INCOME TAX

For Salaried Class: Income Tax exemption limit for individual tax payers enhanced from Rs.1,60,000 to Rs.1,80,000.
Senior Citizen from 2.4 Lakhs to 2.5 Lakhs.
Qualifying age for senior citizens lowered to 60 from 65;
Senior citizen above 80 year to get Rs.5,00,000 IT exemption
Salary earners with income up to Rs 5 lakh need not file returns.
A big relief from tax filing process for the salaried class, Finance Minister today proposed to exempt them from filing tax returns unless they have other sources of income.
This order, which will come into effect from June 1, 2011.

Discontinuation of conducting examination in APS Units/Centres.

 Government of India

Ministry of Communications & IT

Department of Posts

No. A-34020/11/2011-DE 

                                                                                                       Dak Bhawan, Sansad Marg,

                                                                                            New Delhi – 110001

                                                                                         dated 15/2/2011

Subject : Discontinuation of conducting examination in APS Units/Centres.

Sir,
I am directed to say that system of all Departmental Examinations is being revised.
In this connection, Competent Authority has decided that the following Examinations hitherto being conducted in the APS units are discontinued.
i) Examination for promotion to Postman cadre;
ii) Examination for promotion to PAs/SAs (LGO);
iii) Examination for promotion to Inspector Posts;
Candidates working in APS who wish to attend the above mentioned Examinations will have to appear at the nearest possible Postal Centres.
                                                                                                              Yours faithfully

                                                                     Sd/-                                                                                   (L. Mohan Rao)

Assistant Director General (DE)

CONFEDERATION CIRCULAR No.4/2011 Issues discussed at the National Anomaly Committee on 15.02.2011

CONFEDERATION OF CENTRAL GOVT. EMPLOYEES & WORKERS.
A-2/95,Manishinath Bhawan,Rajouri Garden, New Delhi-110 027
Website:www.confederationhq.blogspot.com. Email:Confederation06@Yahoo.co.in
Tel: 011-2510 5324: Mobile: 98110 48303

Dated: 25.02.2011

Dear Comrade,

As indicated in our circular letter No.3, we give hereunder the decisions taken on each of the items discussed at the National Anomaly Committee meeting held on 15th Feb. 2011.

Item No.11.
The Staff side has agreed to specify the items of allowance which requires to be given effect to from 1.1.2006.
Item No.12. & 13. Revision of Transport allowance:
The Staff side is to give a comparative statement indicating the rate of Transport allowance given to various categories to substantiate their demand for having a uniform rate for all Govt. officials.
Item No.14. Risk and Patient Care allowance to be doubled.
The Government will bring about the Insurance scheme in consultation with the Staff Side within six months. If the scheme is not implemented by that time, these allowances will be doubled.
Item No. 20. Quantification of daily allowance in case not able to present the billThe Department of Expenditure will examine the issue further in the light of the discussion and will convey their final decision in the
next neeting.
Item No. 28.Assigning grade pay in PB 3 for Accounts officers.
This will be discussed with the Staff Side separately.
Item No. 31.Child Care leave:
Revised orders have been issued. The demand of the Staff Side that the discretionary powers to grant or otherwise or restrict the number of days presently given to the authorities must be dispensed with will be discussed at the next meeting of the Committee.
Item No. 37.Waiver of recovery of higher DA drawing between 1.1.2006 and1.08.2008. Not agreed to.
Item No. 38 and 39.
Anomaly in fixation of Grade Pay and Pay Bands: will be further discussed at the next meeting.
Item No. 40.Grant of Notional increment for those who retire in June. Not accepted.
Item No.41.Grant of promotional increment for those promoted in the same PB and Grade Pay. The Official side stated that to decide whether the two grades have  distinct functions is the prerogative of the concerned
Ministry/Department. If they so decide, the promotional increment would be granted. But in that case, the same will be treated as a promotion and will count as such for the purpose of MACP.
Item No. 42. MACP issue.The same will be discussed in the sub committee once again.
Item No.43. Anomaly in HAG scale of pay:
Not discussed being a Group A issue. But the issue has been reported
to have been settled and orders issued.
Item No. 44. Anomaly in Library Information Assistant:
Will be further discussed at the next meeting
Item No. 45.
Anomaly in fixation of pension for those in receipt of stagnation increment/ In the light of the court judgment, the item will be discussed further in the next meeting.
Item No. 46.& 49 & 51
Parity for Stenographers in the filed and Central Sectt.
The demand for grant of grade pay of Rs. 4600 for those in the pay scale of 6500-10,500 has already been settled and orders issues. The question of Grant of Grade pay of Rs. 5400 after completion of three years for those in the pay scale of 7500-12000 will be examined if not already extended.
Item No. 48. Restoration of commutation value of pension after 12 years.
Not agreed upon. The Staff side has asked for the basis on which the demand has been rejected.
Item No. 50/ Disparity in the pay scale of official language staff.
The Staff side has agreed to provide a copy of the Court order in the matter.
Item No. 52 and 53. Andaman Nicobar Items:
The Official side will report in the next meeting of the development on these issues.

Issue of Pensioner CGHS cards to Central Govt. Servants before Retirement-Fresh Guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health and family Welfare

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MOST RETROGRADE ORDER FROM DEPARTMENT OF POSTS 9797 POST OFFICES IN URBAN AREAS ARE TO BE CLOSED / MERGED OR RELOCATED

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ePOST OFFICE

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A HISTORIC MARCH TO THE PARLIAMENT ON FEB 23

Central trade unions and independent federations conducted a historic march to Parliament on Feb 23. Lakhs of employees and workers, women in large number participated in the rally and raised slogans against the wrong policies of the government. As a result of the rally, Delhi came to a near stand still. The Central trade unions which gave the call for the rally include AITUC, CITU, INTUC ,HMS and others.

NFPE and Confederation of central Government employees and workers participated in the rally and mobilized large number of employees.
Especially comrades from the nearby circles UP, Haryana, Punjab Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and other circles participated in huge numbers. The rally demanded immediate action to control price rise, strict enforcement of labour laws, concrete measures for protection of employment, social security measures for the unorganized workers not to disinvest and privatize public sector under takings and abolition of contract labour system.
The rally culminated near the parliament street police station where a massive meeting was held .
Confederation of Central Government Employees was represented in the dias by Com S.K.Vyas President . Those who addressed the meeting include Sri. G. Sanjeeva Reddy, M.P.(Congress) and President INTUC, Com. Gurudas Das Gupta, M.P. (CPI) and General Secretary AITUC, Com.Tapan Sen MP(CPM) and General Secretary CITU, Com. Umraomal Prohit HMS, and other leaders .
We can say that this was the biggest ever rally conducted by Trade Unions in Delhi.

Modernisation of Post Offices

This information was given by the Minister of State for Communications & Information Technology, Shri Sachin Pilot in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today. 

Bottom of Form

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Govt. considering increase of enhancement of Pension Under EPS, 1995

The Central Government constituted an Expert Committee for review of the Employees’ Pension Scheme, 1995. The Expert Committee considered the various demands of pensioners including enhancement of pension under the Employees’ Pension Scheme, 1995. The Expert Committee has submitted its report to the Central Government on 05.08.2010 and recommendations are presently under examination/consideration of the Central Board of Trustees of the Employees Provident Fund Organization.This information was given by Shri Mallikarjun Kharge, Minister for Labour And Employment in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha today. CLICK HERE FOR PIB NEWS

Health Insurance scheme for Central employees and pensioners to be introduced.

As stated earlier, the health insurance plan is under processing. 
The Central Government is contemplating introduction of a health insurance scheme for the central government employees and pensioners on pan – India basis, in consultation with other concerned Ministries/Departments. However, no time frame can be given at this stage for its introduction.This information was given by Minister of Health & Family Welfare Sh. Ghulam Nabi Azad in written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha yesterday.CLICK HERE FOR PIB NEWS

Filling up of GDS Posts – No Need to refer HOC Recent guidelines

Government of India

Ministry of Communications & IT

Department of Posts

(GDS Section)

Dak Bhawan, Sansad Marg,

New Delhi – 110001

No. 17-103/2007-GDS Dated – 17.02.2011

To,

All Chief Postmasters General

All Postmasters General

Subject: - Filling up of GDS posts in Branch Post Offices – review of guidelines regarding

Sir/Madam,

I am directed to invite attention to Directorate letters No. even dated 14^th Jul 2009 and 29^th Dec 2010 on the subject cited above.

2. Para 2 (ii) of this Directorate letter dated 14^th July 2009 provided that the vacant posts of GDs in branch offices with two or more hands may be filled up on the basis of triennial review already carried out and in case the prescribed workload and financial parameters as prescribed for opening of a branch office are not fulfilled but the posts are required to be filled up for operational reasons then the approval of the Chief PMG will be required with concurrence of circle IFA. It was also provided in Para 2(i) of the said communication, that GDS vacant posts in BOs with a single establishment be filled up straight away and the permission was granted to the concerned Divisional head.

3. The above provisions were further reviewed and modified. It was prescribed vide this Directorate letter dated 29 Dec 2010 that the vacant posts of GD BPM may be filled up by adjusting the surplus GDS fulfilling the prescribed qualification and other prescribed conditions failing which action may be taken in advance to fill the vacant post of GDs BPM on a regular basis following the prescribed procedure and following other conditions prescribed under letter dated 4 Jul 2009.

4. Despite issue of above instructions, it has been brought to the notice of this office, that, the Posts of Branch Postmasters are not being filled up immediately, and they are allowed to be managed by additional charge or kept under combined duties, affecting the quality of service. The issue has been considered and competent Authority has decided that the vacant post of GDs BPMs, in Branch offices (irrespective of the number borne on establishment) be filled up by Head of the Division without reference to HOC immediately after its falling vacant initiating action in advance by adopting the following methods: -

(i)  By appointment of surplus identified GDs fulfilling the conditions; failing which

(ii) By combination of the duties of GDS in the same BO, provide the combined work load does not exceed five hours: failing which

(iii) By recruitment of outsiders by observing the selection process.

However, the approval of the Head of the Circle shall continue to be obtained for filling up of other categories of GDS which are not justified by workload/financial parameter, but the post is to be filled dup for operational reasons.

4. These orders shall come into effect from the date of issue of the order. This issues with the approval of competent authority.

Yours faithfully,

(Surender Kumar)

Assistant Director General (GDS/PCC

CIVIL SERVANTS TO GET INCENTIVES ON PERFORMANCE

New Delhi: Six weeks or so from now, civil servants in Central ministries and departments that signed on to the Results Framework Document (RFD), initiated by the Cabinet Secretariat, will, for the first time, begin receiving performance-related incentives, government sources indicated. These annual performance-related incentives will, of course, depend on whether the concerned civil servants have scored well over 70 per cent in the evaluation scheme, and there could be as much as 40 per cent increase of the basic pay for the top scorers, it is learnt. However, the payments will not require any additional financial allocations as they will come out of the savings made by the ministry or department itself.

  When the scheme starts rolling later this year, it will be 22 years after the Fourth Pay Commission first made such a promise. The reason why it was not possible to implement this before, government sources said, was because there was no way to measure performance before the RFD scheme was designed. The RFD initially met with a great deal of resistance from the civil service as it would entail listing goals, then working towards achieving them and at the end of the year quantifying how those goals had been achieved through a weighted system evolved by the ministry or department concerned. Finally, the secretary of that department will have to justify the evaluation before a panel of experts before it is finalised.

    Interestingly, when the government launches the scheme in the coming financial year, officials of some key ministries will be excluded from the possible benefits, because they have not as yet signed on to the RFD. These include the Prime Minister's Office, the Ministries of Finance, Home, Defence and External Affairs, among others. Government sources said they hoped that once the incentives began to be paid, these ministries and departments too would sign up.

   The RFD's objective is to improve governance, increase efficiency, transparency and accountability — especially the last two, given the spate of financial scandals in the government recently — and the Performance Management Division of the Cabinet Secretariat will write to all ministries and departments to list three potential areas of corruption in the schemes they implement or areas they work in, as well as identify the discretionary powers that are enjoyed by the Minister or secretary concerned.

Smita Gupta   The Hindu 21^st February: 2011

Postmaster Cadre in Postal Wing-Eligibility of officials deputed to Army Postal Service(APS).

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Department Declared Result of the Departmental Competitive Examination for Promotion to the cadre of Postal Service Group 'B' 2009 held on 3rd & 4th May 2010

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MARCH TO PARLIAMENT WILL BE MILE STONE IN TRADE UNION UNITY

After United Trade Union actions by Central Trade Unions and particularly 7th September strike the decision of Central Trade Unions to March to Parliament on 23rd February will further strengthen Trade Union Movement and will be a mile stone in trade union unity. The March to Parliament will create history when trade unions from different colours sheds and ideologies will march together to highlight the common demands of (i) Curb on price rise (ii) increase in employment (iii) Effective implementation of labour laws for workers of unorganized sector (iv) Stop disinvestment of public sector. More than five lakhs workers from throughout the country is likely to reach Delhi to join the protest march on above demands.
The workers particularly from unorganized sector are most suffering lots because neither Central Government nor State Government are caring for them. They are not being paid minimum wages, no dearness relief, no working hours, no service security, no ESI, no P.F. The labour laws are likely fairly tales for them. The worst effected people in the country due to price rise are working class and particularly who are daily wage earners. The unity forged by Central Trade Unions for these common problems is really commendable. Confederation and NFPE has taken the lead and we hoe the others should follow the suite. ALL THE LEADERS ORGANIZE EDUCATE  TO THE MEMBERS AND START TO DELHI CHALO PARLIAMENT . ON 23-02-2011.RALLY WILL START FROM RAM LILA GROUND.      It has been informed by the Secretary General of Confederation of Central Government Employees & Workers, New Delhi that the Central Government employees should reach Jantar Mantar, New Delhi on 23-02-2011 before 10AM, as that will be the starting point of the rally for Central Government employees.

RECRUITMENT RULES GROUP 'C' POSTS IN PAY BAND 1 WITH GRADE PAY OF RS. 1800 (PRE-REVISED GROUP D POSTS).

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Annual Reports regarding Representation of SCs. STs, OBCs and Persons with Disabilities in the Central Government Services as on 1.1.2011

 Annual Reports regarding Representation of SCs. STs, OBCs and Persons with Disabilities in the Central Government Services as on CLICK HERE FOR DOPT ORDER

Postmaster Cadre Creation - Clarifications by Department of Posts

Clarification regarding recruitment rules in case of  Introduction of Postmaster Grade I, II & III and senior Postmaster (Gazetted Cadre) in Postal Wing. A number of Postal circles have sought clarifications relating to the postmaster Cadre and other connected issue. The points are clarified as under. 1. Promotion to LSG cadre was being ordered at Circle office level by holding DPC and allotment was being made to divisions/..CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS/ORDER

Will the Retirement age of central government employees go up from 60 to 62 ? Rumors spreading.

As we heard every time before the budget session of parliament, this time also a rumor about raising the retirement age of central government employees from 60 to 62 is spreading here and there among the central government employees. May be the officers at the verge of retirement be happy about this rumor. Otherwise there is no reason to be happy about this rumor.. As India is having 51% of people below the age of 25 years , it is not a good news to millions of jobless people. Sources close to the trade union movements and Federations told that there is no such proposal with the government since none of the workers federations have demanded it.

In 2009, The Manmohan Singh government was serious in weighing the pros and cons of increasing the retirement age for government employees from 60 to 62 years.That time it was believed that the finance ministry had prepared a detailed note on the issue and sent it to the prime minister’s office (PMO) But the government shelved the idea, largely because of fears that a higher retirement age would adversely impact employment generation and create resentment in the bureaucracy because of blocked promotional avenues. At that time, it was the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) that was asked by the PMO to study the issue and prepare a report.
The BJP led National Democratic Alliance government had raised the retirement age from 58 to 60, in 1998, a move that benefitted 90,000 government servants and 50,000 defence personnel. At the time, the logic was: the retirement of 140,000 employees would have cost Rs 5,200 crore whereas paying salaries cost only Rs 1,493 crore.
Incase if the decision is finally taken, it will only be the third time the government will have raised the retirement age. Jawaharlal Nehru was the first prime minister to have increased the age of superannuation from 55 to 58 following the 1962 war with China. The Atal Bihari Vajpayee government did it a second time in 1998.
source - http://www.vinmoney.com/ 

RTI REPLY BY DOPT ON GRADE PAY OF LDCs/UDCs

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