Shocking figures of attendance in central government offices – Attendance.gov.in tracks minute by minute

Shocking figures of attendance in central government offices – Attendance.gov.in tracks minute by minute

Government website throws up shocking attendance figures

Blame it on Urban development minister M.Venkaiah Naidu. He made a couple of surprise visits to his ministry in June and July and a government attendance website was launched, which is throwing up stunning figures of attendance in central government offices. If attendance.gov.in is to be believed, nearly 40% of central government employees tend to be absent from work on any single working day of the week. Attendance.gov.in is a live website and tracks attendance minute by minute

For example, on Friday, October 10, of 50,587 central government employees registered with attendance.gov.in, the recently launched “attendance website” by the Modi government, only 27,553 were present. The remaining 22,000 odd employees had not turned up for work for whatever reason.

The story of this bureaucratic-lethargy started when, soon after taking charge of the Urban development ministry, Naidu checked into Nirman Bhavan, once on June 12, and then on July 28. “That is when late coming to office was noticed. Shri Naidu then directed ministry officials to take necessary measures to ensure punctuality at work,” says a PIB note issued on August 13.

Very soon biometric attendance marker systems were installed in Nirman Bhavan. Other ministries followed suit, and the ‘Babu’ was forced to answer to an electronic roll-call, mornings and evenings. Attendance.gov.in was simultaneously launched. It took some days but now the website is in full flow, and throwing up numbers that tell the story in numbers.

Read more at : www.dnaindia.com

Dedication of Portability through Universal Account Number (UAN) for Employees Provident Fund

“The minimum pension for employees has been introduced first time so that employees’ pension is not less than Rs. 1000 per month. The wage ceiling has been raised from Rs. 6500 to Rs. 15000 per month to ensure that vulnerable groups are covered under EPF Scheme”.

Under the scheme complete information for approximately 4 crore subscribers of EPF has been centrally compiled and digitized and a UAN has been allotted to all. The UAN is being seeded with Bank account and Aadhar Card and other KYC details for financial inclusion of vulnerable section of society and their unique identification.

Camps are being organized to facilitate opening of bank account and Aadhar card for those subscribers who have no bank account or Aadhar card as on date. This will ensure portability of the Social Security Benefits to the labour of organised sector across the jobs and geographic areas. The EPF account of employee will be now be updated monthly and at the same time he will be informed through sms.

Finally it will ensure that each of the 4 crore or more EPF account holders have direct access to their EPF accounts and will also enable them to consolidate all their previous accounts (approximately Rs 27000 Crore are currently lying with EPFO in inoperative accounts). By 16th October, 2014, approximately 2 crore subscribers will have the benefit of portability through UAN. Subscribers have been informed through sms/email immediately on inauguration.

The minimum pension for employees has been introduced first time so that employees’ pension is not less than Rs. 1000 per month. The wage ceiling has been raised from Rs. 6500 to Rs. 15000 per month to ensure that vulnerable groups are covered under EPF Scheme.

Source: PIB News

7th Pay Commission visited Siachen base camp and Daulat Beg Oldie

7th Pay Commission visited Siachen base camp and Daulat Beg Oldie and spent considerable time for  interacting with soldiers and asking them about the conditions in one of the toughest areas of the world…

Pay Commission team visits Siachen to get first-hand experience – India Today article

The 7th Pay Commission visited forward areas in Jammu and Kashmir, including the world’s highest battlefield on the Siachen glacier, to get the first-hand feel of the freezing temperatures and hardship faced by soldiers.

The 16-member team headed by the panel’s chairman, retired judge A.K. Mathur, spent time at the base camp in Siachen and went to other forward areas. The three services have submitted a joint memorandum to the Pay Commission regarding their “wish list”. The panel will visit other defence installations as it continues its deliberations till January 1, 2016.

The panel spent considerable time at the Siachen base camp, interacting with soldiers and asking them about the conditions in one of the toughest areas of the world. They were also flown over the glacier and landed at a forward post. The soldiers work under extreme climatic conditions where the weather is a constant enemy. The soldiers shared their experience and talked about the harsh climatic condition they face on the line of duty. The punishing weather does not allow a person to spend more than a week at the glacier and the forward posts, they told the panel.

The panel members also witnessed ice craft and mountaineering training being carried out at the Siachen Battle School.

The Pay Commission team also landed at the advanced landing ground at Daulat Beg Oldie on the border with China. It is the world’s highest landing strip and air operations in the rarefied high altitude air are a challenge.

During their visits to the forward areas, the delegation laid floral wreaths at the Siachen War Memorial, Kargil War Memorial and the Rezangla War Memorial while paying tributes to our martyrs, a defence PRO said.

At the Line of Actual Control, the Pay Commission members interacted with personnel from the Indian Air Force and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).

Officials said the panel will have to consider the unique situation faced by the jawans, who are exposed to severe medical conditions because of the inhospitable environment. “The climate does not suit human habitation but the army jawans are positioned in the area manning the territory all through the year,” an official said.

This is only the first round of interaction and more inputs would be sought by the team in the coming months.

Meanwhile, a delegation of the All Ladakh Central Government Employees (ALCGE), which comprises staff of Doordarshan, High Altitude Research Centre, Kendriya Vidyalaya, Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Institute of Buddhist Studies and Air Force Authority of India, met Justice Mathur’s team.

Source : www.indiatoday.intoday.in

Amendment in Administrative Tribunals Act – Jurisdiction of Benches of Central Administrative Tribunal

Notification under sub-section (1) of section 18 of the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985 specifying jurisdiction of Benches of Central Administrative Tribunal.

MINISTRY OF PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCES AND PENSIONS

(Department of Personnel and Training)

NOTIFICATION

New Delhi, the 23rd September, 2014

G.S.R. 683(E). – In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (I) of Section 18 of the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985 (13 of 1985), the Central Government hereby makes the following further amendment in the Notification of the Government of India in the erstwhile Ministry of Persormel and Training, Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances and Pensions vide No. G.S.R. 610(E) elated the 26th July, 1985, namely :—

2. In the said Notification, for the Table, the following Table shall be substituted, namely.—
TABLE

S. No.	Bench	Jurisdiction of the Bench
(1)	(2)	(3)
1.	Principal Bench (New Delhi)	National Capital Territory of Delhi
2.	Ahmedabad Bench	State of Gujarat
3.	Allahabad Bench	(i) State of Uttar Pradesh excluding the Districts mentioned against serial number 4 under the jurisdiction of Lucknow Bench.(ii) State of Uttaranchal
4.	Lucknow Bench	Districts of Lucnow, Hardoi, Kheri, Rai-Bareli, Sitapur, Unnao, Faizabad,Ambedkar Nagar, Baharaich,Shravasti, Barabanki, Gonda, Balrampur, Pratapgarh, Sultanpur in the State of Uttar Pradesh.
5.	Bangaluru Bench	State of Karnataka
6.	Kolkata Bench	(i) State of Sikkim.(ii) State of West Bengal.(iii) Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
7.	Chandigarh Bench	(i) State of Jammu and Kashmir.(ii) State of Haryana.(iii) State of Himachal Pradesh. (iv) State of Punjab. (v) Union Territory of Chandigarh.
8.	Cuttack Bench	State of Odisha
9.	Ernakulam Bench	(i) State of Kerala.(ii) Union Territory of Lakshadweep.
10.	Guwahati Bench	(i) State of Assam.(ii) State of Manipur.(iii) State of Meghalaya. (iv) State of Nagaland. (v) State of Tripura. (vi) State of Arunachal Pradesh. (vii) State of Mizoram.
11.	Hyderabad Bench	(i) State of Andhra Pradesh.(ii) State of Telangana.
12.	Jabalpur Bench	(i) State of Madhya Pradesh(ii) State of Chhattisgarh.
13.	Jodhpur Bench	State of Rajasthan excluding the Districts mentioned against serial number14 under the jurisdiction of Jaipur Bench
14.	Jaipur Bench	Districts of Ajmer, Alwar, Baran, Bharatpur, Bundi, Dausa, Dholpur, Jaipur, Jhallawar, Jhunjhunu,Kota, Sawai Madhopur, Sikar, Tonk and Karauli in the State of Rajasthan.
15.	Chennai Bench	(i) State of Tamil Nadu(ii) Union Territory of Puducherry.
16.	Mumbai Bench	(i) State of Maharashtra(ii) State of Goa(iii) Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli. (iv) Union Territory of Daman and Diu.
17.	Patna Bench	(i) State of Bihar.(ii) State of Jharkhand.

 

[F.No.A-11019/5/2014-AT]

MAMTA KUNDRA, Jt. Secy.

Source: www.persmin.gov.in
[http://ccis.nic.in/WriteReadData/CircularPortal/D2/D02adm/A-11019_5_2014-AT-23092014.pdf]

Bank Employees Strike on 12th November 2014

Bank Employees Strike on 12th November 2014

UFBU have announced a all India token strike on November 12 to reiterate their demands for a wage revision. The decision was made at the meeting that was held in Bengaluru yesterday.

It has been more than two years since the wage revision agreement had expired. Following this, a number of meetings were held between the associations and the bank management over the new salary and increment contracts. The IBA didn’t accept the demand for a 25% salary hike. Instead, the management offered 11% hike. The negotiations failed.

Meanwhile, in order to stress thier demand for salary hike, Bankers are going to hold Protest Day – Badge Wearing – Demonstrations/Rallies at all Centres on the 17th and 30th of this month. On the 12th of November, all bank staff are going to hold a nationwide strike. If we still do not reach an agreement on salary hike, they are going to hold day-long relay strikes at each of the four regional zones – north, south, east and west, from December 2 to 5. If the IBA continues to ignore thier demands, then they will be forced to launch an indefinite strike. Announcements in this regard will be made in December.

UFBU  said, everyone is aware that employees and officers in the banking sector are doing their best to serve the customers and implement various schemes of the Government despite innumerable hardships and difficulties. Yet, the genuine demand for adequate wage revision is being delayed and denied.

Decisions taken in the meeting…
March on to struggles and strike actions
All India Strike on 12th November, 2014
4 Days Zonal Strikes from 2nd to 5th December, 2014
Get ready for indefinite strike programme

Source: 7th Pay Commission News

Tax exemption for withdrawals under the National Pension System (NPS)

PFRDA will soon approach Finance Ministry seeking tax exemption for withdrawals under the National Pension System (NPS),

Pension regulator to pitch for tax break on NPS withdrawals

Pension regulator PFRDA will soon approach Finance Ministry seeking tax exemption for withdrawals under the National Pension System (NPS), its Chairman Hemant G Contractor has said.

This will be the first time PFRDA – after getting statutory recognition in February 2014 – will seek a tax break for NPS.

The Finance Ministry will soon start the budget preparation exercise for Budget 2015-16, which will be the first comprehensive budget of the new Modi-Government.

Prior to the statutory recognition, the interim pension regulator had sought tax exemption on NPS withdrawals, but that tax break was not provided by the erstwhile UPA Government.

In his first interaction with mediapersons here on Wednesday, the new PFRDA Chairman, Contractor said there was need for some “fiscal” push from the Government to make NPS popular in the country.

A tax exemption on NPS withdrawals would address the “adequacy” aspect of retirement monies and ensure that taxes don’t eat into the retirement corpus of a subscriber.

Under the current income tax law, there is no tax incidence on contribution or accumulation phase, but tax would be levied at the withdrawal stage

A tax exemption on NPS withdrawals would level the playing field with products such as provident funds.

The direct taxes code proposed by the UPA regime had suggested that ‘Exempt-Exempt-Exempt’ regime be adopted for financial savings products like NPS.

Indications are that the new dispensation at the Centre will look to bring its own version of new income-tax law.

SWAVALAMBAN

PFRDA Chairman Contractor said the Swavalamban scheme has been made an integral part of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), the flagship financial programme of the Modi-led Government.

PFRDA has fixed a target of fifty five lakhs subscribers of Swavalamban under PMJDY.

This target of fifty five lakhs subscribers has been allocated to all the banks working as aggregators. Targets have also been allocated to other categories of aggregators.

Source: www.thehindubusinessline.com