A complete reference blog for Indian Government Employees

Wednesday 30 December 2015

Successful completion of Promotional training – reiteration of instructions.

Ministry of Railways has issued a Circular rejecting NFIR’s request from exempting staff who are on the verge of retirement.

railway-employee-retirement-no-exemption
No exemption from Training for employee in the verge of retirement
Railway Employees at the verge of retirement should NOT be exempted from attending the promotional training – Railway Board

Ministry of Railways has issued a Circular regarding successful completion of promotional training should be mandatory before being promoted to a particular post.

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
RAILWAY BOARD
No.E(MPP)2015/3/28
New Delhi, dated 26.l l.2015
The General Manager,
All Indian Railways &
Production Units.

Sub: Successful completion of Promotional training – reiteration of instructions.

Reference Board’s letter No.E(MPP)99 /19 /l /5.3 dated 25.2.2002 (RBE No.25/2002) conveying Board’s decision that successful completion of promotional training should be mandatory before being promoted to a particular post.

The subject matter was discussed during PNM meeting with NFIR. During the interaction, it was pointed out that those staff, who are on the verge of retirement should be exempted from attending the promotional training.

Federation’s demand has been examined in detail in consultation with various training centres and it has been decided that instructions issued vide Board’s letter dated 25.2.2002 referred above be followed strictly. No exemptions are permissible.
(Anuradha Singh)
Director (MPP)
Railway Board
Download Railway Board Circular No.E(MPP)2015/3/28 dated 26.11.2015
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No interviews for government jobs from Jan 1; skill test may continue: DoPT

No interviews for government jobs from Jan 1; skill test may continue: DoPT

No interviews for Government Jobs from Jan 1, 2016


New Delhi: All central government ministries and their Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) were today told to dispense with the requirement of interviews for selections at junior level posts within next two days, however, they may continue with skill or physical test.

The timeliness set regarding completing the process of the discontinuation of interview by December 31, 2015 has to be adhered to strictly, a communique sent by Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) to secretaries of all central government ministries said.

From January 1, 2016, there will be no recruitment with interview at the junior level posts in government of India ministries, departments, attached and subordinate offices, autonomous bodies and PSUs.

“All the advertisement for future vacancies will be without the interview as part of the recruitment process,” said today’s Office Memorandum No.39020/01/2013-Estt (B)-Part.

The decision to discontinue interview for recruitments is for all Group C and non-gazetted posts of Group ‘B’ category and all such equivalent posts, the DoPT said.

“It is also clarified that as skill test or physical test is different from interview, they may continue. However, these tests will only be of qualifying nature. Assessment will not be done on the basis of marks for such tests,” it said.

In case of specific posts where the ministry or department wants to continue undertaking interview as a process of recruitment, a detailed proposal seeking exemption will have to be sent to the DoPT with the approval of the minister or minister-in-charge.

The ministries have been asked to send a consolidated report to the DoPT by January 7 in this regard.
“Report so to be furnished with the approval of the minister or minister-in-charge shall include the details of the name and number of posts where the interview is discontinued and posts for which the exemption has been sought within the purview of the administrative ministries or departments,” the order said.

Similarly, the Department of Public enterprises has also asked all ministries to advise PSUs under their administrative control to adopt a revised mechanism of recruitment for the non-executive level posts by dispensing with the practice of interview.

PTI
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Armed Forces are not Perceived as an Attractive Career Any More – 7th CPC has worsened the Situation Further

The reason for this is that the 7th Pay Commission has systematically and with malevolent intent, downgraded the Armed Forces from an All India Service that it was considered to be.

Armed Forces are not Perceived as an Attractive Career Any More – 7th CPC has worsened the Situation Further

Armed Forces are not Perceived as an Attractive Career Any More – We would have been better served if the Commission had concentrated on dealing with the challenges faced by the military in attracting talent.
Those familiar with Dante Alighieri, the 13th century Italian poet, and his enduring work, The Divine Comedy, will be aware of the nine layers of hell. The ninth level, symbolised by the three mouths of Satan, was reserved for traitors. One can, but speculate, as to who would occupy them, if the poem had been set in India.

Raja Jaichand of Kannauj is a certainty; his assistance to Mohammed Ghouri led to Prithviraj Chauhan’s defeat and death, ushering Muslim rule in India. Another certainty is Mir Jafar who was instrumental in Robert Clive’s victory at Plassey; ensuring subsequent British rule in India. The third choice, if left to the serving and retired military community, would unanimously be the Seventh Pay Commission.

The reason for this is that the 7th Pay Commission has systematically and with malevolent intent, downgraded the Armed Forces from an All India Service that it was considered to be. That its actions have been cloaked in ambiguity and hypocrisy, with blatant disregard for facts, suggests arrogance and an utter contempt for propriety.

That the 7th Pay Commission’s recommendations suffer from major lacunae is in no small measure because the Government continues to insist, despite forming the largest cadre affected by its deliberations, that the Armed Forces is incapable of providing expert representation and requires a Civilian Defence Audit and Accounts officer to represent them. This in itself is abhorrent.

Benjamin Disraeli, the former British Prime Minister, once said, “There are three kinds of lies: Lies, damned lies, and statistics.” Table II of the Commission’s report illustrates this in full. It has compared component-wise defence expenditure in percentage terms of 10 selected countries and drawn two conclusions.

First, that “Increased expenditure on personnel has been at the expense of operational and maintenance expenditure”. Second, that “The need to calibrate growth in expenditure on pay and allowances for defence forces personnel so as to ensure that the composition of defence expenditure — between capital and revenue and within revenue between pay and allowances and others is not skewed so as to adversely affect the operational and strategic objectives of the defence forces”.

From these conclusions, the 7th Pay Commission has clearly shown its intent as to how it wished to proceed regarding emoluments for the defence forces. This raises the fundamental question as to the rationale for selecting countries for comparison: Was it of similar size or threat perception? Comparisons with our neighbours, especially those inimical to us, would be helpful, despite the fact that every country has its own unique circumstances that needs consideration.

Moreover, how can we compare component-wise expenditures in percentage terms, without comparing defence Budgets as well as that would it put things in perspective? The Commission itself points out that defence expenditure as a percentage of the gross domestic product and as percentage of Government expenditure has declined from 2.19 per cent in 1995-1996 to 1.80 per cent in 2012-2013 and from 14.50 per cent in 1995-1996 to 12.89 per cent in 2012-2013 respectively.

In contrast, China’s defence budget for 2012 was two per cent of its GDP. As its GDP is approximately six times as that of ours, expenditure on its defence forces was more than seven times than ours and as their forces are about double our strength, in real terms, their defence expenditure has been triple ours.

The logical conclusion, given our adversarial relationship with China, would have been for the Commission to have recommended an increase in the defence budget, in which case, it needn’t have focused on the “skewed revenue-capital expenditure” to the extent it has.

Take another statistical anomaly, the 7th Pay Commission has compared pay progression of a service officer vis-à-vis, Civil Services and concluded that “Not only has the starting pay of a defence officers been placed substantially higher at 29 per cent more than his/her civilian counterpart, this gap continues to remain wide at over 20 per cent for the first nine years of service. In fact, the pay of defence service officers remains uninterruptedly higher for a 32 year period. Thereafter, the pay of defence and civil service officers are at par”.

However, these figures only tell a part of the story, as the picture changes dramatically if we were to also compare the service/rank profile and promotion opportunities for both cadres. The fact is that by 16-18 years all in the Civil Services are at the level of Joint Secretary while only 50 per cent of any given batch of Service Officers will reach the rank of Colonel by then.

Subsequently, only four per cent of that batch are likely to reach the rank of Major General (equivalent of Joint Secretary) after 33-35 years of service and only about one per cent will reach the rank of Lt Gen or equivalent unlike the Civil Services in which over 95 per cent retire as Secretaries. This is truly a case of comparing apples and oranges.

There are numerous other infirmities, beyond the scope of this article, but the trend is clear from the fact that while the highest risk and hardship allowance in the Services is for operational service at Siachin and amounts to Rs31,500, a Group A officer is eligible to 30 per cent of basic pay as Hardship Allowance for serving in Leh, Guwahati or Shillong which will be in the range of Rs50,000 to Rs75, 000.

Similarly, paratroopers, who are the core element of our rapid deployment force required to carry out “out of area contingency” tasks apart from being trained to operate behind enemy lines in a conventional war, will receive 40 per cent of Risk Allowance as compared to Commando Battalion for Resolute Action personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force, who are deployed in Maoist areas.

Changes to the Disability Allowance have been suggested on the specious grounds that senior officers are availing of this prior to super annuation, while the Civil Services have been left out.

All of this clearly smacks of bias. Finally, despite the 7th Pay Commission noting “that there are exclusive elements that distinguish the defence forces personnel from all other Government employees. The intangible aspects linked to the special conditions of service experienced by them set them apart from civilian employees”, it has made every effort in all aspects of compensation to disadvantage the Armed Forces in comparison to the Civil Services.

We would have been better served if the Commission had concentrated on dealing with the challenges faced by the military in attracting talent. Not only are the forces deficient of officers to the tune of 20 per cent to 30 per cent, but what is alarming is that for the past three years, more than 40 per cent vacancies at the Indian Military Academy and the Officers Training Academy remain unsubscribed.

Clearly, despite all lip service to the contrary, the Armed Forces are not perceived as an attractive career. By its actions, the Commission has only worsened the situation further. We will pay heavily for this in the future, unless the Government takes corrective action, which given its track record is unlikely. Let us not be under any misapprehension, the only ones laughing at the discomfiture of our military are the Chinese and Pakistani Armed Forces, and they have every reason to be satisfied.

Source: Daily Pioneer
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Government officials have to declare outcome of foreign trips

Government officials have to declare outcome of foreign trips

New Delhi: Government officials undertaking foreign trips will have to clearly spell out the outcome of such tours. All those who undertook official foreign visits since 2013-14 need to submit details of the outcome of such tours in the next few days.

The move comes against the backdrop of persistent feeling in many quarters that the trips, ostensibly for gaining experience and insights, often turn into pleasure jaunts.

There have been cases of officials traveling abroad in numbers more than necessary, stretching the duration of stay and visiting and stopping at places irrelevant to the stated purpose of the trip.

In keeping with the new work culture, the NDA government has created a website under its Software Management Information System for uploading details of foreign tours and visits by officials.

Ministries and departments have set a December-end deadline for its officials to upload details on this portal.
Moreover, every ministry and department has been directed to prepare a “rolling plan” for future foreign visits to be undertaken by officials.

“The idea behind the rolling plan is to submit the proposed trips of officials in the next quarter. This can be updated and amended. Government wants foreign trips by officials on government expenditure to be result-oriented,” said a senior government official.

According to sources, cabinet secretary Pradeep Kumar Sinha recently called a meeting to ensure that officials and departments comply with the decision.

“In certain cases, it’s difficult to get the details of foreign visits by officials, who have already gone back to the states or are retired. But the message has gone to one and all to provide the outcomes of their visits since they must be keeping some details.

We are also trying to get the records kept in departments so that some details can be uploaded,” said a government source.
TNN
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3,40,000 Bank Employees Go on a Strike on January 8

3,40,000 Bank Employees Go on a Strike on January 8 

Around 340,000 bank employees across the country would strike work on January 8 to protest the violation of bilateral settlement by the five associate banks of the State Bank of India (SBI), a top leader of All India Bank Employees’ Association (AIBEA) said.

3,40,000 Bank Employees Go on a Strike on January 8 – The five associate banks of the SBI are State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Patiala, State Bank of Hyderabad and State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur.
Chennai – Around 340,000 bank employees across the country would strike work on January 8 to protest the violation of bilateral settlement by the five associate banks of the State Bank of India (SBI), a top leader of All India Bank Employees’ Association (AIBEA) said here.

The five associate banks of the SBI are State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Patiala, State Bank of Hyderabad and State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur.

“Nearly 340,000 bankers would strike work on January 8. The strike is to protest against the violation of bilateral settlement by the five associate banks of SBI and their attempt to force unilateral service conditions on employees,” CH Venkatachalam, AIBEA general secretary, told IANS here on Monday.

According to him, it is the AIBEA that has given the strike call.

Explaining the rationale behind the strike call, Venkatachalam said the service conditions in the SBI are different and based on the agreement between the SBI management and the employees’ union.

On the other hand, the service conditions of the five SBI associate banks are common with those of other banks.

“In May 2015, a common settlement was signed between Indian Banks’ Association (IBA-management body) and All India Bank Employees’ Association (AIBEA) which defined the duties and remuneration of the employees for undertaking various jobs in the banks,” Venkatachalam said.

He said the five SBI associate banks are parties to the settlement and hence governed by the settlement terms.

“But the managements of the five associate banks are implementing the service conditions of the SBI, which is illegal and violation of the settlement,” he said.

Asked why the strike has been called early in the year, he said the union had deferred the strike call given for December 1 and 2, 2015, on the intervention of deputy chief labour commissioner, Delhi.

“The bank management is forcing its rules without any discussion with the unions from the New Year onwards and hence we are forced to respond,” Venkatachalam said.

Source: Profit NDTV
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Government to Increase Maternity Leave from 12 to 26 weeks

Government to Increase Maternity Leave from 12 to 26 weeks 

maternity-leave-cg-women-employees
The Ministry of Labour is expected to amend the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, which presently entitles women to 12 weeks of maternity benefit whereby employers are liable to pay full wages for the period of leave.




Government to Increase Maternity Leave from 12 to 26 weeks – The International Labour Organisation recommends a minimum standard maternity leave of 14 weeks or more.

The union government is set to increase the maternity leave for women employed in private firms from the existing 12 weeks to 26 weeks.

Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi Monday said the Ministry of Labour has agreed to increase maternity leave to six-and-a-half months. “We had written to the Labour Ministry asking that the maternity leave be extended taking into account the six months of breastfeeding that is required post childbirth. The Labour Ministry has agreed to increase it to six-and-a-half months,” said Maneka.

The Ministry of Labour is expected to amend the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, which presently entitles women to 12 weeks of maternity benefit whereby employers are liable to pay full wages for the period of leave.

Officials of the WCD Ministry said they will push for extending the leave to eight months, or 32 weeks, for women employed in both private and government sectors.

But WCD officials said the Labour Ministry has expressed reservations about increasing the maternity leave any further as they perceive that doing so will adversely affect the employability of women.

“The Labour Ministry has decided on six-and-a-half months following meetings with various stakeholders. We, however, feel that eight months of maternity leave — for women in government as well as private sectors — is required. We will move a note to the Cabinet Secretariat in this regard. Six months of exclusive breastfeeding is very important to combat malnutrition, diarrhoea and other diseases in infants and to lower infant mortality rate,” said a WCD official.

The International Labour Organisation recommends a minimum standard maternity leave of 14 weeks or more, though it encourages member states to increase it to at least 18 weeks. At 26 weeks, India is set to join the league of 42 countries where maternity leave exceeds 18 weeks. It, however, falls behind several East European, Central Asian and Scandinavian countries, which have the most generous national legislation for paid maternity leave.

Women employed in government jobs in India get a six-month maternity leave as per the Central Civil Service (Leave) Rules 1972. The last circular in this regard was issued in 2008, when it was increased from four-and-a-half months. If the WCD Ministry’s recommendations to the Cabinet Secretariat are accepted, the Department of Personal & Training will have to issue orders to enhance it to eight months.

Moreover, women government employees are allowed to take childcare leave of up to two years in phases at any point till their child turns 18 years old. The Seventh Pay Commission recently recommended that only the first 365 days of leave should be granted with full pay, while the remaining 365 can be availed at 80 per cent of the salary. But Maneka recently petitioned Finance Minister Arun Jaitley against the proposal, terming it a regressive step at a time when women are trying to become more economically independent.

“Women in India need longer maternity leave in absence of any support in parenting from men. It should not be seen as a deduction in labour hours but as a long-term investment from the future economic point of view. This is in addition to the fact that women need long maternity leave to recuperate and invest in child care,” said Ranjana Kumari, director of the Centre for Social Research.

She added that a recent analysis of the Maternity Benefit Act by CSR for the National Commission of Women showed that discrimination against pregnant women was widely prevalent in the corporate sector in the country.

Source: gconnect.in
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