Appointment of Central Information Commissioner

Shri R. K. Mathur (Retired Indian Administrative Service:1977), has been appointed as the Chief Information Commissioner in the Central Information Commission, New Delhi.

The above appointment has been made for a term of five years from the date on which he enters upon his office or till he attains the age of sixty five years, whichever is earlier. 

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(Release ID :133578)

PIB News on - Minimum Pensions

The minimum pension fixed for retired Central Government employees is Rs. 3,500/- per month with effect from 01.01.2006. For pensioners, including those retired from public sector corporations and other establishments, to whom the Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS), 1995 framed under the Employees’ Provident Funds & Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 applies, provision of a minimum pension of Rs. 1,000/- per month has made with effect from 01.09.2014.

The Sixth Central Pay Commission had recommended pension of Rs. 3,330/- per month in respect of employees retired from the Central Government. The minimum pension of Rs. 1,000/- per month under the EPS, 1995 implemented by the Central Government was one of the recommendations of the Expert Committee constituted by the Government. Apart from this, the Committee on Petitions of the Rajya Sabha under the chairmanship of Shri Bhagat Singh Koshiyari in its 147th Report had recommended to increase Government share of contribution under EPS, 1995 from 1.16 per cent to 8.33 per cent to support the minimum pension level of Rs. 3000/- per month. However, it was not found feasible for implementation.

No complaints regarding anomalies in minimum pension in respect of Central Government employees have been received by the Government.

However, representations, grievances and complaints have been received from various quarters that the monthly pension to pensioners under EPS, 1995 have not increased to Rs. 1,000/- per month even after the notification in respect of pensioners who had taken short service pension, commutations or return of capital. Some grievances also relate to the fact that pension has not increased for those drawing more than Rs. 1,000/- per month.

Consequent upon implementation of the minimum pension to pensioners under EPS, 1995 vide notification number GSR 593(E) dated 19.08.2014, the pension of all member/widow(er)/disabled/ nominee/dependent parent pensioners whose original pension was less than Rs. 1,000/- per month had been fixed at the minimum of Rs. 1,000/- per month. In cases where members had preferred option for Commutation, Return of Capital and Short Service Pension and have already availed these benefits as per choice exercised by them at the time of making pension claim, the deductions on account of these options would continue to apply on the minimum pension of Rs. 1,000/- per month that has now been fixed. In such cases, the pension amount would be less than Rs. 1,000/- per month even after implementation of the said notification.

This information was given by Shri Bandaru Dattatreya, Minister of State (IC) for Ministry Labour and Employment, in reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

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AT/Uma
(Release ID :133689)

Industrial Dispute Act

Ministry has taken steps for drafting the Labour Code on Industrial Relations, by simplifying, amalgamating and rationalizing the relevant provisions of the three Labour Laws:

(i) The Industrial Disputes Act, 1947,

(ii) The Trade Unions Act, 1926,

(iii) The Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946.

The Government carried out the process of Tripartite Consultation for drafting the Labour Code on Industrial Relations, where the representatives from Central Trade Unions, Employers’ Association and Central Ministries/State Governments participated and gave their suggestions. Two such meetings for the tripartite consultation on this Labour Code were held on 06.05.2015 and 06.10.2015. Apart from this, the draft Labour Code on Industrial Relations was also put on Website of the Ministry on 26.04.2015 for one month time inviting comments/suggestions from public and stakeholders. Suggestions have been received from the stakeholders in these consultations. The provisions of the draft Labour Code on Industrial Relations are still under consideration.

This information was given by Shri Bandaru Dattatreya, Minister of State (IC) for Ministry Labour and Employment, in reply to a question in Lok Sabha today. 

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AT/Uma
(Release ID :133691)

New 7th Pay Commission Pay Structure, Pay fixation method and fitment Formula – Grade Pay system dispensed with and new pay model by merging the existing grade pay inroduced

7th Pay Commission has evolved a new pay structure by merging the existing grade pay with pay in pay band. Therefore Grade Pay systema and pay band Structure is dispensed with.

7th pay commission also mentioned that since grade pay computation by 6th CPC varied greatly it is dispensed with.

New functional level pay model have been proposed by merging the grade pay with the pay in the pay band. All of the existing levels have been subsumed in the new structure; no new level has been introduced nor has any existing level been dispensed with.

The Commission has designed the new pay matrix keeping in view the vast opportunities that have opened up outside government over the last three decades, generating greater competition for human resources and the need to attract and retain the best available talent in government services. The nomenclature being used in the new pay matrix assigns levels in place of erstwhile grade pay and Table 3 below brings out the new dispensation for various grades pay pertaining to Civil, Defence and MNS.

7th Pay Commission has formulated fitment formula which varies from 2.57 to 2.78 depending on the 6th CPC pay band and grade pay. For instance, 7CPC pay of the employees who are presently in the pay band of 5200 – 20200 with grade pay of Rs. 1800, will be calculated by multiplying the factor of 2.57 with their existing basic pay (pay in pay band + grade pay)

Grade pay and pay band wise fitment formula is as follows

Pay Band 1	(5200- 20200)
Grade Pay	1800	1900	2000	2400	2800
Current Entry Pay	7000	7730	8460	9910	11360
Rationalised Entry Pay (2.57)	7000*(2.57) =18000	7730*(2.57) =19900	8460*(2.57) =21700	9910*(2.57) =25500	11360*(2.57) =29200
Pay Band 2	(9300-34800)
Grade Pay	4200	4600	4800	5400
Current Entry Pay	13500	17140	18150	20280^
Rationalised Entry Pay (2.62)	13500*(2.62) =35400	17140*(2.62) =44900	18150*(2.62) =47600	20280*(2.62) =53100
Pay Band 3	(15600-39100)
Grade Pay	5400	6600	7600
Current Entry Pay	21000	25350	29500
Rationalised Entry Pay (2.67)	21000*(2.67) =56100	25350*(2.67) =67700	29500*(2.67) =78800
Pay Band 4	(37400-67000)
Grade Pay	8700	8900	10000
Current Entry Pay	46100	49100	53000
Rationalised Entry Pay (2.57/2.67/2.72)	46100*(2.57) =118500	49100*(2.67) =131100	53000*(2.72) =144200
HAG	(67000-79000)
Current Entry Pay	67000
Rationalised Entry Pay (2.72)	67000*(2.72) =182200
HAG+	(75500-80000)
Current Entry Pay	75500
Rationalised Entry Pay (2.72)	75500 *(2.72) =205400
Apex	80000 (fixed)
Rationalised Pay (2.81)	80000*2.81 =225000
Cabinet Secretary	90000 (fixed)
Rationalised Pay (2.78)	90000*2.78 =250000

The pay matrix comprises two dimensions. It has a “horizontal range” in which each level corresponds to a ‘functional role in the hierarchy’ and has been assigned the numbers 1, 2, and 3 and so on till 18.

The “vertical range” for each level denotes ‘pay progression’ within that level. These indicate the steps of annual financial progression of three percent within each level. The starting point of the matrix is the minimum paywhich has been arrived based on 15th ILC norms or the Aykroyd formula. This has already been explained in Chapter
4.2 of the 7th Pay Commission report.

On recruitment, an employee joins at a particular level and progresses within the level as per the vertical range. The movement is usually on an annual basis, based on annual increments till the time of their next promotion.

When the employee receives a promotion or a non-functional financial upgrade, he/she progresses one level ahead on the horizontal range.

The pay matrix will help chart out the likely path of pay progression along the career ladder of any employee. For example, it can be clearly made out that an employee who does not have any promotional prospects in his cadre will be able to traverse through at least three levels solely by means of assured financial progression or MACP, assuming a career span of 30 years or more.

The new pay matrix for civilian employees is brought out in Table 5 of the pay commission report.

Minimum Pay

The JCM-Staff Side, in their memorandum, have proposed that the minimum salary, at the lowest level, should be determined using a need based approach. They have proposed that the minimum wage for a single worker be based on the norms set by the 15th Indian Labour Conference,  with  certain  additions  to  the  same.  The minimum  pay as  suggested  in  the memorandum is ₹26,000, which is around 3.7 times the existing minimum salary of ₹7,000. While the broad approach is similar, the specifics do vary and the Commission has, based on need-based minimum wage for a single worker with family as defined in the Aykroyd formula, computed theminimum pay at ₹18,000. Details on the computation of minimum pay have been brought out in Chapter 4.2.

Fitment

The starting point for the first level of the matrix has been set at  ₹18,000. This corresponds to the starting payof ₹7,000, which is the beginning of PB-1 viz., ₹5,200 + GP 1800, which prevailed on 01.01.2006, the date of implementation of the VI CPC recommendations. Hence the starting point now proposed is 2.57 times of what was prevailing on 01.01.2006.

This fitment factor of 2.57 is being proposed to be applied uniformly for all employees. It includes a factor of 2.25 on account of DA neutralisation, assuming that the rate of Dearness Allowance would be 125 percent at the time of implementation of the new pay. Accordingly, the actual raise/fitment being recommended is 14.29 percent.

Pay Fixation in the New Pay Structure

The fitment of each employee in the new pay matrix is proposed to be done by multiplying his/her basic pay on the date of implementation by a factor of 2.57.

The figure so arrived at is to be located in the new pay matrix, in the level that corresponds to the employee’s grade pay on the date of implementation, except in cases where the Commission has recommended a change in the existing grade pay.

If the identical figure is not available in the given level, the next higher figure closest to it would be the new pay of the concerned employee. A couple of examples are detailed below to make the process amply clear.

The pay in the new pay matrix is to be fixed in the following manner:

Step 1: Identify Basic Pay (Pay in the pay band plus Grade Pay) drawn by an employee as on the date of implementation. This figure is ‘A’.

Step 2: Multiply ‘A’ with 2.57, round-off to the nearest rupee, and obtain result ‘B’.

Step 3: The figure so arrived at, i.e., ‘B’ or the next higher figure closest to it in the Level assigned to his/her grade pay, will be the new pay in the new pay matrix. In case the value of‘B’ is less than the starting pay of the Level, then the pay will be equal to the starting pay of that level.

Source: 7th Pay Commission report

7th CPC : Report submitted - Highlights

The Seventh Pay Commission headed by Justice A K Mathur submitted its report to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday and recommended a 16 per cent hike in the pay of 50 lakh central government employees. 

• Minimum pay will be Rs. 18,000/-
  
• Pay Bands and Grade Pay has been dispensed
  
• Pay matrix with distinct Pay Levels to replace Pay Bands and Grade Pay
  
• To get the new pay Basic Pay, you have to multiply the total of pay in Pay Band + Gade pay with the factor of (2.57/2.67/2.72)
  
• HRA will be revised to 27 percent, 18 percent and 9 percent
  
• Transport Allowance hiked by a factor of 2.25
  
• Children Education Allowance and Hostel Subsidy hiked by a factor of 1.5
  
• Only 80% salary during the second year of the Child Care Leave
  
• Recommends health insurance scheme for Central Government employees and pensioners
  
• OROP for Civilian also

Official Announcement by 7th PAY COMMISSION to submit report on November 19

It’s official now! 7th Pay Commission in its official website has published the announcement that it would be submitting its report on 19th November 2015 at 19.30 hrs.

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The 7th Pay Commission, under the chairmanship of Justice A.K.Mathur, will submit its 900-page report to the centre tomorrow at 19.30 Hrs.

A review of the 7th Central Pay Commission :-

25.09.2013 – P. Chidambaram, the then Minister of Finance, made headlines when he announced the proposal to constitute the 7th Pay Commission.

04.02.2014 – The then Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh gave approval for constituting the 7th Pay Commission. Under the chairmanship of Justice A.K.Mathur, a four-member Pay Commission committee was formed (1. Justice Ashok Kumar Mathur, Chairman; 2. Vivek Rae, Member; 3. Dr. Rathin Roy, Member; and 4. Mrs. Meena Agarwal, Secretary).

28.02.2014 – The Terms of Reference were issued to the Pay Commission, with the approval of the cabinet.

The Pay Commission was given 18 months time to complete its work. This time around, the commission managed to effectively complete its task, almost on time.

The Pay Commission visited various places in the country to personally inspect the work conditions and gather feedback from the workers associations and representatives.

Opinions were invited from all, and not just the NC JCM Staff Side, Confederations and major employees unions and associations.

The Pay Commission hosted its own website where it regularly updated its progress.

In a section called “Questionnaire,” the commission asked questions to the visitors and gathered online feedback from them.

19.05.2014 - GEF submit Suggestions and answers  on the 7^th CPC questionnaires  asked by 7^th CPC  for through Public Notice

 

04.02.2015 - A delegation  of Government Employees Federation met the 7^th Central Pay Commission at Megadode Resort, Port Blair  at 2.30 p.m and has submitted a Memorandum with POWER POINT presentation before the Commission and discussed  on 41 Points Common demands of entire Government servants, along with Department-wise demands of 19 Departments of A&N Administration including one Central Govt. Department of ALHW  and representations submitted by 27  affiliated  service associations  before the Chairman, 7^th CPC. The President Shri. P.Kannan & General Secretary  Shri. S.K.Majumdar have jointly presented justifications of the demands placed.

24.06.2014 – the NC JCM Staff Side presented a Memorandum to the Pay Commission, containing the suggestions and proposed pay structure of nearly 45 lakh employees and also such demands for 50 lakh pensioners.

25.06.2015 – The Pay Commission made an important announcement on its website. It said that task on the report will end very soon and it will be submitted to the government on time.

The report, which was supposed to be submitted in August, was delayed when the Pay Commission, on 27.08.2015, asked for an extension of four months to complete its report.

The OROP protests and Bihar polls are believed to be the reasons for submitting the report much ahead of December. Initially, the Pay Commission was expected to submit its report on November 20 or 23. But, PTI announced yesterday that the report will be submitted on November 19.

And Today the official website of 7th CPC also published the date and time of submission of its report to the Central Government.

Experts and various sources expect 15 to 20 percent hike in the salaries. But, none has explained the basis on which the numbers were arrived at.

The employees are not just curious about the salary hikes. They are interested in other aspects, including Promotions, Retirement Age, DA merger, Increment, Grade Pay, HRA, Bonus, LTC, and the removal of certain pay anomalies of the 6th Pay Commission are some of the expectations.

 Let’s keep our fingers crossed and wait for the report.

courtesy : CGEN

Non-Productivity Linked Bonus Order for the year 2014-15 issued by Ministry of Finance

“You’ll Face Consequences if You Fail to Perform” –

  “If salary of any employee is delayed, how frustrating is it for him? So, if someone is investing Rs 2,000 crore and employees are delaying his file by three months how much money does the investor lose on interest” –  Gadkari

Union Roads, Highways and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari issued this warning for delay in bureaucratic file pushing system. Gadkari delivered this harsh message to central government employees in an interview with The Economic Times.

Asked, ‘you recently sent out a stern message to the bureaucracy over performance issues and delays in projects. What systematic changes are required to improve the pace of work?’ He replied,

“Why should a minister deal with all projects? Officials should be authorised to deal with them so that there’s a speedy process. It’s my responsibility to change the system. Last year, I asked my officials to bring out a work tender and they didn’t do it for a year. So, I told them… it’s high time you perform. We’ll have a performance audit. Earlier, officials were not answerable to anyone. We can’t allow investors to lose money because of delays on our part. A country doesn’t work like that. ..

He added, “If salary of any employee is delayed, how frustrating is it for him? So, if someone is investing Rs 2,000 crore and employees are delaying his file by three months how much money does the investor lose on interest. We are encouraging government employees who do good work. Government employees who are not working have to face consequences.”

The minister also confirmed that the Prime Minister has allowed him to get talent from outside for appointmentof the Chairman of Shipping Corporation of India and he has invited a top executive from private sector who is drawing Rs 16 crore a year to join the SCI, but the minister has clarified, the government can’t pay more than Rs 30-40 lakhs for year.

The Minister tried to convince him that he should do this job for his country not for money. Accordingly, the process of salary negotiation with the top executive from outside for appointment of the Chairman of Shipping Corporation of India has started.

Source: Economic Times (G.connect)

DA Orders issued for Central Government Employees – Dearness Allowance with effect from 1st July 2015 will be 119% with 6% increase

Release of additional instalment of Dearness Allowance to Central Government employees and Dearness Relief to Pensioners due from 1.7.2015

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved release of an additional instalment of Dearness Allowance (DA) to Central Government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) to Pensioners w.e.f. 01.07.2015. This represents an increase of 6 percent over the existing rate of 113 percent of the Basic Pay/Pension, to compensate for price rise. 

This will benefit about 50 lakh Government employees and 56 lakh pensioners. 

The increase is in accordance with the accepted formula, which is based on the recommendations of the 6th Central Pay Commission (CPC). The combined impact on the exchequer on account of both Dearness Allowance and Dearness Relief would be in the order of Rs. 6655.14 crore per annum and Rs.4436.76 crore in the financial year 2015-16 (for a period of 8 months from July, 2015 to February, 2016). 
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PIB (Release ID :126734)

Appeals to Trade Unions to Reconsider Call for Proposed Strike Tomorrow : Bandaru Dattatreya

Appeals to Trade Unions to Reconsider Call for Proposed Strike Tomorrow : Bandaru Dattatreya

Government Working Positively on 9 of the 12 Demands of Trade Unions : Bandaru Dattatreya

Appeals to Trade Unions to Reconsider Call for Proposed Strike Tomorrow

Shri Bandaru Dattatreya, the Minister of State(IC) for Labour and Employment held a press conference here today. Elaborating on the initiatives and continuing efforts of the Government to address the issues and concerns of the Trade Unions for the welfare of workers, the Minister said that of the twelve demands of Trade Unions, the Government is positively working on at least nine demands. Shri Dattatreya said that as already assured while taking Labour Law reforms, the Trade Unions will be consulted. In continuation of earlier appeal to Trade Unions on 27th August, 2015, the Minister appealed again to reconsider their call for proposed strike tomorrow in the interest of workers and the Nation.

Inthis context, Shri Bandaru Dattatreya has sent a letter to to striking Trade Unions.

Here is the text of the letter-

“Dear

“This is with reference to my letter and appeal to you for reconsidering your call for strike on 2nd of September 2015 in the light of demands raised by the Central Trade Unions. While requesting you to reconsider your decision, I would like to bring the following to your consideration.

“The Charter of Demands given by you has been on high priority for me. I had held meeting with you on 19th Nov., 2014 to discuss the issues concerning the Charter of Demands. Thereafter, another meeting was held on 15th May, 2015 where Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Hon’ble MoS (IC) for Petroleum and Natural Gas and Shri Piyush Goyal, Hon’ble MoS (IC) for Power also participated. The Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC), constituted by Hon’ble Prime Minister, held its first meeting with you on 19th July, 2015.

“The second meeting of IMC to discuss the various issues relating to the Charter of Demands with Central Trade Unions was held for two days on 26th& 27th August, 2015.

“In view of the suggestions given by you in the meetings held by Inter-Ministerial Committee, the Government assured the following:

1. “Government is seriously considering amendments to the Minimum Wages Act to give minimum wages to all workers. As per the proposed amendment, the Central Government will prescribe National Minimum Wage for three different categories of States. It would be mandatory for the States to fix their minimum wage not below the National Minimum Wage so prescribed by the Central Government. If the minimum wage already notified by a State is higher than the National Minimum Wage prescribed by the Central Government, the higher notified minimum wage shall prevail.

“While prescribing the National Minimum Wage the norms given by ILC and Supreme Court judgement will be taken into consideration. At present the National Floor Level Minimum Wage is Rs. 160 per day but with the implementation of the said norms the minimum wage would be not less than Rs. 273 per day.

2. “For the purpose of bonus, the wage eligibility limit and calculation ceiling would be appropriately revised. It is proposed to revise the wage eligibility limit from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 21,000 and calculation ceiling from Rs. 3500 to Rs. 7,000 or the minimum wage notified by the appropriate Government for that category of employment, whichever is higher. With the proposed revision of the minimum wages, the average calculation ceiling would be about Rs.10,000.

3. “The Government has taken many steps for the social security of all the workers, especially unorganized workers. The Government is working out ways to include construction workers, rickshaw pullers, auto rickshaw drivers and volunteers of different schemes like Aanganwadi Centres, Mid Day Meal Centres etc. For organized workers also many initiatives have been taken like Universal Account Number (UAN) for portability of account for EPFO members and Second Generation Health Reform Initiatives by ESIC.

4. “Regarding contract workers, a comprehensive review of the existing Act is being considered. The main features of the proposed revised Act would be deployment of contract labour through registered staffing agencies to be encouraged to ensure social security coverage and same working condition for contract workers as that of the regular workers. The issue of same wages to contract workers as that of regular workers for same nature of work requires wider consultation and a committee will be constituted for this purpose, if required.

5. “Government has already enhanced minimum pension for EPFO members and every pensioner gets minimum pension of Rs.1,000 per month perpetually.

6. “Labour Law reforms will be based on tripartite consultations as already stated by the Hon’ble Prime Minister. The States are also being advised to follow the tripartite process. I have held many tripartite consultation meetings with you on proposed labour law amendments. In future also, the tripartite consultation will be held for any proposed change in the labour laws.

7. “For strict adherence to Labour Law enforcement, advisory has been issued to the States and strict monitoring has been initiated by the Central Government. I have written a D.O. letter dated 25.05.2015 to Chief Ministers of all the States for strict enforcement of Labour Laws. Secretary (L&E) has also written D.O. letters dated 27.05.2015 and 26.08.2015 to Chief Secretaries of all the States in this regard. A circular for strict enforcement of labour laws was also issued by the Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) on 26/08/2015.

8. “For employment generation, the Government has taken many initiatives like Make in India, Skill India, Mudra Yojana and National Career Service Portal etc.

9. “Abolition of interviews for all recruitments at relatively junior level jobs which do not require any special knowledge/expertise is being done for transparency and expediting the process of recruitment.

10. “Inflation is lowest in last many years except for two items, onions and pulses. Government is taking necessary steps to contain the prices of these two commodities also.

11. “The Hon’ble Finance Minister in his concluding remarks has very clearly said that the new Government has charted out a very pragmatic economic agenda for the benefit of everyone, especially those who are poor and disadvantaged section of the society. However, this agenda needs your support and will appreciate if we can get your valuable inputs on this. He has also assured that for this a continuous dialogue will be maintained with the labour unions.

12. “He also mentioned that as far as the FDI in Railways is concerned, it is necessary because Railways require huge investment for upgrading the .infrastructure. This is possible only with the help of private sector and hence FDI is being allowed in railways and the FDI will be only in infrastructure and will not be allowed in the operation of Railways.

13. “As far as FDI in Defence is concerned, the Finance Minister has explained that India is the largest importer of military hardware in the world and this means a large amount of funds are being paid in foreign exchange to outsiders including private organizations. On the other side when we produce military hardware within the country, we not only save in terms of foreign exchange but also create many jobs within the country. Hence it is very important that we take advantage of FDI in defence to achieve three objectives of (i) saving foreign exchange, (ii) creation of jobs and (iii) more importantly to ensure that we are not dependent on outsiders for the security of the nation.

Finally, as the Hon’ble Prime Minister has already stated, the journey of labour reforms will not be meaningful until we have dialogue and consultation with the labour and labour unions. I assure that we will have consultations with labour unions and give due weightage to the views of labour unions in all such initiatives including the initiatives of other Departments which may affect the labour.

With warm regards.”

Source: PIB News