PEN DOWN STRIKE - AGARTALA Dated.27.4.2016
Thursday, 28 April 2016
Wednesday, 27 April 2016
Postal Department has relaxed certain norms - SSA
Now, people can pay deposits for 15 years towards SSA from the time of opening of the savings account. Earlier, it was restricted to 14 years. At present, long-term saving schemes like Public Provident Fund scheme too accept deposits for 15 years.
Restrictions on withdrawal were a hitch in attracting more investors to the scheme. Customers could opt for partial withdrawal only when the applicant turned 18 years old. Now, account holders can withdraw up to 50 per cent of the balance accrued till the previous financial year for higher education once the girl child completes class X.
Officials of postal department said the account holder had to produce documentary proof like fee receipt to withdraw from their balance, including an option of withdrawing in five instalments.
People will have to pay a minimum of Rs.1,000 to avoid penalty charges. However, depositors in SSA have to wait for 21 years for the amount to mature. They also have an option to close the account one month before or three months after the wedding date.
Another norm relaxed now is the option for premature closure after five years of opening the account in case of medical expenditure of account holder or death of guardian. “There has not been any dip in new accounts because of the reduction in interest rate and it continues to be one of the popular savings scheme.
Now, people can pay deposits for 15 years towards SSA from the time of opening of the savings account. Earlier, it was restricted to 14 years. At present, long-term saving schemes like Public Provident Fund scheme too accept deposits for 15 years.
Restrictions on withdrawal were a hitch in attracting more investors to the scheme. Customers could opt for partial withdrawal only when the applicant turned 18 years old. Now, account holders can withdraw up to 50 per cent of the balance accrued till the previous financial year for higher education once the girl child completes class X.
Officials of postal department said the account holder had to produce documentary proof like fee receipt to withdraw from their balance, including an option of withdrawing in five instalments.
People will have to pay a minimum of Rs.1,000 to avoid penalty charges. However, depositors in SSA have to wait for 21 years for the amount to mature. They also have an option to close the account one month before or three months after the wedding date.
Another norm relaxed now is the option for premature closure after five years of opening the account in case of medical expenditure of account holder or death of guardian. “There has not been any dip in new accounts because of the reduction in interest rate and it continues to be one of the popular savings scheme.
India Post Telecast - NDTV 24x7
NDTV 24x7 news channel has done a story on India Post on the recent initiatives of the Department. The revised Telecast timings are as follows :
Channel : NDTV 24x7
Telecast Date : Saturday 30 th April 2016
Telecast Time : 1900 hours
Repeat Telecast: Sunday, 1 st May 2016 at 12 noon
Tuesday, 26 April 2016
MINIMUM WAGES ACT 1948
The Minimum Wages Act 1948 is an Act of Parliament concerning Indian labour law that sets the minimum wages that must be paid to skilled and unskilled labours.
The Indian Constitution has defined a 'living wage' that is the level of income for a worker which will ensure a basic standard of living including good health, dignity, comfort, education and provide for any contingency. However, to keep in mind an industry's capacity to pay the constitution has defined a 'fair wage'. Fair wage is that level of wage that not just maintains a level of employment, but seeks to increase it keeping in perspective the industry’s capacity to pay. To achieve this in its first session during November 1948, the Central Advisory Council appointed a Tripartite Committee of Fair Wage.
This committee came up with the concept of Minimum Wages.
A minimum wage is such a wage that it not only guarantees bare subsistence and preserves efficiency but also provides for education, medical requirements and some level of comfort.
India introduced the Minimum Wages Act in 1948, giving both the Central government and State government jurisdiction in fixing wages. The act is legally non-binding, but statutory. Payment of wages below the minimum wage rate amounts to forced labour. Wage Boards are set up to review the industry’s capacity to pay and fix minimum wages such that they at least cover a family of four’s requirements of calories, shelter, clothing, education, medical assistance, and entertainment.
Under the law, wage rates in scheduled employments differ across states, sectors, skills, regions and occupations owing to difference in costs of living, regional industries' capacity to pay, consumption patterns, etc. Hence, there is no single uniform minimum wage rate across the country and the structure has become overly complex. The highest minimum wage rate as updated in 2012 is Rs. 322/day in Andaman and Nicobar.
The Minimum Wages Act 1948 is an Act of Parliament concerning Indian labour law that sets the minimum wages that must be paid to skilled and unskilled labours.
The Indian Constitution has defined a 'living wage' that is the level of income for a worker which will ensure a basic standard of living including good health, dignity, comfort, education and provide for any contingency. However, to keep in mind an industry's capacity to pay the constitution has defined a 'fair wage'. Fair wage is that level of wage that not just maintains a level of employment, but seeks to increase it keeping in perspective the industry’s capacity to pay. To achieve this in its first session during November 1948, the Central Advisory Council appointed a Tripartite Committee of Fair Wage.
This committee came up with the concept of Minimum Wages.
A minimum wage is such a wage that it not only guarantees bare subsistence and preserves efficiency but also provides for education, medical requirements and some level of comfort.
India introduced the Minimum Wages Act in 1948, giving both the Central government and State government jurisdiction in fixing wages. The act is legally non-binding, but statutory. Payment of wages below the minimum wage rate amounts to forced labour. Wage Boards are set up to review the industry’s capacity to pay and fix minimum wages such that they at least cover a family of four’s requirements of calories, shelter, clothing, education, medical assistance, and entertainment.
Under the law, wage rates in scheduled employments differ across states, sectors, skills, regions and occupations owing to difference in costs of living, regional industries' capacity to pay, consumption patterns, etc. Hence, there is no single uniform minimum wage rate across the country and the structure has become overly complex. The highest minimum wage rate as updated in 2012 is Rs. 322/day in Andaman and Nicobar.
GRANT OF GRADE PAY OF RS.1800/- TO GROUP ‘D’ /MTS WHO RETIRED /EXPIRED FROM SERVICE AFTER 29.08.2008, WITHOUT HAVING BEEN IMPARTED TRAINING
Sub: Grant of Grade Pay of Rs.1800/- to Group ‘D’ /MTS who retired /expired from service after 29.08.2008, without having been imparted training.
D.G. Posts O.M. No.1-20/2008-PCC (Pt) dated 08.04.2016.
Reference have been received in this Directorate seeking guidelines as to how to determine the Grade Pay of those non-matriculate Group-D employees who retired or dies in harness after the notification of Revised Pay Rule,2008 but before being imparted the requisite training to be eligible for grant of Grade Pay of rs.1800/- in Pay Band-1.
2. The matter was referred to DGP&T/Ministry of Finance, Department of Expenditure. The Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance vide their ID No. 250446/15 dated 29.01.2016 has clarified the issue as under:
“ In this regard , it is clarified that if a non-matriculate Group-D employees appointed prior to 1/1/2006, died in harness or retired before being imparted the required training as per training programme issued by D/o Posts vide its letter no. I-55/2009-Trg dated 06.04.2009 due to delay attributable to administrative reasons and not due to factors attributable to him, he may be granted the Grade Pay of Rs.1800/- if the retrained non-matriculate Group-D employees have been given the Grade Pay of Rs.1800/-“
3. In view of the above, it is therefore requested to take further necessary action to regulate the Grade Pay of all affected Group-D employees who died or retired after implementation of Revised Pay Rules, 2008 but before being imparted the requisite training accordingly
4. This issues with the approval of the competent authority.
Sd/-
(R.L. Patel)
Assistant Director General (GDS/PCC)
Govt. looking to axe 52 out of 200 allowances
NEW DELHI, April 25, 2016
The Seventh Pay Commission found inadequate the justifications offered by the Ministries for these allowances.
Secret allowance, family planning allowance, desk allowance, cash handling allowance, metropolitan allowance and headquarters allowance are among 52 of the nearly 200 allowances which the government could scrap soon.
The Seventh Pay Commission found inadequate the justifications offered by the Ministries for these allowances. The government was asked to suggest rationalisation of a variety of allowances. A committee is examining the Commission’s recommendations.
The Commission found the entire system of nearly 200 allowances “haphazard”. There are 13 for travel, 14 for additional duty, 51 for risk and hardship, nine for uniform, 4 for good services, 5 sumptuary allowances, 2 for training and 3 for knowledge update. Many were meagre cash payments and lost significance, it concluded. Rejecting the demand for doubling the family planning allowance — ranging from Rs. 210 to Rs.1,000 a month depending on grade pay — for those who adopt family planning norms after one child, the Commission recommended that it be abolished as a separate allowance was no longer needed.
Also to be abolished is the “meagre and outdated” Rs. 90 a month cycle allowance to postal officials. The briefcase allowance, paid once in three years and covering expenditure of up to Rs.10,000 on handbags, could be enhanced.
Allowances are paid to employees — both in civil and defence jobs — over and above the basic pay, either as a percentage of it, or as a specified amount, which usually varies with employees’ “level or status”. Children education allowance is an exception for which the absolute amount is the same across all ranks. Besides recommending that 52 allowances be abolished, the Commission suggested that another 36 be subsumed in an existing allowance or in new allowances it proposed.
While allowances for newspapers, Internet and mobile phones are paid in the private sector, government employees seem to be receiving a whole bunch of top-up payments, including in cash, for simply carrying out their job.
Arguing that responding to emergencies is part of the duties of any government servant, it recommended the scrapping of breakdown allowance given by the Ministry of Railways. Similarly, it found no need for secret allowance paid every month as a flat sum for dealing with ‘Top Secret’ in the Cabinet Secretariat or metropolitan allowance for Delhi Police personnel on account of “hardship faced in a metropolitan” area. The present rates are Sub-Inspector Rs.180 a month and Constable, Head Constable and Assistant Sub-Inspector Rs. 120.
The axe could also fall on headquarters allowance (Rs. 225 a month) paid to officers of Organised Group A Service in the Department of Telecom and some other Ministries for postings at the headquarters.
With growing emphasis on banking, it recommended abolishing cash handling allowance for cashiers working in Central government departments. It is paid at rates starting from Rs. 230 for disbursing sums less than Rs. 50,000 on an average in a month and goes up to Rs. 900 for sums in excess of Rs. 10,00,000.
Investigation allowance to attract talent from other Ministries to the Serious Fraud Investigation Office of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs is another such example.
Monday, 25 April 2016
AMENDMENT TO PF ACT
Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Labour & Employment
25-April-2016 15:21 IST
A proposal for comprehensive amendment to the Employees’ Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions (EPF & MP) Act, 1952 is under consideration of the Government which, inter alia, includes reducing threshold limit for coverage from 20 to 10 employees under the Act.
This was stated by Shri Bandaru Dattatreya, MoS (IC) Labour and Employment in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha on 25.4.2016
25/04/2016
Is it true that BSNL is going to provide 20 GB 3G internet service for Rs.50?
BSNL, India’s biggest telecommunication company, made headlines when news surfaced that it is going to introduce 20 GB 3G internet service for as low as Rs.50.
For the past two days, this has been one of the hottest topics of discussion and much searched-for phrase on the internet.
So, how true is this news?
Despite our best efforts, there is no clarity on this issue. There has been no circular or advertisement either from the government or from the BSNL regarding this.
It is not just the internet, but the social media too that is discussing this news. Here is a summary of the news item:
“In order to provide superfast browsing experience to smartphone users, telecom service providers are now providing 3G and 4G internet services. Meanwhile, news has surfaced that BSNL is planning to offer 20 GB 3G internet for as low as Rs.50. BSNL is going to provide the 3g services at such rock-bottom prices as part of the Prime Minister’s Digital India initiative to make the internet accessible to all. The scheme will be launched with government subsidiary. The service can be used by just one person or be shared among four.
In the rural areas, one person in the family can obtain this service and share it with four others. According to information, the BSNL Allahabad General Manager, Ram Shubh Yadav had announced that those interested in availing this service should register themselves at the BSNL Selfcare website. The announcement or the news has not yet been confirmed or verified by the BSNL authorities.
Currently, leading mobile telecom companies charge anything between Rs.160 to Rs.250 per GB of 3G internet. If BSNL provides 20 times the GB in less than one-fourth the cost, it will tremendously increase the company’s user base. At the same time, it also raises questions if such a move will be valid according to TRAI regulations.”
NATIONAL UNION JOINT CWC MEETING
NATIONAL UNION JOINT CWC MEETING WAS HELD ON 23.04.2016 AT RJCM, POSTAL STAFF QUARTERS, CHIKKADAPALLY UNDER THE PRESIDENTSHIP OF Sri.R.SUDHAKAR NAPE Gr-c President. Sri.D.Kishan Rao G/S was attended as cheif guest and addressed the gathering.Sri.Vasireddy Sivaji C/S,Sri.G.Nageswara Rao Working President Gr- c,Sri.G.Rabbani C/S PM&MTS,Sri.M.Murali President NUGDS were attended the meeting.
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