Tuesday, March 31, 2009

BSNL wage Negotiation :Latest Update as on 30.03.09

In the wage Revision Committee Meeting held on 30.03.2009, the staff side has demanded for settlement of 3 issues first – five year periodically for Wage Revision, interim relief and HRA. Management side stated that these issues will be examined in their internal meeting on 31.03.2009 and thereafter on 01.04.2009 the Wage Revision Committee meeting will be held.

Source : [VAN Namboodiri] ,General Secretary, BSNL Employees' Union.

Mehta Committee Report for Faculty and Scientific/Design Staff of Central Technical Institutes.

At last the much awaited Mehta Committee report is here. It is not published in any official website till now. Our sources found the site from which it could be easily downloaded.

The report is based on the sixth pay commission report for central Govt employees.

"This challenge of attracting new  talent to teaching in higher learning technical, scientific and manegement institutions will become accentuated in the light of scores of institutions proposed to be opened during the current plan period.

Part of the solution therefore lies obviously in making the profession more attractive in terms of salary and allowances, adequate monetary compensation for better performance,......."

Download the full report

Monday, March 30, 2009

PSU officers get another pay hike

As stated earlier in this blog about Election Commission approval, the Govt announced another good news for the PSU officers.

About 400,000 officers of central public sector enterprises will benefit from a government decision on Monday giving them a further increase in salary and allowances, over and above the hikes announced last year.

The decision to improve the salary structure of officers at board level and below, along with supervisory staff, was taken at the Cabinet meeting presided over by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The improved pay packages will also include increase in house rent allowance and retirement benefits.

The decisions are based on the recommendations of the committee of ministers headed by Home Minister P Chidambaram, which went into the revised salary and allowances notified earlier in November last year by the government.

PSU officers, particularly in the oil sector, forced the government to revisit their revised pay scales when they went on strike in January this year.

Briefing reporters after the Cabinet meeting, Chidambaram said the revision in the pay structure would vary from company to company.

Source : rediff News.

Conceding to the demand from officials of public sector undertakings, the government today announced a further hike of up to 20 per cent in pay packets of about four lakh executives.
The improvement is over and above the pay package notified by the government in November last year, which prompted officers, particularly in the oil sector, to take to the streets.

The decision for bettering the pay packages just ahead of the general elections was taken after government took the clearance from the Election Commission.

Asked about the total benefits to the officers and non-unionised supervisory staff after the revision, Home Minister P Chidambaram, who briefed on Cabinet decisions, said it would depend on individual PSUs.

Excluding superannuation benefits, on a basic salary of Rs 100 an officer will now draw Rs 370.48 as against Rs 351.12 that was approved last year.

Source : PTI


PSU salary hike : Election Commission Clearance.

The government is believed to have received clearance from the Election Commission for giving a salary hike to public sector officers, improving upon the emoluments recommended by the pay revision committee last year.

Source : The Telegraph.

No further news in this regard is available till now.

UGC Pay Hike :AIFUCTO to agitate for Fitment Table.

The All India Federation of University and College Teachers Organisation (AIFUCTO) has decided to launch an agitation against the University Commission (UGC) for not finalising the fitment table on the basis of which revised pay scales under the 6th pay commission would be given. 

The decision was taken at a meeting held between the members of AIFUCTO and Federation of UP University College Teacher's Association (FUPUCTA) at the Reid Hall of Lucknow Christian College (LCC) on Sunday. The meeting was presided over by general secretary of AIFUCTO, Ashok Burman. The officials said that they would press in with their demands before the UGC to declare the fitment table and get it cleared by the finance and the ministry of human resource development, government of India. 

The issue of fitment table has been raging for the past many months with the teachers insisting on some crucial amendments like letting a teacher get the rank of a professor without a PhD degree. The teachers have been arguing that it is a post-graduate degree which is essential at the entrance level. 

Meanwhile, the members of FUPUCTA said that they would be meeting officials in the higher education department to put forth their demands for a revised salary structure in accordance with the six pay commission. 
Source : Times of India.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Jharkhand announced 6% D.A. but Election Commission sought explanation.

Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi today said that Raj Bhavan had not taken “prior permission” before announcing key policy decisions such as the 6 per cent DA hike for state staff, indicating the election commission had its radar fixed on Jharkhand which has been under President’s rule since January 19.

Quraishi said an explanation had already been sought from Raj Bhavan on policy decisions taken after the model code of conduct came into force. Adding that Governor Syed Sibtey Razi was yet to reply, the election commissioner clarified that the governor’s role, as the chief executive officer of the state during President’s rule, did come under the purview of the poll panel.

Razi’s advisory council okayed the DA hike on March 24. But when the BJP alleged it was a violation of the poll code, a Raj Bhavan spokesman argued that a DA revision for the state was due since January when it was cleared for Union government staff.

Source : The Telegraph.

West Bengal Govt. Employees : Subsidised treatment for govt staff in private facilities

One of the sharpest indictments of Bengal’s state-run hospitals has come from the state government itself — in the form of a sop before the polls.

The Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government has drawn up a scheme for some 10 lakh of its employees, who are increasingly frustrated with state-run hospitals, to receive subsidised treatment at private hospitals.

State government employees are now partially reimbursed for what they spend at state hospitals; under the new scheme, the benefit will cover private hospitals too. Sources said the amount to be reimbursed too was expected to go up, since treatment is costly at private hospitals.

The government is working out details such as which private hospitals to tie up with, the rates for treatment or diagnosis, and how much reimbursement to pay, the sources added.

State health minister Surjya Kanta Mishra refused comment citing the poll code of conduct, but officials of his department said the state cabinet was expected to clear the scheme soon after the elections.

Non-gazetted employees now get free beds at state-run hospitals and healthcare institutes, but have to pay for medicines and equipment such as pacemakers or stents. They also get an annual medical allowance of Rs 1,200. Gazetted officers are allowed free cabins, the rest of the facilities being the same.

However, officials drawn from the civil services, such as the IAS and the IPS, receive higher benefits in keeping with their service rules. They will not come under this scheme.

Late last year, the government had invited expressions of interest from private hospitals to which many have responded.

“Several private hospitals have submitted expressions of interest, and we are conducting inspections to ensure they have proper infrastructure,” said a health department official who has been co-ordinating with the Association of Hospitals of Eastern India (AHEI), an organisation of private hospitals.

“We have quoted packages for consultation, diagnosis and treatment which include state-of-the-art surgeries and diagnostic facilities,” an AHEI spokesperson said. “Some hospitals have agreed to the proposed rates; the rest are yet to send their consent.”

The chief operating officer of the Calcutta Medical Research Institute, Rupak Barua, said inspection had been completed at his hospital. “The government has expressed satisfaction at our infrastructure,” he said.

“It’s a win-win situation. Overcrowding at state-run hospitals can be avoided and government employees will have access to state-of-the-art treatment,” said Brig (retd) S.B. Purkayastha, CEO, Ruby General Hospital, where an inspection is scheduled soon.

“We are happy,” said P.B. Nag, general secretary, State Government Employees’ Federation. “Beds are unavailable most of the time at state hospitals; so employees and their families have to go to private institutes for which we don’t get any reimbursement now.”

“We are yet to set up facilities like MRI in state-run hospitals, and the CT scan is available in only a few,” conceded Sanchita Bakshi, director of health services.

Source : The Telegraph.

Bank Wage Revision – Pension Option for PSU Bank staff : An Update

The All India Bank Officers’ Confederation has talked to  Sri Amitabh Verma, Joint Secretary, Banking Division, Government of India at Delhi on 20.03.2009 in this regard. 

The full text of the communication to the members of this association is published below for the interest of the viewers.

To

All Office Bearers & E.C. Members

 

Sub : Wage Revision – Pension Option

 

We reproduce hereunder the full text of letter No.KSS:25:101:AINBOF dated 23.03.2009 issued by the General Secretary, All India Nationalised Banks’ Officers’ Federation addressed to Com. G. D. Nadaf, General Secretary, All India Bank Officers’ Confederation on the above subject for information of all concerned.

                                                                                                            SD/-

                                                                                                  S Roy Choudhury

                                                                                                  General Secretary

All India UCO Bank Officers' Federation.

Quote

“Further to our correspondence with you on the above matter, we have to inform you that the undersigned alongwith Sri P. K. Bhat, Secretary of our Federation met Sri Amitabh Verma, Joint Secretary, Banking Division, Government of India at Delhi on 20.03.2009. We had detailed discussions with him on the matter of negotiations on wage revision and also fresh option for pension.

 

Sri Verma stated that the Government is willing to give the fresh option as requested by us and also wants to conclude the wage revision on a positive note. He emphasized that the negotiations should be carried on to resolve the contentious issues and assured to speak to the IBA also in this regard.

 

The only precondition of the Government to resolve the above issues, as we could make out, was our agreeing to the new pension scheme as introduced in the Government, for future recruitees. Sri Verma stated that the unions could agree to this new scheme in principle for recruitees from a future date even from the year 2011 or 2012 by which time large chunk of the recruitment in the industry will be over. He stated that while the Government is determined regarding the introduction of the new scheme, the date of commencement of the new scheme and general guidelines for the working of the scheme can be negotiated by the unions even after the settlement of the wage revision and pension option, once the unions agree to the scheme in principle.

 

He also explained the advantages of the new scheme in the future scenario and offered to hold a seminar to clear the apprehensions of the unions in this regard.

 

From the above discussions it is apparent that there is a real opportunity to settle the issues of wage revision and pension without delay, in the context of the decision already taken in the Meeting of the General Secretaries of affiliates of AIBOC.

 

We need not further reiterate that the membership is losing patience and we need to move ahead quickly to retain their confidence.

 

In the above meeting we also could discuss the pending appointments of officer directors in different nationalised banks and have been assured of clearing same by streamlining the procedure in the light of the discussions.

 

This is for your kind information and early action.

 

With greetings,

 

Yours comradely,

            Sd/-

( K. S. Shetty )

General Secretary”  


Source : All India UCO Bank Officers' Federation.                        

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Tech Teachers' Pay : Mehta Report: Likely to be finalised in the end of March.

IIT/IIM/ OTHER TECH TEACHERS PAY HIKE REGARDING :

N Chandra Shekhar,General Secretary, AIFPTO,has spoken to Ms. Pratima Dikshit, Director (Tech), MHRD over phone on 9th March  2009 and enquired about the Pay Committee Report. She has informed that the Report would be finalised by the end of March 2009 and the Notification would be released immediately. On the query whether the General Elections would come in the way of announcement of the Recommendations, she has said that the permission of the Election Commission would be taken if necessary.


BSNL Management will negotiate wage revision only with recognized unions.

BSNL, vide letter no. BSNL/7-4/SR/2009 dated 27.03.2009 has informed  the unrecognized unions like NFTE, FNTO, etc. that the management can negotiate the issue of Interim Relief only with the Recognised Union and not with the unrecognized unions. This letter is issued in the back drop of certain unrecognized unions having given call to conduct demonstrations on 30.03.2009, demanding payment of Interim Relief.

The letter also informs the management is already in the process of negotiating wage revision with the recognised union and hopes to settle the same expeditiously.




West Bengal : Enhanced pay with responsiblity fixation.

The Govt wants to ensure fixation of responsibility of employees as per the fifth pay commission's recommendation. The state Finance Minister Dr Ashim Dasgupta yesterday said in the assembly that fifth commission was set up not only to fix the pay and alloawances but to recommend about fixation of responsibilitiy to the staff. He said that that the commission will submit it's report about this. Then the Govt will finalise the responsibility fixation after meeting with the staff associations.

The state Government employees are going to draw the enhanced salary from the next month, a hefty hike in the poll season.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

BSNL Wage Revision : Wage Negotiation to start next week

General Secretary, BSNLEU, Mr V.A.N. Nambudirihas discussed with Sri R.K. Batra, Chairman, Wage Negotiation Committee and it is decided to start wage negotiation next week and will continue untill it is settled.
The sub committee visited different PSU like SAIL, GAIL, NTPC to study their pay structure and submitted their report. The report will be used as an input in the negotiation.
Though Interim Relief is demanded, since in any case, the negotiation will be continued till a decision is reached.


Update on 30.03.09

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

BSNL employees demand Interim Relief.

The process of wage negotiation and thereafter confirmation of the wage agreement by DoT may take a few months. But there is no justification for not paying any thing to non-executives while implementing revised pay for executives along with payment of arrears.

BSNL Employees' Union request for payment of Interim Relief at the rate of 50% of basic pay or Rs.3000/- per month, which ever is more, to all the non-executives with effect from 01.01.2007, pending wage revision. Along with this they demand for expeditious conclusion of wage negotiation process and agreement for non-executives.

View full text of the letter.




6th pay commission: Rajkot Municpal Corporation employees demand wages hike

Despite model code of conduct being in force, around 5,000 employees of Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC) went on strike to demand immediate wage revision as per the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations.

On Monday, employees shouted slogans inside the RMC central building complex to put pressure on the ruling party, at the time of elections. According to Ramesh Cholera, vice-president of RMC Karmchari Parishad, "Initially, the employees will go on strike for two days, but the routine work of the civic body won't be affected. Further action will be decided by the officebearers of parishad and other union."

On Tuesday, before joining the duty at 11 am, the employees shouted slogans and after 6.30 pm again they held a demonstration.

RMC standing committee had passed a resolution to implement the Sixth Pay Commission in the civic body in last February, but before it could be implemented model code of conduct came into force.

RMC's salary expenditure is around Rs 80 crore a year. With the revised wages, this would go up to Rs 120 crore. This would nullify the government's compensation of Rs 115 crore for loss of octroi income after VAT was introduced. This means, the civic body would depend upon loans and grants from JNNURM for development projects and remaining income would go to pay hefty salary to RMC employees
Source : Times of India.

Monday, March 23, 2009

BSNL wage revision : Latest Update : Sub Committee will submit report within 25th March

As a preliminary exercise for wage negotiations, the members of the subcommittees

nominated by the Wage Revision Committee have visited the

corporate offices of SAIL,, NTPC and GAIL in Delhi on 17..03..2009 and on

18.03.2009, to get the information regarding existing pay scales, Allowances,

Perks and Pensionary benefits to the non-executives in those PSUs and also the

status of Wage negotiation and the demands of the unions in those PSUs.

Representatives of the BSNL Management and union, who have visited these

PSUs, are as below:-

BSNL Management Representatives

(1) Shri P..K..MIsra,, DGM (Estt..)

(2) Shri Vineet Saxena, DGM (Welfare)

(3) Shri L.M. Kandpal, AGM (SR)

(4) Shri Vasudeva Rao, AGM (EF-I)

(5) Shri Sankaran, AGM (EF-II)

Union Representatives

(1) Com. P. Asokababu

(2) Com. K.R.. Yadav

(3) Com. V. Subburaman

The report of the sub committees will be finalized in one or two days and

submitted to tthe Wage Revision Committee before 25..03..2009.. This report will

provide some inputs for facilitating the discussions on Wage Revision.


Source : BSNL Employees' Union, New Delhi.

Today(24.03.09) the Union has written a letter to the CMD, BSNL arguing prompt settlement of their 20 point charter of demand.

View the Letter.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

IIT teachers warn of agitation

The faculty members of  IITs have threatened agitattion from March 20 if the Govt. does not soon announce a revised pay scale for them, but have also assured that they will not disrupt the academic session.

According to members of the faculty of these premium institutions, a general fear is looming large that their pay scales may be downgraded along with those for other colleges run by the central government.

"There is fear and uncertainty among IIT teachers about the new pay scale being proposed by the Human Resource  Ministry," said Sunil Pandey, president of the All India IIT Faculty Federation.

"There are rumours that our salaries will be brought at par with what teachers of other engineeringinstitutions get. This is certainly not acceptable to us," Pandey told sources.

"We have approached the government. But they have refused to give us a time frame by which our new pay scales will be notified. If we fail to get a response by March 20, our agitation will begin."

He, however, made it clear that their agitation will not disrupt the academic session. "We are teachers, responsible teachers. We have our demands, and we also know our responsibilities."

The IITs have some 2,500 teachers on their rolls.

The federation has also appealed to President Pratibha Patil, who is also the Visitor of the IITs, apart from the Prime Minister's Office to demand an early notification of their new pay structure.

Since February, teachers at the seven IITs are being made an ad hoc payment, along with their salaries, till their new salary structures are finalised.

The government had constituted a committee under Govardhan Mehta, a former IIM director, to suggest a new salary structure for a host of technical and central government-run institutions.

Apart from IITs, these include the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), the National Institutes of Technology (NITs) and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc).

The committee's report is with the government.

Some faculty members at the IITs said they would oppose any move that seeks to downgrade their pay structures, saying they were part of one of India's most prestigious institutions.

The seven IITs, which have earned global recognition for the quality of higher technical education, are in New Delhi, MumbaiChennai, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Guwahati and Roorkee.


Source : Indo Asia News Service

Chhattisgarh Pay Commission approved by the Election Commission

The Election Commission has approved the Chhattisgarh government's request to implement the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations from April 1 that will benefit about 250,000 state government employees, official sources said on Sunday.

"The Commission has approved a request of the finance department's principal secretary Ajay Singh, who had sent a letter on March 19 seeking approval for implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission," sources in the finance department informed.

The poll panel has approved the request through a fax message sent Saturday evening.

The government sought the poll panel's approval after the state Chief Electoral Officer Sunil Kujur objected to the move due to the model code of conduct which is in place for the Lok Sabha polls.


Source : The Hindu.

IPL is shifted outside India.

Though it is not relevant to this blog, Cricket is like a national game in India, especially the 20-20 form of cricket is very much popular in this country. Therefore we decided to share the newsjust came in for the interest of the cricket lovers.

The second season of the Indian Premier League will be held outside India, the Board of Control for Cricket in India announced in Mumbai on Sunday.

The BCCI's decision to shift the tournament out of the country came at an emergency meeting comprising its office-bearers and the eight franchise owners in Mumbai.

IPL commissioner Lalit Modi said the timing of the matches would remain the same, with the first game scheduled at 1600 IST and next at 2000, no matter which venue they will be played at.

Basically, it would mean that the Twenty20 tournament, scheduled to be held between April 10 and May 24, would essentially become a television event.

South Africa and England are being talked about as possible venues but the BCCI is still in talks with other boards to finalise the venue.

"We will let you know about the new venue in two or three days," BCCI president Shashank Manohar said.

The BCCI made it clear that the last straw that made them decide to shift the venue out of India was the last-minute reversal of stand by Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh governments, which had earlier given clearance for the tournament.

"The BCCI is not in a position to either play a truncated IPL or cancel the second edition of the IPL.  It is a matter of great regret that, in the prevailing atmosphere, where the government is expressing concern for providing security to the IPL matches, the BCCI is left with no other option but to conduct the Indian Premier League in another country," the BCCI said in a statement.

Manohar also made it clear that the BCCI does not expect the franchises to oppose the decision.

He also apologised to cricket fans in India, saying they were left with no other option but to shift the tournament out of the country.

"It is pertinent to understand that within the present international calendar of events, there is no other window for IPL to be played during this year.

"As it stands, immediately after conclusion of the IPL on 24th May 2009, the teams have to assemble in England on 25th May 2009 for the ICC Twenty20 World Cup, commencing from 2nd June 2009.

"Immediately after the conclusion of ICC Twenty20 World Cup, the Indian team will be leaving for West Indies to play 4 ODIs after which, the team will tour Zimbabwe for a tri-series involving India, Zimbabwe and South Africa," the BCCI added.

Source : Rediff.com.

Clarification regarding commutation of pension after the 6th CPC.


Ministry of Personnel and Pensioners' Welfare recently issued an office memorandum regarding commutation of additional pension and certain points of doubt in this regard. It clarifies various issues like the date of restoration of additional pension commuted etc.


Friday, March 20, 2009

Advani promises armymen :"One Rank One Pension "

BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Shri L K Advani assured retired soldiers that he will fulfill their ‘one rank one pension"demand.  Addressing a group of veterans who have been protesting in New Delhi for the last 3 months, Shri Advani said “If we come to power in the next general elections, it is my promise that I will persuade my colleagues to give priority to the fulfillment of the long overdue  ‘One Rank, One Pension’ demand.” Meanwhile, in pursuit of this demand retired soldiers of varying ranks have returned more than 10,000 medals to the President.

Argument in favour of "One Rank One Pension "

1.     The ‘One Rank One Pension’ issue is common in both the V and VI Pay Commissions.
2.     The issue is about the considerable disparity in pension between pensioners that retired pre-1996, between 1996-2006 and post 2006.
3.     Since the pay scales were revised by the V and VI Pay Commissions, the tie up with the last drawn pay had widened the disparity in pensions.
4.     The V Pay Commission, in 1996, has recommended parity in pension between pre- and post-1986 pensioners. This was a follow up to the KP Singh Deo report in 1984 and a one time increase in 1992 towards bringing parity in pensions.  But the V Pay Commission’s recommendations on the pension of ‘post-1996’ retirees, was still tied to the last drawn pay.
5.      The V Pay Commission has also made provisions for neutralization of price rise.
6.     The VI Pay Commission has given a ‘fitment benefit’ to all retired employees, both civilian and defense, to partially compensate for the disparities in the pre-2006 and post-2006 retirees.
7.      Also in order to compensate for the reduced employment of defense personnel period, a ‘year weightage’ is included in calculation of benefits.
8.     It is a highly emotive issue, since the soldiers retain their titles post retirement and the financial benefits accruing to them are determined by the retirement date. After the latest terror attack and the dedication of the armed force, the country witnessed, sympathy for common people is also behind them. People do believe that at least the Indian Army is above corruption in general
9.     Fiscal outlay for implementing the ‘One Rank One Pension’ is going to be modest–only in the order of Rs.1500 crores.

Considering the fact that the soldiers devotion and dedication for the defense of the country in life-threatening environments and retiring early, the ‘One Rank One Pension’ demand deserves to be implemented in an expedient way. A future BJP-led government, if elected, would implement this demand without any delay.

Source : The India Post.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Fitment Table for College and University Teachers

Though the Ministry has not published any Fitment Table for University and College teachers, Dr.Akhilesh Kumar Kulshreshtha, Retd Reader and Head of Mathematics Deptt, D.B.S.College Kanpur, has posted fitment tables in MS Excel format for university teachers on Scribd.com.For the convenience of our viewers, we have published it in our blog with full respect and acknowledgement to the author.


View the Fitment Table prepared by Dr. Akhilesh Kumar Kulshreshtha.

Our sincere gratitude to Dr Kulshreshtha for devoting his time for the help of many people.

 

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

ROPA for West Bengal Teachers etc. and Clarification regarding ROPA 2009.

The West Bengal Govt. has published ROPA 2009 for
(i) Teaching and Non-Teaching staff of Government sponsored or aided Schools upto Class-XII standard,
ii) Teaching and Non-Teaching staff of Training Institutions for Primary Teachers.
iii) Employees of the District Primary School Councils including Siliguri Subdivisional
Primary School Council and Darjeeling (Hill Areas) District School Board.
iv) Employees of the West Bengal Board of Primary Education.


Different doubts relating to pay commission implementation for the employees of West Bengal Govt. have arised and to simplify proceedings, the Audit Branch , Finance Dept, Govt. of West Bengal has issued clarification regarding these doubts on 9th March, 2009.

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