Friday 11 November 2016

Record note of the meeting on DoPT-Specific allowances held on 25.10.2106

RECORD NOTE OF THE DISCUSSION ON DOPT-SPECIFIC ALLOWANCES, HELD WITH THE STAFF-SIDE, NATIONAL COUNCIL (JCM) AT 3.00 P.M. ON 25.10.2016 UNDER THE CHAIRMANSHIP OF SECRETARY (P).

A discussion on the DoPT-specific allowances with the Staff-Side National Council (JCM) was held at 3.00 p.m. on 25.10.2016 under the Chairmanship of Secretary(Personnel) in Room NO.119, North Block, Delhi in compliance with the direction contained in the minutes of the 2nd meeting of the Committee on Allowances held on 01.09.2016 that every Ministry/Department should firm up its views/comments on allowances relating to the Ministry/Department after holding discussion with their Staff Associations.

2. List of participants is at Annexure.

3. At the outset JS(JCA) welcomed all the members of the Staff side of the National Council of JCM to the discussion on department specific allowances. JS(JCA) informed that in the second meeting of the Committee on Allowances it was decided that all the department specific allowances will be discussed with the JCM. After a brief introduction it was decided to discuss the following department specific allowances on which has received the comments for Staff-Side.

Children Education Allowance (CEA)
The Staff-Side has stated that the benefit of Children’s Education Allowance should be extended to the Graduate and Post Graduate levels also. They have informed that the private institutions are charging exorbitantly. So, subject to a ceiling on tuition fees and hostel fees, the CEA should be extended to the Graduates and Post Graduates level. Staff-Side has informed that they had also represented to the Pay Commission for simplifying the procedure wherein they had suggested that reimbursement should be based on the bonafide certificates from the schools where the children are studying. This suggestion has been accepted by the Pay Commission and the Staff-Side has requested that it should be implemented.

On the issue of DOPT’s circular on e-receipt, Secretary, DoPT clarified that this circular had been issued before the government accepted the 7th pay Commission recommendation.

(Action: JS(Estt.)

Night Duty Alloyance (NDA)

Staff-Side has pointed out that the Night Duty Allowance (NDA) is still being paid at the 4th CPC rate. Even though there is a Board Of Arbitration award in favour of employees that from 01.01.1996 it should be given in the 5th CPC pay scale, the government did not accept the arbitration award and even today employees are getting it at the same rate as it was prevalent during the 4th CPC period. In the Ministry Of Defencc a lot of litigation had taken place and the matter went up to the Supreme Court. Hon’ble Supreme Court directed that it should be paid on the basis of the actual pay drawn and that NDA should be revised w.e.f. 01.04.2016 at the 6th CPC pay scale which has been implemented by the government. However, the audit authorities came up with an objection that there is a ceiling for it which has been objected to by the Staff-Side.

Apart from that, the 7th pay Commission has recommended that it should be worked out with the actual pay of the employee being are criterion. However, in spite of that, except for the Ministries of Defence and Railways, employees working in other Ministries/Departments are getting it at 4th CPC rate. Thus, the absence of uniformity on this allowance across Ministries/ Departments is Very glaring which, according to the Staff-Side, is a principal source of litigation and will continue to remain so. Therefore, the Staff-Side has suggested that an early revision of the without ceiling, and on the basis of the actual basic pay, and extending it to whoever is asked to do night duty will go a long way in reducing litigations in the future.

(Action: JS(Estt.)

Over Time Allowance (OTA)

Staff-Side has pointed out that there are two types of over time duty. One is covered under the Factories Act, 1948, and the other is for the office staff. In the first case, since it is a statutory obligation, the pay Commission has not recommended anything on it. But for those Central Government employees who are not covered under the statutory provisions of the Factories Act, OTA is paid at a single rate of Rs.15.85/- Only and, that too, fot the first hour immediately after the scheduled office Closing time, it is Nil. In case of OTA there is also an arbitration awrad from 01.01.1996 that it should be at par with the 5th CPC pay scale. However, neither it has been implemented not have the rates been revised.

The Staff-Side has stated that if an employee is asked to word after office hours, the rate of OTA Should be as per 7th CPC Pay Scale. Staff-Side is of the opinion that overall maens working after office hours, and asking an employee to work beyond office hours automatically entitles him/her to this allowance. The Over Time rates should also be above the normal level. It was pointed out by them that as per 7th CPC. an is paid @ Rs.75/hour; whereas overtime allowance is @ Rs.15.85/- only. Even an outsider employed on casual basis is being paid hourly wages which are more than OTA. The Staff-Side is strongly of the view that if government is deploying a person on overtime work then he has to be paid at least according to the rate of salary which he is getting.

(Action: JS(Estt.)

Cash Handling Allowance (CHA)
Staff-Side has informed that the 7th CPC recommendation on its abolition is based on the fact that in most of the offices today salary disbursement is not made in cash. It is credited to the individual bank accounts. But cash transactions do take place in certain offices like the Post Offices where cash handouts are made under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. PLI is also another example. Therefore, if it is stopped all of a sudden, no person will show interest in working as cashiers and take the additional responsibility of handling huge amounts of cash. Therefore, the Staff-Side has contended that till all cash transactions are ehminated, CHA should continue.

It was also pointed out by them that this allowance depends on the amount of cash transaction; when the volume of cash transaction comes down, the allowance also proportionately come down.

(Action: JS(Estt.)

Uniform related allowances subsumed in a single Dress Allowance (including shoes)

Staff-Side has informed that the 7th Pay Commission has recommended that Persons Below Officers Rank (PBOR) should be given Dress Allowance @ Rs.10,000/- per month. There are 5 Ordnance Factories under Ministry of Defence where persons are exclusively deployed to produce special high altitude dresses for the combat forces of the army. 12000 employees are working in these 5 factories. Therefore, if a uniform rate like this is maintained, it will have an adverse impact on the quality of these high altitude uniforms and will thus jeopardise the safety of the armymen and the nation as a whole. Staff-Side is stated to havc already made a request to M/o Defence not to implement this recommendation. Army has also taken a stand that this will result in substandard or sub quality material So this recommendation on the Dress allowance for PBOR should not be implemented.

As far as Civilian employees are concerned, it has been stated that the 7th CPC has recommended four slabs of Dress Allowances for various categories. One of the categories is called ‘others’. Whereas, in the Department of Posts there are about 75,000 postmen and Multi Tasking Staff wearing uniform. There is no mention about these postmen and multi tasking staff in any of the categories shown by the Pay Commission. If it is presumed that they come under ‘Others’, then they will be getting Rs.5,000 Whereas at present they are getting around Rs.7,000 plus washing allowance. As such a separate category should be there for postmen and MTS also and the allowance should be Rs.10,000/-.

It has also been pointed out that there are many categories like canteen employees, security staff, chowkidars which have not been mentioned and who are eligible for uniform or uniform allowances. It has to be clarified whether these categories will be covered under ‘others’. Staff-Side has stated that whosoever is getting Dress Allowance as on today should condnue to get that. Staff-Side has also informed that the recommendations on Dress Allowance have created a lot of discrimination among staff working in similar circumstances.

Staff-Side has also drawn attention to the Dress Allowance with respect to the Nursing Staff. It has been stated that earlier also Nursing Staff were not given normal washing allowance or dress allowance considering the importance or the peculiar conditions prevailing in hospitals. Now they have also been bracketed in the general category. They were getting Rs.750 as Uniform Allowance and Rs.450 as Washing Allowance per month. Now there is no separate category that has been given to them. For them a different dispensation was made taking into account their special requirements because they work in such an environment where their uniforms require regular washing entailing a substantial expenditure. As these have not been accounted for in the 7th CPC, thc nursing staff should have a special dispensation, as is strongly felt by the Staff-Side.

JS (JCA) has requested Staff-Side to submit a note on the justification or break-up of the amount of Rs.32,400(maximum) as suggested by them and the Staff-Side has agreed to provide the same.

Secretary, DOPT summed up the demands of the Staff-Side by observing that those who were getting Dress Allowances, their allowances should not Come down. And the categories of the employees which had special dispensation in the past and have not been mentioned this time or have been clubbed together with other categories need clarification.

(Action: JS(JCA)/Staff Side)

Risk-Allowance

The Staff-Side has informed That Ministry of Defence is engaged in arms and ammunitions manufacturing etc. In the process of manufacturing them, the staff engaged for this purpose, have to handle hazardous chemicals, acids and so many Other poisonous combinations. Cabinet has approved 45 risk operations pertaining to Defence civilian employees. Apart from that, because of the technological developments taking place fast and as the requirement of the arrned forces is increasing for getting modern equipments, ammunitions and explosives, new risk operations have also come into existence of which Ministry of Defence is aware and have recommended also accordingly. In spite of this, the existing Risk Allowance has been abolished by the Pay Commission. It has been pointed out by the Staff-Side that it has not been subsumed under the risk and hardship matrix. Rather it comes in the abolition list. In no matrix are the risk operations of Defcnce civilians are covered. Staff-Side has informed that they have discussed this with Defence Secretary and Defence Ministry is going to recommend in favour of its inclusion in one Of the matrix.

In response to the query of Secretary, DOPT as whether the activities which have been considered to be risky have all been identified, Staff-Side has clarified that it has been identified by a high level committee and approved by the Cabinet, 45 risk operations have been identified and approved. But within a period of 2 decades, lot of new ammunitions and new explosives have come in the arsenal, alongwith a lot of hazardous chemicals and acids. So, M/o Defence has again appointed a committee and they have identified that all these ate additional risk operations over and above the 45 identified, where Defencc Civilian employees are actively involved. But the Pay Commission has abolished Risk Allowance. So this has to be incorporated in onc of the risk matrix.

(Action: JS(Estt.)

Other Items

Staff-Side has pointed out that in the 7th CPC report it has been stated that any allowance not mentioned and hence not reported to the Commission shall cease to exist immediately. They have requested that this recommendation should be rejected. On the contrary, the administrative Ministries should come forward and recommend for their abolition or retention.

Staff-Side has also stated that 7th CPC has abolished all advances completely. Noting that we regularly celebrate a number of festivals like Diwali, Holi, Eid and keeping the general sentiment in mind, they are of the view that advances are very necessary. Moreover, these advances arc required to be paid back to the government.

On Family Planning Allowance, the Staff-Side has stated that since the Government has not changed its Family Planning policy, the allowance should be continued, At least in the case of those people who were getting it they should continue to get as they have fulfilled all conditions when the allowance were granted. Otherwise be drop in their emoluments.

Timely and advance action in convening of Departmental Promotion Committee meeting in terms of Model Calendar - regarding.

Saturday 5 November 2016

MEETING ON ALLOWANCES

A meeting on Department of Posts specific allowances was held with the Committee on allowances under chairmanship of Secretary Finance and secretary Expenditure. From Department of Post, Secretary (Post), Member (Personal), DDG (Personal), DDG (Estates) , DDG(Estt. & SR), Director Estt. attended the meeting. From Staff Side Com. R.N. Parashar, Secretary General NFPE,Shri Theagarajan, Secretary General FNPO & Shri S.K. Mishra , Secretary General, BPEF, participated in the  meetingMany other officers of DOP&T, Finance, Health Ministries also participated.                                                                 
           
Three meetings were held with Department and Administration and Unions after discussing threadbare came to conclusion and accordingly presentation was prepared which was presented before the Committee. Secretary (Finance) shown much interest and he asked so many questions and raised queries on each allowance and asked the Department to submit a report on financial implications.

The meeting was concluded in a very co-ordial manner and we should hope for positive outcome. On the following allowances we submitted our proposal which is mentioned below:

          Fixed Monetary Compensation to Postman:

            Proposal: Not to abolish the allowance. It is proposed to grant Rs.300/- per day for additional full beat and Rs.150/-  per day for sharing of beat(half beat) and further proposed to increase by 25% every time when DA  reaches at    50%.(Department earlier proposed that allowance as Rs.200/- and Rs.100/-         but on the demand of Federations, now it is proposed  same as Rs.300/- and   Rs.150/-.

          Special Allowance to PO & RMS Accountants:

            Proposal: The allowance is required to be continued as this special allowance has been sanctioned in lieu of higher pay scale. If abolished, one  increment is to be allowed on promotion which costs more to the Department.Therefore, it is proposed to grant special allowance equivalent to one     increment which will be kept separately and not to be added in the basic pay.Other conditions applicable to present allowance will remain in force. (i.e. if      this allowance  is drawn for three  years it will be  added to basic pay while pay fixation on promotion.)

          Cycle Allowance to Postman:

          Proposal: Must be retained while doubling the amount to Rs.180 p.m. and         further increase by 25% every time the DA increases by 50%.

          Cash Handling and Treasury Allowance:

            Proposal: The Cash Handling Allowance should be retained and     need to           be doubled and further increase by 25% every time the DA increases   by 50%.

           Fixed Medical Allowance:

            Proposal: 33 Postal Dispensaries may be merged with CGHS.All Postal Pensioners irrespective of their participation in CGHS while in     service should be covered under CGHS after making requisite subscription.Till such time, the FMA may be allowed @ Rs.2000/- per month enhancing from Rs.500/- p.m.  being paid at present.

          Headquarter Allowance:

Proposal: Proposes to retain the Headquarters Allowance at the uniform rate of 10% of the basic pay subject to ceiling of Rs.9000/- per month.

         Overtime Allowance:

 Proposal: Department recommends to grant additional duty allowance in lieu of OTA in operative offices only  for performing additional duty of absentee official.

It is proposed  Rs. 100/- per hour maximum of three  hours in a day and further  increase by 25% every time the DA increases by 50%.

Besides these we demanded S.B.Allowance and Supervisory allowance to be continued and enhanced proportionately. 

Setting up of Departmental Anomaly Committee of Department of Posts

National Union Meeting with Secretary,DoP,Sri.B.V.Sudhakar


Memorandum submitted to Secretary India post by Shri D.kishan Rao,GS NAPE Gr-C along with Rajat Das-president, Shivakumar-cs Bangalore,Sivaji- CS AP,Lakshminarayana CS GDS AP,L.krishnaprasad-RR Visakhapatnam and submitted Proposals  regarding GDS compassionate appointment,GDS Rule-3 transfer,NUGDS trade union facilities,dettachment of GDS MC/MD duties to BPM,and discussed about allowances of departmental employees.A detailed memorandum submitted to Secretary for recommending Govt.of India regarding GDS pay committee recommendations .

They also met Member (P),discussed about bench mark for LSG MACP promotions and Post Masters Grade problems in view of new developments .The Delegation also met Member Technology and submitt a letter for immediate implementation of DoP Orders Strengthining the single handed BO's before the RICT implementation. Also met DDG (IR) for strengthining the Foreign Post and improving the quality of International Mail & revenue.

Also met concerned Officer and it was told that the Key will be with in a week.

Friday 28 October 2016

Wish you all a Happy Deepavali Greetings

Image result for deepavali greetings in kannadaImage result for deepavali greetings in english


Dearness Allowance hiked by 2 per cent for central government employees, pensioners

The Cabinet on Thursday approved the 2 per cent hike in Dearness Allowance (DA) for Central Government employees and pensioners, effective from July 1, 2016. The proposal to hike the DA was granted during the Cabinet meeting today afternoon at the Prime Minister’s Office. 
Dearness allowance is provided to employees and pensioners to minimise the impact of price rise on their earnings. Earlier this year, the government hiked dearness allowance by 6% to 125 % of the basic pay. It was later merged into the basic pay, based on the recommendation of the 7th Pay Commission Panel.

ORDERS OF ENHANCED CEILING OF BONUS @ RS 7000/- FOR GDS ISSUED BY DEPARTMENT OF POST. COPY OF ORDER PUBLISHED HEREUNDER.



Honour the decision or we shall go on path of struggle – Secy/Staff side to Government of India

No.NC/JCM/2016
Dated: October 26, 2016
Hon’ble Minister for Finance,
Ministry of Finance,
(Government of India),
New Delhi
Respected Sir,
We solicit your kind reference to the discussions; the representatives of the Staff Side JCM had with you on 30th June 2016 in the wake of impending strike action that was to commence from 11th July 2016. Hon’ble Home Minister, Shri Rajnath Singh, your goodself, Hon’ble Minister for Railways, Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu and Hon’ble MoSR, Shri Manoj Sinha, on having detailed deliberations with the Staff Side, had appreciated that, the Central Government employees were not generally happy with the decision taken by the Union Cabinet on 29th June 2016, while accepting the recommendations of the 7th CPC, particularly in the matter of Minimum Wage and Fitment Formula. After detailed discussions it was agreed by your goodself and other Hon’ble Ministers present in the meeting that, the government would address the grievances of the employees, whereupon the NJCA had decided to defer the “Indefinite Strike”. Accordingly, a committee was set-up to consider the demand of Revision of Minimum Wage and Fitment Formula with a mandate to finalize its report within four months.

We (Staff Side) interacted with the said committee, headed by Shri P.K. Das, Addl. Secretary(Expenditure), on 24.10.2016. It would be quite appropriate to bring to your kind notice that, we have felt, during the course of meeting, that, the proceedings of the committee are extremely disappointing and are left with the impression that, the committee is dilly-dallying the issue.
We are, therefore, left with no option, but to address this communication with the fervent hope that, your goodself will direct the said committee to interact with the Staff Side in a fruitful manner and arrive at a mutually agreeable proposal on the issues of Minimum Wage and Fitment Formula.
We have full trust and believe that, the government would honour the decision taken in the meeting held on 30.06.2016 in your benign presence, and suitable direction will be given to the committee to complete the assigned task within the stipulated time frame in a satisfactory manner.
It would be the most unfortunate development, we regret to state, if we are constrained to tread the path of struggle once again in the event of the committee not coming up with a satisfactory settlement.
With Kind Regards!
Yours faithfully,
sd/-
(Shiva Gopal Mishra)
Secretary

Source: http://ncjcmstaffside.com/

Success is having many fathers always but

GDS  Bonus struggle end with the victory. Now everyone claims ,victory is ours.
FNPO & NUGDS steps on this issue required to  be recorded here.
1st September 2016 Department of post issued an order revising bonus to Rs.7000- to Departmental employees excluding GDS.
3rd September 2016   the Nugds General secretary wrote a  letter to The Secretary ,Department of  Post revise the Bonus ceiling to GDS employees.
15th September 2016   Our Federation sent a letter to  The Chairman ,Postal Board request to revise Bonus ceiling to GDS Colleagues.
16th September 2016    Postal JCA sent a letter to The Chairman, Postal Board request to revise Bonus ceiling to GDS
23rd September 2016    NFPE announced Dharna programme without consulting FNPO for this we posted  our view on the website the following , We don’t want comment more on this issue now. FNPO representatives will meet concerned officers next week. Till such time we don’t want to announce any agitation programme . GDS colleagues are requested to understand the situation. FNPO will not aggravate any issues under any circumstances, at the same time,we will not compromise core issue at any cost.   
26th September 2016   We met the officers and understand the Developments.We feel some kind of  agitation programme is necessary
28th September 2016   Postal JCA issued Joint programme
Meanwhile ,some of the colleges viewed SGFNPO & NUGDS stand differently.we just ignore it at that.
19th  October Member (P) called us and requested to withdraw the strike decision . we refused to withdraw.
27th October department issued order revising ceiling from 3500 to 7000 .
I t is a victory of Postal JCA. Not single Federation.we strongly believe unity.
Our sincere thanks to colleagues who journey with us. We also thank colleagues who placed different views against our programme.
Our sincere thanks to Chairman, Postal Board ,Member (P),DDG(Esst)& Director (VP&DE) for their  steps to settle the emotion issue of  poor GDS employees.         

Wednesday 19 October 2016

Today Directorate called for meeting with staff side to discuss on Allowances. Note submitted by PJCA is furnished below



NOTE ON ALLOWANCES
POSTAL JOINT COUNCIL OF ACTION
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF POSTAL EMPLOYEES
FEDERATION OF NATIONAL POSTAL ORGANISATIONS 
PF-No.PF-PJCA/2016                                                               Dated:16th September, 2016
To
          The Secretary,
          Department of Post,
          Sansad Marg,
          Dak Bhawan,
          New Delhi-110 001
NOTE ON ALLOWANCES
1.   The recommendation of the 7th CPC that Tough Location Allowance will not be admissible alongiwth Special Duty Allowance (SDA) should not be accepted by Government.
In para 8.10.62 of the 7th CPC the following recommendation is made –
Para 8.10.62 -  There are some “Special Compensatory” Allowances that are based on geographical location and are meant to compensate for hardship faced by employees posted in such places. It is proposed to subsume these allowances under the umbrella of “Tough Location Allowance”.
In Para 8.10.63 the Commission made the following recommendations –
“The Tough Location Allowance will, however, not be admissible along with Special Duty Allowance”.
At present, special allowances are paid in the following places along with Special Duty Allowance.
(a)  Assam and North Easter Region – Special Compensatory allowance paid alongwith Special Duty Allowance.
(b) Andaman & Nicobar Islands – Special Compensatory Allowance paid alongwith Island Special Duty Allowance.
(c)  Tripura Special Compensatory Remote Locality Allowance paid along with Special Duty Allowance.
Demand of the staff side:       In all the above cases “Tough Location Allowance” may be paid alongwith Special Duty Allowance. Withdrawal of any of the above allowances, will result in substantial financial loss to the employees. An existing benefit should not be withdrawn, under the pretext of 7thCPC’s unjustified recommendation.
2.   Special Duty Allowance in N. E. Region should be uniform for all at 30%.
In Para 8.17.115 the 7th CPC made the following observation –
“Special Duty Allowance (SDA) is granted to attract civilian employees to seek posting in North Eastern and Ladhak Regions, in view of the risk and hardship prevailing in these areas. Currently the rate of SDA is 37.5% of Basic Pay for AIS officers and 12.5% of Basic Pay for other employees.
In para 8.17.118 the Commission made the following recommendation –
“Accordingly in line with our general approach of rationalizing the percentage based allowance by a factor of 0.8, SDA for AIS officers should be paid at the rate of 30% of Basic Pay and for other civilian employees at the rate of 10% of their basic pay.
Demand of the staff side:  The discrimination between AIS officers and other civilian employees in payment of SDA should not be there and all may be paid at the same rate i.e. at the rate of 30% recommended by the pay commission for AIS officers.
3.   Allowances which are not reported to 7th CPC by the concerned departments.
In para 8.2.5 of the report, the 7th CPC made the following recommendation.
“We have considered all allowances reported to us, in this chapter. Any allowances, not mentioned here (And hence not reported to the commission) shall cease to exist immediately. In case there is any demand or requirement for continuation of an existing allowance which has not been deliberated upon or covered in this report, it should be re-notified by the ministry concerned after obtaining due approval of Ministry of Finance and should be put in the public domain”.
Demand of the Staff Side: The above recommendation should not be accepted, as it amounts to penalizing employees for the fault of the departmental heads. The following allowance which are not reported to the commission should be retained and enhanced.
(a)  PO & RMS Accountants’ Special allowance
Postal Assistants and Sorting Assistants of Postal department are posted as PO & RMS Accountant after passing a qualifying examination. Taking into consideration their work which require much skill, application of mind, and knowledge of all rulings, Special allowance is granted to them. This allowance may beretained and enhanced.
4.   Savings Bank Allowance in Post offices:
In Department of Posts, Savings Bank Allowance is granted to Postal Assistant working in Post Office Savings Bank (POSB) for shouldering strenuous and complicated nature of Savings Bank work. Postal Assistants need to qualify an aptitude test to get this allowance. The current rates are Rs.300/- per month for fully engaged staff and Rs.150/- per month for partially engaged staff.
In para 8.10.80 of the report, the Commission recommended as follows:
“Savings Bank Allowance be abolished as the justification provided by the concerned ministry for the grant of this allowance is not sufficient for their continuance”.
Demand of staff side:        Savings Bank Allowance should be retained and enhanced in view of the justification given above.
5.   Special Compensatory (Hill area) Allowance
In para 8.10.50 of the report, the 7th CPC made the following recommendation – “There is hardly any hardship involved at altitude of 1000 meters (more than 3000 feets) above sea level. Hence, it is recommended that the allowance should be abolished.
Demand of the staff side:            The above observation of the commission is not based on ground realities but based on presumption. Hence the above allowance should be retained and enhanced.
6.   Family Planning Allowance
In para 8.17.50 of the report, the 7th CPC made the following recommendations – “The commission recognizes the fact that most of the benefit related to children viz. children Education Allowance, maternity Leave, LTC etc. are available for two children only. Moreover, the level of awareness regarding appropriate family size has also gone up among Government servants. Hence, a separate allowance aimed towards population control is not required. Accordingly, it is recommended that family planning allowance should be abolished.
Demand of the staff side:  The above allowance may be retained. In any case, the Family Planning Allowance already granted should not be withdrawn.
7.   Fixed Medical Allowance
In Para 8.17.51 of the report the 7th CPC observed as follows –
It is granted to pensioners for meeting expenditure on day to day medical expenses that do not require hospitalization, presently payable at the rate of Rs.500/- p.m. Demands have been received to increase the rate of this allowance to Rs.2000/-.
In para 8.17.52 the Commission made the following recommendation-
The Commission notes that the allowance was enhanced from Rs.300/- to Rs.500/- p.m from 19.11.2014. As such, further enhancement of this allowance is not recommended.
Demand of the staff side:   in the memorandum submitted to 7th CPC, the staff side had elaborately explained the justification for enhancing the FMA to Rs.2000/-. As everybody knows, old age persons are suffering from many deceases and as the cost of medicines has increased manifold the expenditure on outdoor medical treatment has also gone up like anything. With Rs.500/- p.m no pensioner can meet the medical expenses. The commission has not conducted any scientific and realistic study, but simply rejected the demand stating that it is enhanced recently. It is once again requested that the FMA for pensioners may be enhanced to Rs.2000/- p.m as in the case of EPF pensioners.
8.   Cash handling Allowance
In para 8.10.9 of the report, the 7th CPC observed as follows: -
It is paid to cashiers working in Central Government departments, for handling of cash. The current rates are –
Average amount of monthly cash disbursed
Rate per month
Below Rs. 50000
230
Over Rs. 50000 upto 200000
450
Over 200000 upto 500000
600
Over 500000 upto 1000000
750
Above 1000000
900
Again in Para 8.10.57 the commission observed as follows: -
Treasury Allowance – This allowance is granted in Department of Posts to Treasurers and Assistant Treasurers working in Head Post offices and large Sub Post offices for handling cash. The present rate is Rs.360/- p.m for handling cash upto Rs.2 lakhs and Rs.480/- p.m. for handling cash more than Rs.2 lakhs.
In para 8.10.80 the commission made the following recommendation
Assistant cashier Allowance, Cash handling allowance and Treasury Allowance –
With technological advances and growing emphasis on banking, these allowances have lost their relevance. Hence it is recommended that not only all salary be paid through banks, but Ministries/departments should work out plans to first minimize and then eliminate all sorts of cash transactions.
Demand of the staff Side:  The recommendation of the Commission is not realistic. Till that time the cash transactions are eliminated the Cash handling allowance and Treasury allowance should be retained and enhanced.
9.   Cycle Allowance
In para 8.15.10 of the report the 7th CPC made the following observation.
“It is paid where the duties attached to the post require extensive use of bicycle and the official concerned has to use and maintain his own cycle for official journeys. The existing rate is Rs.90 p.m.
In para 15.11 the commission made the following recommendation –
“The Commission is of the view that amount of this allowance is megre and the allowance itself is outdated. Hence it should be abolished.
Demand of the staff side:            This allowance is at present given to more than 40000 Postmen staff and about 50000 GraminDakSevaks of the Postal Department. When the commission itself observed that an official using his own bicycle for official duties has to incur expenditure for maintenance of the cycle. When the maintenance work is done for performing official duties, the amount should be reimbursed to the official, whether the amount is megre or not – Hence this allowance should be retained and enhanced.
10.  Overtime Allowance
In para 8.17.97 of the report the 7th CPC made the following recommendations -
Hence while this commission shares the sentiments of the predecessors that Government offices need to increase productivity and efficiency and recommended that OTA should be abolished (except for operational staff and industrial employees who are governed by statutory provisions) at the same time it is also recommended that in case the Government decides to continue with OTA for these categories of staff for which it is not statutory requirement, then the rate of OTA for such staff should be increased by 50% from their current levels.
Demand of the staff side:            OTA rates are revised in the year 1987. For the last 30 years no revision has taken place. Eventhough an arbitration award for enhancement is given, the same is also pending implementation for the last 20 years. After 7th CPC revision, one hour wage of an MTS is Rs. 75/- where as rate for one hour OTA is Rs.15.85 only!!! Hence it is requested that overtime allowance wherever sanctioned must be based upon the actual basic pay of the entitled employee.
11.    Dress Allowance
(a)  Para 08.16.14 may be referred. The 7th CPC recommended four slabs of Dress allowance per year for various categories of employees. In the Department of Posts there are about 75000 Postmen and Multi-Tasking staff wearing uniform. Their name is not mentioned in the category of employees shown in the table. Even if it is included in the other categories of staff, then the Dress Allowance per year will be Rs.5000/- only. At present the Postmen/MTS staff of Postal department are getting more than Rs.5000/- for uniform plus washing allowance. Hence it should be made clear under which category the Postmen and MTS staff of Postal department are to be included, in the dress allowance table recommended by the 7th CPC. These official may be granted Rs.10000/- as dress allowance.
(b) It is further demanded that the Dress Allowance ceiling to be raised to Rs.32400 per annum.
     (c) If cloth for dress is provided stitching charges should be revised reasonably.
     (d) Washing allowance should be increased from Rs.90/- to 150/- Rupees per month.
Yours faithfully
                                                                               
(D. Theagarajan)                                                                           (R.N. Parashar)

Secretary General  FNPO                                                     Secretary General NFPE.