Central Government Employees News: 12/19/10

Sunday, December 19, 2010

7th Pay Commission in India

7th Pay Commission in India:A Passport to Happiness ?

Considering the rising prices of commodities and ever-moving upward inflation graph, Pay Commissions are perhaps the only ray of hope for any government employee in India, who eagerly waits for Pay Commission, which happens once in 10-13 years, to give their otherwise weak salaries a boost.
Inflation, price rise and not to forget the rising levels of real estate, which gives nightmares to any government employee and an uncertainty to be able to meet basic needs, including a house that seem a distant dream with thin salaries that they get and if loan is any help then their lifespan is even cut short repaying it, finally all these concerns lead to the sixth Pay Commission.
The first Pay Commission was established in 1956, and since then, every decade has seen the birth of a commission that decides the wages of government employees for a particular time-frame. The sixth Pay Commission submitted its report to the then Finance Minister P Chidambaram on March 24, 2008. The commission was headed by Justice BN Srikrishna. For the past several years, Communist leaders and trade unions had been demanding the setting-up of such a commission. In 2005, the government set up a committee to study the demand.
The committee, headed by Cabinet Secretary BK Chaturvedi, turned down the request for constituting the sixth Pay Commission. The committee believed that the Centre might not be able to bear the additional burden and the states were just recovering from the impact of the fifth Pay Commission, whose recommendations were implemented in 1997. The 12th Finance Commission also urged the government to stop the practice of increasing salaries by appointing pay commissions every 10 years. Despite opposition, sixth Pay Commission happened and now its time that we start planning for another Pay Commission, sooner the better!

Seventh Pay Commission Report India: What to expect from Govt. Of India
Uniform fixation of the pay scales to allow impartial evaluation, appraisals and grading of the staff.
An increase in pay is one thing, but the system of rise in the pay and promotion needs rectification. Even those employees who work less get the same pay and promotion. One who works hard should be rewarded.
Cost of Petroleum products should be the basis of transport allowance.
Most allowances are not paid as per market standards, for example HRA, TA, CCA and daily allowances. These allowances must be changed every two years as per market prices.
Talent should be given priority and not seniority. Performance based incentives will help improve efficiency.
Upgradation of government machinery.
Rent free land and mobile phone connections.
Laptop computers
Flight eligibility
It is not the quantum of increase that is expected. Officials should be paid honorably to keep their head high and boost government’s image. A government employee must be able to live in a decent place, taking care of his wife, educate two children and take care of his old-age parents. This would be the desire of almost every government employee.

source-http://indiadailytimes.com/2010/10/7th-pay-commission-in-india-a-passport-to-happiness/

AdmissibiIity of House Rent Allowance in the event of non-acceptance or surrender of railway residential accommodation

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
(RAILWAY BOARD)

RBE No.I76/2010.

NO.E(P&A)ll-2010/HRA-2

New Delhi, dated 08 -12-2010

The General Managers,
All Indian Railways & Production Units etc.
(As per mailing lists No.I&III)

Sub: AdmissibiIity of House Rent Allowance in the event of non-acceptance or surrender of railway residential accommodation.

Ref: Board’s letters No.
(i) E(P&A)ll-87/HRA-15 dated 16-5-1988
(ii) E(P&A)ll-95/HRA-3 dated 14-2-1996
(iii) E(P&A)ll-99/HRA-2 dated 12-7-1999 & 16-3-2000
(iv) E(P&A)ll-2002/HRA-4 dated 16-10-2002 and,
(v) E(P&A)ll-2002/HRA-4 dated 9-5-2003

Attention is invited to Board’s letters quoted above delegating powers to the General Managers and other Heads of Organisations directly controlling allotment of quarters to railway servants for sanction of House Rent Allowance in accordance vith the prescribed conditions to the categories of railway employees specified therein. This delegation of powers was valid upto 31-3-2010.

2. The question of renewing this delegation of powers beyond 31.3.2010 has been engaging the attention of the Board. On the basis of the reports received from the Zonal Railways and Production Units, the matter has been considered and the Board have decided to renew the sanction contained in para 5 of their letter dated 16.5.1988 ibid and as amended modified from time to time, w.e.f 1-4-2010 upto 31-3-2017 whereafter the question of renewing this delegation will be considered by the Board and a fresh sanction, if necessary, issued on the basis of reports received from the General Managers etc. Directly controlling allotment of quarters, in regard to the position of availability of railway accommodation under their control.

3. In case at any point of time it transpires that some accommodation is likely to remain vacant/un-occupied due to lack of demand, it should be made compulsory to submit applications for such types where there is surplus accommodation, and consequently, the employees entitled for such types would not be eligible to draw House Rent Allowance.

4. This delegation is also subject to the over-riding condition that these orders are liable to be withdrawn/modified at any time during this period, if it is considered necessaiy by the Board to do so.

5. This has the approval of the President and issues with the concurrence of the Finance Directorate of the Ministry of Railways.

6. Kindly acknowledge receipt.

(Salim Md.Ahmed)
Deputy Director, Estt.(P&A)Ill,
Railway Board.

ORIGINAL PDF http://www.irtsa.net/pdfdocs/Admissibility_of_House_Rent_Allowance.pdf

Suspension in cases of dowry death

Suspension in cases of dowry death

Sub-rule (1) of rule 10 of the Central Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1965 provides, inter alia, that a Government servant may be placed under suspension where a disciplinary proceeding against him is contemplated or is pending or where a case against him in respect of any criminal offence is under investigation, inquiry or trial. Sub-rule (2) of the same rule lays done that a Government servant shall be deemed to have been placed under suspension by an order of the appointing authority w.e.f. the date of detention if he is detained in custody, whether on a criminal charge or otherwise, for a period exceeding forty-either hours.

2. As Government takes a very serious view of offences against women, Government has reviewed the provisions in the rules in regard to placing a Government servant under suspension if he is accused of involvement in a case of “dowry death” as defined in Section 304-B of the Indian Penal Code. The Section reads as follows :-

“304-B(1) Where the death of a woman is caused by any burns or bodily injury or occurs otherwise than under normal circumstances within seven years of her marriage and it is shown that soon before her death she was subjected to cruelty or harassment by her husband or any relative of her husband for, or in connection with, any demand for dowry, such death shall be called “dowry death”, and such husband or relative shall be deemed to have caused her death.

Explanation – For the purpose of this sub-section “dowry” shall have the same meaning as in Section 2 of the “dowry Prohibition Act, 1961.”

3. If a case has been registered by the Police against a Government servant under Section 304-B of the I.P.C., he shall be placed under suspension in the following circumstances by the competent authority by invoking the provisions of sub-rule (1) of Rule 10 of the CCS (CCA) Rules, 1965 :

(i) If the Government servant is arrested in connection with the registration of the police case, he shall be placed under suspension immediately irrespective of the period of his detention.

(ii) If he is not arrested, he shall be placed under suspension immediately on submission of a police report under sub-section (2) of section 173 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, to the Magistrate, if the report prima-facie indicates that the offence has been committed by the Government servant.

[Deptt. of Personnel & Trg. OM No. 11012/8/87-Ests. (A) dated the 22^nd June, 1987].

source-http://www.persmin.nic.in

Bill on Protection of Women against Sexual Harassment at Work Place

The Government introduced ‘The Protection of Women against Sexual Harassment at Workplace Bill, 2010’ in Lok Sabha on 07.12.2010 with the object to provide protection to women against sexual harassment at all workplaces both in the public and private sector, whether organised or unorganised and for the prevention and redressal of complaints of sexual harassment. Women who are employed as well as those who enter the workplace as clients, customers or apprentices besides the students and research scholars in colleges and universities and patients in hospitals are sought to be covered under the proposed legislation. However, domestic workers working at home are not covered.

The National Commission for Women (NCW) suggested a draft Bill after holding consultations with various stake holders. In the draft Bill, provisions for constitution of Internal Complaints Committees, Local Complaints Committees dispute resolution prior to inquiry, maintenance of confidentiality etc. have been proposed. The important recommendations of the NCW have been incorporated in the Bill.

The NCW recommended covering domestic workers under the proposed legislation. However, the Government has decided to exclude domestic workers from the definition of employee as it may be difficult to enforce the provisions of the Bill within the privacy of homes and it may be more practical for them to take recourse to the provisions under criminal law.

This information was given by Smt. Krishna Tirath, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Women and Child Development in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha today.

Source: PIB