Brief of the second meeting of the Committee on Allowances held today under the chairmanship of Secretary, Finance(Expenditure)

Shiva Gopal Mishra

Secretary

National council (staff Side)

Joint Consulative Machinery for Central Government Employees

13-C, Ferozshah Road, New Delhi-110001

E-Mail : nc.jcm.np@gmail.com

No.NC/JCM/2016 Dated: September 1, 2016

All Constituents of

National Council(JCM)

Dear Comrades!

Sub: Brief of the second meeting of the Committee on Allowances held today under the chairmanship of Secretary, Finance(Expenditure), Government of India

To obtain the views of the National Council(Staff Side)(JCM) on the recommendations of 7th CPC relating to Allowances, the second meeting of the Committee on Allowances held today under the chairmanship of Secretary, Finance(Expenditure), Government of India, with the National Council(Staff Side) JCM.

From the Official Side, Secretary(Defence), Home, DoP&T, Postal, Chairman Railway Board, J.S.(Estt.), J.S.(Pers.) and J.S.(IC), and from Staff Side(JCM), all the Standing Committee Members were present in the meeting.

At the outset, Secretary(Staff Side)(JCM) as well as Leader(Staff Side)(JCM) and other Standing Committee Member of the NC/JCM(Staff Side) expressed their anguish for non-formation of High Level Committee as was agreed to by the Group of Ministers(Government of India) for settling the issue of Minimum Wage and Multiplying Factor.

The Secretary, Finance(Expenditure) told that, the committee constituted under the chairmanship of Addl. Secretary(Exp.) with J.S.(Pers.), JS(Estt.) and JS(Imp.) as Members has been made only for this purpose. Let us believe that, after the meeting, report of the said committee would be sent to the Government of India for its acceptance.

The Secretary, Finance(Expenditure) asked the Staff Side(JCM) to give their viewpoint in a Note on the Common Demands to implement these, and the Departmental grievances to their respective departments, and after that, a meeting will again be called.

Staff Side(JCM) strongly demanded that, date of effect of Allowance should be 01.01.2016. The Staff Side(JCM) explained its position as well about its demand that, House Rent Allowance should be 10%, 20% and 30% and Transport Allowance must be rationalized and exempted from the Income Tax, Children Education Allowance should be Rs.3,000 and Hostel Subsidy should be Rs.10,000 and these should also be exempted from the Income Tax.

Staff Side demanded that, Post Graduate and Professional Courses should also be covered in Children Education Allowance. The issue of Special Duty Allowance was also raised for N.E. Region by the Standing Committee Members of JCM(Staff Side). Fixed Medical Allowance should be Rs.2,000 with Dearness Allowance Indexation, Over Time Allowance must be given, Small Family Allowance should be continued and Dress Allowance needs to be reviewed. Various Departmental Allowances, which have been abolished, should be allowed to continue, like Breakdown Allowance in the Railways and Fixed Conveyance Allowance to Postal Department employees. All the Standing Committee Members raised various issues related to Allowances.

Comradely yours,

Sd/-

(Shiva Gopal Mishra)

Secretary(Staff Side)

NC/JCM & Convener

Source: http://ncjcmstaffside.com/

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

No.3/1/2015-JCA

Government of India

Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pension

Department of Personnel & Training

Establishment (JCA-I) Section

North Block, New Delhi

Dated the 19 th December. 2015

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Subject:- Minutes of Meeting of Standing Committee of National Council (JCM) Staff Side held on Friday, the 9th October, 2015 under the Joint Chairmanship of JS(AV), DoP&T — regarding.

The undersigned is directed to forward herewith a copy of the minutes of the Meeting of Standing Committee of National Council (JCM) Staff Side held on Friday, the 9th October, 2015 at 1500 hours in Room No. 190, Conference Room, North Block, New Delhi under the Chairmanship of Joint Secretary(AV) for information and necessary action.

Action taken report on the items pertaining to them may also be furnished to this Department at the earliest.

Sd/-

(G. Srinivasan) 

Deputy Secretary (JCA) 

Minutes of the meeting of the Standing Committee of National Council JCM side under the Chairmanship of Joint Secretary( AV), DOP&T with the Staff side at 1500 hours on 09.10.2015

The list of participants who attended the meeting is at Annexure.

2. Welcoming the participants, Ms Archana Varma, Joint Secretary, DOP&T informed that as authorised by the Competent Authority, this meeting has been convened to take stock of the issues raised by the Staff Side in the Charter of Demands submitted by them in July 2015. The purpose of the meeting is to understand the issues in its proper perspective. This meeting would lay the ground work for holding the meeting of Standing Committee under the Chairmanship of Secretary (Personnel) and thereafter the meeting of the National Council.

3. Initially, the finalisation of meetings of National Anomaly Committee meetings held on 29th May 2015 and 9th June 2015 under the Chairmanship of JS(E) was taken up for discussion. It was noted that the draft minutes of 29th May and 9th June 2015 were drafted by the Official Side and sent to the Staff Side for their perusal and concurrence. The Staff Side had proposed certain suggestions/amendments in the NAC meeting minutes. On those suggestions/amendments, the views of Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance had been obtained and the minutes are now ready for finalisation. The Staff Side expressed their concern about delay that had taken place in finalisation of these minutes. They suggested that as per past practice, a meeting may be convened in DOP&T to discuss the draft circulated by the Official side and the suggestions/amendments made by the Staff Side. It was decided that a meeting would be convened by DS (JCA) shortly with the Staff side to finalise the minutes of meeting of NAC held on 29th May and 9th June 2015.

4. Various members of the Staff Side explained the background relating to constitution of the Joint Consultative Machinery (JCM). It was informed that JCM is the negotiating machinery to look into the grievances of the Central Government employees. They informed that the continuous dialogue in the form of JCM helps in avoiding confrontation between employees and the Government through resolution of various disputes that can be settled between them. It was noted that the meeting of National Council of JCM had not been convened for more than five years and therefore there is urgent need for convening the meeting of the National Council. Noting that the last meeting of the Standing Committee was held in February 2015 at the level of Secretary (Personnel), the Staff Side suggested that a meeting of the Standing Committee, at the level of Secretary (Personnel), should be convened at the earliest.

5. Thereafter, the agenda items which were listed in the Charter of Demands submitted by the Staff Side were taken up for discussion. The Agenda items discussed and the discussions held on those items are summarised in succeeding paragraphs:-

(a) Effect wage revision of Central Government employees from 1.1.2014

(b) Ensure 5 year wage revision in future

(c) Grant interim relief and merger of 100% D.A.

(d) Ensure submission of 7th CPC report within the stipulated time frame of 18 months

All these agenda items are linked to the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission and were taken up together. The Staff Side noted that in the case of banks and public sector undertakings, the Government has been considering 5 year wage revision and similar facility should also be considered for the central government employees. It was informed by them that the 5th Pay Commission had fixed the tenure of pay revision as 10 years. However, as the dearness compensation crosses the 50% mark normally over a period of five years, the Government should consider pay revision over a periodicity of 5 years. The Staff Side further demanded that the effect of wage revision of central government employees be from 1.1.2014. It was further demanded that as the 7th CPC has been given extension of time to submit its report, the Government should consider granting interim relief and merger of 100% Dearness Allowance.

The Official Side informed that pay revision of Central Government employees based on the recommendations of Pay Commission has generally been made after a gap of 10 years. The last such revision is effective from 1.1.2006 based on the recommendations of the 6th Pay Commission. The Government set up the 7th Pay Commission in February 2014, ahead of the general 10 year interregnum. Therefore, as regards implementation of pay revision from 1.1.12014, the same seeks a much shorter interregnum and is not in keeping with the practice so far followed. The TOR of the 7th Pay Commission also require to it recommend the date of effect of its recommendations and, hence, the decision on the date of effect thereof would be taken after the recommendations of the Commission are received.

As regards the payment of interim relief, as the Government set up the Commission well in advance of the 10-year duration from the date of effect of the 6th pay Commission, the question of Interim relief does not arise.

As regards merger of DA with pay, the existing emoluments’ stctrure is based on the recommendations of the 6th Pay Commission which made a specific recommendations against merger of DA. The Official Side, therefore, clarified that at this stage it will not be possible to examine any of the four demands listed in (a) to (d) above.

(e) Include Grameen Dak Sewaks within the ambit of 7th CPC

The Staff Side informed that the Grameen Dak Sewaks are the single largest source of postal services in the country and therefore there is need for including this category within the ambit of 7th CPC.

The representative of Department of Posts informed that there are about 1.75 lakh work force working as Grameen Dak Sewaks. Department of Posts had reportedly recommended bringing them under the ambit of 7th CPC. However, as these employees are not full time government employees, based on the advice of Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, it has recently been by decided to constitute a Single Member Expert Committee to suggest pay revision for these employees.

The Staff Side suggested that if a decision had already been taken to constitute a single member expert committee, instead of setting up a departmental head as the expert committee chief, the Government may consider roping in the services of the 7th CPC Chairman for rendering this service, as the 7th CPC is already aware of the working conditions and other relevant factors of central government employees and would be in a better position to decide the pay revision of Grameen Dak Sewaks. Department of Posts would be requested to examine this suggestion of the Staff Side.

(f) Settle all anomalies of the 6th CPC

The Staff Side informed that as a result of implementation of 6th Pay Commission recommendations, various anomalies have come to the notice of the Staff Side which are conveyed to the Government. Meetings of the joint committee to look into the anomalies have been held but the progress of resolution of anomalies is not satisfactory, as felt by the Staff Side. It was informed that there were more than 58 items of 6th CPC which were discussed by the Anomalies Committee and yet remain unresolved. The Staff Side suggested that the Government should take a view on settlement of all anomalies of 6th CPC expeditiously.

(g) No privatisation, PPP or FDI in Railways and Defence Establishments

The representative of Railways informed that discussions are held regularly with the Staff Side on the issue of PPP or FDI in Railways. Since no meetings with Staff Side are being held by Ministry of Defence, the Staff Side suggested that Ministry of Defence may be requested to hold dialogue with the Staff Side on such issues. DOP&T would accordingly take up the matter with Ministry of Defence.

(h) No corporatisation of postal services

The representative of Department of Posts informed that at present there is no proposal on corporatisation of postal services.

(i) No Ban on recruitment/creation of posts

The Staff Side informed that Department of Expenditure insist on the concept of matching savings for recruitment /creation of posts. In departments like Railways where new posts are to be created or employees are to be recruited for performing new functions like running new trains, maintaining newly created assets etc., this condition is not able to be met and therefore should not be insisted upon. The representative of Department of Expenditure clarified that in case of operational posts which are required for unavoidable operational and functional considerations, the need for not insisting on matching savings is considered on a case-to-case basis. However, as regards the suggestion of the Staff Side to issue a general circular on this issue, he clarified that this issue needs to be examined by the Department of Expenditure.

(j) Scrap PFRDA Act and re-introduce the defined benefit statutory pension scheme.

The Staff Side informed that the implementation of New Pension Scheme and its effect on employees appointed on and after 1.1.2004 is a serious issue which is agitating the minds of central government employees. He informed that they had discussions with Department of Financial Services in the past. However, there has been no progress in solving the issues raised by the Staff Side, especially on the issues relating to social security clauses for employees covered under New Pension Schemes. Reportedly, there is no guarantee of minimum pension or gratuity under the new pension scheme. It was informed that this issue would unite all the central government employees and the Staff Side may consider serious action, including Strike, on this issue.

The Staff Side insisted that the New Pension Scheme should be withdrawn and all those employees who are recruited after 01/01/2004 should be brought under the statutory Pension Scheme. Since the official representatives from the Department of Financial Services under whose purview the NPS falls were not present in the meeting, it was decided that the issue would be further discussed with Department of Financial Services.

(k) No outsourcing; contractorisation; privatisation of governmental functions; withdraw the proposed move to close down the Printing Presses, the publication, form store and stationery departments and medical stores depots. The Staff Side informed that Ministry of Urban Development has fixed a meeting on the issues raised by them concerning that Ministry. The Staff Side was requested to discuss the issues concerning Ministry of Health & Family Welfare with them separately.

(m) Regularise the existing daily rated/casual and contract workers and absorption of trained apprentices; no labour reforms which are not in the interest of the workers

The representative of Ministry of Labour informed that they have been in constant touch with trade unions and other stakeholders on issues concerning the welfare of workers. However, the Staff Side pointed out that in addition to consultation with trade unions, the Government should involve the concerned Staff Side representatives before deciding labour reforms as there are a large number of industrial workers in various departments like Railways, Defence, CPWD etc. The Chairperson requested the officials from the Labour Ministry to examine the request of the Staff Side.

(n) Revive JCM functioning at all levels as an effective negotiating forum for settlement of demands of the Central Government employees The Staff Side submitted that due to non holding of regular meetings at the Departmental Council levels, even smaller issues which can be sorted out through negotiations, are being taken up in various Courts, thereby resulting in a number of court cases to be defended by the departments/Ministries. They suggested that the institutional mechanism of Departmental Council meetings, Standing Committee meetings and National Council meeting may be revived so that there is continuous interaction between the Staff side and the government.

(o) Remove the arbitrary ceiling on compassionate appointments

The Staff Side gave detailed justification for removing the ceiling of 5% on compassionate appointments. After discussions, it was agreed by the Official Side that this issue would be examined by Establishment Division of DOP&T.

(p) Removing the bonus ceiling

The representative of Ministry of Labour informed that the issue of increase in the bonus ceiling is under consideration of the Government. However, the representative of Department of Expenditure clarified that payment of ad-hoc bonus and Productivity Linked Bonus (PLB) applicable to central government employees is not governed by the Payment of Bonus Act, on which certain changes are under consideration of the Government. The Staff Side however felt that any change in Bonus Act would be an indicator while deciding the payment of bonus to the central government employees. The representative of the Department of Expenditure stated that the issue of PLB and adhoc bonus to central Government employees is covered under the TOR of the 7th Pay Commission and, hence, a view in the mater may be taken based on the recommendations of the Commission.

The Staff Side stated that bonus for Central Government Employees was based on an agreement with the staffside and not based on the recommendations of any pay commission. Moreover, every time when the Bonus Act is amended raising the payment ceiling limit, it is extended to Central Government employees also Therefore the Staff Side suggested that as and when the Bonus Act is amended, the same benefit may be considered for extension to the Central Government employees also.

(p) Ensuring five promotions in the Service career

The Official Side noted that this issue is linked to the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission. Therefore, this issue would be examined after receipt of the 7th CPC report.

The Staff Side from Defence Ministry stated that inspite of various instructions issued by DOP&T cadre restructuring of the various categories of Defence Civilian Employees are not taking place for more than 2 decades. They insisted that the cadre restructuring exercise may be completed before submission of the 7th CPC report.

The meeting ended with thanks to the Chair.

Source:http://ccis.nic.in/WriteReadData/CircularPortal/D2/D02est/3_1_2015-JCA-18122015.pdf

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Minutes of the meeting held on 14/7/2010 regarding proposed Central Government Employees and Pensioners Health Insurance Scheme - regarding.

F.No.B.12012/03/2010-CGHS (P)

Government of India,

Ministry of Health & Family Welfare

Department of Health & Family Welfare

Nirman Bhawan, New Delhi

Dated the 6th June, 2011.

Subject: - Minutes of the meeting held on 14/7/2010 regarding proposed Central Government Employees and Pensioners Health Insurance Scheme - regarding.

   The undersigned is directed to enclose a copy of the Minutes of the meeting of Staff Side Members of National Council (JCM) with Joint Secretary (Regulation), Ministry of Health & Family Welfare held on 14/07/2010 regarding proposed Central Government Employees and Pensioners Health Insurance Scheme (CGEPHIS) for information and further necessary action, if any.

sd/-

(JAI PRAKASH)

Under Secretary to the Govt. of India.

Minutes of the meeting of Staff Side Members of National Council (JCM) with Joint Secretary (Regulation) held on 14/07/2010 at 11: 00 AM in the Committee Room of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Nirman Bhawan, New Delhi on the proposed Health Insurance Scheme for Central Government employees and pensioners.

   Shri Vineet Chawdhry, Joint Secretary (Regulation) M/o Health and Family Welfare held a meeting with staff side members of National Council (JCM) on 14th July. 2010. List of the participants in the meeting is at Annexure.

   At the outset, Chairman welcomed the Staff Side members of National Council (JCM) to the meeting to discuss the proposed Central Government Employees & Pensioners Health Insurance Scheme (CGEPHIS), to be rolled out in compliance of the recommendation of Sixth Central Pay Commission and to directions of Committee of Secretaries (COS). He informed the members about the salient features of the Scheme which had already been circulated, and said that:

   • The proposed scheme shall be compulsory for new appointees and new retirees and would be voluntary for existing pensioners and employees.

   • Government may bear upto 75% of the insurance premium share as a subsidy depending upon the eligible categories of the employee. The remaining portion of the premium will be borne by the members as is being done for CGHS.

   • Scheme will have no age limit, therefore member of any age can join the scheme.

   • All pre existing diseases will be covered from day one.

   • He further stated that OPD benefit is not available under the Insurance scheme due to various constraints, however, free OPD consultation will be provided by the networked hospitals and also they will charge the discounted CGHS rates for diagnostics procedures if prescribed during OPD consultation. However, cost of medicines will not be covered in such cases.

   • The scheme will operate on cashless basis on the lines of existing CGHS packages for the treatment taken in the networked hospitals by pensioners beneficiaries and no money is to be paid by the members to the hospitals.

   • The ‘family’ under CGEPHIS has been defined as self, spouse two dependent children and two dependent parents. Dependency criteria will remain same as applicable under CGHS. For including any additional member as a beneficiary under the scheme, the beneficiary would have to bear the entire premium on the additional member without it being subsidized by the Government.

   • The Insurance cover for the family will be Rs. 5 lakh and it will operate on family floater basis. In addition to this, a provision has also been made to create a corporate buffer of Rs. 25 Crore to take care of eventualities in cases where the above limited is exhausted fully and the member/ beneficiary is still undergoing treatment. In other words, although a monetary limit of Rs 5 Iakh has been kept as insurance cover for the family but it is only to decide the insurance premium with the Insurer. In fact, the members will enjoy an unlimited cover for their medical treatment under this Health Insurance Scheme too. Anything over and above Rs. 5 lakh will be borne by the Government.

   • Pre and post hospitalization benefits would also be available to the members.

   • Insurance premium to be paid would be deducted from the salary of the serving employees and pensioners would authorize their banks to deduct the applicable premium.

   • There will be a provision in the scheme for the beneficiaries to opt out of the scheme after three years.

   Shri V. P. Singh, Deputy Secretary (Medical services) informed the members that the Ministry conducted a ‘Demand Survey’ and gave wide publicity through newspaper advertisements all over India and invited response from the target population i.e., employees and pensioners who are willing to join the Scheme when it becomes operational. It was hosted on the website of the Ministry and CGHS website and willingness was invited through email too. The response have been quite encouraging and around 16,000 responses have been received which are being compiled for analysis. Majority of the response were from Non CGHS area and people have shown their willingness to join the scheme. The staff side requested that the outcome of the ‘Demand Survey’ may also be shared with them on its completion, which was agreed to.

   He also informed that as per the information made available by IRDA, 97% of the claims settled by the Insurance companies involved amount of less than Rs 3 lakh annually. Only 0.35 % of the claims were for amount exceeding Rs. 5 lakh annually, the balance falling between the Rs 3 to 5 lakh. Hence the proposed insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh would be adequate for the beneficiaries.

   DR. S. P. Goswamy, National Consultant (Health Insurance), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare informed the members that most of the benefits available under CGHS have been made a part of the CGEPHIS. The CGEPHIS is almost a replica of CGHS. Most of the defined day-care procedures which are covered in CGHS under OPD have been made part of the scheme. Further, in such cases where patients require hospitalization, but the condition of the patient is such that he cannot be shifted to hospital or bed is not available, CGEPHIS shall provide for such medical treatment under domiciliary hospitalization. These cases are part of OPD in CGHS

   Chairman further informed the Staff Side that all possible efforts have been made to make the Scheme suitable for the employees and pensioners retaining in it all the important features of CGHS and CS(MA)Rules, 1944, so that it attracts the target group and provide a freedom of choice in the hands of employees and pensioners, to select the best suitable scheme for them. He sought the views of the Staff Side members of JCM on the Scheme.

   Opening the discussion from the Staff Side, Shri S.K.Vyas Member(Staff side) JCM informed the meeting of their collective view on the scheme and stated that they have been opposing the Health Insurance Scheme all along and they still hold the view that CS(MA) Rules, 1944 is more suitable and it may be extended to all non CGHS areas and should provide cover to the pensioners who have been deprived of this medical facility since long. He further opined that the proposed scheme will also deprive the existing benefits available to the employees and pensioners viz. OPD facilities, coverage to all dependent family members etc. Extension of CS(MA) Rules, 1944, to all pensioners living in Non CGHS areas is their long pending demand. The Staff side unanimously stated that if the Government has already made up its mind to introduce Insurance Scheme, it should be implemented with the following points given due consideration before introduction of the scheme, so that it attracts the prospective members to join the scheme:

   • The Scheme should not be made compulsory for the future employees and pensioners. A voluntary option for joining the scheme must be given to all future employees and pensioners. The choice must be left to them. Especially the future retirees should not be deprived of the CGHS benefits that they have been availing during their service period as per the present scheme.

   • All eligible dependent members of the family may be allowed to join the scheme without any additional financial burden on members. This is being done in the existing CGHS and no financial burden is being imposed on members. Whatever the liability of premium for additional members is worked out; the same may be borne by the Government.

   • As the OPD consultation will be free in networked hospital, the cost of medicines on the prevailing guidelines of the CGHS may be reimbursed to the members. Else, an amount to Rs. 1000 +DA per month as Fixed Medical Allowance (FMA) be paid to them on the analogy of the Transport Allowance. The revised amount of Rs. 300/- per month as FMA is inadequate, considering the ever increasing cost of the medical treatment under the present inflationary conditions.

   • The annual contribution to be made by the employee as his share of the Insurance premium for the Health Insurance policy should not in any case be more than the CGHS contribution applicable for him.

   • Life time contribution in respect of insurance premium may be taken from the pensioners as per the present CGHS provisions (for ten years for life time benefit) and rest may be borne by the government.

   Staff side raised the point about the implementation process of the scheme and enquired about the number of Insurance companies that may be involved in this scheme, as insurers to cover the entire country. Chairman informed the members that it will depend upon the future scenario as it emerges in due course.

   Shri S.K. Vyas reiterated his opinion that the extension of CS(MA) Rules, 1944, to the pensioners living in non CGHS areas would be more economical and cost effective way of addressing their health related issues in comparison to the proposed Health Insurance Scheme (CGEPHIS).

   Shri C. Srikumar raised the issue of revision of Fixed Medical Allowance (FMA) to those employees who are posted in remote areas where AMA is not available. Since the Government has already issued order for revising the FMA for pensioners, necessary order for serving employees may also be issued.

   Chairman assured the Staff Side members of the National Council(JCM) that the Ministry will look into the points raised by them seriously and the concerns expressed by them and suggestions made by them will be given due consideration while finalising the Scheme.

   The meeting ended with a vote of thanks to the chair.

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