the government. Accordingly the cost estimated from Step 6 has been increased by 3 percent (2.25/2.19 = 1.027 or nearly 3%).

Source: http://7cpc.india.gov.in/pdf/sevencpcreport.pdf

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Abolition of Affidavit and Attestation by Gazetted Officer and adoption of Self-Certification in KVS

KENDRIYA VIDYALAYA SANGATHAN

18, Institutional Area, Shaheed Jeet Singh Marg,

New Delhi – 110 016

F.11029-9/2014-KVSHQ (Admn.-1)/

Date : 18.02.2016

The Deputy Commissioner

Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan

All Regional Offices

SUB: Abolition of affidavit and attestation by Gazetted Officer and adoption of self-certification in KVS-reg.

Sir/Madam,

In pursuance of the Ministry of Personnall Public Grievances & Pensions D.O. letter No.K-11022/67/2012-AR dated 17.07.2014, read with Govt. of Punjab Memo No.3/7/2010-Trg.(3)/1007 dated 10.03.2010, the competent authority, KVS has decided to implement the following in KVS with immediate:-

1 . Self -attested photocopy of Date of Birth Certificate by the parents/legal guardian of the child should be accepted, at the time of grant of admission instead of attestation by a Gazatted Officer/any other Authority.

2. All self-attested photocopy of testimonials from the candidates appointed in KVS be accepted instead of attestation by a Gazatted officer/any other Authority.

3. However, the self attested photocopies of Date of Birth certificate & other testimonials must be verified from the original documents for authenticity and a certificate to this effect must be recorded by Principal/Head of Office etc on the photocopy of the document before placing it on records.

This may be circulated among all Kendriya Vidyalayas functioning under your administrative jurisdiction with the instructions that the same may be brought to the notice of all staff members under proper acknowledgement. These instructions be followed by all Regional Offices/ZIETs Joint & KVs Commissioner meticulously.

Sd/-

(Dr.E.Prabhakar)

Joint Commissioner (Pers.)

Source:http://kvsangathan.nic.in/GeneralDocuments/ANN-18-02-16.PDF

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Grant of House Rent Allowance to Railway employees posted to new Zones/new Divisions

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

(RAILWAY BOARD)

RBE No: 20/2016

No.E(P&A)II-98/HRA-6

New Delhi, dated 17.02.2016

The General Manager/CAO’s

All Indian Railways & Production units.

Sub.: Grant of House Rent Allowance to Railway employees posted to new Zones/new Divisions – Regarding.

Attention is invited to the instructions contained in Board’s letters of even number dated 9.3.2004, 9.8.2005, 9.8.2006, 12.12.2007, 24.10.2008, 10.12.2009 , 01.07.2013 and 24.07.2014 on the above subject.

2. The matter has been considered by the Board subsequent to issue of letter No. E(G)2009 QR 1-2 dated 20.10.2014 and it has been decided that railway employees posted to ECR and NWR may be allowed house rent allowance upto 31.12.2015 on the same terms and conditions laid down in the letter of even number dated 09.03.2004 ibid and as amended/clarified from time to time.

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

Sd/-

(Salim Md. Ahmed)

Dy.Director/E(P&A)-II

Railway Board

Source: NFIR

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Pay Rise 54% in 6th CPC – 7th CPC Recommended only 14.3% - NFIR

The need for fixing the minimum wages at Rs 26,000/- and modifying the multiplying factor was explained in detail with full justification.

NFIR

National Federation of Indian Railwaymen

3, CHELMSFORD ROAD, NEW DELHI – 110 055

Affiliated to :

Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC)

International Transport Workers Federation (ITF)

No: II/95/Pt VIII

Dt:19th February, 2016

MESSAGE

On the Invitation of Shri R.K. Chaturvedi, Convener, Implementation Cell, Ministry of Finance Dr M. Raghavaiah, Chairman/NJCA & GS/NFIR and Shri Guman Singh, Member/NJCA & President/NFIR representing Central Government Federations/Associations attended the meeting at North Block, New Delhi at 11.00AM on 19th February 2016 and explained NJCA’s 1 to 26 charter of demands with full justification for every demand.

The need for fixing the minimum wages at Rs 26,000/- and modifying the multiplying factor was explained in detail with full justification. The leaders drew the attention of Shri Chaturvedi to Page No 63 of 7th CPC which is as follows:

It is clear from above that the pay rise is only 14.3% in 7th CPC, which is causing lot of resentment and unrest among 34 lakh Central Govt Employees belonging to Railways, Defence, Postal etc., Mr R.K. Chaturvedi assured to explain the views expressed by NJCA leaders to the Cabinet Secretary and stated that within 10-15 days a meeting between NJCA, Empowered Committee and the Implementation Cell will be held for further discussions.

The NJCA leaders made it ample clear that in the event of No Negotiated Settlement all the central government employees will be compelled to serve Strike Notice on 11th March 2016 and proceed on strike from 6.00AM on 11th April 2016.

As already decided by NJCA all the Central Govt Employees must prepare themselves for Indefinite Strike from 11th April 2016.

Sd/-

(Marri Raghavaiah)

CHAIEMAN/NJCM & GS/NFIR

Source: NFIR

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Good News for Central Govt Employees! DA likely to be hiked to 125% from existing 119% - zeenews

New Delhi: Narendra Modi government is likely to hike dearness allowance (DA) by 6 percent to 125 percent.

The likely increase in dearness allowance by six percent to 125 percent from existing 119 percent would benefit over 10 million central government employees and pensioners.

The new rate of DA will be implemented from January 1, 2016, which will be applicable for 4.8 million central government employees and 5.5 million pensioners. DA is paid as a proportion of basic pay of employees.

The proposal to hike DA is moved by the Finance Ministry on the basis of accepted formula for calculation. The Union Cabinet approves the DA hike for its employees.

The Centre revised DA twice in a year on the basis of one year average of retail inflation for industrial workers as per the accepted formula.

Earlier in September last year, DA was increased to 119 percent from 113 percent which was effective from July 1, 2015. In April last year, the government had hiked DA by 6 percentage points to 113 percent of their basic pay with effect from January 1, 2015.

Source:www.zeenews.india.com

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