Circular Dated 30-03-2016

CIRCLE CIRCULAR DATED : 30-03-2016

DATE: 25.03.2016

FNPO & NUGDS SUBMITTED MEMORANDUM TO
 SRI. KAMALESH CHANDRA ,CHAIRMAN ,GDS 
COMMITTEE  DATED.03.03.2016

MEMORANDUM

TO

Sri.KAMALESH CHANDRA , Chairman

GDS Committee

ON

POSTAL GRAMIN DAK SEVAK SYSTEM

ON

ISSUES RELATING TO GRAMIN DAK SEVAKS

BY

NATIONAL UNION OF GRAMIN DAK SEVAKS

(Central Headquarters)

Downhill Post Office

Malappuram (Kerala) – 676519

FEDERATION OF NATIONAL POSTAL ORGANISATIONS

(Central Headquarters)

T-24, Atulgrove Road

New Delhi – 110001

To view complete Memorandum CLICK HERE

            HAPPY  HOLI  2016

FNPO & NUGDS SUBMITTED MEMORANDUM TO SRI. KAMALESH CHANDRA ,CHAIRMAN ,GDS COMMITTEE DATED.03.03.2016

Date. 24.03.2016

FNPO & NUGDS SUBMITTED MEMORANDUM TO SRI. KAMALESH CHANDRA ,CHAIRMAN ,GDS COMMITTEE  DATED.03.03.2016 

To view Covering Letter           CLICK HERE

To view complete Memorandum       CLICK HERE

Digital India summit: Post offices pip SBI to have largest core banking footprint, says Ravi Shankar Prasad

Digital India summit: Post offices pip SBI to have largest core banking footprint, says Ravi Shankar Prasad

Listing out the achievements of the Government as it looks to complete two years in power, Minister for Communication and Information Technology, Ravi Shankar Prasad today said during his tenure and because of a sustained push, 20494 post offices have been connected under core banking solution, which is more than the 16333 enabled core banking branches of State Bank of India ( SBI). 

"I pushed my postal service to go digital, because postal service digitization is integral to digital India. The first thing we pushed was core banking solution, which means banking from anywhere. We have 25,000 district and sub-post offices that needed to be digitized. When I had become Minister only 230 post offices had core banking. Today, 20494 post offices have come under core banking solution and we will complete the remaining by April this year. Core banking linkage of post office is bigger than that of the State Bank of India," said Prasad at the Times Network organized Digital India Summit & Awards 2016. 

Prasad added that the number of ATMs in post offices has increased from 4 when he took over as the minister to 850 today and by April the number will rise to 1000. "By March next year we will bring in the payment bank of the postal department," said Prasad. 

Prasad listed another key achievement of his Ministry, which is the delivery of e-commerce consignments. "Parcel revenue had dipped by 2% in 2013-14, it rose by 45% in 2014-15 and now has risen by 120% by January 2015-16. This is the scale we have been able to achieve," said Prasad. 

Stating that digital infrastructure is important and has revolutionary potential, Prasad said that when he became the Minister the total length of pipes laid out was 2092 kms and optical fiber was at 398 kms. "Today, in less than two years we have laid pipes in 1,30,000 kms of pipes and optical fiber of 1,10,000 kms," said Prasad. 

The Minister went on to add that the number of Common Service Centers has increased from 83000 units when he took over to 157000 today. Next year the government plans to scale it by another 1 lakh units. Of these, 20,000 are being run by women entrepreneurs. He added that the government would also be pushing a BPO call centre programme in a big way to ensure Digital India as a mission percolates to even the smaller towns.

Source :The Economic Times

Interest Rates on various Small

Interest Rates on various Small 

Savings Schemes for the 1st

Quarter of 2016-17 notified

Additional Interest Rate spreads which the Government allows on Small Savings Schemes like PPF, Senior Citizen Savings Scheme, Sukanya Samridhi Scheme and NSC etc. are being continued and included in the rates notified today.

From the year 2012-13, the interest rates on various Small Savings Schemes (SSS) are recalculated and notified in the month of March every year.  These rates are applicable for the next financial year.  This is being done in line with the recommendations of the Shyamala Gopinath Committee to ensure that the interest rates of Small Savings Schemes are market linked.

Accordingly, as done in the previous years, the interest rates for various Small Savings Schemes were due for recalculation in March 2016.  As notified on 16^th February, 2016, instead of annual resetting of interest rates for the next financial year, the interest rates from now on will be reset every quarter based on the G-Sec yields of the previous three months. Consequently, the interest rates for various Small Savings Schemes were recalculated with reference to the G-Sec yields of equivalent maturity for the months December 2015 to February 2016.  Based on this calculation, the interest rates on various Small Savings Schemes for the 1^stquarter of 2016-17 have been notified today. The rates of interest on various small savings schemes for the First Quarter of Financial Year 2016-17, on the basis of the interest compounding/payment built-in in the schemes, shall be as under:

Instrument	Rate of interest w.e.f. 01.04.2015 to 31.3.2016	Rate of interest w.e.f. 01.04.2016 to 30.6.2016
Savings Deposit	4.0	4.0
1 Year Time Deposit	8.4	7.1
2 Year Time Deposit	8.4	7.2
3 Year Time Deposit	8.4	7.4
5 Year Time Deposit	8.5	7.9
5 Year Recurring Deposit	8.4	7.4
5 Year Senior Citizens Savings Scheme	9.3	8.6
5 year Monthly Income Account Scheme	8.4	7.8
5 Year National Savings Certificate	8.5	8.1
Public Provident Fund Scheme	8.7	8.1
Kisan Vikas Patra	8.7	7.8 (will mature in 110 months)
Sukanya Samriddhi Account Scheme	9.2	8.6

  This is a formula driven process. 

Further, as notified earlier, the additional interest rate spreads which the Government allows on Small Savings Schemes like PPF, Senior Citizen Savings Scheme, Sukanya Samridhi Scheme, NSC etc. are being continued.  The additional spread for these Schemes are 25 basis points for PPF, 100 basis points for Senior Citizen Savings Scheme, 75 basis points for Sukanya Samridhi Scheme, 25 basis points for five year time deposit, 25 basis points for National Savings Certificate and 25 basis points for Monthly Income Scheme. These additional interest rate spreads are being continued and are included in the rates notified today.

The quarterly revision of interest rates will ensure that the interest rates under Small Savings Schemes are more dynamically related to the current market rates, thereby enabling the Banks to move their interest rates in line with current money market rates. 

CALENDAR OF DEPARTMENTAL

CALENDAR OF DEPARTMENTAL 

EXAMINATIONS SCHEDULED TO BE

 HELD IN THE YEAR 2016

Age Relaxation for Widows -

Age Relaxation for Widows - 

Minister's Reply in Lok Sabha

Press Information Bureau 
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions

16-March-2016 13:21 IST 

Age Relaxation for Widows

Suggestions have been received from time to time for relaxation of upper age-limit for widows. Relaxation of age up to 35 years (up to 40 years for members of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) for the widows, divorced and women judicially separated from their husbands who are re-married for employment to Group ‘C’ and erstwhile Group ‘D’ post has been provided vide Department of Personnel & Training’s Office Memorandum No. 15012/13/79-Estt (D) dated 19.01.1980. Similar relaxation is provided for Group ‘A’ and Group ‘B’ posts except where recruitment is made through open competitive Examination vide Department of Personnel & Training’s Office Memorandum No. 15012/1/87-Estt.(D) dated 05.10.1990.

This was stated by the Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions and Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Dr. Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question .

Implementation of RTI Act, 2005 to be strengthened - DoPT invites views/suggestions by 31st March, 2016

Implementation of RTI Act, 2005 to be strengthened - DoPT invites views/suggestions by 31st March, 2016

Press Information Bureau 
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions
16-March-2016 17:29 IST

Implementation of RTI Act, 2005 to be strengthened 

DoPT invites views/suggestions by 31st March, 2016

A Committee of Experts consisting of Shri A.N. Tiwari, former Chief Information Commissioner and Dr. M.M. Ansari, former Information Commissioner of Central Information Commission was constituted to recommend, inter-alia, measures to further strengthen implementation of Section 4 of the RTI Act, 2005. Some of recommendations of the Committee of Experts have been accepted by the Government and an OM dated 29th June 2015 was issued to all public authorities to implement the recommendations of the Committee. Further, instructions were issued to all Public Authorities vide O.M. No. 1/1/2013-IR dated 9th July, 2015 to make an analysis of information which is sought most often from applicants and provide it on their website as suo-motu disclosure.   

             Further, a committee under the chairmanship of Dr. Devesh Chaturvedi, Joint Secretary, DoPT has examined some of the recommendations of Committee of Expert and it has now been proposed to issue an Office Memorandum to implement the recommendations of the Committee regarding suo-motu disclosure u/s 4 of RTI Act, 2005. 

            The interested persons may send their views/suggestions on the annexed O.M. latest by 31st March, 2016 to this Department through email : usir-dopt@nic.in.

Release of additional instalment of Dearness Allowance to Central Government employees and Dearness Relief to Pensioners due from 1.1.2016

Release of additional instalment of Dearness Allowance to Central Government employees and Dearness Relief to Pensioners due from 1.1.2016

Release of additional instalment of Dearness Allowance to Central Government employees and Dearness Relief to Pensioners due from 1.1.2016

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. 01.01.2016. This represents an increase of 6 percent over the existing rate of 119 percent of the Basic Pay/Pension, to compensate for price rise.

This will benefit about 50 lakh Government employees and 58 lakh pensioners.

5 Year Post office Time Deposit eligible for 80C

5 Year Post office Time Deposit eligible for 80C

5 Year Post office Time Deposit eligible for 80C

Investment made in "five year time deposit in an account under Post Office Time Deposit Rules, 1981" will be eligible for deduction from the Gross total income, under section 80C, with the overall section treshold of 1 Lakh.

The additional point to be noted is "The amendment shall apply to investments, as above, made during the financial year 2007-08 and subsequent years."

Below is the summary of the Finance bill presented in the budget:

Enlargement of the scope of eligible saving instruments under section 80C

Section 80C of the Income-tax Act provides for a deduction of upto rupees one lakh to an individual or a Hindu undivided family (HUF) for,-

(i) making investments in certain saving instruments; or

(ii) incurring expenditure on tuition fee and repayment of housing loan.

With a view to encourage small savings, it is proposed to enlarge the scope of eligible saving instruments by inserting two new clauses in sub-section (2) of section 80C. The following investments made by the assessee, during the previous year, shall be eligible for deduction under section 80C within the overall ceiling of rupees one lakh:-

(i) five year time deposit in an account under Post Office Time Deposit Rules, 1981; and

(ii) deposit in an account under the Senior Citizens Savings Scheme Rules, 2004.

Further, it is also proposed to provide that where any amount is withdrawn by the assessee from such account before the expiry of a period of 5 years from the date of its deposit, the amount so withdrawn shall be deemed to be income of the assessee of the previous year in which the amount is withdrawn. The amount so withdrawn, accordingly, shall be liable to tax in the assessment year relevant to such previous year. The amount liable to tax shall also include that part of the amount withdrawn which represents interest

accrued on the deposit. However if any part of the amount so received or withdrawn (including the amount relating to interest) has suffered taxation in any of the earlier years, such amount shall not be taxed again.

Ambedkar Birthday (14th April) declared as Central Holiday throughout the country

Ambedkar Birthday (14th April) declared as Central Holiday throughout the country

"It has been decided to declare Thursday, the 14th April 2016, as a Closed Holiday on account of the birthday of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, for all Central Government Offices including Industrial Establishments throughout India."

Atal Pension Yojana (APY) amended to give an option to the spouse to continue to contribute for balance period on premature death of the subscriber

Atal Pension Yojana (APY) amended to give an option to the spouse to continue to contribute for balance period on premature death of the subscriber

Press Information Bureau 

Government of India

Ministry of Finance

22-March-2016 13:58 IST

Atal Pension Yojana (APY) amended to give an option to the spouse to continue to contribute for balance period on premature death of the subscriber; 

After the death of both the subscriber and the spouse, the nominee of the subscriber shall be entitled to receive the pension wealth, as accumulated till age of 60 years of the subscriber.

The feedback received from various quarters has indicated that the present provision under Atal Pension Yojana (APY) of handing-over lump sum amount to spouse on premature death of the subscriber is not preferred by many subscribers. It has also highlighted the fact that there is growing demand to give an option to the spouse to continue contribution after the death of subscriber to enable him / her to draw pension when the deceased subscriber would have turned 60 years of age. Therefore, after considering the feedback, the Government has decided to give an option to the spouse of the subscriber to continue contributing to APY account of the subscriber, for the remaining vesting period, till the original subscriber would have attained the age of 60 years instead of present provision of handing-over lump-sum amount to spouse on the premature death (death before 60 years of age) of the subscriber. The spouse of the subscriber shall be entitled to receive the same pension amount as that of the subscriber until the death of the spouse. After the death of both the subscriber and the spouse, the nominee of the subscriber shall be entitled to receive the pension wealth, as accumulated till age of 60 years of the subscriber.

Earlier to address the longevity risks among the workers in unorganised sector and to encourage the workers in unorganised sector to voluntarily save for their retirement, the Government had launched a new initiative called Atal Pension Yojana (APY) with effect from 1st June, 2015. Under APY, each subscriber, on completion of 60 years of age, will get the guaranteed minimum monthly pension, or higher monthly pension, if the investment returns are higher than the assumed returns for minimum guaranteed pension, over the period of contribution. After the subscriber’s death, the spouse of the subscriber shall be entitled to receive the same pension amount as that of the subscriber until the death of the spouse. After the death of both the subscriber and the spouse, the nominee of the subscriber shall be entitled to receive the pension wealth, as accumulated till age of 60 years of the subscriber. In exceptional circumstances, that is, in the event of the death of beneficiary or specified illness, as mentioned in the PFRDA (Exit and withdrawals under the National Pension System) Regulations, 2015, before the age of 60 years, the accumulated pension wealth till date would be given to the nominee or the subscriber as the case may be.

Date.15.03.2016

FNPO & NUGDS SUBMITTED MEMORANDUM TO SRI. KAMALESH CHANDRA ,CHAIRMAN ,GDS COMMITTEE  DATED.03.03.2016 

Complete  Memorandum

CLICK HERE TO VIEW COMPLETE MEMORANDUM

FNPO & NUGDS SUBMITTED MEMORANDUM TO SRI. KAMALESH CHANDRA ,CHAIRMAN ,GDS COMMITTEE DATED.03.03.2016

DATE .15.03.2016

FNPO & NUGDS SUBMITTED MEMORANDUM TO SRI. KAMALESH CHANDRA ,CHAIRMAN ,GDS COMMITTEE  DATED.03.03.2016 

Covering etter of the Memorandum


CLICK HERE TO SEE THE COVERING LETTER

RICT solution rollout - Identification of Trainers

RICT solution rollout - Identification of Trainers

MODEL LETTER TO MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT FOR REQUESTING TO DIRECT THE 54 POINTS TO GDS PAY COMMITTEE

MODEL LETTER TO MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT FOR REQUESTING TO DIRECT THE 54 POINTS TO GDS PAY COMMITTEE 

     National Union of Gramin Dak Sevaks

            (FEDARATION OF NATIONAL POSTAL ORGANISATIONS)    

                                                                                                                       DIVISION

 NO.NUGDS/Div/MP’s/Memorandum/March                                         Date: 01.03.2016

To,

The Honorable Member of Parliament,

New Delhi.

Respected Sir,

            Subject: Departmentalization of Grameena Dak Sewaks working                           in the Postal Department

                                   On behalf of all the members of our union we have prepared a memorandum on the aspirations of all Grameen Dak Sewaks left as mirage for so many decades though 5 GDS Committees were constituted earlier. We have requested you sir /madam through our letter No.NUGDS/CHQ/MP’s/Memorandum/Nov. dated 02.11.2015 to present our problems in Parliament and get the directions to include GDS also in 7 th Central Pay Commission instead of separate GDS Commissions as earlier constituted. But Sir/ Madam, to our misfortune GDS was not included in the 7 th CPC and one Departmental Committee is constituted as done earlier.

                                   This GDS service was started 130 years ago as extraneous service on honorarium, later converted in to extra departmental service and finally named as Grameen Dak Sewaks with very low pay scales. The department is getting all its services in rural India on par with urban India but not allowed equal pay structures along with departmental postal officials in a view that GDS are assigned with less workload and engaged for limited hours. But Sir/ Madam, the country is so developed and a rural Indian demanding the same services at par with urban area and to fulfill the desire of rural India, the Branch Post offices numbering about 1,26,000 located in rural India are the only outlets to serve rural India .No other department spread to each and every village in the country except postal department with its Grameen Dak Sewaks. In deed this is realized by the Govt. of India and Govt. of all States and Union Territories and utilizing Branch Post offices for their services such as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme  ,Social Security Pensions etc. other than this ,this Branch Post office is doing agency services such as savings bank, the only banking services in many villages as on today also and the department has given cores of rural postal life insurance policies to villagers in rural India and assured the lives for the term spread to maximum 37 years i.e, in between 18 years to 55 years for which the rural post office is the only servicing agent and it cannot be undertaken by another service organization to cater to the needs of rural public. The term Grameen Dak Sewaks engaged for limited hours is out dated as every Branch Postmaster is spending 10 hours a day at his post office for attending to his normal work i.e., savings bank  including recurring deposits ,rural postal insurance, mails ,registration ,parcels ,value payable services, money orders and delivery etc, and for attending to other service schemes  i.e., MGNREGS at an average of 1400 a/c  and Social Security Pensions at an average of 800 a/c at every Branch Post office.

                            The Govt. of India through its Communications and IT Ministry is set to a launch a slew of schemes on 2015 December 28 that will seek to digitally connect rural post offices across the country and enable Core Banking facilities . Further Govt. of India has decided to provide 1,30,000 hand-held devices by march 2017.For this also our GDS are the officials to attend the said work and to develop rural India in digitally devised lines. This is the high time to bring these Grameen Dak Sewaks in to main stream of the departmental officials rather civil servants of Govt. of India with full workload of 8 hours and with pay scales designed at par with departmental employees

                                   Our opinion to bring us to the main stream rather our demands are enclosed to this letter in fifty four points. Sir /Madam we are working at your footsteps and covering entire your jurisdiction. Kindly show sympathy on us and endorse and recommend these Fifty four points to Sri. Kamalesh Chandra , GDS Commission constituted to examine Grameen Dak Sewaks services to the address given below.

Sri. Kamalesh Chandra

Chairman,GDS Committee

                    &

Shri. T.Q. Mohammad

Secretary,GDS Committee

Malcha Marg Post Office

New Dehi -110021

                                       or

Through E-mail to gds.com.feedback@gmail.com .

or 

India post website 

www.indiapost.gov.in

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

                                                                                                               Yours sincerely

                                                                                                                                               

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          (                                           )

                                                                                                            Divisional Secretary

Suggestions/Feedback to GDS Committee.

1)         The motto of GDS is part-time should be scrapped by giving 7 ½ hours workload to each official as it is available.

2)         The term “Sevak” should be replaced by “employee”.

3)         No BO is running on loss in real terms by keeping the thinking that it is a mixture of many agency services and by considering it is a public essential service, GDS can be made departmental.

4)         All GDS BOs may be converted into departmental BOs and renamed as “Rural Post Offices”.

5)         All GDS BOs staff should treated as departmental officials holding civil posts and renamed as “Rural Post Masters” and “Rural Postal Assistants”.

6)         Total expenditure on Rural Postal employees including OMA paid to each Rural Post Office may be met by Ministry of Finance.

7)         Commission on SB and RD accounts standing at BOs may be kept with Ministry of Finance.

8)         Accounts work, Accounts supervision, Administrative Supervision done by Department of Posts may be taken up as reciprocal services for its services received at Rural Post Offices such as mails, sorting, delivery, stamp sale, registration including V.P and Insured, Speed post, Money Orders, Mahatma Gandhi NREGs and Social Service Pensions.

9)         Mails, Sorting, Delivery, Stamps sale, Registration including VP and Insured, Speed Post, Money Orders, Mahatma Gandhi NREGs and Social Service Pensions related to Department of Posts at Rural Post Offices may be taken up by Ministry of Finance as reciprocal services for its work done by Department of Posts such as Accounts, Accounts Supervision and Administrative Supervision.

10)        Department of Posts may increase its revenues at par with scheduled Banks and Couriers as those Banks and Couriers are being survived with the same limited jurisdiction.

11)        For doing Inspections and Investigations of Rural Post Offices and supply of stationary relating to SB and RD to Rural Post Offices, the subsidy to the tune of Rs. 650/- crores (approximately) paid on Rural POs may be paid to Department of Posts in proposed setup also.

12)        Commission received by Department of Posts on services such as NREGs and Social Service Pensions may be kept by Postal Department as it is received from different source.

13)        As the conditions “holding honorary posts being self sufficient” is an “obsolete” one in present conditions of the country, it is necessary to bring all GDS under the category of “Departmental Rural Postal Employees” and their services to be considered as essential services as the Rural Post Office is the only outlet for the Government to serve the rural public.

14)        All Rural Postal employees may be considered as departmental Group ‘C’ or Group ‘E’ by giving status of holding civil post in the Government.

15)        The BPM may be named as “Rural Post Master” (RPM) with 7 ½ hours workload for Post Master’s duties.

16)        Other GDS employees in a BO may be named as ”Rural Postal Assistants” (RPA) with 7 ½ hours workload for their duties such as delivery, conveyance, LB Clearance, packing, stamp sale put together.

17)        GDS Posts in HOs / SOs / RMS may be converted into MTS.

18)        The income and cost of a Rural Post Office may be ignored as it is only essential public service available in a village and demanded by public and their leaders and used by state governments also as only way for them to serve the rural public.

19)        Statistical workload and financial positions of Rural Post Offices may be assessed in Triennial reviews here after called as Audit as these reviews can be used for 100% verification of accounts standing at Rural Post Offices also.

20)        The constitutional provisions under Article 309 and 311 should be applied to Rural Postal Employees.

21)        All GDS stamp vendor posts in Departmental Post Offices may be upgraded to MTS or Postman as the case may be and shortfall of workload if any may be utilized for Registration etc. of the said office.

22)        Basic qualification for future appointment, by selection or promotion should be 10 + 2 with 60% of marks in Plus 2 for Rural Post Master and 8^th standard may be continued for Rural Postal Assistants.

23)        Maximum age limit for entry as Rural Postal employee should be 35 years with relaxation admissible to SC, ST and OBC. For promotions there should be relaxation by 5 more years i.e. 40 years it would be better to reduce to 3 years with relaxation to SC, ST and OBC employees as it is observed for some categories in the department. Commission may consider the age of superannuation.

24)        Selection at the time of entry should be at divisional level through employment exchanges of the district, but on merit basis in the requisite qualifications.

25)        All “Rural Postal Employees” should be imparted with concerned Trainings as designed for the purpose.

26)        The present service restriction of 5 years for promotions should be reduced to 3 years. In addition 50% RPM posts may be earmarked to outsiders through employment exchange, out of remaining 50%, 25% may be earmarked for RPAs on seniority cum fitness basis with the requisite qualifications of RPM through DPC. Remaining 25% vacancies on merit as if outsiders through employment exchange, but applications may be called for in the division, For both the types of above DPC / selection minimum 3 years of service may be fixed. If any vacancy is unfilled, it should be given to Employment Exchange immediately without carrying forward for next year. The Rosters should be maintained as usual at divisional level.

27)        However by virtue of services rendered the Rural Postal employees such as Rural Post Master and Rural Postal Assistant may be allowed MACP I, II, III for 10 years, 20 years, 30 years completion of service respectively.

28)        All conduct and disciplinary rules and procedures under CCS (CCA) rules 1964 available to departmental employees may be extended to Rural Postal employees also.

29)        The pay structure suggested is as follows:

Initial fixation to RPAs / RPMs as follows at the time of implementation of 7^th PC.

Rural Postal Assistant:

Up to 5 years	18000 + GP
After 5 years	18000 +1 increment i.e. 5% on 18000 + GP
After 10 years (MACP I)	18000 + 3 increments i.e. 15% on 18000 + GP (For MACP I one more increment)
After 15 years	18000 + 4 increments i.e. 20% on 18000 + GP
After 20 years (MACP II)	18000 + 6 increments i.e. 30% on 18000 + GP (For MACP II one more increment)
After 25 years	18000 + 7 increments i.e. 35% on 18000 + GP
After 30 years (MACP III)	18000 + 9 increments i.e. 45% on 18000 + GP (For MACP III one more increment)
After 35 years	18000 + 10 increments i.e. 50% on 18000 + GP i.e. 18000 + 9000 = 27000 which is less than proposed pay component of MTS i.e. 29000 which is a promotional post. If this is not followed there will be no charm in promotions.

Rural Post Master:

To show difference between RPA and RPM, 2 increments may be given to RPMs at initial stage of fixation also. Then,

Up to 5 years	18000 + 2 increments i.e. 10% on 18000 + GP
After 5 years	18000 +3 increments i.e. 15% on 18000 + GP
After 10 years (MACP I)	18000 + 5 increments i.e. 25% on 18000 + GP (For MACP I one more increment)
After 15 years	18000 + 6 increments i.e. 30% on 18000 + GP
After 20 years (MACP II)	18000 + 8 increments i.e. 40% on 18000 + GP (For MACP II one more increment)
After 25 years	18000 + 9 increments i.e. 45% on 18000 + GP
After 30 years (MACP III)	18000 + 11 increments i.e. 55% on 18000 + GP (For MACP III one more increment)
After 35 years	18000 + 12 increments i.e. 60% on 18000 + GP i.e. 18000 + 10800 = 28800 which is less than proposed pay component of MTS i.e. 29000 which is a promotional post. If this is not done there will be no charm in promotions.

As such Grade pay for Rural Postal Assistants and Rural Post Masters in 7^th PC is suggested as follows.

            Rural Postal Assistants:

At initial stage	4000 x 1000 / 1800	=	2222 i.e. 2200.
On MACP I (after 10 years of service)	4000 x 1100 / 1800	=	2444 i.e. 2400.
On MACPI I (after 20 years of service)	4000 x 1200 / 1800	=	2666 i.e. 2600.
On MACP III (after 30 years of service)	4000 x 1300 / 1800	=	2888 i.e. 2900.

Rural Post Masters:

At initial stage	4000 x 1400 / 1800	=	3111 i.e. 3100.
On MACP I (after 10 years of service)	4000 x 1500 / 1800	=	3333 i.e. 3300.
On MACPI I (after 20 years of service)	4000 x 1600 / 1800	=	3555 i.e. 3500.
On MACP III (after 30 years of service)	4000 x 1700 / 1800	=	3777 i.e. 3800.

            In all the above cases it is rounded off to next hundred and where as in the case of MACP II it is rounded off to below hundred to remove the dissatisfaction to MACP III candidates. However proposed GP to RPA / RPM is less than proposed GP component of MTS at minimum i.e. Rs. 4,000/-.

            Increments: 5% on basic pay + GP every year besides one increment of 5% each for MACP I, II, III promotions. This is in addition to 2 increments i.e. 5 + 5 =10% allowed to Rural Post Masters on initial fixation and 5% raise after completion of every 5 years.

            Maximum of the scale: Rs. 1, 28,000/- with a length of 38 years.

            Pay Band: Should be pay band 1 shifting other pay bands by one number or giving special pay band i.e. pay band R is suggested for Rural Post Masters and Rural Postal Assistants.

30)          CCS Pension rules available to departmental employees may be applied for Rural Postal employees and GPF and all pensionery benefits including Group Insurance Scheme may be applied to all Rural Postal employees at par with departmental employees giving credit to their date of entry in the department.

     Here one case is requested in either of the cases i.e old pension system till 31.12.2003 entrants and New pension       scheme wef 1.1.2004, the monthly minimum pension received by Rural Postal Employees should be Rs.1000/- as it is given by the Govt to poor citizens of India as this GDS is much poorer than that poor citizens having getting no monthly income beyond superannuation though he served those poor citizens particularly in the payment of the said social security pension for many more years.

31)        All the allowances admissible to departmental employees may be extended to rural postal employees at the rate admissible to departmental employees in the following cases.

            i) Dearness Allowance.       ii) Office Maintenance Allowance (In the place of FHR) ranging between Rs. 500 – Rs. 950 with an annual raise of Rs. 50/-.

            iii) Electricity and Water charges for Office.

            iv) HRA ranging between Rs. 800 – Rs. 1520 with an annual raise of Rs. 80/-

            v) Transport Allowance: Rs. 150/- per month for official use.

            vi) Cycle Maintenance Allowance: Rs. 150/- for office use to perform outside work.

            vii) Overtime Allowance: Maximum 3 hours on a working day beyond 7 ½ hours work if another post in the office is on leave or otherwise and Sundays / Holidays as ordered by divisional head if required. Allowance should be on prorata of pay + GP + DA for one day.

            viii) Travelling Allowance: Travelling allowance would be as shown in the Table at 16.11A .

            ix) Boat Allowance: As demanded by boat operator.

            x) Children education Allowance: At par with departmental employees.

            xi) RTF: At par with departmental employees.

            xii) Cash allowance to RPM on par with ‘C’ class departmental SPM.

            xiii) Other allowances such as special duty allowance being paid in Assam and NE Circle, Uttarakhand Allowance, Remote Area Allowance, Naxalite Threat area Allowance, Bad Climate Allowance, Winter Allowance and Project Allowance etc.,

32)        All kinds of leaves admissible under CCS (leave rules) 1972 besides casual leave to departmental employees may be extended to Rural Postal employees with same limitations in all respects.

33)        Leave encashment facility available to departmental employees may be extended to Rural Postal employees. In addition 15 days leave encashment every year may be allowed to Rural Postal employees to enable leave cases and arrangements there on to be reduced.

34)        Leave travel Concession at par with departmental employees.

35)        Advance of leave salary and advance of pay may be allowed to Rural Postal employees at par with departmental employees.

36)        5% of leave reserve may be maintained at divisional level.

37)        Medical allowance of Rs. 600/- p.m to Rural Postal employees for minor ailments and for hospitalization, it is in recognized hospitals at par with departmental employees.

38)        All welfare measures available to departmental employees may be extended to Rural Postal employees also, such as,

            a) Interim Relief.

            b) Transfers      i) In the interest of service such as thrown out.

                                    ii) Request transfers including Rule 38 and Mutual’s.

            c) Compassionate Appointments: 1) To the family members of all deceased.

                2) To the dependents of Rural Postal employees retired on invalidation.

            d) Bonus.                      e) Identity Cards.           f) Funeral expenses.

            g) Loans: Loans may be given to Rural Postal employees on par with departmental employees. This may be extended for education of children and marriage of daughters.

            h) Advances: All advances available to departmental employees may be extended to Rural Postal employees such as Cycle advance, Natural Calamity advance (available now), Festival advance, Medical advance, Pay advance, Leave Salary advance, Motor Cycle advance, House Building Advance (to be extended).

39)        Uniforms: At par with departmental employees.

40)        Fixed Stationary Charges: At par with ‘C’ class departmental offices and officials.

41)        Counting of Past Service: The service rendered as ED or GDS may be counted to newly renamed Rural Postal employees as departmental service.

42)        Head Quarters: Where the Rural Postal employee is born in the establishment for drawal of pay and allowances.

43)        Security: At par with departmental employees.

44)        Norms: At par with Departmental Post / Post Office.

45)        Workload: All works performed by Rural Postal employee counts for workload.

46)        Incentive for promoting small family norms: At par with departmental employees.

47)        Incentive to Sports person: At par with departmental employees.

48)        Date of Superannuation: At par with departmental employee, but maximum age to be reviewed by Commission.

49)        Payments of retirement / terminal benefits: At par with departmental employees.

50)        Contributory negligence to be removed.

51)        Basic amenities such as infrastructure to office and public to all Rural Post Offices, to be provided. All requisite forms are to be supplied. Divisional Office to be treated as secondary unit of supply. Sub division to monitor supplies.

52)        All Trade Union facilities available to departmental employees may be extended to the Unions of Rural Postal employees and Rural Postal Assistants. (One Union for one banner)

53)        All the above suggestions are exhaustive, but Committee is requested to look after anything left over.

54)        Finally the GDS Pay Committee is requested to extend all facilities available to Departmental Post Offices / Departmental employees to Rural Post Offices / Rural Postal Employees.