Procrastination of staff issues - non-fulfillment of commitments by the Railway Board - serious unrest prevailing among railway employees

No. II/95/Part X

Dated: 28/03/2017

Shri A.K. Mital,
Chairman,
Railway Board,
New Delhi

Dear Sir,
Sub: Procrastination of staff issues - non-fulfillment of commitments by the Railway Board - serious unrest prevailing among railway employees-intervention requested.

Federation is constrained to bring to your kind notice that the staff in almost all categories are the dissatisfied lot due to non-redressal of their genuine grievances at Railway Board's level as also non-fulfillment of commitments made in the formal meetings held with the Railway Board. The staff issues dealt in the fora of PNM, DC/JCM as well in separate meetings are continued in a stalemate position for years together without finality.

In the above context, NFIR places below the real position to impress upon the CRB that the Railway Board's failures have been causing dissatisfaction and agony among employees in general and those in safety categories in particular:

(a) Non-fulfillment of assurances/commitments:-

• Replacement of 6th CPC GP Rs. 4600 (PB-2) with GP 4800 (PB-2) for Sr. Section Engineers and other Inspectorial/Supervisory Officials in the Railways.
• Replacement of 6th CPC GP 4200/- PB-2 with GP 4600/- PB-2 for Loco Pilots (Mail/Exp).
• Stepping up of pay of Loco Inspectors inducted prior 01/01/2006 on remaining 6 1/2 Zones in Indian Railways. (Although SLPs have been dismissed by Apex Court, the Railway Board have twisted the matter and allowed stepping up of pay to the petitioners before Court, stating that the benefit allowed as" personam". (This is a clear case of blatant violation of agreement reached with Federations). NFIR’s letter No. 11/95/Pt. X dated 24/01/2017 to CRB and letter dated 06/02/2017 may kindly be perused. GS/NFIR met Hon’ble MR and apprised the facts. The Hon’ble MR agreed that agreement should be honoured when Member Staff was present during discussion. The Railway Board's negative attitude has been contributing unrest among Loco Running Staff.
• Upgradation of Apex Group 'C' posts to Group 'B' (Gaz) - 3335 posts.
• Implementation of 10: 20: 20: 50 ratio for Track Maintainers in VI CPC GP 2800, 2400, 1900 and 1800 respectively (7th CPC Pay Matrix levels 5, 4, 2 & 1).

(b) Agreed decisions not implemented:

• Manning of coaches by Ticket Checking Staff - Restoration of Board’s orders of 2000.
• Cadre restructuring of IT cadre staff.
• Implementation of norms for creation of posts of SSE (Signal) JE (Signal), Maintainer (Signal) etc.,
• Merger of Senior Technicians (Signal) with JE (Signal) - NFIR PNM Item No. 14/2010.
• Induction of Course Completed Act Apprentices in Safety category vacancies in GP 1800/Pay Matrix Level I
• Absorption of staff of Quasi Administrative units in Railways - Restoration of policy decision of 1973 & 1977 which was arbitrarily cancelled in the year 1997 without prior consultations with the Federations. It needs to be appreciated that quasi staff are not outsiders and IREM provisions confirm Federation's contention.

(c) NFIR's pending PNM Items:

• Items pending since over five years = 22
• Items pending since over three years = 27
• Items pending sine over two years = 12
  Total = 61

(d) DC/JCM - pending items:

• Items pending since over five years = 45
• Items pending since over six years = 09
• Items pending since over seven years = 31
  Total = 85

(e) Issues deliberated in the meetings of Fast Track Committee and Joint Committee (on Running Staff kilometrage rates etc.,) are continued to remain unresolved.

(f) MACPS issues numbering over 30 are pending with Railway Board since more than 3 years.

(g) Non-filling of vacancies (safety and other than safety categories) is causing deterioration of efficiency levels and health of existing staff who are heavily over burdened with work pressure.

NFIR therefore requests the CRB to kindly intervene for rectifying the matters to restore confidence among staff who are extremely unhappy on non-redressal of grievances and non-implementation of agreements.

Federation also conveys that further delay in sorting out the issues and implementing agreements may lead to wide spread agitation in Railways.

Yours faithfully

(Dr. M. Raghavaiah)
General Secretary

Source: http://www.nfirindia.com

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7th Pay Commission: Cabinet may clear higher increase tomorrow

7th Pay Commission: Cabinet may clear higher increase tomorrow

New Delhi: The Cabinet tomorrow is likely to approve higher increase in basic pay than the nearly 15 per cent recommended by the 7th Pay Commission for over 1 crore government employees and pensioners.

The pay panel had in November last year recommended 14.27 per cent hike in basic pay at junior levels, the lowest in 70 years. The previous 6th Pay Commission had recommended a 20 per cent hike which the government doubled while implementing it in 2008.

After considering the increase proposed in allowances, the hike in remunerations comes to 23.55 per cent.

“Considering the tight fiscal position this year, the government may improve upon the Pay Commission recommendation for basic pay to 18 per cent or at best 20 per cent,” a senior official said.

The 7th Pay Commission report will be effective from January 1, he said, adding that the Cabinet will decide if the arrears for the six months have to be paid in one go or in installments.

A secretaries’ panel, headed Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha, has already vetted the 7th Pay Commission recommendation and its report is being translated into a note for Cabinet.

“It in most likelihood will come up before the Cabinet tomorrow,” the official said.

The government had in January set up the high-powered panel to process the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission which will have bearing on the remuneration of nearly 50 lakh central government employees and 58 lakh pensioners.

The Commission had recommended 23.55 per cent overall hike in salaries, allowances and pension involving an additional burden of Rs 1.02 lakh crore or nearly 0.7 per cent of the GDP.

The entry level pay has been recommended to be raised to Rs 18,000 per month from current Rs 7,000 while the maximum pay, drawn by the Cabinet Secretary, has been fixed at Rs 2.5 lakh per month from current Rs 90,000.

The secretaries’ panel may have recommended raising minimum entry level pay at Rs 23,500 a month and maximum salary of Rs 3.25 lakh.

While the Budget for 2016-17 fiscal did not provide an explicit provision for implementation of the 7th Pay Commission, the government had said the once-in-a-decade pay hike for government employees has been built in as interim allocation for different ministries.

Around Rs 70,000 crore has been provisioned for it, the official said.

PTI

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7th Pay Commission Recommendations Hospital patient Care Allowance/Patient Care Allowance Related to Risk and Hardship

7^th Pay Commission Recommendations Hospital patient Care Allowance/Patient Care Allowance Related to Risk and Hardship

Hospital patient Care Allowance/Patient Care Allowance: (Retained. Rationalized. To be paid as per Cell R1H3 of the newly proposed Risk and Hardship Matrix.)

Patient Care Allowance (PCA) is admissible to Group `C’ and ‘D’ (non-Ministerial) employees excluding nursing personnel working in the health care delivery institutions/establishments (other than hospitals) with less than 30 beds, subject to the condition that no Night Weightage Allowance and Risk Allowance, if sanctioned by the Central Government, will be admissible to these employees. Similarly placed employees working in hospitals are eligible for Hospital Patient Care Allowance (HPCA). This allowance is not admissible to Group `C’ and D (Non-Ministerial) employees working in the headquarters. The rules provide that only Group `C’ and `D’, non- Ministerial employees whose regular duties involve continuous and routine contact with patients infected with communicable diseases or those who have to routinely handle infected materials, instruments and equipment, which can spread infection, as their primary duty can be considered for grant of Hospital Patient Care Allowance. It is further provided that HPCA shall not be allowed to any of those categories of employees whose contact with patients or exposure to infected materials is of an occasional nature. The present rates of these allowances are: Hospital Patient Care Allowance@ Rs.2,100 pm for Group `C’ staff and Rs.2,085 pm for Group `D’ Staff. Patient Care Allowance @ Rs.2,070 pm for both Group `C’ and ‘D’ staff.

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