Chief of Defence Staff

Chief of Defence Staff

Creation of the post of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) was recommended by Group of Ministers in 2001. A decision in this regard was to be taken after consultation with political parties. The consultation process however is not yet complete as all political parties have not responded. Subsequently, Naresh Chandra Task Force on National Security recommended creation of the post of Permanent Chairman Chief of Staff Committee in 2012. Both the proposals are simultaneously under consideration of the Government.

This information was given by Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar in a written reply to Shri Ravneet Singh in Lok Sabha today.

PIB

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CGHS facilities are not provided to persons working on contractual and co-terminus basis Loksabha Q&A

CGHS facilities are not provided to persons working on contractual and co-terminus basis

Loksabha Q&A

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO: 1742

ANSWERED ON: 10.03.2017

CGHS Facility

Adhikari Dibyendu Will the Minister of

HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:-

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government issues CGHS cards to all Central Government employees including the persons working on contractual and or co-terminus basis and if so, the details thereof; (b) whether the Government is not giving CGHS pensioner facilities to the person or families at the end of contract and termination of employment therefor;

(c) if not, the reasons behind thereof;

(d) the total number of cards that have been issued to the contractual and the coterminous employees drawing salary from the central exchequer during the last three years therein; and

(e) the proposal of the Government to facilitate them with one time/whole life CGHS pensioner cards therefor?

ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND
FAMILY WELFARE
(SHRI FAGGAN SINGH KULASTE)

(a): CGHS Cards are issued to Central Government employees and employees on co-terminus basis who are residing in CGHS covered areas. CGHS facilities are not provided to persons working on contractual basis.

(b) & (c): CGHS facilities are not provided to the employees on the termination of employment on co-terminus basis since CGHS facilities are primarily meant for Central Government Employees/Pensioners drawing salary/pension from Central Civil Estimates.

(d): No separate category is maintained regarding co-terminus employees and therefore, this information cannot be provided.

(e): There is no such proposal.

Loksabha Q&A

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7th Pay Commission: Central govt employees wait for higher allowances more than for Holi

7th Pay Commission: Central govt employees wait for higher allowances more than for Holi

New Delhi: Just one day remains to Holi and more than 48 lakh serving central government employees and 52 lakh pensioners have not received higher allowances under the 7th Pay Commission recommendations from August last year due to Union cabinet hasn’t still approved the higher allowances.

The central government employees received higher basic pay in August 2016 with arrears, effective from January 1, 2016 on the recommendations of the 7th pay commission but the hike in allowances other than dearness allowance has yet to materialize.

The sources in the Finance Ministry told us on condition of anonymity, "in June last year, the cabinet approved the 7th Pay Commission recommendations but the allowances referred to the 'Committee on Allowances' headed by the Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa for examination as the pay commission had recommended of abolishing 51 allowances and subsuming 37 others out of 196 allowances.

"The Cabinet is likely to approve the higher allowances in the next week as the Assembly election results in five states were declared yesterday and the model code of conduct enforced ahead of the elections ceased to be in operation with immediate effect.

The employees can't receive the higher allowances without the Cabinet approval. In contrast, the higher allowances might not impact employees much but since Holi is round the corner, they will feel the pinch."

The Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, however, has managed to disburse the higher allowances to its employees including pensioners. "FM Jaitley is making all possible efforts to pay them the higher allowances with April salaries", said the sources.

However, the employees now get allowances according to the 6th Pay Commission recommendations until issuing of higher allowances notification.

TST

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Implementation of Seventh Pay Commission Report

Implementation of Seventh Pay Commission Report

The following steps have been taken to implement the recommendations of 7th Pay Commission Report in respect of Armed Forces personnel:

(i) Issue of Resolution dated 25th July 2016 by Ministry of Finance.
(ii) Issue of Resolution dated 5th September 2016 by Ministry of Defence.
(iii) Issue of orders dated 10th October, 2016 by Ministry of Defence for payment of ad-hoc arrears equal to 10% Basic Pay and Dearness Allowance.

The order for revision of pension to ex-servicemen pursuant to the recommendations of 7th Pay Commission Report was issued on 29th October, 2016. As per information available in respect of pre-2016 pensioners, 24 public sector banks have revised pension of 18,99,697 pensioners and have paid Rs.5883.27 crore (approx) on account of arrears of pension / family pension.

This information was given by Minister of State for Defence Dr. Subhash Bhamre in a written reply to Shri Arvind Sawant in Lok Sabha today.

PIB

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KV School Fee Structure : No Proposal to Increase at present

KV School Fee Structure : No Proposal to Increase at present

There is no such proposal to increase the fee structure is under consideration of the Central Government at present. The Minister of State for Human Resource Depvelopment Shri Upendra Kushwaha said in a wirtten reply to a question in Rajya Sabha on 2.2.2017.

No such proposal is under consideration of the Government at present. However, while issuing guidelines for pay revision of employees of Quasi - Government Organizations, Autonomous Organizations, Statutory Bodies etc., set up by and funded / controlled by the Central Government, the Government has inter alia stipulated that the autonomous organizations are expected to manage their affairs in such a fashion that their dependence on Central Government for financial support to meet the extra financial implications is minimal, as such autonomous organizations are expected to be financially self-sufficient so as not to cause any extra burden on the Central Exchequer.

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6-month limit to complete graft enquiries against babus

6-month limit to complete graft enquiries against babus

New Delhi: The government has decided to fix six-month deadline for completion of corruption enquiries against IAS and IPS officers among others.

The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has finalised draft rules to put a time limit for each stage of the enquiries to ensure expeditious disposal of corruption cases.

"The Inquiring Authority should conclude the inquiry and submit his report within a period of six months," the draft rules said.

However, this period can be extended for a further period of six months after recording reasons of the Inquiring Authority in this regard, it said.

At present, there are no rules that define time limit for conducting corruption enquiries.

As per the government proposal, officers will get copy of articles of charges from the disciplinary authority and they should give their response mandatorily within 15 days.

In cases, where a disciplinary authority decides to consult Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) in the matter involving a delinquent officer, its advice need to be shared with such charged employee.
The UPSC conducts civil service examination to select officers for various services including Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) and it is consulted by authorities concerned before acting against a civil servant.

The government servant will be given 15 days to submit his representation on receipt of such advice from the Commission.

All ministries have been asked to share their comments on the proposed changes in the rules, which if comes into force will be applicable to IAS, IFS and IPS officers and those belonging to other civil services.

PTI

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Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016 passed in the Parliament

Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016 passed in the Parliament

The Bill seeks to increase maternity leave available to working women from the current 12 weeks to 26 weeks for the first two children

The Lok Sabha has passed the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016 today. The Bill had already been passed by the Rajya Sabha during the Winter Session. With this, the Bill stands passed in the Parliament.
The Bill seeks to amend the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 to provide for the following:-

(i) Maternity leave available to the working women to be increased from 12 weeks to 26 weeks for the first two children.
(ii) Maternity leave for children beyond the first two will continue to be 12 weeks.
(iii) Maternity leave of 12 weeks to be available to mothers adopting a child below the age of three months as well as to the "commissioning mothers". The commissioning mother has been defined as biological mother who uses her egg to create an embryo planted in any other woman.
(iv) Every establishment with more than 50 employees to provide for creche facilities for working mothers and such mothers will be permitted to make four visits during working hours to look after and feed the child in the creche.
(v) The employer may permit a woman to work from home if it is possible to do so.
(vi) Every establishment will be required to make these benefits available to the women from the time of her appointment.

The Minister of Women and Child Development, Smt. Maneka Gandhi thanked the Minister for Labour and Employment, Shri Bandaru Dattatreya for taking up the demand of lakhs of women across the country and for having steered the Bill through Rajya Sabha as well as the Lok Sabha. In her message to the working women, Smt. Gandhi congratulated the women who are planning to have a child and has stated that the Ministry of Women and Child Development will continue to work for the empowerment of women.

The amendments in the Bill were taken up following the request by the WCD Minister to the Hon'ble Labour Minister to bring about these changes so that a working woman gets time to exclusively breast-feed her child for 6 months after the birth. This period also enables the working mother to recuperate herself before she goes to back to work. In her communication to the Labour Ministry, the WCD Minister had also highlighted the concerns of commissioning and adopting mothers who also require maternity leave.

PIB

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