Grant of honorarium for delivering lectures in Zonal Training Schools/Centres: Railway Board Order

Grant of honorarium for delivering lectures in Zonal Training Schools/Centres: Railway Board Order

भारत सरकार GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
रेल मंत्रालय MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
रेलवे बोर्ड RAILWAY BOARD

No. 2018/TransCell/ProcessReforms

New Delhi, Dated: 27.11.2018

The General Manager
All Indian Railways

Sub: Grant of honorarium for delivering lectures in Zonal Training Schools/Centres.

Honorarium payable to visiting lecturer/faculty for delivering lectures to trainees in Zonal Training Schools/Centres as laid down in Board’s Letter No E(G)2009HO 1-24 dated 29.10.2009 has been reviewed and Board (MS, FC & CRB) have, in supersession, approved that the rates of honorarium may be revised as indicated below:

(a) Rs 2500/- per day for lectures of 2 hours duration subject to a maximum of Rs 5000/- per week to Officers of Railway/Central/State Governments ordinarily of the rank of Joint Secretary to the Government and reputed academicians/special invitees.

(b) Rs 1250/ - per day for lectures of 2 hours duration subject to a maximum of Rs 2500/- per week to JAG/ SG Officers of Railway/Central/State Government.

(c) Rs 1000/- per day for lectures of 2 hours duration subject to a maximum of Rs 2000/- per week to other gazetted/non gazetted officials of Railway/Central/State Government other than those mentioned in para (a) and (b) above.

It may be noted that not more than 15% of the total training sessions organized by the Zonal Training Schools/Centres should be covered by the lectures by the visiting faculty. This restriction should be strictly followed.

2. This issues with the concurrence of Associate Finance of Transformation Cell.

(A.S.Khati)
Executive Director/E(G) & Transf

(Jeetendra Singh)
Executive Director/EE/Transf
27.11.201 8

No. 2018/Trans/01/Policy
New Delhi, dated: 27-11-2018

1. PFA, All Indian Railways
2. The ADAI (Railways), New Delhi
3. The Director of Audit, All Indian Railways

(Sanjeeb Kumar)
Executive Director/Accounts/Transformation

Copy - As per list enclosed

Source: Railway Board

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Cabinet approves appointment of Second National Judicial Pay Commission for Subordinate Judiciary in the country

Cabinet approves appointment of Second National Judicial Pay Commission for Subordinate Judiciary in the country

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved appointment of Second National Judicial Pay Commission (SNJPC) for Subordinate Judiciary in the country.
The Commission is to be headed by Shri Justice (Retd.J P.Venkatrama Reddi, former Judge of Supreme Court of India. Shri R. Basant, a former Judge of the Kerala High Court is the Member of the Commission.

The Commission will make its recommendations to the State Governments preferably within a period of 18 months.

It will examine the present structure of emoluments and conditions of service of Judicial Officers in the States and UTs. The Commission aims to evolve the principles which would govern pay structure and other emoluments of Judicial Officers belonging to the Subordinate Judiciary of the country. It will examine the work methods and work environment as also the variety of allowance and benefits in kind that are available to Judicial Officers in addition to pay and to suggest rationalization and simplification thereof.

The Commission will devise its own procedures and formulate modalities necessary for accomplishing the task. The Commission also aims at making the pay scales and conditions of service of Judicial Officers uniform throughout the country.

The recommendations of the Commission will help in promoting efficiency in Judicial Administration, optimizing the size of judiciary etc. and to remove anomalies created in implementation of earlier recommendations.

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The Central Government releases Special Central Assistance to various States to expedite their completion of area specific ongoing approved Schemes in order to fulfill the development agenda in Backward Region

The Central Government releases Special Central Assistance to various States to expedite their completion of area specific ongoing approved Schemes in order to fulfill the development agenda in Backward Region

The Union Government has been assisting the State Governments and providing “Special Assistance” with a view to expediting their completion of area specific Schemes.  This assistance is provided in view of the Government of India’s commitment to fulfilling the development agenda in backward region notwithstanding the fact that the State Plan Schemes including BRGF (State Component) are subsumed in larger devolution of Union Taxes and Duties to the States in terms of Recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission (FFC) and are delinked from the Union support with effect from 2015-16.

            In this regard, following the recent release of Rs.200 crore to the State of Bihar, the Central Government has decided to provide further “Special Assistance” of Rs.1129.40 crore to the State during 2016-2017 for completion of the approved ongoing projects under Special Plan for Bihar. These releases are in continuation to the release of Rs.1,887.53 crore which was made by the Central Government during the year 2015-16.  Including the present release of Rs.1129.40 crore, the Central Government has so far released Rs.6934.61 crore to the State of Bihar. The Central assistance would facilitate completion of ongoing projects such as strengthening of sub-transmission system (including capacity augmentation) in North and South Bihar, renovation and modernization of Barauni and Muzaffarpur Thermal Power Stations, construction of transmission system at Kishanganj with associated transmission lines, The release of fund would accelerate the completion of much needed power generation and transmission system of Bihar which in turn would lead to higher availability of electricity for the people of the State.

            The Central Government in order to honour its spill-over committed liability had recently released Special Assistance of Rs.367.93 crore to Odisha during 2016-17. This is the Final Instalment for funding of projects under Special Plan for the KBK districts (districts of Koraput, Bolangir and Kalahandi reorganized into eight districts). The plan had an approved amount of Rs. 1,250 crore for the 12th Plan period. The Special Plan for the KBK districts has been in operation since 2002-03. The area spreads over 47,646 sq. km. comprising mainly rural population (89.95%) with a large proportion of STs (38.41%) and SCs (16.25%) as per 2001 Census. The Schemes taken up under this are  largely for Promotion of Education among ST/SC Girls and Boys including development of playgrounds/sports activities in hostels and schools, Improvement of Inter- District roads/other major roads/Rural roads; Strengthening of Electric Supply Systems and Lift Irrigation/Deep Bore-wells/Check Dams.

            Further, keeping in mind the special needs of the State of Jammu & Kashmir, the Central Government had released Rs.1194.37 crore during 2015-16, for completely damages /severely damaged/partially damaged houses. Subsequently, during 2016-17, the Central Government has made a further release of Rs.2207.30 crore to the State of Jammu & Kashmir. This includes Rs.1093.34 for permanent restoration of damaged structure, Rs.313.96 crore for counterpart funding for Asian Development Bank-II loan under EAP projects of J&K Urban Sector Development Investment Programme (JKUSDIP) in order to complete the ongoing projects and Rs.800 crore for interest subvention on assistance for the restoration of livelihood for traders/self employed/business establishments etc. Cumulatively, the Central Government has so far released Rs.3401.67 crore to the State as Special Assistance.

            Similarly, the Central Government has used the Special Assistance to support the newly formed States Of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. A further release of Rs.1,976.50 crore to the State Of Andhra Pradesh was made during the Current Financial Year 2016-17. The amount included Rs.1176.50 for bridging the Resource Gap arising-out of the bifurcation of the erstwhile State, Rs.350 crore for the development of 7 Backward Districts of Anantpur, Chittoor, Cuddapah, Kurnool, Srikakulam, Vizianagram, and Vishakhapatnam and Rs.450 crore as assistance to the capital city, Amaravati. These additional resources from the Central Government would enable the State to devise and implement schemes best suited for mitigation of backwardness and alleviation of poverty. In addition, grant of Rs.100 crore was released for Polavaram Irrigation Project. Further, release of Rs.1981.54 crore was made to the state through NABARD on 27.12.2016 as Central assistance for Polavaram Irrigation Project by the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation MoWR, RD & GR.

            Further, in keeping with its commitments to support the development of backward areas of Telangana, the Central Government had provided a further “Special Assistance” of Rs.450 crore to the state.  The Backward Districts which are being supported with this development fund are Adilabad, Nizamabad, Karimnagar, Warangal, Medak, Mahbubnagar, Rangareddy, Nalgoda and Khammam where the work of creating road network has been taken-up.

            The State of Tamil Nadu has also been a beneficiary of this Special Assistance. An amount of Rs. 200 crore was released to the state to resolve the issues affecting processing industry in Tirupur (Tamil Nadu), for adoption of Zero Liquid Discharge by 18 Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs). This provision will help the industries to minimize pollution and it will be a step towards clean environment.

PIB

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Cabinet approves the exclusion of States from the investments of National Small Savings Fund from 1.4.2016

Cabinet approves the exclusion of States from the investments of National Small Savings Fund from 1.4.2016

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval to exclude State Governments States/UTs (with Legislature) except Arunachal Pradesh, Delhi, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh from National Small Savings Fund (NSSF) investments from 01.04.2016. It also approved providing a one-time loan of Rs. 45,000 crore from NSSF to Food Corporation of India (FCI) to meet its food subsidy requirements.

The details are as under:-

a) Exclusion of States/UTs (with Legislature) excepting Arunachal Pradesh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi from NSSF Investments. Arunachal Pradesh shall be given loans to the tune of 100% of NSSF collections within its territory, whereas Delhi, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh shall be provided 50% of collections.

b) Servicing of interest and principal of debt extended to FCI through the budget line of Department of Food and Public Distribution. The repayment obligation of the FCI in respect of NSSF Loans would be treated as the first charge on the food subsidy released to the Food Corporation of India. In addition, FCI shall reduce the amount of its current Cash Credit Limit with the banking consortium to the extent of the NSSF loan amount.

c) NSSF in the future shall, with the approval of Finance Minister, invest on items the expenditure of which is ultimately borne by Government of India and the repayment of principal and interest thereto would be borne from the Union budget.

The States except Arunachal Pradesh, Delhi, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh shall be excluded from NSSF investments from 01.04.2016. A legally binding agreement will be signed between FCI, Department of Food and Public Distribution and Ministry of Finance on behalf of NSSF on the modalities for repayment of interest rate and principal and the restructuring of FCI debt will be made possible within 2-5 years.

Once states are excluded from NSSF investments, the investible funds of NSSF with Gol will increase. Increased availability of the NSSF loan to Gol may reduce the Gol's market borrowings. The States will however, see an increase in market borrowings. Any increase in yields due to an increased demand for loanable funds in the market from Centre and States combined would be marginal. The reduction of FCI's borrowing cost equivalent to the extent of the interest differential will be reflected in the Gol's savings on the Food Subsidy Bill.

Implementing the decision to exclude states from NSSF investments and extending the loan will entail no additional cost. Instead a reduction in the food subsidy bill of the Gol is anticipated.

Arunachal Pradesh, Delhi, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh will continue availing of NSSF loans, 26 other States and Puducherry who are eligible to borrow from the market have preferred to stop taking loans from the NSSF.

Background:

The Fourteenth Finance Commission (FFC) recommended that State Governments be excluded from the investment operations of the NSSF. The NSSF loans come at an extra cost to the State Government as the market rates are considerably lower. The Union Cabinet in its meeting held on 22nd February, 2015, accepted that this recommendation will be examined in due course in consultation with various stake holders. Barring Arunachal Pradesh, Delhi, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh, the other State Governments/UTs expressed a desire to be excluded from NSSF investments. The involvement of States which are excluded from operations of National Small Savings Fund with effect from 1.4.2016 would be limited solely to discharging the outstanding NSSF debt obligations as on 31.3.2016 (FFC Recommendation). The loan contracted by States till 31.3.2016, from the National Small Savings Fund will stand completely repaid by the Financial Year 2038-39.

NSSF shall extend a part of its collections to Food Corporation of India (FCI) to meet its food subsidy requirement. This will help the FCI reduce its interest cost. FCI presently takes working capital loans through Cash Credit Limit (CCL) at an interest rate of 10.01% and Short Term Loan (STL) at a weighted average interest rate of 9.40%, whereas the NSSF currently charges 8.8% p.a interest on its loans. This savings on interest rate outgo will reduce the food subsidy burden of the Government of India.

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PFRDA to organise National Pension System service fortnight from February 1

PFRDA to organise National Pension System service fortnight from February 1

"In order to ensure availability of information and ease problem, PFRDA and NSDL/CRA send various communications regularly to promote awareness regarding NPS.

The activities scheduled to be taken up during the fortnight (Feb 1-15), include updating subscriber details, printing of transaction statement for the subscribers, resolving grievances and addressing issues of pending exit/withdrawals under NPS.

PFRDA will organise a service fortnight from February 1 for building subscribers awareness and disseminate information regarding National Pension System (NPS) - the government's flagship pension programme. According to the Pension Fund and Regulatory Development Authority (PFRDA), subscribers and employees of the central and state governments are not fully aware about NPS which leads to a large number of queries and grievances.

"In order to ensure availability of information and ease problem, PFRDA and NSDL/CRA send various communications regularly to promote awareness regarding NPS.

"However, it has been observed that in absence of latest contact details in their NPS accounts, most of the subscribers are not receiving such communication," the regulator said.

Therefore, during the awareness fortnight at offices of central and state governments, besides sharing information, nodal offices and the subscribers will be apprised about the need of updating their personal data to enable the system to work effectively.

The activities scheduled to be taken up during the fortnight (Feb 1-15), include updating subscriber details, printing of transaction statement for the subscribers, resolving grievances and addressing issues of pending exit/withdrawals under NPS.

PFRDA said the central ministries and state governments will be required to encourage the subscribers attached to them for downloading mobile apps. The maximum number of downloads of the app will be awarded.

The regulator said that downloading of mobile app by the subscribers will considerably reduce the dependence on the nodal officers.

"This will result in saving time and efforts of the nodal officers," it said. As on November 30, 2016 there were about 1.4 crore subscribers under NPS with over Rs 1.61 lakh crore asset under management.

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Conference on Implementation of National Pension System (NPS) in Central Autonomous Bodies (CABs)

Conference on Implementation of National Pension System (NPS) in Central Autonomous Bodies (CABs)

A conference on implementation of National Pension System (NPS) in Central Autonomous Bodies (CABs) was organized by PFRDA on 27th July 2016 at New Delhi. The prime objective of the conference was to understand and address the concerns of the Central Autonomous Bodies who have not yet registered for NPS.

Shri Hemant Contractor, Chairman, PFRDA in his key note address stressed on the need for a regular and steady source of income for old age income security. He informed the participants that it was mandatory for all CABs which had offered CPF to its employees earlier to switch to NPS, but some CABs had not done so, and he urged them to adopt NPS without further delay, in view of the benefits of doing so, apart from the mandatory requirement. He gave the example of State Governments which had voluntarily adopted NPS in view of its merits. He further mentioned that it was important for CABs to offer a pension benefit to their employees in view of the many advantages, which could never be matched by lump sum payments such as CPF payment. He urged the CABs to comply with the Government directives and join NPS at the earliest so that the employees could get the benefit of pension under NPS for their old age income security.

Dr. B. S. Bhandari, Whole Time Member (Economics), PFRDA, while speaking on the occasion highlighted on the introduction of NPS for all Central Government Employees (except armed forces) joining services on or after 01st January 2004 and also informed the participants about the various notifications issued by Government for implementation of NPS in the Central Autonomous Bodies. He also briefed about the basic operational aspects of the NPS, investment pattern & NPS architecture. He also illustrated the benefit of higher return under NPS and power of compounding on this higher return resulting to better yield in comparison to other superannuation benefits.

Shri R V Verma, Whole Time Member (Finance) PFRDA, also urged to all the CABs present in the conference to be part of NPS and said that there is no reason why CABs have not implemented despite all the benefits in NPS. He informed that though the scheme is mandatory for all Central Autonomous Bodies having contributory Provident fund, many of the CABs are yet to join NPS. He expressed PFRDA is confident that this conference will help the participating CABs to understand NPS in a better way and will help them to join NPS at the earliest without further delay.

Currently, NPS has more than 1.30 crore subscribers with total Asset Under Management (AUM) of more than Rs.1.37 lakh crores.

PIB

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Payment of Agency Commission on pension accounts – RBI Circular on 21.1.2016

Payment of Agency Commission on pension accounts – RBI Circular on 21.1.2016

Reserve Bank Of India

RBI/2015-16/294
DGBA.GAD.No.2278/31.12.2010/2015-16

January 21,2016

The Chairman & Managing Director/
The Chief Executive Officer
All Agency Banks

Dear Sir/Madam

Payment of Agency Commission on pension accounts

As you may be aware, agency banks are being compensated at Rs.65 per transaction for handling pension computation, payment and related services on behalf of Central and State Governments. As per the norms followed by the Government, a pensioner’s account should not have more than 14 credit transactions in a calendar year attributable to pension and related arrear payments, if any.

2. It has however come to our notice that certain banks are apportioning payment of arrears on account of Dearness Relief (DR) and/or delay in start of pension monthwise, thus, resulting in inflated agency commission claims. It is reiterated that number of commisionable transactions for payment of agency commission on account of pension in a year should not exceed 14. This includes one monthly credit for payment of net pension and a maximum of two per year for payment of arrears on account of increase in DR, if applicable.

3. It is also reiterated that cases involving payment of arrears on account of late start/restart of pension qualifies as a single transaction for claiming of agency commission. In other words, any payment of arrears on account of late start/restart of pension should be effected in a single credit transaction instead of separate monthly credits.

4. Some of the Central Government Departments and State Governments prefer to compute the pension figures on their own and pass them on to banks for payment. Such transactions may be included under non-pension payments, on which agency commission is payable on a turnover basis as per the existing norms (currently at 5.5 paise per Rs. 100/-).

Yours faithfully

(Manish Parashar)
Deputy General Manager

Authority: https://rbidocs.rbi.org.in/

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