Resident Doctors won't get revised pay now.

The Imam of Jama Masjid, Delhi has declared that Eid will be celebrated on Thursday, the 2nd October. So no holiday for tomorrow {1st October}.

 Most government servants would be drawing revised salary on October 1 as per the sixth pay commission’s recommendations, but resident doctors would be drawing their salary as per the old scale. 

“It is shocking that the Union health ministry simply forgot to send a notification for revision of salary of resident doctors. This, despite the sixth pay commission dedicating one paragraph for resident doctors in its recommendation,” said Dr Akhil Singhal, vice-president, resident doctors’ association (RDA), Lok Nayak Hospital. 
Resident doctors at Central and Delhi government hospitals are angry  as the Union health ministry has not issued any notification for revision of salary as per the sixth pay commission's recommendations for resident doctors.

“We are being deprived of our basic rights. The AIIMS administration has, however, promised resident doctors that it will be paying us the corresponding salary as per the new scale, which would be adjusted once the ministry takes a final decision. But it is unfortunate the ministry forgot about us,” said Dr Kumar Harsh, RDA president, AIIMS. 

The RDA members of Lok Nayak Hospital approached the Indian Medical Association for help. “We support the doctors. Since 1986, resident doctors have been getting salaries as per revised scales. We will write to the government over the issue,” said Dr Anil Bansal, assistant secretary, IMA. According to resident doctors, the government has created huge disparity amongst medical professionals. “Staff nurses with less than one year of experience would be drawing more salary that senior resident doctors. This is just not done,” said Dr Dhirendra Dhiraj, coordinating secretary, federation of resident doctors association (FORDA). 

Delhi health minister Dr Yoganand Shastri said: “We will write to the Union health ministry and convey the grievances of resident doctors. Once we get the notification, we will immediately process their salary as per new scales.” 

Source : Times of India

Assured, Army accepts 6th pay hike

The Armed forces agreed to accept the Sixth Pay Commission recommended pay hike and arrears on Saturday. This followed the government decision to set up a three-member panel of ministers headed by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, which will look into their grievances.

The announcement came around the same time when Defence Minister AK Antony — who is touring Thiruvananthapuram — sent out a clear message to defence personnel that their grievances would be addressed soon.

“We are taking up the issue seriously. We hope to find a solution to it soon. All of them would be getting their pay in new scales by Diwali,” Antony told reporters.

The announcement came after the government nudged the three service headquarters — Army, Navy and Air Force — to issue a draft notification on Monday to accept the revised pay scales as an interim measure and submit their salary bills to the Defence Ministry.

The committee, also comprising Defence Minister AK Anthony and Finance Minister P Chidambaram, was formed after consultations with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is currently abroad.

Officials said the committee would look into all pending issues of the armed forces and try to resolve them by October end.

An official at the finance ministry said only the Union Cabinet could reverse or amend its earlier decision. Once the three-member panel reaches a decision, the issue would need to be considered by the Cabinet for the final clearance, he said.

The main grouse of the armed forces is that director-rank IAS officers have been put in a higher pay band while lieutenant colonels, drawing the same pay earlier, have been retained in the lower PB-3. They are also piqued at Lt-General rank officers getting a lower salary than the Director General of Police (DGP) under the existing Cabinet decision.

The government has already indicated its willingness to restore the earlier 70 per cent “pensionary weightage” given to jawans, overruling the 50 per cent suggested by the 6th Pay Commission. This recommendation, however, was to be implemented when the government clears its suggestion to give all jawans an option to join central paramilitary forces after serving at least seven years in the army.

Source : Hindustan Times.

High-level ministerial committee to redress grievances. Defence staff agree to new pay for now

The Centre on Saturday set up a high-level ministerial committee to redress grievances of the armed forces personnel relating to revised pay scales. This follows the refusal by the three services chiefs to implement the “discriminatory” recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission.

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee will head the three-member panel. Defence Minister A.K. Antony and Finance Minister P. Chidambaram are the other members. The panel was constituted on the direction of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is currently abroad.

The direction comes in the wake of the earlier decision by the three armed forces not to implement the revised scales till all the anomalies were rectified.

With the government setting up the committee, the services have now decided to accept the revised pay scales as a temporary measure pending its recommendation and to submit their salary bills to the Defence Ministry on Monday. The armed forces personnel will get their new salary and arrears on October 1.

A draft notification in this regard will be submitted by the three forces to the Defence Ministry by Monday morning, a government spokesperson said.

The services chiefs’ main grouse was about the recommendation of scales at the Lieutenant Colonel levels in all the services. Wary of getting their grievances addressed by bureaucrats, they had sought intervention at the highest political level.

The distrust with civilian officers was evident even at the time of the formation of the Pay Commission. The services chiefs had sought representation in the panel dominated by IAS officers on the ground that the civilians would not be able to grasp the circumstances under which the armed forces personnel operated. Their demand was, however, rejected.

They felt neglected again when a review committee was set up to look into their complaints over the pay panel’s recommendation. The review panel, which also comprised IAS officers, failed to meet their expectations.

Following that, Defence Minister A.K. Antony, Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, Admiral Sureesh Mehta and the other two services chiefs separately approached the Prime Minister for a fresh look into their grievances.

Source : The Hindu.

Goa govt to appoint financial consultant for 6th pay comm

Goa government has decided to appoint a financial consultant who will tell the state how to mop up funds for implementing the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations. 

The state will have to bear a liability of Rs 700 crore initially and an additional Rs 300 crore annually once it implements the pay commission recommended wages for its employees from this November onwards. 

Goa Chief Minister Digamber Kamat had yesterday announced that the state would implement the Sixth Pay Commission. 

"The financial consultant will guide us on how to implement some savings or enhance the tax further so that the revenue can be generated," Goa Chief Secretary J P Singh said. 

"We will curtail the expenditure by identifying some schemes where we can cut down. We will also create sinking fund...The financial consultant will help us to manage our finances better," Singh said. 

He added that the savings would attain more importance. 

Earlier briefing about the cabinet decisions, Kamat on Thursday told reporters that that state will work out modalities to share liability with the centre.

Source : The Economic Times

Armed Forces reject Pay Commission

Clearly unhappy with the Pay Commission, the armed forces (Army, Navy, Air Force) have decided not to implement the recommendations alleging discrepancies in parity and status in comparison to their counterparts in civil services and Central police organisations, media reports said. 

To express their unhappiness, personnel of the three services have decided to withhold the implementation of Sixth Pay Commission’s recommendations which were to come into effect from October 01. 

“It is quite a serious matter. We can’t just accept something half-hearted like this. In fact, there were too some anomalies in the 5th Pay Commission recommendation for the Armed forces which are yet to be resolved,” said former Army Chief General VP Mallik. 

"The Armed Forces have not raised their pay vouchers in the revised scales in accordance with the CPC notification and have submitted bills in the old pay scales," a Defence Ministry source said in New Delhi. 

Yesterday, the government agreed in principle the Services' demand for restoring 70 per cent "extant pensionary weightage" to jawans on the basis of their last drawn pay. 

But the Armed Forces are cut up with the Finance Ministry over the rejection of their three other demands concerning officers. 

The CPC had recommended that the jawans be given 50 per cent "pensionary weightage" and provided an option of lateral entry into paramilitary and central police forces. 

The Armed Forces wanted the lateral entry scheme to be first approved and implemented by the government before the CPC recommendation on the 50 per cent "pensionary weightage" came into effect. 

"We have accepted salaries this month under the old pay scales, as we expect the government to take a quick decision on all our demands soon after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh returns from his US visit on October 1," a defence officer said. 

In effect, over 50 lakh civilian government employees will take home higher pay packets along with the arrears announced in the CPC this month, but the 13-lakh-strong Armed Forces personnel would reconcile with the old salaries, to send a strong message to the government. 

Defence Minister AK Antony and the three Services chiefs have already represented to the prime minister on the four "core issues" they have with the CPC notification. 

Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta and Army chief General Deepak Kapoor met Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar and PMO officials yesterday to apprise him of the "anger" among the 70,000 officers over their demands not finding favour with the bureaucracy. 

They have also requested the country's top political leadership to decide on their CPC demands and to implement the pay commission notification in abeyance till the issues were resolved. 

"It is just a matter of less than Rs 450 crore annually if the government accepts the four demands of the Armed Forces, which is not a huge burden on the exchequer," an officer said. 

Among the other demands were placing Lt Colonels and their equivalents in the Navy and Air Force under Pay Band-4 instead of Pay Band-3, Grade Pay to officers from Captain to Brigadiers on par with their civilian counterparts, and placing Lt Generals in the Higher Administrative Grade (HAG) Plus pay scales as the Director Generals of paramilitary and police forces. 

Source Zee News.

Defence forces will be taking old salaries as protest

The Defence Forces today did not submit their revised salary bills to the ministry's accounts office, effectively deferring implementation of the 6th Pay Commission report "with the existing anomalies" that affect personnel across all ranks.
"The Armed Forces have not raised their pay vouchers in the revised scales in accordance with the 6th Central Pay Commission (CPC) notification and have submitted bills in the old pay scales," a Defence Ministry source told PTI here.

Though the government had yesterday in principle accepted the Services' demand for restoring 70 per cent "extant pensionary weightage" to jawans on the basis of their last drawn pay, the Armed Forces are cut up with the Finance Ministry over the rejection of their three other demands concerning officers.

The CPC had recommended that the jawans be given 50 per cent "pensionary weightage" and provided an option of lateral entry into paramilitary and central police forces.

The Armed Forces wanted the lateral entry scheme to be first approved and implemented by the government before the CPC recommendation on the 50 per cent "pensionary weightage" came into effect.

"We have accepted salaries this month under the old pay scales, as we expect the government to take a quick decision on all our demands soon after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh returns from his US visit on October 1," an Armed Forces officer said.

Source : PTI

Pay parity battle: Navy, Army chiefs meet cabinet secy

The armed forces continue to wage their battle against the notification of the new pay scales. Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta and Army chief General Deepak Kapoor met cabinet secretary K M Chandrashekar on Thursday to seek urgent corrective steps to resolve their pending "core issues". 

With the armed forces seething with anger at the delay in restoring their parity with their civilian and paramilitary counterparts, defence minister A K Antony was virtually forced to write to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday to seek his personal intervention in the matter. 

This came after the finance ministry rejected the "core issues" raised by the armed forces, including the main one connected with Lt-Colonel rank officers, without giving any reasons. The government has so far only indicated its willingness to restore the earlier 70% "pensionary weightage" given to jawans, overruling the 50% recommended by the 6th Pay Commission. 

The top military brass, in turn, is upset with "bureaucratic attempts" to drive a wedge between their officers and PBOR (personnel below officer rank). The military leadership, in fact, has sent a message down its ranks that the battle is being fought for both officers and PBOR in "a united, cohesive" manner. 

While civilian government employees will get their new pay scales and 40% arrears on October 1, the armed forces are holding firm that they will continue with their old pay scales till the matter is resolved. The armed forces are particularly angry that the "extant parity" of Lt-Cols has been lowered by retaining them in Pay Band-3 (Rs 15,600-39,100), while raising similarly placed civilians and paramilitary officers to PB-4 (Rs 37,400-67,000). 

The "lowering of status" of Lt-Cols and their equivalent ranks in IAF (Wing Commander) and Navy (Commander) is of major concern since these ranks constitute the bulk of the fighting force among officers. Almost 18,950 of the 54,770 officers in the 13-lakh strong armed forces, after all, are Lt-Col rank officers. 

Another core issue is that all directors-general of police and their equivalents have been placed over Lt-Generals by the creation of a new "higher administrative grade-plus". The forces want all Lt-Gens to be placed in this grade. 

source : The Times of India

Services to hold pay report till Lt Cols moved to higher band

Admiral Sureesh Mehta, Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee, in consultation with the Army and Air Force Chiefs is learnt to have decided to withhold the implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission report in the armed forces until the Government agrees to the place Lieutenant Colonels and their equivalents in the higher pay band even as the Defence Ministry has again asked the Finance Ministry to reconsider this key demand. The contentious issue has now become a war of nerves between the Armed Forces and the government with only five days left to implement the pay commission report.

Government sources said that Admiral Mehta has decided not to issue “government draft letter” that is required by the Defence Ministry to implement the new pay scales and arrears on October 1. The three service chiefs apparently took this decision as the existing pay band 3, as per the Pay Commission, is unacceptable to Lt Colonels and their equivalents. Backed by their seniors, the Lt Colonels want the next pay band, which is 4, so that they at least get more salary than their counterparts in the Coast Guard. Even though the Defence Ministry has quietly reminded the services for issuing the draft letter, the service chiefs are under tremendous pressure not to yield to the government till the pay disparities are rectified.

The Defence Ministry has again requested the Finance Ministry to reconsider the armed forces demand of placing the Lt Colonels in pay band 4. But this time they have not referred to the other key demand that Lt Generals be placed in the Higher Administrative Grade plus scale so that their parity with the Director Generals of Police is maintained. Defence Minister A K Antony has already written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the Lt Colonel issue after Finance Ministry rejected the South Block request on grounds that it did not want to reopen a Pandora’s box by revisiting the Pay Commission report.

Source : Indian Express

Government gives 'in principle' nod to pay demand for jawans

The government has agreed to restore 70 per cent "pensionary weightage" to jawans, even as Defence chiefs on Thursday intensified efforts to get "anomalies" in the 6th Pay Commission notification removed. 

"The government has given in principle approval to reverting to the 70 per cent pensionary weightage, as demanded by the Services, overruling the 50 per cent recommended by the Central Pay Commission (CPC), providing much-needed relief just before this Diwali," top Defence Ministry sources told reporters here. 

Espousing their cause, the Services chiefs today apprised Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar and officials in the  Prime Minister's Office (PMO) on the issues. 

Earlier, jawans used to get 70 per cent of their last drawn pay as pension calculated on the basis of their 10-month average salary before retirement. 

Under the CPC notification, the jawans, who form the backbone of the Armed Forces but retire at a relatively young age, are to be provided with the option of lateral entry in to the Central police forces and paramilitary and in return, they would get reduced "pensionary weightage" of 50 per cent. 

In order to resolve this issue, Defence Minister A K Antony had written a strong letter to both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram, particularly batting for the jawan's pensionary benefits, reduced by the CPC.

Source Economic Times

Antony seeks PM’s intervention

Defence Minister A. K. Antony has sought the Prime Minister’s intervention to correct the anomalies in the pay scales of armed forces personnel, who have refused to accept the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations till the defects are rectified.

Mr. Antony has approached Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after the Finance Ministry turned down the armed forces’ demand for a review of the anomalies without assigning any reason, said informed sources.

The sources pointed out that the armed forces are so upset over the downgrading of certain key posts vis-À-vis their civilian counterparts that for the first time they are not implementing the revised pay scales recommended by a pay panel.

The salaries of all armed forces personnel for this month will be as per the previous pay panel’s recommendations, they said.

Mr. Antony, the sources said, was compelled to write to the Prime Minister after his missive of September 16 to the Finance Ministry did not elicit a satisfactory response. The Defence Minister on Tuesday said the services’ point of view was being examined by the government.

This is not the first request to the Prime Minister from the Defence Ministry. Earlier this month, Navy Chief and Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, Admiral Sureesh Mehta, wrote to Dr. Singh about lowering of the status of defence officers and men. This was preceded by a letter from the Chief of the Army Staff, Gen. Deepak Kapoor, to the President and ‘Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces,’ Pratibha Patil, raising the same issue.

The letters to the Prime Minister and the President reflect their disappointment with the bureaucratic mechanism to satisfactorily resolve the grievances of the armed forces personnel, said another source. “We are not going to settle for another committee comprising civilian officers. The government had set up a review committee of officers but they did not do anything. So we thought it was better to approach the political leadership directly,” he explained.

The armed forces want the resolution of four core issues but they are specifically agitated over the lower pay and downgrading in the warrant of precedence of Lieutenant Colonels (and equivalent), considered the backbone of the armed forces, and Higher Administrative Grade (HAG) plus for all Lieutenant Generals (and their equivalent in the other two services).

Source : The Hindu

Teachers seek pay revision report, threatened to go on mass Casual Leave

College teachers here attended classes wearing black armband on Wednesday to protest against the delay in submission of the sixth University Grants Commission (UGC) Pay Revision recommendations by Prof. Chaddha Committee to the Government.

The Mysore University Private College Teachers, who also observed a protest, threatened to go on mass casual leave shortly if the committee did not submit its report soon to facilitate the Government to implement the recommendations of the sixth UGC Pay Commission.

Addressing presspersons, general secretary of the Mysore University Private College Teachers’ Association (MUPCTA) Mohan Raj said that college teachers from across the State would meet in Bangalore in a couple of weeks and take out a procession if the revised pay scales were not implemented by December.

The committee was supposed to submit its report on September 6. “Prof. Chaddha is seeking lame excuses to delay submission of the report,” Prof. Mohan Raj said.

The pay scales of UGC teachers were revised in 1996. Though the term of the previous commission’s recommendations was to end in 10 years during 2006, the pay scales of the university teachers had not been revised for the past 12 years, he said.

Prof. Mohan Raj said the teachers’ representatives would also lead a delegation to New Delhi shortly to pressure the Centre for early implementation of pay revision report. “We will meet the officials of the Human Resource Development Ministry,” he added.

MUPCTA president C.R. Raju urged the Centre and the State Government to implement the recommendations as soon as the report was submitted.

Source : The Hindu

Sources say that the much awaited report is likely to be submitted on 6th of October. 

Conveyance Allowance, Travelling Allowance and LTC as per Sixth Pay Commission

Income Tax Departmental Exam postponed. View details at

http://simpleincometax.blogspot.com

DOPT has issued Office Memorelated to the acceptance of sixth pay commission recommendations on Conveyance Allowance, Travelling Allowance and LTC

For Modified Conveyance Allowance, visit
http://india.gov.in/govt/studies/conv.pdf

For Modified Travelling Allowance, visit
http://india.gov.in/govt/studies/ta.pdf

DOPT has also accepted the recommendation of the Central Pay Commission vide their office memo Dated 23rd September 2008. Details may be viewed here
http://india.gov.in/govt/studies/ltc.pdf

Salary hike for Manipur State Gove employees

The state Cabinet meeting late this evening decided to set up a committee called “Committee on Officer” to look into the implementation of pay structures of the sixth pay commission of the Central government in the state.
The state Cabinet meeting held under the chair of the chief minister at the Cabinet room of the chief minister’s bungalow approved the proposal of the state finance department to constitute the committee to study the application of the sixth pay commission recommendation to the employees of the state government, a source said today.
The eight-member Committee on Officer to be headed by the state chief secretary is to study the estimated financial involvement while paying by the pay structures of the 6th pay commission in the state and consequent feed back.
The committee will submit a detailed report on the matter within a three month period, the source said.
The principal secretaries of finance, home, higher education, commissioners of school education, works, secretaries of law and department of personnel shall be the members of the very high level committee, the source said.
The Cabinet meeting which commenced from this afternoon at around 3.15 pm also approved the Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrine (amendment to prohibition Act 1993) bill during the ensuing Assembly session for passing.
The state Cabinet also further approved conducting common question examination for class eighth in the schools in the state by next year’s academic session under the Board of Secondary Education Manipur, BSEM.
The meeting also approved to introduce the Manipur (Hill Areas District Council) 3rd amendment bill 2008 in the coming Assembly session scheduled from October 1 next for consideration and passing.
The Cabinet also discussed the agenda on increasing of taxi and bus fares with the hike of fuel prices in the state.
But it was deferred to be discussed in the next Cabinet meeting due to the lack of certain documentations in the proposed fare rates of different passenger services in the state.

Panel to recommend 65 as retirement age for teachers

The Pay Review Committee constituted by the University Grants Commission to review the pay scales of university and college teachers is planning to recommend 65 as the uniform age for retirement across the country.

“The question of invoking a uniform policy about the age of retirement and re-employment of teachers was one of the key issues before us. The retirement age is disparate in different States ranging from 55 to 70. In our report, we will be stressing that there needs to be a uniform age for retirement, which according to us should be 65,” said Committee chairman G.K. Chadha at a press conference on Sunday.

Prof. Chadha was sharing with the media some of the issues related to teachers’ pay, service and working conditions that the Committee has been looking into.

Refusing to give any timeframe as to when the Committee will submit its report to the UGC, he, however, assured its recommendations would give teachers “a very decent deal”.

“We will start writing the report next week. But we can’t estimate the time. Some of the issues that we are dealing with are new and innovative. The possibility of granting additional incentives at the entry level, some kind of academic allowance for working in remote and inaccessible areas are under active consideration,” Prof. Chadha informed.

“We will emphasise that January 1, 2006, should be the date from which the recommendations should be implemented throughout the country. We also looked at how to extend better financial and other incentives to attract and retain talent in the field of teaching. We examined the existing infrastructure and support facilities for research,” he added.

Another committee member Manimala Das spoke on the issue of workload and academic accountability of teachers.“We feel the teachers should have reasonable workload. Since the pay packages will be so good, there should not be any complaint. We are also looking at what kind of criteria need to be evolved for effective and transparent assessment of teachers’ work,” she said. The committee members also highlighted some crucial areas on which consensus was yet to emerge.

“There is one issue of layers at the university and college level. Whether we should extend layers in terms of promotion avenues or go with the existing arrangement,” Prof. Chadha explained. UGC secretary R.K. Chauhan said once the committee submitted its report, the commission will give its recommendations to the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development within next 15 days to get it implemented at the earliest.

Source : The Hindu.

Ministry of Defence blinks on Lt-Col pay demand but tells services to promptly implement hike

Responding to complaints by the three service chiefs, Defence Minister A K Antony has agreed to recommend raising the pay band for officers of Lieutenant Colonel rank and their equivalents.

At the same time, the UPA has sent a polite memo to all three services to issue the “government draft notification letter” without any further delay as new salaries and arrears have to be paid to the armed forces on October 1, 2008.

Although the Defence Ministry issued the “draft notification letter” for civilians, the armed forces tactically delayed issuing the letter as part of pressure on the Government to address their complaints.

The three chiefs have knocked on the doors of the Defence Ministry, Finance Ministry and even the Prime Minister’s Office seeking what they call “parity with honour” with civilian and paramilitary counterparts.

 

Source : Indian Express

 

Central Govt Employee's Association is demanding better.

Charter of demand

1. Grant Rs 10000 as minimum wage as per 15 ILC Norms.
2. Grant minimum fitment benefit of 2.625 times of pre-revised basic pay to bring about uniform rise in emoluments and raise grade pay to 50% of the maximum of the pre-revised scales in respect of PB 1,2 & 3 as has been done in the case of PB 4.
3. No abolition of Gr.D. Posts and functions. Lift ban on recruitment, fill up all vacant posts and scrap screening Committee.
4. Grant 10% of pay+ Grade pay as minimum benefit on promotion or financial up gradation.
5. No outsourcing or contractorising of Govt. functions.
6. Fix the date of effect of all allowances as 1.1.2006.
7. No reduction in the commutation value and restoration of full pension after 12 years.
8. Grant statutory defined pension scheme to the employees recruited after 1.1.2004 and withdraw the PFRDA Bill from Parliament.
9. Compute the pension entitlement on the basis of notional pay as on 1.1.1996.

10. No performance related pay or bonus scheme.

11 Implement the Board of Arbitration Awards.

12. Remove the arbitrary 5% ceiling and 3 years condition on compassionate appointment and withdraw court cases and absorb all waitlisted RRR candidates.

13.Implement the revision of bonus ceiling @ 3500/- in the case of Govt. Employees: Remove adhoc bonus and replace it with the PLB and remove the 60 days ceiling.

14.Grant SDA to all employees in NE Region.

15.Revise the Transport and daily allowances as demanded by the staff side JCM National Council.

16.Remove the condition of 6 months for applying the uniform date of Ist July as increment dates.

17. ACP to be on hierarchical system obtaining in each department.

18. Retain and improve CGHS and make insurance scheme optional.

19.Implement flexitime working hours for women/disabled employees as recommended by the 6 CPC.

20.Direct all the Departmental Heads to settle 6^th CPC related department specific demands/problems within a stipulated time.

21. Grant civil servant status and Pension to 'Gramin Dak-Sevaks.'

Source : Confederation of Central Govt. Employees {Circular No. 14, Dated 19th Sep 2008}

State Govt Employees of Goa may get enhanced pay from November.

The state government is likely to implement the 6th Pay Commission's recommendations with effect from November 2008. The state cabinet will formally decide on the issue when it meets on September 23. 

The finance secretary Udipta Ray, along with joint secretary Suresh Shanbogue gave a presentation to the cabinet about the implications of the 6th Pay Commission for Goa on Thursday. 

Sources in the finance department said that the 46,000 strong government workforce will get hiked salaries from the month of November, which will be paid on November 30. 

The average jump in salary for any government servant ranges from 30 to 35 per cent. This includes house rent allowance (HRA) which has gone up by around 15 to 20%. 

The city compensatory allowance (CCA) has been abolished and travelling allowance (TA) put in its place. As the dearness allowance increases , so does the travelling allowance, sources said. 

The annual increment will be 3% of basic pay, and the date of increments is uniformly set for July 1 every year to all employees. Full pension will be given after completion of 20 years, that is, 50% of last 10 months average emoluments, sources said. 

Implementing the 6th Pay Commission recommendations will entail an additional burden of around Rs 25 crore per month on the government . 

The overall liability on the government in terms of salaries and arrears for the period from January 1, 2006, to August 31, 2008, is around Rs 800 crore. 

While these are some of the salient features of the 6th Pay Commission recommendations to be implemented in Goa, government employees are eagerly waiting for the cabinet to give its formal nod to the recommendations during its meeting on September 23.

Source : The Times of India.

Clarification on Increment and Fixation on Promotion

You need not have to guess and ask the so called 'experts' to know your exact fixation any more. The problem particularly stands with those who had their increment in January and who have been promoted between 01/01/2006 and 30/06/2006. How will be their salary fixed as per new formula ? Different office had sorted out these questions on their own as there were no clear clarification.

To resolve this problem DOPT has issued a fresh clarification. In a nutshell " between 1-2-2005 and 1-12 2005 are eligible for increment on July 2007 as they completes 6 months after increment. For those whom the increment is on 1-1-2006, the news scale is considered including the increment on 1-1-2006. They are also eligible for increment on July 2007."

Deatils may be obtained here.

http://164.100.50.223/six_pay_comm/clarifications.pdf

Pay panel imbroglio: Antony supports non-officer cadre

In what is seen as a set back to the cause of armed forces officers fretting over being short changed by a pay panel’s recommendations, Defence Minister A.K. Antony has written the finance ministry to examine a major grouse of personnel below officer rank (PBOR).Hitherto, PBORs had been drawing pension in proportion to their years of service. However, the Sixth Pay Commission has recommended that their pension would be half of the last pay drawn.

“Antony has written a letter to the finance ministry strongly recommending that PBORs be granted pension in proportion to the number of years they have served,” a defence ministry official said Friday.

Antony wrote the letter earlier this week.

The pension demand is one of the core issues raised by the armed forces in relation to the pay panel report. However, since Antony’s letter only speaks about PBORs, this is an indication that the other issues pertaining to the officer cadre has been put on the back burner.

“The PBORs are at a disadvantage as they retire early and thus draw lesser pay and consequently end up getting a lower pension,” Indian Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta, who is also the chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, had said in a letter to the defence minister Sep 1.

Source : Did not want to disclose.

Let's not demoralise defence forces

Prior to the appointment of a Sixth Central Pay Commission (CPC) for better pay scales for Central Government employees including the defence services, the three Services chiefs had asked the Government for a separate Pay Commission for defence services. The reason: there are different service conditions, which have not been appreciated by the previous pay commissions.

The Service chiefs have been proved right. They are "unwilling to implement" the Sixth CPC report as it is. Recent media reports state that the three Chiefs have apprised Defence Minister AK Antony and want the "anomalies" removed and the status and parity of payscales to be restored.

After sensing the mood, Antony is learnt to have assured the Chiefs that he would take up the matter with the Government. Till then, the three Chiefs have sought that implementation for officer ranks be "held in abeyance." They have, however, thanked the Government for hiking salaries of Personnel Below Officer Ranks (PBORs) as desired. But, their grievance that the disparity between service officers and their civil service counterparts not only remains, but has increased. Basically they point out:

* Disparity in Pay Bands: The chiefs claim the Committee of Secretaries (CoS) moved the Director rank into Pay Band 4 but retained Lt. Col and its equivalent in other services in Pay Band 3. Earlier, they claim, a Lt Col got the same pay as an IAS Director and Rs 800 more than a non-IAS Director. Now he gets Rs 14000 less than an IAS director and Rs 11000 less than a non-IAS director.

* Disparity in Grade Pay: The CoS agreed to their demand to an increase in grade pay across middle-rank officers but also increased the grade pay of civil servants, thereby retaining disparity, the chiefs say. For example, he Pay Commission recommended Rs 6600 for a civil servant equivalent to a Major who was to get Rs 6100. After review, a Major will now get Rs 6600 but his equivalent in the civil service will get Rs 7600.

* Restricting elite list: The new category of HAG-plus (Higher Administrative Grade) includes all DGs and DGPs but only Army Commanders and their equivalents in other services, the chiefs complain. Their demand: all Lt. Gen officers be included in this category. The Defence Ministry is said to have conveyed that the objections are being looked into and a response will be given soon.

While Antony appears to be sympathetic, the Finance Ministry has strongly denied any "injustice" to the Armed forces in this new pay structure. Its officials are emphatic: "In no way are the defence personnel getting any lesser pay than their civilian counterparts. In fact, they will carry home fatter pay packets than civilian services and paramilitary under the new salary structures of the CPC."

Quoting the new feature of Military Service Pay (MSP) in the CPC, officials say the Armed forces officers would uniformly get Rs 6,000 more, whereas such a pay was not offered to the civilians and the paramilitary. "Under the 5th CPC there was no compensation provided for the risk factor involved in the defence personnel's job profile. MSP has taken care of that lacuna in the 6th CPC."

Also, the MSP would be counted along with the Basic Pay of Armed Forces officers for calculating the Dearness Allowance (DA). "That would provide them with Rs 960 DA and the amount would increase as the DA is hiked," is another argument. In addition, defence officers posted in Siachen would get an allowance of Rs 14,000 and an High Altitude Allowance of Rs 8,000, which adds up to a total of Rs 22,000. Earlier, the personnel were getting only Rs 7,000 as Siachen Allowance and Rs 4,000 as High Altitude Allowance, adding up to Rs 11,000.

Citing an example of the entry-level defence officers in the rank of Lieutenants and equivalent in Navy and Air Force, the officials explain that under the 5th CPC under the pay scale of Rs 8,250-10,500, they received a salary totalling Rs 15,252 as on December 31, 2005 . "On January 1, 2006 , from when the 6th CPC would be effective, a Lieutenant under the Pay Band-3 will receive an additional Grade Pay of Rs 5,400 and MSP of Rs 6,000, making his or her total emoluments Rs 27,000. As on September 1, 2008 , when the 6th CPC was implemented, a Lieutenant would get total emoluments of Rs 28, 947," the officials add. As against this, their civilian counterparts in the pay scale of Rs 8,000-13,500 under 5th CPC had received a pay of Rs 14,880.

Another argument put forth is: A Lt Colonel under the 5th CPC received a Gross Pay of Rs 28,086. But under the 6th CPC, he would receive a Grade Pay of Rs 7,600 and MSP of Rs 6,000 under Pay Band-3. His pay as on January 1, 2006 , would be Rs 41,690. From September 1, 2008 , when 6th CPC was implemented, Lt Colonel's emoluments stood at Rs 45,000.

With the Finance Ministry virtually rejecting their demands, the Armed Forces' chiefs rightly have asked that the issues raised by them should be addressed by the country's political leadership and not Anomalies Committee. "The CPC created disparities are not just pay anomalies, but core issues. Hence, these cannot be left to the Anomalies Committee. But the Cabinet must consider them and issue a corrigendum to the CPC notification," Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta, in his capacity as the Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, insists.

Clearly, the issues such as "extant parities of pay" to Lieutenant Colonels and equivalent officers vis-à-vis their civilian and paramilitary counterparts, is not just related to the CPC, but could seriously jeopardise "operational" and "functional" harmony of the defence forces, whenever and wherever they worked alongside the civilian and paramilitary forces officers. .

Let us face the facts that the disparity "badly demoralise" the officers of the Armed Forces and if these persist, it could lead to "despondency" among the defence cadre. Admiral Mehta has even met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to press for the removal of anomalies, explaining that it has serious implications of the command and control element during Unified Command Operations if not addressed. Singh is learnt to have promised that he will personally look into the issues raised.

Let us hope that the Cabinet Committee on Security removes these disparities so that the soldiers do not get demoralised and save the nation from a serious catastrophe. A demoralised force cannot save the sovereignty, security and integrity of the country.

Col (Dr) PK Vasudeva (Retd) -INFA

Source : A column from 'Central Cronicle' - Bhpoal, M.P.

 

6th Pay Commission: Government clears doubt on tax on pay arrears

The lack of clarity over taxation of arrears that government employees will receive following the implementation of the 6th Pay Commission recommendations has finally cleared. The tax on first installment will be deducted in the current fiscal and that on the second installment will be deducted next year when they receive the actual payment. 

Confusion had arisen about the tax treatment of the pay arrears that central government employees are about to get as part of their latest wage revision. According to finance ministry sources, only the first installment of the arrears would be taxed this fiscal. The taxation, they would be akin to the tax treatment in 1997 when the fifth pay commission recommendation was implemented wherein the tax was deducted at the time of payment. 

If the tax is deducted, employees who do not fall in the slab of 30% rate of income tax, would have to bear a surcharge, as their total income, including both installments would have been higher. As per the current income tax slab, income over Rs 2,50,000 attracts a tax rate of 30% and income above Rs 10,00,000 attracts a rate of 30% as also 10% surcharge. 

The government had last month announced an average increase of 21% in the wages of its employees. It had decided to pay 40% arrears of their increased salaries this year and the rest next year to reduce the burden on the exchequer.

States want Centre to bear 50 pc burden of pay revision

The VAT panel wants the Union Government to bear at least half of the financial burden that the states will have to bear following the implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations.
"At least 50 per cent of the additional financial burden of the states as a result of the Centre's decision on the Sixth Central Pay Commission should be shared by the Central Government," Chairman of Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers on VAT Asim Dasgupta told reporters here today.
The pay panel's recommendation on pay revision of the Central Government employees is to be implemented from the current month itself.
Many states like Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Chhattisgarh and Tamil Nadu have also decided to go for pay revision of their employees.
However, in case of special category and north-eastern states, the VAT panel asked the Centre to bear the entire additional burden of the pay revision.

Source P.T.I

Dasgupta said another option was that financial burden was fully accommodated by the Thirteenth Finance Commission, while assessing expenditure needs of the states.

He stressed the Commission should work on modalities, which would provide a more justified relief to the states.

Referring to the royalty on coal and other minerals, the VAT panel asked the Thirteenth Pay Commission to revise it frequently and wanted that the states were not denied their legitimate share on royalties on oil and power. PTI

Sixth Pay to be implemented in toto in M.P.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has announced here on Tuesday that the recommendations of Sixth Pay Commission would be implemented in toto in the state. Talking at the felicitation programme at the garden in front of the State Secretariat, he said that the state government is playing a big role for the development of the state and welfare of the people. The government will make them happy, and not frustrated, he said.

Chouhan said that Madhya Pradesh is rich in minerals and other resources. To make the state as one of the most progressed in the country the officers and employees have a great role to play. He has given oath to the assembled officers and employees to co-operate with the government for making it as one of the most progressed state.

The programme was organised on the 'Engineers Day'. On this occasion the chief minister announced that from next year onwards the state government would honour the engineer who does good work. Water Resources Minister Anoop Mishra who was special guest on the occasion said that Shivraj Singh Chouhan is the first chief minister to whom 15 lakh employees and officers trusts.

Convenor of the programme and organiser of the officers-employees joint action committee Shiv Singh Tomar stated that with the employee-friendly decisions the trust of the employees and officers in the chief minister has doubled.

Madhya Pradesh Diploma Engineers Association President Rajendra Singh Bhadoria in his welcome address has termed the decision of the chief minister as 'historic' and commended the chief minister for his generous attitude. State Employees Federation General Secretary Gyanprakash Tiwari also spoke on the occasion.

On this occasion the chief minister honoured as best regional unit of Diploma Engineers Association's Ujjain unit president Suresh Dwivedi, as best district unit (Damoh Unit)president KG Parashar and Association's office secretary DK Malviya for his special contribution. They have been given certificates.

At the outset the chief minister and other guests began the programme by lighting the traditional lamp. Rajendra Bhadoria, Shiv Singh Tomar and Gyanprakash Tiwari welcomed the chief minister with flower garlands. Statue of Swami Vivekanand was given to Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Anoop Mishra as memento.

The programme, organised on the birth anniversary of Padmashri Vishweshwarayya, office bearers of different employees organisations including Dr RK Chourasia, Ajay Shrivastava Neelu, Dr RL Singh, RP Upadhyaya, Ramnath Solanki, Narendra Khare, Rajendra Parashar, OP Gour, Dinesh Sharma, Sanjay Rathore, Satmani Sharma, Mohd Salim Qureshi, Rajkumar Patel, Kamal Gour, Sunil Saxena, RK Tiwsari, Arun Verma, Prakash Chandwani, RC Gupta, Dr DK Rai, Dr Nilesh Desai, Ajit Rai, Ashok Tyagi, Azim Khan, Brajendra Sharma, RS Kushwaha, Rakesh ?Walia, Rajesh Shrivastava, SK Maske, KSS Bais, PS Parihar, Sanjay Awasthi, Arun Dwivedi, Rajendra Shukla, Hemant Bahadur Singh Parihar, Chandrashekhar Vyas, Mohd Yunus Khan, GS Solanki, Baldev Chouragarhe, Surendra Kourav, Shailendra Sharma, BS Solanki, Shivpal Singh, Raman Bhatnagar, Devendra Bhadoria, JP Patel, S Karanjgaonkar, RK Vyas, RB Singh, Brajendra Sharma and Kailash Chandra Parashar have welcomed. Employees welfare council president Arvind Shrivastava and officers and employees in large number were present on the occasion.

 Source : Central Cronicle - Bhopal.

Women in govt service to get 3 yrs' child care leave

This is one rule that could turn women in India Inc green with envy. The Centre has not only increased maternity leave for its employees to six months but has also cleared paid leave for two years to take care of children. 

The order, effective from September 1, increases maternity leave of women employees from 135 days to a cool 180 days for each of their two children. From now on, women employees can take paid leave up to two years (730 days) during their career for "taking care" of their two children without affecting their seniority. 

Even if a woman has only one child, she can take the two-year leave. Termed "child care leave", this will be besides the maternity break they are entitled to. The new rules came into force on September 1. 

Adding to the bonanza, a woman employee can avail of child care leave in any combination till her two children are 18 years of age. In line with the Sixth Pay Commission proposals, the new leave regime for women means that during their stint with the government, they can avail paid leave of as much as three years, provided they do it only for two children. 

The child care leave can be taken for any of reason, including "rearing" or "to look after any of their needs like examination, sickness etc". Women in the private sector are often hard-pressed for such leave beyond the maternity break (rarely beyond 90 days), besides the regular quota of earned, casual and medical leave. 

"The new rule has come as a godsend. I can now devote time to my son when he needs it the most. The best part is I can take this leave till he is 18," said a director-level IAS officer. Contrast it with what a senior corporate executive said: "I attended office up to two days before my child was born. I had to save as much of my 90-day maternity leave so that I could devote time to my child later. The entire period is over now and I am back to work. I now leave my baby at my mother's house and come to office." 

The government has notified that child care leave can also be availed in continuation of the six-month maternity break. It means that a woman employee deciding to have only one child can continue on paid leave for two-and-a-half years at a stretch. 

Of course, she has the option of saving some of it for exigencies and, above all, she continues to enjoy her share of the regular leaves. The new regime will definitely make government jobs much more attractive not only for women but also for men as the couple would be assured that at least the mother would be with the child when needed. Semi-government establishments — like PSUs, banks, insurance companies — should be expected to adopt the new women-friendly system sooner or later.

persmin.gov.in/WriteData/CircularNotification/ScanDocument/13018_2_2008-Estt.(L).pdf

persmin.gov.in/WriteData/CircularNotification/ScanDocument/12011_04_2008-Estt.(Allow).pdf

Source : The Times of India.

UGC pay panel delay likely to hit UPA’s election plans

Much to the chagrin of the UPA government, the University Grants Commission’s pay review committee is unable to “estimate” how much more time it will require to finalise its recommendations. The committee headed by Professor G K Chadha was supposed to submit its report on September 5. 

The HRD ministry has given it a month’s extension, but professor Chadha is unwilling to commit himself to a public deadline. The UPA government would like to wrap up the pay review before elections are announced. 

College and university teachers are an important electoral constituency and the government would rather give them the expected pay hike in time so that it can reap electoral dividends. 

However, the Chadha Committee does promise “radical” changes which will help the Indian higher education sector meet the socio-economic and cultural challenges in the era of globalisation, even as Professor Chadha is unwilling to commit a deadline. 

He says that the committee will take “no longer than is necessary”. One of the reasons, the chairman has cited for the delay is that the committee is yet to reach at a consensus on three or four issues. 

These include changes in the “layers” of the faculty at the college and university levels — the choice is to continue with the current gradation from lecturer to reader to professor or to introduce new levels. Professor Chadha said that should changes be introduced, suitable time scales will also have to be introduced. 

Other unresolved issues include whether the UGC pay committee should replicate the central pay commission’s system for grade pay and pay bands, and the manner in which to resolve the anomalies of the previous committee’s — the Rastogi Committee — recommendations. 

Another area that the committee members feel needs more attention is the manner in which stagnation of college and university professors can be addressed. At present, it seen that often college professors achieve the top of their scale and then continue to remain there without any possibilities of advancement. 

Former IISc director Professor G Padmanaban, who is member of the committee, said that there was a strong view within the panel that no teacher should suffer from stagnation. 

Now, the committee needs to work out a way to compensate these members of the teaching community, and to do so they will need to find parallels within the sixth pay commission’s recommendation. 

In light of the vast higher education expansion plans of the government, the committee has suggested a uniform retirement age of 65 years across the country. At present, there is a “great discrepancy” in the retirement age that ranges for 55 to 65 years. 

“We are in a situation when availability of teaching faculty is critical to the government’s plans. This issue can be addressed to some measure through a retirement age that is uniformly set across the entire higher education system,” Professor Chadha said. 

Professor Chadha said that at the entry level the higher education sector is competing with the corporate sector and civil services for the best minds. “We need to offer an attractive package. While we can’t compete with the corporate sector it should be such that 10 years down the road, the academic has no regrets.” 

Stating that the choice was clear, Professor Chadha said, “We can’t give the red carpet welcome but we can provide a decent living condition”. The effort to attract the best minds to join the academic circuit will include “unprecedented financial support” and improved research facilities.

Source : The Economic Times