“Forward ever, backward never: onwards with Breaking Through”
01/02/2016


Budget 2016 – PPF, EPF principal amount continue to exempt from Income Tax

Budget 2016 – PPF, EPF principal amount continue to exempt from Income Tax – Minister clarifies that Interest accrued on 60% of EPF Contribution alone is liable to income tax – Minister of State for Finance clarifies
The government today has clarified that the popular public provident fund (PPF) scheme will continue to stay out of the tax ambit and that tax will be levied only on accrued interest on 60 percent of employeeprovident fund (EPF) contribution.
This was confirmed by Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia who spoke to PTI, a day after the Union Budget set the cat among the pigeons when the Finance Minister vaguely referred to tax being referred to PF schemes. Further, small salaried employees with up to Rs 15,000/month income will be kept out of purview of proposed taxation of EPF, he said.
Following a public outcry, Minister of State for Finance told IBNLive that detailed guidelines will be issued shortly.
“In case of superannuation funds and recognized provident funds, including EPF, the norm of 40 percent of corpus to be tax free will apply in respect of corpus created out of contributions made after April 1, 2016,” Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said in the Budget speech yesterday, noting that the aim was bring superannuation and provident funds in line with the National Pension Scheme’s tax structure.
So far, the PPF and EPF have enjoyed the exempt-exempt-exempt (EEE) status, implying no tax will be levied at the stages of investment, interest payout and withdrawal.
NPS, on the other hand, has been under the EET tax structure.
Experts believe that the differential tax structure has impaired NPS’ growth. The government has so far not clarified what the tax rate would be.
A back of the envelope calculation suggests that for a yearly contribution of Rs 60,000 (Rs 5,000 per month) into the EPF, an employee will incur tax of Rs 288, Rs 576 and Rs 864 — Rs 60,000 x 0.6 (only 60 percent of contribution) x 0.08 (assuming 8 percent interest) x 0.1/0.2/0.3 — for employees in the 10 percent/20 percent/30 percent tax slabs.

Union Budget 2016: what will get costlier & what will get cheaper?

Here is a list of things which are expected to get costlier and cheaper following the Budget —

CostlierCheaper
» Cars (specifically SUVs)» Refrigerated containers
» Cigarettes» Low cost houses with less than 60 sq mt carpet
» Clothes (ready made and branded apparel over Rs 1000)» Routers, broadband
» Jewellery» Modems, set-top boxes
» Aerated drinks» Footwear
» Mineral water» Sanitary pads
» Air travel
» AC restaurants
» e-reading devices
» Aluminium foils
» Legal services
» Rope way, cable car
Source:  The Hindu

FM not given assurance for reviewing the retrograde recommendations of 7th CPC – NFIR

NFIR National Federation of Indian Railwaymen 3, Chelmsford Road, New Delhi 110 055 Press Statement of M.Raghavaiah, General Secretary Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s Budget (2016-17) failed to address the genuine aspirations of working class. The Income Tax Exemption limit for serving and retired Central Government employees has not been revised. The Fixed Medical Allowance for Retired Central Government employees has not been raised to Rs. 2000/- p.m. from the existing Rs. 500/- p.m., resulting continued hardship to Retired Central Government employees who live in remote places and small towns where medical facilities not provided. The Finance Minister has not spoken on the employees’ demand for abolition of New Pension Scheme. It is sad to note that the Finance Minister has not given assurance for reviewing the retrograde recommendations of 7th Central Pay Commission although he said that a Committee has been constituted. The Workers’ of Government Sector, Private as well Unorganized Sectors are disappointed over the Budget announcements. Mr.Raghavaiah, General Secretary, NFIR has urged upon the Prime Minister to accept Railway Minister’s proposal sent in November, 2015 and see that Railway Employees are exempted from New Pension System.
 sd/- 
(M.Raghavaiah) 
 General Secretary
 Source: NFIR 


Budget 2016: Tax rebate for persons with income less than or equal to Rs 5 lakh increased by Rs 3000 
FM has increased the tax rebate given to individuals with net income equal to or less than Rs 5 lakh under section 87A from Rs 2000 to Rs 5000.
FM has increased the tax rebate given to individuals with net income equal to or less than Rs 5 lakh under section 87A from Rs 2000 to Rs 5000.
NEW DELHI: In the budget 2016, the finance minister has increased the tax rebate given to individuals with net income equal to or less than Rs 5 lakh under section 87A from Rs 2000 to Rs 5000. Currently, under this section a resident individual with income up to or equal to Rs 5 lakh can get a rebate in tax equal to 100 per cent of the income tax payable or Rs 2000 whichever is less. This low cap of Rs 2000 has now been increased to Rs 5000. This is expected to provide a relief of Rs 3000 in tax to over 2 crore tax payers, according to the finance minister.

Source:http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/




Notification For Direct Recruitment Examination For Multi Tasking Staff (MTS), 2016 - TN Circle

Apply through Online:  www.dopchennai.in
View/Download Full Notification : Click Here to Download Notification

29/02/2016

Highlights of Union Budget 2016-27

Affirming that the economy is right on track, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the Union Budget for 2016-17. Citing that the CPI inflation has come down to 5.4% from 9 plus, he said it is huge relief for the public.
Tax
Infrastructure and agriculture cess to be levied.
Excise duty raised from 10 to 15 per cent on tobacco products other than beedis
1 per cent service charge on purchase of luxury cars over Rs. 10 lakh and in-cash purchase of goods and services over Rs. 2 lakh.
SUVs, Luxury cars to be more expensive. 4% high capacity tax for SUVs.
Companies with revenue less than Rs 5 crore to be taxed at 29% plus surcharge
Limited tax compliance window from Jun 1 - Sep 30 for declaring undisclosed income at 45% incl. surcharge and penalties
Excise 1 per cent imposed on articles of jewellery, excluding silver.
0.5 per cent Krishi Kalyan Cess to be levied on all services.
Pollution cess of 1 per cent on small petrol, LPG and CNG cars; 2.5 per cent on diesel cars of certain specifications; 4 per cent on higher-end models.
Dividend in excess of Rs. 10 lakh per annum to be taxed at additional 10 per cent.
Personal Finance
No changes have been made to existing income tax slabs
Rs 1,000 crore allocated for new EPF (Employees' Provident Fund) scheme
Govt. will pay EPF contribution of 8.33% for all new employees for first three years
Deduction for rent paid will be raised from Rs 20,000 to Rs 60,000 to benefit those living in rented houses.
Additional exemption of Rs. 50,000 for housing loans up to Rs. 35 lakh, provided cost of house is not above Rs. 50 lakh.
Service tax exempted for housing construction of houses less than 60 sq. m
15 per cent surcharge on income above Rs. 1 crore
Social
Rs. 38,500 crore for Mahtma Gandhi MGNREGA for 2016-17
Swacch Bharat Abhiyan allocated Rs.9,500 crores.
Hub to support SC/ST entrpreneurs
Government is launching a new initiative to provide cooking gas to BPL families with state support.
LPG connections to be provided under the name of women members of family: Rs 2000 crore allocated for 5 years for BPL families.
2.87 lakh crore grants to gram panchayats and municipalities - a quantum jump of 228%.
300 urban clusters to be set up under Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission
Four schemes for animal welfare.
Health
2.2 lakh renal patients added every year in India. Basic dialysis equipment gets some relief.
A new health protection scheme for health cover upto 1 lakh per family.
National Dialysis Service Prog with funds thru PPP mode to provide dialysis at all district hospitals.
Senior citizens will get additional healthcare cover of Rs 30,000 under the new scheme
PM Jan Aushadhi Yojana to be strengthened, 300 generic drug store to be opened
Education
Scheme to get Rs.500 cr for promoting entrepreneurship among SC/ST
10 public and 10 private educational institutions to be made world-class.
Digital repository for all school leaving certificates and diplomas. Rs. 1,000 crore for higher education financing.
Rs. 1,700 crore for 1500 multi-skill development centres.
62 new navodaya vidyalayas to provide quality education
Digital literacy scheme to be launched to cover 6 crore additional rural households
Entrepreneurship training to be provided across schools, colleges and massive online courses.
Objective to skill 1 crore youth in the next 3 years under the PM Kaushal Vikas Yojna-FM Jaitley
National Skill Development Mission has imparted training to 76 lakh youth. 1500 Multi-skill training institutes to be set up.
Energy
Rs. 3000 crore earmarked for nuclear power generation
Govt drawing comprehensive plan to be implemented in next 15-20 years for exploiting nuclear energy
Govt to provide incentive for deepwater gas exploration
Deepwater gas new disc to get calibrated market freedom, pre-determined ceiling price based on landed price of alternate fuels.
Investments and infrastructure
Rs. 27,000 crore to be spent on roadways
65 eligible habitats to be connected via 2.23 lakh kms of road. Current construction pace is 100 kms/day
Shops to be given option to remain open all seven days in a week across markets.
Rs. 55,000 crore for roads and highways. Total allocation for road construction, including PMGSY, - Rs 97,000 crore
India's highest-ever production of motor vehicles was recorded in 2015
Total outlay for infrastructure in Budget 2016 now stands at Rs. 2,21,246 crore
New greenfield ports to be developed on east and west coasts
Revival of underserved airports. Centre to Partner with States to revive small airports for regional connectivity
100 per cent FDI in marketing of food products produced and marketed in India
Dept. of Disinvestment to be renamed as Dept. of Investment and Public Asset Management
Govt will amend Motor Vehicle Act in passenger vehicle segment to allow innovation.
MAT will be applicable for startups that qualify for 100 per cent tax exemption
Direct tax proposals result in revenue loss of Rs.1060 crore, indirect tax proposals result in gain of Rs.20,670 crore
Agriculture
Total allocation for agriculture and farmer welfare at Rs 35984 crores
28.5 lakh heactares of land wil be brought under irrigation.
5 lakh acres to be brought under organic farming over a three year period
Rs 60,000 crore for recharging of ground water recharging as there is urgent need to focus on drought hit areas cluster development for water conservation.
Dedicated irrigation fund in NABARD of Rs.20.000 cr
Nominal premium and highest ever compensation in case of crop loss under the PM Fasal Bima Yojna.
Banking
Banks get a big boost: Rs 25,000 crore towards recapitalisation of public sector banks. Jaitley says: Banking Board Bureau will be operationalised, we stand solidly behind public sector banks.
Target of disbursement under MUDRA increased to 1,80,000 crore
Process of transfer of government stake in IDBI Bank below 50% started
General Insurance companies will be listed in the stock exchange
Govt to increase ATMs, micro-ATMs in post offices in next three years

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/business/budget/highlights-of-union-budget-201617/article8295451.ece
28/02/2016
TS CASUAL LABOURERS OLD PENSION IMPORTANT JUDGEMENT AND DEPARTMENT ISSUED ORDERS TO CPMG KARNATAKA

Click here to view judgement copy

Casual Labourers with temporary status-clarification regarding contribution to GPF and Pension under the old pension scheme





27/02/2016

West Bengal Circle P-IV circle Working Committee Meeting was held at Asansol H.O. from 25th Feb to 26th feb2016 under the president ship of Sri R.Biswas. Former Leaders DipakMukherjee, B.M.Ghosh & Shekhar Mukherjee addressed the CWC. S/G FNPO attended both  days and addressed the CWC. Felicitation of Sri Lakshan Majumder was conducted in the same venue. Smt Soma ghosh elected as Circle secretary unanimously by the CWC. Further details will be published in Federal Sentinel. 

S/G FNPO along with Dipak Mukherjee,Advisor CHQ NUR C visited Asansol RMS  and addressed the gathering. 




















26/02/2016
Meeting of E-CoS with JCM on recommendations of the 7th Central Pay – Postponement
F No. 1-2/2016-IC
Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Expenditure
Implementation Cell
Dated: 25th February, 2016
To
Shri Shiva Gopal Mishra,
Secretary,
National Council (Staff Side),
13-C, Ferozshah Road,
New Delhi- 110001
Subject: Meeting of Empowered Committee of Secretaries (E-CoS) with office bearers of Staff Side of Standing Committee of National Council (JCM) on recommendations of the 7th Central Pay –Postponement- Reg.
Sir,
In partial supersession of this office letter of even number dated 24.02.2016 it is intimated the meeting of the office bearers of the Staff Side of Standing Committee of National Council (JCM) with the Empowered Committee of Secretaries (E-CoS) will now be held on 01.03.2016 at 6.45 PM in the Committee Room, Cabinet Secretariat, Rashtrapati Bhawan New Delhi
2. The above change in the date and time of the meeting may please be noted
3. Inconvenience caused is regretted.

Thanking you

Postal And Bank Interest Rates Comparison Table

Highly disappointing Rail Budget – NFIR
National Federation of Indian Railwaymen
3, CHELMSFORD ROAD, NEW DELHI – 110 055
Press Statement

Highly disappointing Rail Budget
The National Federation of Indian Railwaymen (NFIR) expresses its serious disappointrnent over the Rail Budget (2016-17) presented by Shri Suresh Prabhu, Railway Minister in the Parliament on 25th February 2016. According to the President and General Secretary NFIR Shri Guman Singh and Raghavaiah, the Rail Budget document is “towards journey for privatization of Indian Railways in the name of transformation”. It is sad to note that the Railway Minister has not given due recognition to the dedicated services being rendered by various categories of Railway employees who toil hard day and night.
NFIR leaders said that the Rail Budget is totally uninspiring and on the contrary generating resentment among Railway employees as the aim of the Budget is to “aggressively implement pivatization, outsourcing” of regular Railway activities.
NFIR expressed its unhappiness as the commitrnents given by the previous Railway Ministers thro’ Budget announcements have not been fulfilled notably: Free Medical treatrnent to the dependant parents of Railway employees and construction of New Railway quarters under the corporate welfare plan drawn up years back by the Railway Ministry. The announcement of previous Railway Ministers on the floor of the Parliament that “House for all” has unfortunately been forgotten.It is quite disappointing that although the Bonus Act has been amended w.e.f. 01.10.4.2014 for calculation of Bonus rates to Rs. 7000/- p.m., the Railway Minster did not make any announcement for making payment of PL Bonus to Railway employees at revised rate of Rs. 7000/- p.m. for the year 2014-15.
NFIR said that the condition of Railway colonies and Railway quarters are totally deteriorated. The Rail Budget has not addressed this welfare aspect adequately.
The Federation expresses its anguish over the failure of Railway Ministry in filling up vacancies of 2.5 lakh vacancies in Railways, out of which over 1.5 lakh vacancies belong to safety categories.
The Federation also expresses its unhappiness over the non-allocation of adequate resources for improving the Railway Hdspitals, Health Units and creating Super Specialty facilities atleast in the Zonal Railway Hospitals. The long pending dernand of NFIR for making provision of Road Mobile Medical Vans for ensuring Medical treaftnent to the Railway employees working at remote places, jungle areas, has not been given due priority in the Rail Budget.
NFIR is also of the view that the Rail Budget has not satisfied any section of people.

sd/-
(Dr.M.Raghavaiah)
General Secretary
Source: NFIR

Strike by Railway Employees
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO: 57

ANSWERED ON: 24.02.2016
KOTHA PRABHAKAR REDDY
Will the Minister of
RAILWAYS be pleased to state:-

(a) whether railway employees association is planning to go on strike in the first week of March demanding 35 per cent hike in their salaries as against 14.29 per cent offered by the 7th Pay Commission and not to accept the recommendation of Debroy Committee report to privatize the Railways, scrapping of new pension scheme, etc;
(b) if so, the details thereof; and
(c) the measures being taken by the Railways to alleviate the problems of railway employees?

ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

(SHRI MANOJ SINHA)

(a) & (b): The two recognized Railway staff Federations have not given any notice so far, for going on strike. However they have informed that Strike Notice may be served on 11th March, 2016 for ‘Indefinite Strike’ from 11th April, 2016 in case there is no negotiated settlement on the Charter of Demands by that time. The Charter of Demands, amongst various issues, include the items mentioned in the question.
(c): On the Railways, there is well established system of Permanent Negotiating Machinery (PNM) and Departmental Council under the Joint Consultative Machinery (JCM) with the recognized Unions/ Federations. Regular dialogue with the organized labour is maintained through these fora to sort out staff grievances. The Permanent Negotiating Machinery functions at three tiers - Divisional level, Zonal Headquarter level and Apex level at Railway Board. Departmental Council under JCM functions at the Apex level at Railway Board. Further, recognized Unions/Federations are also members of the Group on Participation of Railway Employees in Management (PREM).

25/02/2016
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 NJAC 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.


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 NJAC 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.
- See more at: http://paycommissions.blogspot.in/2016/02/minutes-of-meeting-of-joint-secretary-ic-with-the-members-of-ncjcm-staff-side-held-on-19-02-2016-07th-cpc-implementation.html#more

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 NJAC 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.
- See more at: http://paycommissions.blogspot.in/2016/02/minutes-of-meeting-of-joint-secretary-ic-with-the-members-of-ncjcm-staff-side-held-on-19-02-2016-07th-cpc-implementation.html#more

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 NJAC 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.
- See more at: http://paycommissions.blogspot.in/2016/02/minutes-of-meeting-of-joint-secretary-ic-with-the-members-of-ncjcm-staff-side-held-on-19-02-2016-07th-cpc-implementation.html#more
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 NJAC 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.
- See more at: http://paycommissions.blogspot.in/2016/02/minutes-of-meeting-of-joint-secretary-ic-with-the-members-of-ncjcm-staff-side-held-on-19-02-2016-07th-cpc-implementation.html#more