STRIKE INEVITABLE- NJCA DECIDED TO GO ON STRIKE

THE NJCA MET IN THE JCM STAFF SIDE OFFICE AND DISCUSSED THE STRIKE ISSUE THREAD BARE.FNPO IS REPRESENTED BY THE SG FNPO GENERAL SECRETARIES OF PIII PIV.NUGDS AND IT IS UNANIMOUSLY DECIDED TO  EMBARK UPON A TOTAL INDEFINITE STRIKE FROM 11TH JULY 2016. ALL THE REPRESENTATIVES OF JCM CONSTITUENT ORGANISATIONS WERE PRESENT. THE PJCA CONSISTING OF NFPE FNPO MET SEPARATELY AND ENDORSED THE DECISION.BE SERIOUS AND PREPARE FOR A ROCK LIKE UNITY. THE STRIKE IS TRUSTED UPON US CLOSING THE DOORS OF ALL NEGOTIATING MACHINERY GUARANTEED BY THE CONSTITUTION 

TOMORROW THERE WILL BE PRESS CONFERENCE FROM NJCA.WAIT FOR THE DETAILS 

GENERAL SECRETARY

NAPE GROUP 'C'

Anti Working class Cabinet approval on the VII CPC report

NJCA

NATIONAL JOINT COUNCIL OF ACTOIN

No.NJCA/2016

Dated: June 29, 2016

All Constituents of NJCA,

Dear Comrades!

Sub: Cabinet approval on the VII CPC report

As all of you are aware that the Union Cabinet has accepted the report of the VII CPC today.

It has been noticed that there is no improvement in Minimum Wage and Multiplying Factor as well, which was our hard pressed demand. Instead, wages, as recommended by the VII CPC have been accepted as it is, which is highly disappointing.

Only two committees have been formed, one to take care of the allowances and another for National Pension Scheme, which will submit their reports within four months time.

It is quite unfortunate that, our demand for improvement in the report of the VII CPC has not been considered by the government.

Therefore, it would be quite appropriate that, we should go ahead with our preparations for“Indefinite Strike”, slated to be commended from 06:00 hrs. on 11th July, 2016.

You are also advised to intensify the mass mobilization and strong protests on all the offices and establishments be organized tomorrow, i.e. on 30.06.2016.

With fraternal greetings!

Comradely yours,

(Shiva Gopal Mishra)

Convener

Cabinet approves Implementation of the recommendations of 7th Central Pay Commission

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the implementation of the recommendations of 7^th Central Pay Commission (CPC) on pay and pensionary benefits.   It will come into effect from 01.01.2016.I

The Cabinet has also decided that arrears of pay and pensionary benefits will be paid during the current financial year (2016-17) itself, unlike in the past when parts of arrears were paid in the next financial year. 

The recommendations will benefit over 1 crore employees. This includes over 47 lakh central government employees and 53 lakh pensioners, of which 14 lakh employees and 18 lakh pensioners are from the defence forces.

Highlights:

1.            The present system of Pay Bands and Grade Pay has been dispensed with and a new Pay Matrix as recommended by the Commission has been approved. The status of the employee, hitherto determined by grade pay, will now be determined by the level in the Pay Matrix. Separate Pay Matrices have been drawn up for Civilians, Defence Personnel and for Military Nursing Service. The principle and rationale behind these matrices are the same.

2.            All existing levels have been subsumed in the new structure; no new levels have been introduced nor has any level been dispensed with. Index of Rationalisation has been approved for arriving at minimum pay in each Level of the Pay Matrix depending upon the increasing role, responsibility and accountability at each step in the hierarchy.

3.            The minimum pay has been increased from Rs.  7000 to 18000 p.m.  Starting salary of a newly recruited employee at lowest level will now beRs.  18000 whereas for a freshly recruited Class I officer, it will be Rs. 56100.  This reflects a compression ratio of 1:3.12 signifying that pay of a Class I officer on direct recruitment will be three times the pay of an entrant at lowest level.

4.            For the purpose of revision of pay and pension, a fitment factor of 2.57 will be applied across all Levels in the Pay Matrices.

5.            Rate of increment has been retained at 3 %. This will benefit the employees in future on account of higher basic pay as the annual increments that they earn in future will be 2.57 times than at present.

6.            The Cabinet approved further improvements in the Defence Pay Matrix by enhancing Index of Rationalisation for Level 13A (Brigadier) and providing for additional stages in Level 12A (Lieutenant Colonel), 13 (Colonel) and 13A (Brigadier) in order to bring parity with Combined Armed Police Forces (CAPF) counterparts at the maximum of the respective Levels.

7.            Some other decisions impacting the employees including Defence & Combined Armed Police Forces (CAPF) personnel include :

·               Gratuity ceiling enhanced from Rs.  10 to 20 lakh. The ceiling on gratuity will increase by 25 % whenever DA rises by 50 %.

·               A common regime for payment of Ex-gratia lump sum compensation for civil and defence forces personnel payable to Next of Kin with the existing rates enhanced from Rs. 10-20 lakh to 25-45 lakh for different categories.

·               Rates of Military Service Pay revised from Rs.  1000, 2000, 4200 & 6000 to 3600, 5200, 10800 & 15500 respectively for various categories of Defence Forces personnel.

·               Terminal gratuity equivalent of 10.5 months of reckonable emoluments for Short Service Commissioned Officers who will be allowed to exit Armed Forces any time between 7 and 10 years of service.

·               Hospital Leave, Special Disability Leave and Sick Leave subsumed into a composite new Leave named ‘Work Related Illness and Injury Leave’ (WRIIL). Full pay and allowances will be granted to all employees during the entire period of hospitalization on account of WRIIL.

8.            The Cabinet also approved the recommendation of the Commission to enhance the ceiling of House Building Advance from Rs.  7.50 lakh to 25 lakh. In order to ensure that no hardship is caused to employees, four interest free advances namely Advances for Medical Treatment, TA on tour/transfer, TA for family of deceased employees and LTC have been retained. All other interest free advances have been abolished.

9.            The Cabinet also decided not to accept the steep hike in monthly contribution towards Central Government Employees Group Insurance Scheme (CGEGIS) recommended by the Commission. The existing rates of monthly contribution will continue. This will increase the take home salary of employees at lower levels by Rs. 1470. However, considering the need for social security of employees, the Cabinet has asked Ministry of Finance to work out a customized group insurance scheme for Central Government Employees with low premium and high risk cover.

10.        The general recommendations of the Commission on pension and related benefits have been approved by the Cabinet. Both the options recommended by the Commission as regards pension revision have been accepted subject to feasibility of their implementation. Revision of pension using the second option based on fitment factor of 2.57 shall be implemented immediately. A Committee is being constituted to address the implementation issues anticipated in the first formulation. The first formulation may be made applicable if its implementation is found feasible after examination by proposed Committee which is to submit its Report within 4 months.

11.        The Commission examined a total of 196 existing Allowances and, by way of rationalization, recommended abolition of 51 Allowances and subsuming of 37 Allowances. Given the significant changes in the existing provisions for Allowances which may have wide ranging implications, the Cabinet decided to constitute a Committee headed by Finance Secretary for further examination of the recommendations of 7th CPC on Allowances.  The Committee will complete its work in a time bound manner and submit its reports within a period of 4 months. Till a final decision, all existing Allowances will continue to be paid at the existing rates.

12.        The Cabinet also decided to constitute two separate Committees (i) to suggest measures for streamlining the implementation of National Pension System (NPS) and (ii) to look into anomalies likely to arise out of implementation of the Commission’s Report.

13.        Apart from the pay, pension and other recommendations approved by the Cabinet, it was decided that the concerned Ministries may examine the issues that are administrative in nature, individual post/ cadre specific and issues in which the Commission has not been able to arrive at a consensus.

14.        As estimated by the 7th CPC, the additional financial impact on account of implementation of all its recommendations in 2016-17 will be Rs. 1,02,100 crore. There will be an additional implication of Rs. 12,133 crore on account of payments of arrears of pay and pension for two months of 2015-16.

7th CPC – GOVERNMENT REJECTED ALL THE MODIFICATIONS SOUGHT BY THE NJCA

NO INCREASE IN MINIMUM PAY AND FITMENT FORMULA

HOLD PROTEST DEMONSTRATIONS & RALLY IN FRONT OF ALL OFFICES 

NJCA WILL MEET AT 04:00 PM ON 30^TH JUNE 2016 TO DECIDE FUTURE COURSE OF ACTION. CONTINUE IN FULL SWING MOBILIZATION FOR INDEFINITE STRIKE FROM 11^TH JULY 2016GENERAL SECRETARY

PAY MATRIX FOR 7TH PAY COMMISSION

7th Pay Commission: Key highlights from Arun Jaitley’s press conference

The Union cabinet on Wednesday accepted the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission, giving a substantial raise to the salaries and pensions of central government employees.

The pay panel had in November last year recommended 14.27 per cent hike in basic pay at junior levels, the lowest in 70 years. The previous 6th Pay Commission had recommended a 20 per cent hike which the government doubled while implementing it in 2008.

Here are the highlights from Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s press conference this evening:

1. Minimum pay of Rs 18,000 has been recommended against the existing Rs 7,000 per month
2. Rs 2,25,000 per month is the maximum pay for apex scale and Rs 2,50,000 per month for Cabinet Secretary and others presently at the same pay level
3. Based on the minmum pay, a fitment factor of 2.57 is being proposed to be applied uniformly for all employees
4. The rate of annual increment is being retained at 3 per cent
5. The commission has recommended abolishing 52 allowances altogehter
6. Another 36 allowances have been abolished as separate identities, but subsumed either in an existing allowance or in newly proposed allowances
7. The total financial impact in the FY 2016-17 is likely to be ₹1,02,100 crore

CABINET APPROVED 7 TH CPC RECOMMENDATIONS WITHOUT IMPROVEMENT

THE CABINET APPROVED THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE 7TH PAY COMMISSION ON WEDNESDAY

THE RECOMMENDATIONS WILL RESULT IN A HIKE IN SALARIES OF OVER ONE CRORE GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES AND PENSIONERS.

THE PAY PANEL HAD IN NOVEMBER LAST YEAR RECOMMENDED 14.27 PER CENT HIKE IN BASIC PAY AT JUNIOR LEVELS. THE ENTRY LEVEL PAY HAS BEEN RECOMMENDED TO BE RAISED TO RS 18,000 PER MONTH FROM CURRENT RS 7,000 WHILE THE MAXIMUM PAY, DRAWN BY THE CABINET SECRETARY, HAS BEEN FIXED AT RS 2.5 LAKH PER MONTH FROM CURRENT RS 90,000.

REPORTS SAYS THAT MINIMUM PAY IS RS.18000/ AND MAXIMUM PAY RS.IS 2,50,000

THE PAY COMMISSION RECOMMENDED MINIMUM PAY RS.18,000 WITH INCREASE OF 14.29%. THE SAME IS APPROVED WITHOUT ANY CHANGE.

 DETAIL OF THE PAY COMMISSION WILL BE ANNOUNCED LATER IN A PRESS CONFERENCE.

GENERAL SECRETARY

National Federation of Indian Railwaymen (NFIR)’s General Secretary expressed serious disappointment and unhappiness over the Government’s decision on minimum wage.

NFIR Press Note : Expressed serious disappointment over the Government’s decision on 7th Pay Commission minimum wage

The National Federation of Indian Railwaymen (NFIR)’s General Secretary expressed serious disappointment and unhappiness over the Government’s decision on minimum wage. Although there is justification of upward revision of minimum wage, the Government has not done justice to the employees. Similarly, the multiplier factor has not adequately been revised, Dr. Raghavaiah General Secretary NFIR said.

Dr. Raghavaiah further said that as already decided by the NJCA, Railway employees will go on strike from 6:00 AM of 11th July 2016.

Source : http://www.nfirindia.org/Index.aspx

CIRCLE SECRETARY PROGRAMME.

02/07/2016 TO 04/07/2016- BANGALORE TO CHANDIGARH
04/07/2016 TO 07/07/2016-CHANDIGARH TO NEW DELHI

1)If not now then when?

Our strike date is July11Click the link to read our demands

2)Latest Clarification From Our Dept On Full Time/ Part Time Casual Labourers

3)Promotion and posting in the grade of Member, Postal Services Board, Indian Postal Service, Group 'A'

4)Court dismisses recovery suit against MoC&IT, postal deptClickhere to read more.

6)  HOLD DEMONSTRATION AND RALLIES IN FRONT OF ALL OFFICES AND AT ALL IMPORTANT CENTERS FROM 4TH JULY TO 10TH JULY...........

7)NJCA Rally rightly warned Govt of Consequences if 7th CPC delayed further

8)Recovery of wrongful/excess payments made to Government servants.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ABOVE IN DETAIL

The upcoming launch of India Post Payments Bank-views of our Fedration.

click the above link to read more.

NJCA MEETING ON 25th JUNE, 2016 AT NEW DELHI

Request for counting adhoc service in Army Postal Service for the purpose of grant of financial upgradation under MACP.

MACP On Promotional Hierarchy Case at SC Likely to be Listed on - 22/07/2016

SLP(C) No. 21803/2014 (Union Of India and Ors Vs. M.V. Mohanan Nair) Tagged With Case Numbers SLP(C) No. 22181/2014 , SLP(C) No. 23335/2014, SLP(C) No. 23333/2014, SLP(C) No. 18227/2015

CASE DETAILS                                                           STATUS PENDING

Special Leave Petition (Civil)   21803 / 2014

Petitioner                                                  Union Of India and Ors.

                                                                     Vs.

Respondent                                              M.V. Mohanan Nair

Advocate(Petitioner)                               Mr. B. V. Balaram Das

Advocate(Respondent)                           Mr. C. K. Sasi

Appealed Against                                    High Court Details - Not Available

Matter is Connected To                          Connected Details - Not Available

Subject Matter                                         Matters Relating To Judiciary Matters Pertaining To Employees of District Courts  And Tribunals

Listing Details                                       Likely to be Listed on -  22/07/2016

Centre allows premature closure of PPF account

Deposit scheme can be closed early for higher education, medical expense

NEW DELHI, JUNE 20: 

In a significant move, the Finance Ministry has allowed subscribers of the Public Provident Fund (PPF) to prematurely close their accounts after a minimum of five years for reasons such as higher education or expenditure towards medical treatment.

The Finance Ministry has also retained the interest rates on all small saving products for the second quarter of the fiscal.

On PPF, the Ministry, in a notification, said, the subscribers can close the account if “the amount is required for serious ailments or life threatening diseases of the accountholder, spouse, dependent children or parents…or the amount is needed for higher education of the account holder or the minor account holder.” It further added that supporting documents and bills will have to be produced.

But such subscribers will get one per cent interest less than other accounts. For instance, instead of an interest of the current 8.1 per cent, a subscriber who chooses to prematurely close his PPF account would earn interest of 7.1 per cent on the deposit. At present, withdrawals from the PPF account are allowed after seven years of opening the account. But it is only up to 50 per cent of the total deposit till the end of the fourth year. The account matures after 15 years, when full withdrawal is permitted.

Interest rate

“On the basis of the decision of the government, interest rates for small savings schemes are to be notified on quarterly basis,” said the Ministry on Monday. 

The return on PPF is maintained at 8.1 per cent in the July-September quarter, the same as that in the quarter ending June 30, 2016.

Similarly, the interest rate on the Kisan Vikas Patra has been maintained at 7.8 per cent for a maturity of 110 months, while the return on the five-year National Savings Certificate is 8.1 per cent. The government has moved to a quarterly reset of interest rates on small savings beginning this fiscal. Under the new mechanism, returns on these products are aligned with the market rates of the relevant Government securities, in order to improve the monetary transmission of interest rates by banks.

DOPT SEEKING OPINION ON GRANT OF PAID WEEKLY OFF TO ALL CASUAL WORKERS FOR SIX DAYS WORK

Oral Orders not followed by written confirmation -reg : Directorate Order

First time in 48 years, PPF rate could fall below 8%

Public provident fund (PPF), a popular small saving scheme, is generally sold through post offices. 

NEW DELHI: For the first time since the Public Provident Fund was established in 1968, the interest rate on the government-managed saving scheme could fall below 8%. Interest rates on small savings schemes, including the PPF and the Senior Citizens' Saving Scheme, are linked to the government bond yields and are revised every three months. The last interest rate revision on 19 March saw the PPF rate being cut 60 basis points from 8.7% to 8.1%. 

Now, given that the average 10-year benchmark bond yield has been nearly 7.5% between March and May, analysts believe the rate for PPF could be cut to 7.75%. "The PPF rate is 25 basis points higher than the 10-year benchmark bond yield. So it could be revised to 7.75% for the next quarter," says Manoj Nagpal, CEO of Outlook Asia Capital. If the PPF rate is indeed cut by 25-35 basis points, this would be the first time that the scheme will give less than 8% in its 48-year history. 

However, some experts believe that despite the decline in bond yields, the government will not cut the small savings rate in this quarter. "Given the furore over the rate cut in March, the government may not want to alienate the middle class before the assembly elections in 2017," says a mutual fund manager. 

Analysts point out that even if rates are cut, the PPF would still be a good investment due to the low consumer inflation. Though consumer inflation edged up to 5.76% in May, the PPF will still deliver 2% real rate of return. "PPF offers tax-free returns. It should be the instrument of choice for those in the highest tax bracket," says Mumbai-based financial advisor Amol Joshi. 

If interest rates on small savings schemes are cut, senior citizens will be the worst hit. The interest rate of the Senior Citizens' Saving Scheme was reduced from 9.3% to 8.6% in March. It could now recede to 8.25%. An investment of Rs 10 lakh earned them a quarterly pension of Rs 23,250 till last year. Now it will pay only Rs 20,625

CBI probes misappropriation of over Rs. 1 cr in HPO

Sleuths of Central Bureau of Investigation have launched an enquiry into alleged misappropriation of public money to the tune of over Rs. 1 crore at the Head Post Office (HPO) here. The postal department has placed seven employees, including the prime suspect, a woman, and two Assistant Post Masters, under suspension.

After the department officials exposed the fraud in May and referred the case to the CBI, a seven-member team from the anti-corruption wing visited the HPO on Tuesday and completed the first phase of investigation on Wednesday. They verified the records and raided the premises of an agent.

Sources told The Hindu that the CBI officers had taken some records. The team questioned the husband of the prime suspect, a businessman, while avoiding questioning her as she was pregnant, the sources said.

The CBI officers also raided the premises of Lalitha, who had been a savings account agent at the HPO for more that two decades and believed to have collided with the main suspect. The officials seized some money and savings account passbooks from her premise, the sources said.

As the post of Superintendent of Post Offices for Karaikudi division was vacant for about three months, the department deputed the Senior Superintendent of Post Offices, Virudhunagar, to assist the CBI team for two days, the sources added.

Investigation is said to have revealed that the prime suspect and others misused the software for core banking, kept alive savings bank accounts of five account holders, who offered to close down them, and showed credit in the accounts, but did not deposit the amount.

The head office grew suspicious after a huge amount was “credited” into the accounts towards interest and verified the accounts when the fraud came to light. The main suspect, an MCA graduate who had joined the service as Postal Assistant in 2011, had been committing the fraud since 2014, they said.

She had committed the fraud after office hours, using the user ID and passwords of her colleagues who were in CBI net, the sources said. After making fake deposits into the accounts, she would withdraw the money through her benamis.Advance bail

Meanwhile, the prime suspect obtained anticipatory bail from the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, the sources said.

The Postal department has placed seven employees, including the prime suspect, under suspicion

India Post Payment Bank

Appeal From Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister Of Communication & IT, In Connection With India Post Payment Bank - English Version 

Click Here for Hindi Version

Time schedule for Limited Departmental Competitive Examination for LGO's

Indian Railways' worker unions are preparing for nationwide strike from July 11

This strike will be the biggest ever. We do not want a strike because of its negative impact on the nation and the industry but it is the last resort. We are ready to face all consequences,” Shiv Gopal Mishra, general secretary of the All India Railwaymen Federation (AIRF), told this newspaper. “We have no political intentions and do not want a direct fight with the establishment but the government must talk to us responsibly.”

A rail ministry spokesperson did not respond to an e-mail seeking comments on the issue of a strike threat. IR's previous national strike was in May 1974, with participation from 1.7 million workers. It went on for around 20 days before it was suppressed.

The unions are demanding improving the minimum wage of Rs 18,000 per month for workers as computed by the seventh pay commission to around Rs 26,000 and rejecting all the “retrograde” recommendations of the panel. Another is to scrap the NPS and restoring the earlier one for railway workers. The government had last year set up a committee headed by the Cabinet secretary to look at the demands. “We have had at least two meetings with the committee. They do listen to us but cannot negotiate with us. The workers’ frustration is increasing,” said Guman Singh, president of the other union, National Federation of Indian Railwaymen (NFIR).

The other demands include scrapping the report of the Bibek Debroy committee report on mobilisation of resources, given last year, and withdrawing the notification that allowed Foreign Direct Investment into the sector. Unions allege the government has not looked at their demand for exemption from the NPS favourably, despite letters written by former railways minister Mallikarjun Kharge and the current one, Suresh Prabhu.

Prabhu had in a letter to finance minister Arun Jaitley in November last year said there was strong merit in reconsideration of the unions’ proposal to exempt railway workers appointed on or after January 2014 from the purview of NPS, unions said.

They'd earlier threatened to go on strike from April 11 but withdrew that decision after the Cabinet secretary-headed panel sought three months. The unions had on June 9 given a strike notice to the general managers of all the railway zones and heads of production units, based on a strike ballot conducted in February this year in which 95 per cent favored a strike. The unions are now chalking out a plan of action for protests till July 11.

Both NFIR and AIRF believe their protest has gained strength, with employees of other central departments joining against the pay panel’s recommendation. NFIR general secretary M Raghavaiah is also chairman of the National Joint Council for Action for all central government employees.

The latter had last week said the government’s response to the charter of demands given by government unions in December 2015 was disappointing and casual.

He said the organizations representing the 3.2 million central employees - Railways, Defence, Postal, Income Tax, Central Customs & Excise etc - had decided decision on 3 June to go on indefinite strike from 11 July.

Recruitment Rules of MTS, 2015 clarifications reg. 

Click the above link to view the order. 

LGO examination will be conducted in July 2016 .Instructions will be issued to all Heads of Circles within a week

Fixation of allowance of contingent workers like watermen/sweeper/Gardner etc

Fixation of allowance of contingent workers like watermen/sweeper/Gardner etc: The issue discussed with our chairman postal board by our Federation on 15/06/2016.Secretary called ADG (Gds/Pcc) and give instruction to issue clarification in favour of contingent employees within two days. We hope this clarification relating order no.2-53/2011-pcc Dated 22-1-2015 to fixation of such contingent workers w.e.f. 1-1-2006   will pave way to benefit a lot to all the deserving poor contingent workers. The long pending issue raised by the FNPO many years comes to the end.Our sincere thanks to DG Post.