West Bengal CM terms DA as an "option"

 

"DA is not mandatory, it's just an option," she said, adding that her government has given the DA as per the pay commission's fresh directive, and for that purpose, it has spent over Rs 2 lakh and 52 thousand crore in the last two years.

In the backdrop of the constant demand of state government employees to raise the Dearness Allowance (DA) and bring it at par with their central counterparts, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on November 29 said that DA is not mandatory, but an option.

Speaking at the Assembly, Banerjee in an apparent reference to agitating employees of the state government reminded them about the extra annual leaves as well as her government allowing them to go abroad. "DA is not mandatory, it's just an option," she said, adding that her government has given the DA as per the pay commission's fresh directive, and for that purpose, it has spent over Rs 2 lakh and 52 thousand crore in the last two years.

"Central government employees work under the central structure while the state government employees are under the state structure. If anyone wants, they can join the central government service. The Centre gives fewer holidays but our government gives holidays for all occasions," she said. "They get only 3 to 4 extra days off in a year, but here we have 40 days. You have to add value for that. This government is the only one who has given them the opportunity to go abroad," she said.

State government employees have been demonstrating for several months demanding to raise their DA and bring it to par with the central government employees. They are alleging that the one provided by the state has a much lower rate than that of the central government employees.

Source Moneycontrol/PTI

Salary hike, 5-day work week for PSB employees by mid-December

 Employees at public sector banks (PSBs) may see a 15-20 per cent hike in salaries and implementation of a five-day work week by mid-December as the 12th bipartite settlement talks between bank unions and associations and the Indian Banks' Association (IBA) have entered final stages, reported the Financial Express (FE) citing sources.

"This is the first time in the history of negotiations that the offer [for wage hike] is starting with 15 per cent. It [wage hike] will likely be between 15 per cent and 20 per cent," IBA sources told FE. 

The announcement of the five-day work week will be made either concurrently with or immediately following the pay raise declaration by the Centra or the IBA, they said.

The current wage agreement for PSB employees expired on November 1, 2022. Since then, the IBA and the unions representing bank employees have been negotiating a new wage agreement.

A source in the finance ministry told FE that the wage revision and change in work days would also apply to regional rural banks.

In July 2020, around 850,000 bank employees got a 15 per cent increase in their salary packages, with the IBA and the United Forum of Bank Unions signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to settle the three-year-long contentious issue of wage revision.

Another source said that the IBA and the bank unions will shortly hold a final meeting where the two parties will sign a MoU, which will then be handed to the finance ministry for final approval.

The implementation of the five-day workweek will lead to branches remaining closed on weekends. Employees may be asked to work for extra hours during the week to compensate for lost working hours, a source was quoted as saying by FE.

"Business hours will start early on weekdays and close 30-45 minutes late than the current working hours," sources said. Customers who want to withdraw or transfer cash can do so through automated teller machines, with the only challenge being deposit of cheques," he said, adding, "Collection of cheques will be affected for these two days.".

While employees at insurance firms, state governments and central government have a five-day work week, providing the same option to bankers is a move in the right direction, sources said.

Source : Business Standard.

Bihar increases D.A. - at par with Central Govt.

 The Bihar government on Wednesday approved a 4 per cent increase in dearness allowance (DA) for state employees and dearness relief (DR) for pensioners. Chief minister Nitish Kumar made this decision during a cabinet meeting.

As per news agency PTI, employees in the state, under the 7th Pay Commission, currently receive a 42 per cent DA, that has been increased to 46 per cent.

The DA hike is effective from July 1, 2023, enabling employees to receive arrears for the period between July and October. Around 4.5 lakh Bihar state government employees will benefit from this decision, alongside about six lakh pensioners.

The increased DA will reflect in the December salaries, as per Live Hindustan, and employees will also receive arrears for the four-month period.

According to a Live Mint report, several states and union territories, including Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Chandigarh, Uttar Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu, have raised DA and DR during the festive season of Dussehra and Diwali.

Whether D.A for Central employees will reach 50% on 1st January 2024 ?

After the release of another installment of D.A. from 1st July 2023, speculation and calculation started for the possible increase from 1st January next year. This time it is of immense importance as if D.A. touches 50% mark, HRA of Govt. employees will increase by another 3% in addition.

The All-India CPI-IW for September 2023 decreased by 1.7 points and stood at 137.5 (one hundred thirty-seven point five), as per the press release by the Labour Bureau on 31st October 2023. Expected DA/DR from January 2024 is accounted for in the 3rd step with this release. This decline in the CPI-IW Index still results in a 4% increase in DA/DR from January 2024 for Central Government Employees and Pensioners, reaching 50% in the 7th CPC DA/DR. The CPI-IW index in the coming months will confirm the exact figure of DA/DR for January 2024.

As per the statistics available, even if the index stands at the current level of 138.5, possible increase of D.A. will be 50.36% which will result a 4% hike.

For final calculation we will have to wait for release of CPI-IW number of October, November and December 2023.

Bank Bipartite : IBA increases offer

 As per update received from UFBU (unconfirmed), "Today (09/11/2023) there was daylong negotiations with IBA. IBA improved their offer to 16%  but this could not be agreed by us we requested IBA to improve their offer.We also discussed about implementation of 5 day banking and improvement in pension for past retirees. We have signed the minutes on option to resignees to join pension scheme. Circular follows"