A complete reference blog for Indian Government Employees

Monday 6 July 2015

Justification of One Rank One Pension – What is the real status of OROP?

Justification of One Rank One Pension – What is the real status of OROP?
Why is the Government hesitant to implement OROP? – Is economical burden on the exchequer the only reason?

“When the body and spirit are hale and healthy, our soldiers dedicate their life for the safety of the country. Once the body has worn out and the soldiers retire, they want a secure life. What’s unreasonable about this?

“The 35-year-long demand might look unreasonable at the first glance. But, if the request is studied in depth, the urgency and necessity to implement it can be understood.”

IESM claims that civilians and CRPF cannot demand to be included in this scheme.
The moment a young man or woman enters a government service, his/her future is secure until the age of 57-60. The government pays them salaries, promotions and regular incentives and increments. Post-retirement, there is always the pension. But, the soldiers who join the Army, Navy, and the Air Force, opt for retirement at the age of 37. At the time of retirement, they are offered meager pensions. Is it right to use the same yardsticks to compare the two?

Typically, a man’s most crucial period, in terms of family responsibilities and duties, is between the ages of 40 and 60. “This is also the time when we are left in the middle of nowhere,” they say. The reason? Compulsory retirement with meager pension.

The reason why compulsory retirement is given at the age of 37 is that the army wants young blood. 90% of the soldiers who retire after completing 15 to 17 years of service are usually Jawans. They leave their families behind and work in dangerous and hostile regions, with no guarantee to life. Work conditions are tough and so is the pressure. As a result, they frequently suffer from depression, and stress. Increased casualties, denial of fundamental rights …their miseries are endless. Such is the nature of work in the Army.

The reason for their meager pensions is that the number of years that they had worked is comparatively less. Let’s consider two young men of the same age, who begin working at the same time – one joins the government services, and the other joins the army. The difference becomes obvious if you compare their financial status at the age of 40 and 60.

Compulsory retirement after just 15-17 years of service at age 37 years means that the soldier is effectively denied salary earnings of 25 years which other government employees (including the police forces) receive because they retire at age 57/60 years.

The chances of an ex-serviceman, who was not handicapped during service, finding employment in government services, are very low. It is even worse for others.

What is ‘One Rank One Pension’?
Instead of taking into account the calendar year in which the soldier retires, OROP fixes the pension on the basis of the rank and the number of years the soldier had served, to calculate his pension. Any future enhancement in the rates of pension, it would benefit all the ex-servicemen. This is the most important feature of the scheme.

The pension drawn by soldiers who had retired earlier much less pension, when compared with the pension received by those who had retired recently – this is why the OROP scheme was first put in place.
There is a gap of ten years between each Pay Commission. Based on the rising cost indices, salaries and pensions are hiked considerably. Older defence personnel should also benefit from it – this is the main objective of OROP.

Pay Commissions are constituted in order to revise the salaries and incentives of the existing government servants. It doesn’t apply for generally retirees – this is the argument put forth by detractors. The age of retirement, in this case, for CRPF Police is 57, and 60, for Central Government employees. “Is it right to compare us, who receive pay and perks after 3 or 4 Pay Commission revisions, with Armed Forces personnel who are given compulsory retirement at 37?” they ask.

More than 25 lakh veterans all over the country are hoping that their pensions will be revised based on the 6th Pay Commission, and that pensions will be issued based on their ranks and the number of years that they had served.

Expense to the Exchequer
The Ministry of Defence, in its report dated 17 February 2015 to the Ministry of Finance, said that the scheme would cost Rs.8300 Crores to Rs.43,000 crores of Defence pensions. Add this to the money being spent on pension, and the number comes to Rs.51,000 crores.

When did the demand grow strong? : It began as a tiny murmur around the time when the Fourth Pay Commission submitted its report. The voice grew louder when the 6th Pay Commission was implemented. The armed forces, the largest employer, was not represented in any of the Pay Commissions.

During the 2004 elections, the Congress party promised to implement the OROP scheme.

In 2008, when the UPA government rejected the scheme, more than 20,000 veterans gathered under the IESM banner, and returned their war and service medals, signed with blood, to the government.
They then explained the justness of their demands to the Prime Minister and the finance minister and have since then been trying to put pressure on the government to implement the scheme. Protests and meetings are being conducted regularly by the IESM all over the country.

In 2013, due to the pressure from Member of Parliament, Mr. Rajeev Chandrashekar, and the IESM, the demand was accepted by the Parliamentary Committee on defence.

In 2014, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Narendra Modi promised to implement the OROP, if voted to power. While presenting the budget in July, there was a mention of OROP.

During the celebration rally at Mathura, on May 25, 2015, the country waited to hear about OROP, but Modi spoke not a word about it.

Everybody, including the Prime Minister, finance minister, and the defence minister spoke eloquently about implementing OROP, adding to the hope. Months passed, but nothing materialized.

Making fervent promises in the election campaigns and not doing anything about it for more than 13 months is seen by many as delay tactics. Now, ministers are openly saying that there are lot of complications and practical difficulties in implementing it. This is the reason why open protests have started.

For nearly three weeks now, relay fasts are being conducted at New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar. 
Protests are also being held by ex-servicemen in many parts of the country. The government keeps giving vague assurances that OROP will be implemented, but the IESM demand a definite date by which OROP would be implemented.

Only time will tell if the scheme will ever be implemented, or if the protests will continue indefinitely.

Source: www.cgstaffnews.in
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7th CPC News – Media require specialised approach rather than a hype

7th CPC News – Media require specialised approach rather than a hype
Need for quality information while reporting actual increase out of 6th CPC and Projection in 7th Pay Commission Pay
After 7CPC itself announced in last week of June 2015 to the effect that it has started finalising the report to be submitted to the Govt, News on 7th Pay Commission has started becoming popular.

It would be Needless to say all Government Employees would be interested in 7th CPC report. Though common man may not show much interest in the elaboration and technicalities of 7CPC report, he/she will also be curious to know the quatum of increase in Pay of Central Government Employees in General. At the same time, a common man will always be depending on various News media such as News Prints and Television channels to get these type of news.

But we could see that Pay Commission related news provided by News Media nowadays are misleading in the sense that they are only projecting the number of times the pay was hiked by previous Pay commissions and likely hike by 7th Pay Commission.

Missing information will always be misleading


Media reports on Pay Commission For instance, it was reported by a daily news paper recently, which was quoted later by many blogs that Govt Salaries are set to increase by 2 to 3 times and that 6th Pay Commission suggested 3 times increase in Salaries. It was also reported that 5th CPC recommended 2.6 times in increase in pay of lower Grade Officials.

A common man who is reading this news would be easily mislead and he/she would come to a conclusion that Salary of Government Employees was increased by 3 times by 6th CPC.

But the factual information’s such as 86% of basic Pay paid as Dearness Allowance separately was merged with Pay and increase in pay by 1.86 times is only because of merger of DA with Pay, are missing in this media report.

It is not expected that a news item should report all the intricacies of a pay commission report. But the fact that the net increase in the Pay of Central Government Employees after implementation of 6th Pay Commission report which was around 25% and 40% for most of lower / middle level employees and Higher level employees respectively, should have been correctly reported in the public interest.  This net increase in Pay was made effective from 01.01.2006 after 10 years as the earlier pay revision for Central Government Employees was made on implementation of 5th CPC in 1996.

Even this net increase in pay was only due to introduction of a new pay head called Grade Pay and as far as pre-revised basic Pay is concerned (now called as Pay in Pay band) there is no real increase except merger of DA with Pay.

In the case of Bank Employees wage revision after 10th Wage Settlement signed recently, it was correctly reported in news media that Bank Employees would be getting net increase in pay to the extent of 15%.  This net increase in Pay is exclusive of merger of Dearness Allowance as on Nov 2012 with Pay.  Salary Revision of Bank Employees as per 10th Bipartite Settlement is effective from 01.11.2012 and the same will be valid for 5 Years.

Media Report on Bank Employees Salary revision as per 10th Bipartite Wage Settlement

Source: gconnect.in
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Children Education Allowance -Frequently asked questions – Railway Board Orders on 1.6.2015

Children Education Allowance -Frequently asked questions – Railway Board Orders on 1.6.2015

Government of India
Ministry of Railways
(Railway Board)
No.E(W)2008/ED-2/4
The General Manager (P),
All Indian Railways &
Production Units.
New Delhi, Dated: 01-06-2015
Sub: Children Education Allowance -Frequently asked questions.

Please refer to Railway Board’s letter of even number dated 01.10.2008 followed by subsequent letters regarding revised policy instructions /clarifications on Children Education Allowance admissible to Railway Servants, based on the recommendations of Sixth Central Pay Commission.

2. Now, DOP&T has inter-alia issued clarification on reimbursement of Children Education Allowance in the form of frequently asked questions (FAQ) in terms of their Office Memorandum No. 1-11020/1/2014-Estt.(AL).

The text of OM is tabulated below for guidance of all concerned.

Completer Railway Board Orders RBE 53/2015 has been uploaded below :-

S.No. Question Answer
1 Whether reimbursement of Children Education Allowance is admissible for the

(a) Nursery/LKG/UKG as there is no provision of recognition of these classes in most of the States/UTs'; Reimbursement is permissible only if the child is studying in a recognised educational institution.

(b) Third child if either of the first two children is disabled to the extent that he/she cannot go to school; Reimbursement is allowed to only the two eldest surviving children of the Government servant except when the 2nd child birth in multiple births of the Child is born due to failure of sterilization operation.

(c) The children borne out of second marriage or the children of second wife/husband in additions to children from first marriage; Reimbursement is allowed to only the eldest surviving children of the Government servant.

(d) Entitlement of number of Note Books; Reimbursement is permissible for any number of note books as may be prescribed by the recognised educational institution.

Source: AIRF
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Reactivation of PRAN post exit from NPS: PFRDA Instructions

Reactivation of PRAN post exit from NPS: PFRDA Instructions
 
PFRDA
PENSION FUND REGULATORY AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
PFRDA/2015/19/CSG/1
Date: 30th June, 2015
All Central Government Ministries & Departments/ State Governments
PrAOs, PAOs, CDDOs, NCDDOs & other CG Nodal offices;
DTAs, DTOs, DDOs & other SG Nodal offices
Autonomous Bodies

Subject: Reactivation of PRAN post exit from NPS

PFRDA has been receiving requests from various government nodal offices to reactivate the PRANs for credit of missing NPS contributions, wherein withdrawal requests have already been settled towards final payment to the subscribers.

Currently, the exit process is initiated with the generation of claim ID six months prior to the date of superannuation. As per PFRDA Exit & Withdrawal Regulations 2015, the employee’s and employer’s contributions of last three months prior to superannuation shall not be uploaded in the NPS account but would be credited to the some other account of the subscriber, directly by the employer. During the withdrawal process which stretches over 6 months, both the subscriber and the nodal office have sufficient time to ensure and to confirm that all the missing contributions have been uploaded in the respective PRAN.

In light of the above, PFRDA shall not entertain any such request forthwith, for uploading contributions of arrears/ missing credits after final settlement of exit/ withdrawal of the subscribers and consequent closure of their NPS account. Henceforth, missing credits, if any, should be settled mutually between the subscriber and the Nodal office as per their internal administrative process and outside the NPS architecture, as is currently applicable to last three months contributions before superannuation in line with the guidelines issued by PFRDA in this regard.

Therefore, all government nodal offices are instructed to ensure uploading of all the pending contributions in the PRANs, before initiating/ processing/forwarding the withdrawal requests to the CRA and take necessary action as per this circular.
Ashish Kumar
General Manager
Source: http://pfrda.org.in/MyAuth/Admin/showimg.cshtml?ID=724
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Hike in Retirement age of Kerala State Employees – 10th Pay Revision Commission may recommend to hike to 58 years

Hike in Retirement age of Kerala State Employees – 10th Pay Revision Commission may recommend to hike to 58 years

According to recent reports published in the ‘Manoramaonline’, the 10th Kerala Pay Revision Commission expected to recommend to hike in retirement age for Kerala State Govt employees by two years from 56 to 58.

Kerala may raise retirement age to 58

“Thiruvananthapuram: Increasing the retirement age for Kerala government employees by two years to 58 may be one of the recommendations of the 10th Kerala Pay Revision Commission. The commission, led by Justice C.N. Ramachandran Nair, will submit its report on July 10.

The commission is expected to recommend the increase of retirement age to balance the extra burden on the treasury due to a pay rise across the board. The report recommends a minimum salary of Rs 16,000 and a maximum salary of Rs 1 lakh for employees.

The youth wings of all political parties are against increasing the retirement age in the government service. Even the United Democratic Front government’s policies do not favour later retirement. The retirement age was raised to 56 from 55 during the previous Left Democratic Front rule.

Other recommendations include lowering the minimum eligibility for full pension to 25 years in service from the present 30. Full pension is equivalent to half of the basic pay. The report would also have recommendations intended to raise the efficiency of the employees along with their pay scale.”

Read more at www.english.manoramaonline.com
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Indian Government News: Officers thank MoS DoPT for speedy promotions

Officers thank MoS DoPT for speedy promotions

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

04-July-2015 20:02 IST
Officers thank MoS DoPT for speedy promotions

A delegation of officers belonging to Central Secretariat Service (CSS) called on the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh, here today, to thank him and convey their gratitude for speedy disposal of their promotion cases leading to empanelment of as many 37 officers in one go to the post of Joint Secretary to the Government of India and consequent promotion of 27 officers to the level of Joint Secretary on in-situ basis.

Acknowledging their gratitude, Dr. Jitendra Singh congratulated them and reiterated Shri Narendra Modi Government’s resolve to make governance easy and at the same time make the environment work-friendly for the officers. The government is in favour of doing away with avoidable delays in promotions and empanelments so that the officers can work with enthusiasm and a positive frame of mind.

With the passage of time, Dr. Jitendra Singh said, the pressure on officers has increased because of the increased expectations on one hand and on the other hand increased scrutiny by public as well as media. But, instead of grudging this changing scenario we would have to learn to adapt to it and do our best because transparency and accountability are prime areas of emphasis of Shri Narendra Modi Government.

Meanwhile, in order to deal with the stress of the officers, Department of Personnel & Training (Do
PT) has, of late, started a number of new measures including regular daily ‘Yoga’ for officers across the country from 1st of April. Similarly, the DoPT will also contemplate various steps to improve the facilities and privileges available to IAS Officers coming on deputation to union capital so that they need not find themselves at a disadvantage on account of issues related to transport facility, admission of their children in schools, etc.

Dr. Jitendra Singh said, the launch of “Digital India Week” by the Prime Minister on 1st July is also a step towards making the governance easy and reducing the file work pressure on the officers, besides also avoiding unnecessary delays or harassment to the common citizen.

Source: PIB News
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