Tuesday, October 07, 2014
Will the 7th Pay Commission
Submit an Interim Report to the Government?
Is there any likelihood
that the 7th Pay Commission will submit an interim report to the Central
Government?
The Commission was formed
and its Terms of Reference were given in February 2014. The Commission is
supposed to submit an interim report if the Government asks for it. But, it is
highly unlikely that the Government would.
The Commission can
voluntarily submit an interim report to the Centre. But it also looks as if
they wouldn’t. With only 18 months to submit its recommendations, the
Commission has its hand full. That being the case, it is highly unlikely that
it would volunteer to submit a report.
But, there is always a
chance that the employee federations and unions could pressurize the 7th Pay
Commission into submitting a report. With almost 8 months having passed since
the Commission was constituted, there is a chance that the Commission could
submit an interim report detailing its findings and suggestions.
Informed circles say that
in issues were the Government cannot directly intervene, it could seek the
Commission’s recommendations. There is a general expectation that the much
anticipated DA Merger and interim relief could be granted.
Tuesday, October 07, 2014
Minutes of JCM meeting with
Secretary (Pension) held on 25.9.2014
Bharat Pensioners Samaj
(BPS) has uploaded the details of the meeting held on 25.9.2014 on pensionary
matters…
JCM (on Pension matters)
The meeting was held under
the chairmanship of the Secretary (Pension) at Lok Nayak Bhawan on 25.9.2014.
On behalf of the Staff Side, the following comrades attended.
Com. Shiv Copal Mishra,
General Secretary. AIRF.
Com. Rahal Dasgupta,
President. AIRF.
Com. S.K. Vyas, Advisor,
Confederation of CGE and Workers.
Corn KKN. Kutty, President.
Confederation of CGE and Workers
Com. Srikumar, General
Secretary. All lndia Defence Employees Federation.
After the introduction of
the members of both official and staff side. the Action taken Statement placed
by the official Side of the meeting held on 4.2.2014 was taken up for
discussion
1. Abnormal delay in the
issue of revised PPO to Pre 2007 pensioners/family pensioners.
It was reported that about
26000 PPO of pre 1990 and 10.000 cases of pre-2006 retirees are still awaiting
the issuance of revised PPO. It was reported that the main reason for the delay
is the non availability of records in the case of pensioners. The Staff side
demanded the supply of Department wise break up of the figures to enable them
to take up the issue with the concerned department. This was agreed to. The
Staff side further stated that the issue should not be viewed from the
statistics angle and the official side must appreciate that in the case of pre
1990 cases. the pension remains unrevised for about 20 to 25 years. It may be
that some of the retires/family pensioners might have expired during this
period. The staff side also requested the official side to appreciate the agony
and difficulties of these pensioners. The lack of availability of records
should not be taken as an excuse. After some further discussion, it was agreed
that by the end of 2014, all pending cases would be cleared. In the case of
Railways, the pendency is about 25000 and in the case of Defence the reported
figure was 85,000. It was however noted that serious efforts have been made by
both the Ministries to bring down the number of pending cases drastically.
2. Revision of commutation
table.
The proposal of the official
side was to refer the matter to the 7th CPC. which the start Side objected as
unreasonable and bereft of any purpose The Staff Side pointed out that the 6th
CPC had devised the new commutation table whereby the commutation benefit had
been drastically reduced. When there had been a reduction in the commutation
benefit, the tenancy period of commutation ought to have been reduced. The 6th
CPC has gone on records to state that the period must remain 15 years as there
will have to be sufficient room for cross subsidisation. The Staff Side pointed
out that when the commutation time was fixed at 15 years long time back, the
mortality rate was much higher than it was today and there, there had been no
justification for the recommendations made by the 6th CPC. They also pointed
out that the official side in an earlier meeting had agreed to refer the matter
to an expert committee and subject their recommendation to discussion with the
Staff Side. The 6th CPC was not an expert body on this matter and they had to depend
upon a professional agency. The Staff Side for this reason objected to the
Official Side proposal. The Chairman, after due consideration wanted the
Finance Ministry to appoint an expert committee and refer the issue to that
committee to consider the demand in the light of the interest rate, morality
rate, life expectancy etc.
3. Equitable gratuity under
Rule 50 of Pension Rules.
The suggestion made by the
Staff Side was to change the slab system by introducing a slab upto 11 years
and another upto 20 years. Taking into account the fact that the last slab
system was introduced on the basis of the recommendations of the 5th CPC. the
issue might be referred to the 7th CPC. The Department of Pension has already
referred the same to the 7th CPC and the Staff side has been assured to be
supplied with a copy thereof.
NEW ITEMS:
(A) Increase in Family
Pension:
The demand of the Staff
Side was agreed to be specifically referred to the CPC.
(B) Cashless and hassle-
free treatment in recognised hospital.
The Official side agreed to
ensure that the pensioners are not put to any difficulty in the matter by the
recognised hospitals. When the stafi’ side pointed out that the Health Ministry
had not been paying the dues to the recognised hospital and that has led to the
denial of cashless facility, the Health Ministry denied the same. The Staff
side wanted the Health Ministry officials to immediately convene a meeting as
the last meeting has been held more two years back. The Health Ministry has
decided to look into the matter and explore the possibility of convening such a
meeting within a month’s time.
(c) Finalisation of family
pension cases within a specified period.
The official side pointed
out that the procedure has been simplified and liberalised. The Staff Side
pointed out that the delay is caused more by the attitude than on any factual
deficiency. They. therefore. suggested for the introduction of a provisional family
pension scheme as is the case with the pension for those who face inquiry
proceedings They suggested the grant of 75% of the family pension immediately
on receipt of application and the rest after the scrutiny of the claim. They
also asked for a time frame for finalisation of the claim in as much as the
applications must be disposed of within three months.
The meeting was concluded
with a vote of thanks to the Chair.
Source:
www.scm-bps.blogspot.in
[http://scm-bps.blogspot.in/2014/10/jcmpension-matters.html]
Monday, October 6, 2014
CHENNAI, October 4, 2014
Don’t be surprised
if your neighbourhood postman delivers products you have ordered online, along
with letters.
The department of
posts has recently tied up with various online shopping portals to offer
delivery services.
With e-commerce
growing by leaps and bounds, the postal department, which has a widespread
reach, particularly in rural areas, will bridge the gap in logistics.
The department has
tied up with major e-commerce players, including Amazon, Flipkart, Shopping
Zone India and Naaptol, to help ramp up their delivery system.
“We are also in the
process of tying up with smaller online players. We are delivering more than 80
per cent of the products ordered online to customers across the State on behalf
of some e-commerce firms,” said an official.
A tie-up with
another major online market firm, Snapdeal, is also under way. Soon, customers
need not necessarily visit the nearest philatelic bureau to buy stamps as
Snapdeal will also offer philatelic stamps and first covers of the postal
department.
In Chennai and its
suburbs, nearly 2,300 postmen, postwomen and gram dak sevaks (who are part-time
staff members) attached to 110 post offices will be involved in delivering
goods through various modes, including cash-on-delivery.
T. Murthy, chief
postmaster general, Tamil Nadu circle, said: “We have set up a dedicated
parcel-handling unit in Ekkaduthangal where the products are sorted and
dispatched to various places. We have the capacity to handle over 40,000
parcels daily.”
The department now
handles nearly 28,000 parcels daily and delivers across the State. Of these,
about 30 per cent is delivered in and around Chennai.
“We deliver in a day from the date of booking,
in Chennai, and in a maximum of four days in remote areas. We are processing
the requests of many other e-commerce firms too,” said Mr. Murthy.
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