Overtime Allowance not to be continued – 7th Pay Commission report observes that except for operational and Industrial Employees, OTA is to be abolished

The 7th Pay Commission has recommended that overtime allowance, except for operational staff and industrial employees governed by statutory provisions, should be abolished, after data showed that the expenditure under the head for the Railways and Defence ministries more than doubled in seven years ending 2012-13.
A committee of secretaries headed by Cabinet Secretary P. K. Sinha is reviewing the Commission’s recommendations. Overall, the overtime paid by the Government increased from Rs.797 crore to Rs.1,629 crore in the period, prompting the Commission to observe that government offices need to increase productivity and efficiency; and recommend “stricter” control on the Centre’s expenditure under the head.

Overtime Allowance paid to Employees in 2012-13

Railways	791.65 crores
Civilian Defence	732.73 crores
Total Overtime Paid	1629 crores

It could be seen that out of total overtime allowance of Rs. 1629 Crores paid by the Central government during the year 2012-13, Employees attached to Railways and Defence (civilian employees) Ministries alone have been Rs. 1525 crores, which is more than 90% of total OTA paid by Govt.
“Government employees, like every one else, should be paid for results, not to spend time in the office…but overtime is mandated by law in organisations like railways and in such cases payments must be realistic and not frozen in time and hence the recommendation to increase them by 50 per cent,” economist and Seventh Pay Commission Member Rathin Roy told The Hindu .
While the Ministry of Defence has achieved some success in controlling payment of the allowance, the efforts of the Railways Ministry have not borne fruit as yet. As a percentage of pay, overtime allowance is declining in the Ministry of Defence but is on the rise in the Ministry of Railways. The allowance decreased to 6.54 per cent of pay in 2012-13 from nearly 8 per cent in 2006-07 in the Ministry of Defence. It increased to 2.58 per cent in the Ministry of Railways in 2012-13 from 2.09 per cent in 2006-07.
Overtime paid to employees in the Railways is rising faster than even their pay. The compounded annual growth rate of 17.2 per cent for overtime in the ministry exceeds that of pay which is 13.2 per cent. If the government decides to continue with the allowance for those categories of staff for which it is not a statutory requirement, then it should be increased by 50 per cent, the panel recommended.
In the Ministry of Railways, overtime paid to employees is rising faster than even their pay.

Source: The Hindu

7th Pay Commission – Central Govt Employees to get Single Tier Pay Band – With the delay in implementation of 7th pay commission, every day the media gets abuzz with some information.

New Delhi – With the delay in implementation of 7th pay commission, every day the media gets abuzz with some information on its recommendation and on the various ways in which it can benefit crores of Central government employees.
Fresh in the buzz is that the review committee, which was set up to study the recommendations of the 7th pay commission is likely to propose a simpler pay structure.
This will make the pay band more understandable. As per reports the 7th pay commission review committee has suggested that the new pay structure be a single-tier band, where the component of the salary will not be made up in two parts as is the practice — one is the  pay band and the other being the additional grade pay.
The government had set up the high-powered panel headed by Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha to process the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission which will have bearing on the remuneration of 47 lakh central government employees and 52 lakh pensioners.
The government has earlier stated that implementation of new pay scales recommended by the 7th Pay Commission is estimated to put an additional burden of Rs 1.02 lakh crore, or 0.7 percent of GDP, on the exchequer in 2016-17.




Source: Zee News

PK Sinha Confirms Report will be Submitted before 30th June – After returning from Delhi, The President of the ‘Indian Public Employees Federation’ said that Mr. P.K. Sinha has assured that he will look into the lags in the 7th pay commission recommendations.

7th Pay Commission – केंद्रीय कैबिनेट सचिव पीके सिन्हा ने कहा है कि वह 30 जून तक सातवें वेतन आयोग की रिपोर्ट केंद्र सरकार को सौंप देंगे। इसके बाद इसे कैबिनेट में मंजूरी के लिए रखा जाएगा।

सिन्हा ने यह बात ‘इंडियन पब्लिक इम्पलाइज फेडरेशन’ के राष्ट्रीय अध्यक्ष वीपी मिश्रा और महामंत्री प्रेम चंद्र के नेतृत्व में दिल्ली जाकर मिले एक प्रतिनिधिमंडल से वार्ता में कही। वीपी मिश्रा के मुताबिक, कैबिनेट सचिव पीके सिन्हा ने कहा है कि मई में ही सातवें वेतन आयोग की रिपोर्ट वे केंद्र सरकार को सौंप देते, लेकिन संसद सत्र चलने के कारण ऐसा नहीं कर पाए।

खास बात यह है कि कैबिनेट सचिव की अध्यक्षता में केंद्र सरकार ने एक कमेटी गठित की है। इस कमेटी की जिम्मेदारी सातवें वेतन आयोग की सिफारिशों की कमियों को दूर करके सरकार को रिपोर्ट सौंपना है। यह रिपोर्ट अभी तक नहीं सौंपी जा सकी है। इस रिपोर्ट में हो रही देरी को लेकर प्रतिनिधिमंडल ने उनसे मुलाकात की थी।

दिल्ली से लौटकर फेडरेशन के राष्ट्रीय अध्यक्ष मिश्र ने लखनऊ में बताया कि फेडरेशन की मांग पर सातवें वेतन आयोग की सिफारिशों में कई कमियों को सुधारकर रिपोर्ट देने का आश्वासन दिया है। जैसे न्यूनतम वेतन की सीमा बढ़ाई जा सकती है। नियमित पदों पर आउटसोर्सिंग के बजाए नियमित भर्ती का रास्ता खोला जा सकता है। पुरानी पेंशन के स्थान पर लागू की गई नई पेंशन योजना को कर्मचारियों के लिए पुरानी पेंशन से ज्यादा सुविधाजनक बनाने की बात है।

English Translation

Central Cabinet Secretary Mr. P.K. Sinha clarified to the ‘Indian Public Employees Federation’, in New Delhi that the 7th Pay Commission report will be submitted to the Government before 30th June 2016.

He added, he would have submitted the 7th pay commission report in the month of May itself, However the parliament session was on, hence he was unable to.

After returning from Delhi, The President of the ‘Indian Public Employees Federation’ said that Mr. P.K. Sinha has assured that he will look into the lags in the 7th pay commission recommendations.

Source: Live Hindustan