Consumer Price Index for November 2014 released

Consumer Price Index Numbers for Industrial Workers - CPI(IW) for the month of November 2014 remained unchanged at 253.

Extension of date of filing Asset Statement under Lokpal Act : 30.04.2015

Declaration of Assets and Liabilities by public servants under section 44 of the Lokpal and Lokayukt Act 2013 - submission of property statement - date extended to 30th April 2015 from 31st December 2014.
Click here for the Gazette Notification.

West Bengal likely to announce Dearness Allowance soon

It is learnt from sources that West Bengal Govt. is considering to release another installment of Dearness Allowance for it's employees and pensioners soon. The Govt. may declare 7% D.A. with effect from 1st January 2015 and announcement in this regard may come at any time.
If sources are to be believed, another installment of 7% D.A. may be paid with effect from 1st April 2015. 
The state employees are lagging behind to the tune of 49% in D.A. compared to their central counterparts, these two installments (7+7) may certainly bring some relief. Let us wait and see.

Chief Labour Commissioner called for conciliation meeting ahead of bank strike

Against the arrogant attitude of IBA in delaying the 10th Wage Revision process,Bank Unions have given call for one day strike on 7th January 2015followed by 4 day strikes from 21st to 24th January 2015 and indefinite strike from 16th March'15 onwards.

Mean while a Conciliation meeting of Bank Unions and IBA will be held by Chief Labour Commissioner(Central ) on 5th January 2015 at 3.00 p.m. in Main Committee Room, C-Wing, Shram Shakti Bhawan, Rafi Marg, New Delhi.

IBA has not considered any wage hike above 11% so far despite the earlier strikes and conciliations as against Bank employees demand for 23% increase

Submitted by Mohan.P 

Bank Unions wage increase demand irrational: IBA

Indian Banks’ Association said it is the only representative body of banks which acts on the mandate given by the banks for wage settlement, a statement issued here said.
It said IBA’s Negotiating Committee comprise of CMDs of Public Sector Banks as well as Private Sector Banks which are parties to the Bipartite a settlements has started the wage negotiation in right earnest since October 2012.
It said 14 rounds of discussion have been held and two major issues, i.e., effective date of implementation and merger of DA have been clinched.

Supreme Court ruled against recovery of excess pay due to employers' mistake

Recovery of excess amount paid to Class-III and Class-IV employees due to employer's mistake is not permissible in law, the Supreme Court has ruled saying that it would cause extremely harsh consequences to them who are totally dependent on their wages to run their family. 

The apex court said employees of lower rung service spend their entire earning in the upkeep and welfare of their family, and if such excess payment is allowed to be recovered from them, it would cause them far more hardship, than the reciprocal gains to the employer. 

No proposal to reduce central retirement age : Govt. assures in Rajya Sabha

No reduction in retirement age

There is no proposal under consideration of Government to reduce the retirement age from 60 to 58 years for its employees.  The retirement age for Central Government employees was revised from 58 to 60 years in 1997 on the basis of recommendations of the 5th Central Pay Commission.  The Centre’s total wages and salaries bill for its employees for the year 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 is Rs. 85,963.50 crore, Rs. 92,264.88 crore and Rs. 1,04,759.71 crore, respectively.  This was stated by the Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Dr. Jitendra Singh in a written reply to Sardar Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Dr. T Subbarami Reddy and Smt. Ambika Soni in Rajya Sabha, today.  Click here for the PIB Press Release

Series of bank strikes to follow in January 2015

After the UFBU meeting held today afternoon leaders chosen warpath.                                                                         STRIKE, STRIKE and STRIKE.
One day nationwide strike on 7th Januray.
Four days continuous strike from 21st to 24th January.
Indefinite strike from 16th March 2015....

Bank officers plan candle march today

DECEMBER 15:  

To protest against the delay in revision of wage settlement, bank officers will organise a candle march in Delhi’s Jantar Mantar and other State capitals on Tuesday. “The All India Bank Officers’ Confederation has decided to organise a protest candle march tomorrow, in all State Capitals and major cities to highlight the undue and unwanted delay in wage revision and other policies of the Government,” the confederation said in a statement. The revision is due from November 2012.

Source : Hindu Business Line

Labour Commissioner called IBA & UFBU for meeting

All India Bank strike on 12 th Nov'14, as well as the Relay Zonal Strikes from 2nd to 5th December 2014 with  unprecedented success, displayed the anguish and frustration of the bank employees,through out the country , who are being denied the reasonable wage revision and also the undue delay on the part of IBA in conclusion of the 10th Bi partite settlement. 

Now Chief Labour Commissioner has fixed a conciliation meeting of Bank Unions (UFBU) and Indian bank's Association on 17th Dec'14,at 11.30 AM. at Mumbai.

 UFBU will be meeting  will be held on the same day at Mumbai.

News Courtesy : Mr Mohan P 

Bank relay strike ends, what next ?

The four-day relay strike by employees of public sector banks has ended with western region staff going off work today to press for wage hike.
All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) General Secretary C H Venkatachalam claimed that about 17,300 branches of PSU banks were closed in West India and 1.20 lakh employees took part in the strike.

The western grid was affected by the strike with 3.55 crore cheques worth Rs 2.25 lakh crore being held up today, he claimed.

However, private sector banks continued to function normally in three states where PSBs' employees went on strike. Cheque clearances and deposit and withdrawal from branches in Maharashtra, Goa and Gujarat were affected.

Kerala Pay revision in final stages, to be implemented soon - CM

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy told the Assembly that the pay commission report was in the final stages and that pay revision would be implemented soon.

“As soon as the pay commission report is received, further procedures will be  expedited. The pay revision was due by July. Only 5 months are overdue, whereas during the time of the previous government it was implemented after 19 months of the due date,”

Mr. Chandy said in reply to a calling-attention motion by C. Divakaran seeking interim relief to the employees.

Source : Deccan Chronicle

Bank employees continue with zone wise relay strike, IBA issued Press Release

Bank employees are proceeding with their relay zone wise strike as declared. There is still no break through in terms of finalization of wage settlement. In the mean time IBA issued a press statement regarding status of wage revision negotiation. Salient features of the press release is reproduced below.

Consumer Price Index Numbers for Industrial Workers - CPI(IW) for October 2014

Consumer Price Index Number [CPI(IW)] for October 2014 remained unchanged at 253. 
Central D.A is likely to be 6% increased from Jan'15
To calculate the DA for Jan 2015 accurately, we need the AICPIN value for the next two months. However, we only have the AICPIN value for four months now. In the coming months, if the AICPIN value remains at 253 or 1 point increase based (254 ,255,) then D.A. is likely to be hiked @ 6% , totaling to  i.e. 113%.

Haryana retirement age issue in High Court

Retirement age: Punjab and Haryana HC issue notice to Haryana government

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Friday issued a notice to the Haryana government on a plea against the state's decision to lower the retirement age of employees to 58 years from 60.

Justice Tejinder Singh Dhindsa issued notice to the state government for December 8.The petition was filed by one Baljeet Kaur and others against the Manohar Lal Khattar government's recent decision to lower the retirement age from 60 to 58 years.

Air Travel to J&K on LTC : Private Airlines allowed

DOPT in it's recent O.M. clarified that travel in private airlines is allowed while travelling to Jammu and Kashmir on LTC.
Officers entitled to travel by air can travel to any place in J&K by private airlines from their headquarters.
Officers NOT entitled to travel by air can also fly to any place in J&K by private airlines from Delhi or Amritsar only.
Air travel by private airlines is to be performed in Economy Class only an at LTC-80 fare of Air India or less. 
Click Here for the O.M. dated 28.11.2014

Haryana reduces retirement age to 58, Central employees to follow ?

Reversing the previous Bhupinder Singh Hooda government’s decision, the Haryana Cabinet today (25/11) reduced the retirement age of government employees from 60 to 58 years.
Speaking to mediapersons, Khattar said that the government had taken the decision to reverse the retirement age of government employees from 60 to 58 years in an attempt to open job opportunities for the youth. The retirement age of Class IV, visually impaired and handicapped employees has been reversed from 62 to 60 years.

Employees who have completed 58 or 60 years in their respective categories and are still serving would retire on November 30, 2014. The upper age limit for fresh recruitment would remain 42 years.
Source : The Tribune
Centre to follow suit ?

Bio metric attendance for all central employees within 26th Jan 2015

Central Govt. employees need to be punctual in attendance. All central offices will be under Aadhar based bio-metric attendance system very soon. In case of offices situated in Delhi, this facility must be installed within this year end. For the rest of the country, the deadline is fixed as 26th January 2015. All ministries / departments must procure the system developed by Dept. of Electronics & Information Technology within this time frame.

Medical Allowance for Central pensioners increased

Central Govt. pensioners / family pensioners who do not avail CGHS facility, will get enhanced Fixed Medical Allowance @ 500/- per month. Earlier this amount was Rs 300 per month. DOPT issued O. M. dated 19.11.2014 in this regard and this order will take effect with that date.
Click here for the O.M.

No D.A. for West Bengal employees, FM asks centre to provide

State Finance Minister yesterday stated in assembly that though state employees and pensioners are lagging behind in terms of D.A. by 49% compared to central counterparts, the state is unable to provide it due to financial scarcity. He urged centre to provide this amount and decided to write a letter in this regard.
Incidentally, most of the state Govt.s are paying D.A.at par with Central Govt. out of their own resources without passing the buck to the centre.
Employees associations except those affiliated to the ruling party decided to stage agitation against this.
As per sources, central employees may get another installment of D.A. @6% with effect from 1st January 2015 and the gap may be wider.

CPI(M) backs bank staff plea for wage settlement

The Rajya Sabha MP and CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury has said that he will raise the issue of wage settlement of bank employees in the winter session of Parliament.

Inaugurating the fourth conference of the Karnataka chapter of Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI) in Mangalore at the weekend, he said the issue of wage settlement has been dragging on for almost two years. (The last settlement between Indian Banks Association and bank unions expired in 2012)

CBEC promotes over 2100 excise, customs superintendents

Over 2,100 officers working as Superintendents in customs and central excise have been given ad-hoc promotion to the level of Assistant Commissioners in a major cadre restructuring at CBEC.
The large scale promotions at the Central Board of Excise and Customs, mandated to formulate policy concerning levy and collection of customs and central excise duties and service tax, were made effective from late last month.

A total of 2,162 officials — 1,863 from the grade of superintendents of central excise and 299 from the grade of superintendents of customs (preventive) — have been given these ad-hoc promotions on ‘in-situ basis’ to the post of Assistant Commissioners (ACs), CBEC officials said.It is for the first time that such a large number of superintendents have been promoted as ACs (Group A) at CBEC.

PM launches Jeevan Pramaan – Digital Life Certificate for Pensioners

Huge relief for senior citizens who have to produce Life Certificates each year to continue receiving pension

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today launched "Jeevan Pramaan" – an "Aadhar-based Digital Life Certificate" for pensioners, in a move that could eventually benefit over a crore pensioners. The Prime Minister said that after the push towards self-certification, this digital life certificate was another enabling mechanism which would benefit the common man. 

Meeting with IBA and Labour Commissioner fails, Bank Strike on 12th Nov stands

As informed earlier,Indian Banks Association(IBA) had called  bilateral meeting with Bank Unions (UFBU) today (10^th Nov’14) at  New Delhi, on 10th BPS wage revision ahead of conciliation meet called by Chief Labour Commissioner  (Central) so as  to avert bank strike called for 12^th Nov’14.

      In the negotiations held today(10th Nov'14) between I.B.A. and U.F.B.U. ,I.B.A. stuck to their earlier stand of 11%, despite the flexibility of U.F.B.U. in scaling down the demand to 23%.
                         Consequently, the conciliation also ended in stalemate.Hence, STRIKE on12th November and relay strikes in December stands.

News Courtesy Mr Mohan P. 

IBA called UFBU for meeting on 10th November ahead of meeting with labour commissioner

Bank unions (UFBU) has given a call for All India Bank Strike on 12th Nov'14 for early wage revision under ongoing 10 th Bi partite talks and against the IBAs attitude in delaying the process.

                Meanwhile,Chief Labour Commissioner had a conciliation meeting the Unions and Officials of IBA on 5th Nov which was inconclusive on adamant stand of IBA and further meeting was called  on10th Nov at New Delhi.

                Now Indian Banks Association ( I.B.A. ) called bilateral meeting with Bank Unions (U.F.B.U.)on 10th Nov. at 12.00 noon at New Delhi prior to reconciliation meeting on same date before Chief Labour Commissioner (Central).

Information provided by Mr Mohan P.

Bank Strike on 12th Nov : Conciliation meeting to avert bank strike remains inconclusive, next meeting on 10th Nov.

Conciliation meeting held by CLC on 5th Nov – No improvement in IBA’s offer –

CLC calls for further meeting on 10^th instant – UFBU decides to go ahead with the strike

Following is the circular issued on behalf of UFBU on 5th Nov.

Aadhaar Number to be recorded in Service Book

Click here to know your Aadhaar No.

 It has been decided to include the Aadhaar Number of the Govt. employee in his / her Service Books. An office memorandum in this regard has been issued to all ministries / departments of Central Govt. by DOPT. It may be anticipated as a preparatory step to introduce bio metric attendance as the system is based on Aadhar Number which is a unique number for every employee.

Click here to view the O.M. 

IBA issued D.A. circular for Nov,Dec and Jan'15

As calculated earlier in this blog, IBA issued D.A. circular on 1st November 2014. For the next three months, i.e., Nov'14 to Jan'15, Bank employees will get enhanced D.A @732 slabs, enhanced by 49 slabs. In percentage terms, revised D.A. will be 109.80%.
Click here for IBA circular.

Likely Central D.A. from 1.1.2015

Click here for the recent update (30.01.2015)
Of course, it may sound too early but Central employees are already discussing the topic within themselves ! We have only three months AICPIN data with you and three more months' data is yet to be published. Based in the last three months figure, the next D.A. can be calculated @ 6% from 01.01.2015 if only there is no major change in the next three months inflation.
It can be 5% or 7% only if there is major ups and downs in the next three month. So, we predict the hike in Dearness Allowance for Central staff and pensioners @ 6% from 1st January 2015. 

Bank D.A. for Nov'14 onward : Hike of 49 slabs.

Consequent upon the release of All India Consumer Price Index Numbers for Industrial workers(AICPIN)  Base Year 2001=100 for the month of September’14. by the Ministry of Labour and Employment to day,which stood at 253 points without any change   while compared to August figure,the  confirmed average AICPIN(IW) Base 1960=100  for the quarter will be as follows:

Months		CPI Base		Base
		2001=100		1960=100
_____________________________________________
July'14.		252		5752.13
Aug		253		5774.95
Sept		253		5774.95
Total				17302.03
Average				5767.34

Less merged points		(9th BPS)		2836
				2931.34
Slabs				732.84	732
Old slab					683
Increase					49
New DA %				109.80	%

                                     

Submitted by Mohan.P

No Change in CPI(IW) Number for Sep'14

 Consumer Price Index Numbers for Industrial Workers - CPI(IW) stood at the same position as in Aug'14.
The Consumer Price Index Number for Industrial Workers remains unchanged as 253 for September 2014.

Central Govt. again on austerity measure

Ministry of Finance issued an O.M. regarding compliance of economic measures in Govt. expenditures. In this O.M., stress has been given to Reduction in non-plan expenditure, restricting seminars and conferences, ban on purchase of vehicles, observe economy in domestic and international travel, check in creation of new posts etc.
Click here for the O.M. dated 29.10.2014

List of Govt. holidays in West Bengal for 2015

The state Govt., though lagging far behind in disbursing D.A. to it's employees, it is generous enough in case of holidays. The state employees can never complain about holidays as it is granted more than enough. We don't have the country wide statistics in this regard but there is hardly any state in India which can be compared as number of holidays are concerned. There are as many as 30 holidays in the coming year where the central employees have to be satisfied with 17 only.
Click here for the list of holidays in 2015.

Training for every Central Govt. employee

 Citing importance of Knowledge-Skill and Attitude (KSA) in employees for citizen-centric governance, the government today directed all ministries to hold in-house weekly Training of their Personnel “immediately” to help them perform their work efficiently.
The move comes following a direction from Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, who has emphasised on providing regular training of government employees during a presentation made by Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.

The objective of the hour-long in-house weekly training is to provide training to all employees of the ministry or department on a regular basis without dislocating their work, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) said in its Office Memorandum F.NO.T-17/A/2014-CTP(CSS) dated October 17, 2014.

Click here for the Office Memorandum

U'khand govt staff to get 7 % hike in DA, Diwali bonus

The HarishRawat government on Saturday decided to provide 7% hike in the dearness allowance (DA) to its employees. Besides, the Congress-led government would also provide bonus to the employees before Diwali in all 13 districts of the state. 

This move has brought relief to over 30,000 state government employees. 

Govt. deregulates diesel, price cut by Rs 3.37 a litre

Flash : In a much-awaited reform move, the central government on Saturday deregulated diesel prices, a move that will result in a price cut of Rs. 3.37 a litre with effect from midnight. Finance minister Arun Jaitely said the Cabinet in its meeting on Saturday decided to deregulate or free diesel prices. Retail rates will now reflect international movement in oil prices.

As a result, rates will be cut by Rs. 3.37 a litre with effect from midnight tonight (Saturday).

Bank and LIC employees meet Finance Minister on wage issue, get assurance

New Delhi, Oct 18 (PTI) Representatives of bank employees, accompanied by Union Minister Prakash Javadekar, today took the issue of early settlement of their wage revision to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley who assured them that the matter would be expedited.
Javadekar, who earlier worked as bank employees before actively getting into the politics, said the wage revision of public sector bank employees has been due since November 2012.
He also led a separate delegation of LIC employees to the Finance Minister to press the demand for justice for LIC employees and officers whose wage negotiations have altered.
Click here for details in Business Standard

PM assured one rank one pension for soldiers

P.M. assured army men of OROP in the combined commanders conference held in New Delhi on 17th October 2014.
"Prime Minister also mentioned that he attached the highest priority to the welfare of Armed Forces personnel, both during and after their service careers. He assured the Commanders that he would do everything to fulfill the promises made on One Rank One Pension; improving service conditions; and, creating better safety nets and opportunities for services after retirement."
Click here for full text of his speech.

MP hiked 7% D.A., issued order

Madhya Pradesh Govt. announced a hike in D.A. @7% with effect from 01.07.2014. Arrears for July to Sep'14 will be credited in the GPF while cash payment will be made with the salary of October 2014. This hike takes the total D.A. payable to 107%, at par with central employees.
Download the order

CBEC released zonewise distribution of appraisers

The Central Board of Excise and customs (CBEC), under the Finance Ministry on Wednesday restructured its field formations with a view to provide better tax payer services and deepen the tax base.

“The restructuring of formations is aimed creating larger number of compact Commissionerates, by reorganising the existing commissionerates. This shall provide better tax payer services and deepen the tax base,” a Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) statement said.

The CBEC has implemented the cadre restructuring of the field formations, with effect from October 15, it said.

Click here for allocation of posts of appraisers.

Odisha and Assam Govt hikes DA by 7%

The State Governments of Odisha and Assam have announced release of additional dearness allowance (DA) @7%  The increase, to be made effective from 01/07/2014, would raise the existing rates of DA from 100% of Basic Pay to 107%.

Likely D.A. for Bank employees for Nov'14 to Jan'15

Click here for the latest update on 31.10.14
Projected DA slabs 49 (7.35%) for Nov-14 to Jan-15

 CPI for the month of August'14 has been announced as 5774.95(253) on 30.09.2014. Earlier CPI for the month of July'14 was announced as 5752.12(252).

The DA slabs payable for the period of Nov 2014 - Jan 2015 is based on the average increase of CPI for the month of July 2014 to September 2014.

Bihar employees to get 7% D.A. from 01.07.2014

Patna, Oct 14 (PTI) In a pre-Diwali bonanza, the Bihar government today announced an increase of 7 per cent in Dearness Allowance (DA) for state government employees and pensioners.

The decision to increase DA was taken at a meeting of state Cabinet presided over by Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi here.

The enhanced DA would be given to state employees and pensioners with effect from July one, 2014, Principal Secretary Cabinet Coordination Brajesh Mehrotra told reporters while briefing about cabinet decisions.

Punjab employees to get 10% D.A.

Ahead of Diwali, the Punjab government on Tuesday announced to release 10 per cent Dearness Allowance (DA) to employees with October's salary.

Punjab Finance Minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa on Tuesday gave his nod in this regard, an official spokesman said. The increased DA would be given with the salary or pension of October 2014, which would be paid in November 2014.

He said that the release of this DA installment, the state would touch 100 per cent from present 90 per cent of the basic pay/pension. Earlier, the increased DA was to be given from December.

However, the spokesman said the decision about the pending payment of enhanced DA from January till September 2014 would be taken later.

Source : IBNLIVE

Bank salary under seventh pay commission ?

Following article is published in The Hindustan Times on 14.10.2014

"Even after several rounds of talks between bank  employee unions and the Indian Banks Association (IBA), there seems to be no consensus on the quantum of salary hike for over 800,000 employees at different public sector lenders.

While the IBA has indicated that the maximum hike that can be offered to employees is about 11%, unions are demanding a 25% raise.

Deadlock in bipartite talk, agitated bankers chose warpath

In the last round of Wage Revision Talks of Bank employees (10th Bi-partite ) held between Bank Unions (UFBU)and Indian Bank's Association on 26th Sept'14  there was no forward movement in arriving  the quantum of increase in wages from the earlier offer of 11% of IBA .Accordingly it was  unanimously decided to undertake agitational programmes to press the demands and to expedite the settlement. It was also decided to observe One day Protest Strike preceded by further action programmes through out the country.

 As scheduled earlier, the meeting of all bank Unions (UFBU )took place today -13th Oct.14- at Bangalore, and have decided to: 

- Conduct rallies/Demonstrations on 30th October in all State Capitals and other Centre
-Observe one day Strike on 12th November followed by Relay Strikes i.e.
2nd December in Southern Region
3rd December in Northern Region
4th December in Eastern and Northeastern Region
5th December in Western Region
Followed by more strike actions including indefinite Strike

 Submitted by Mohan.P