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Tuesday 10 May 2016

7th CPC & Armed Forces will the History Repeat Itself

7th CPC & Armed Forces

Will the History Repeat Itself

Brig Anil Gupta
Ever since the Seventh Pay Commission report has been made public there has been a sense of great resentment and let down in the armed forces community. While the veterans were battling for justified grant of One Rank One Pension (OROP) the men in uniform were hopeful that the impending pay commission report will deliver justice to them and will set right the unsettled anomalies of the fourth, fifth and sixth pay commissions as promised by their political masters. The battle hardened soldiers were not only surprised by the bomb shell delivered by Mr Mathur Chairman of the Seventh Pay Commission but were also highly demoralised.

Having learnt from the previous experience of the Indian Air Force, the three service chiefs immediately swung into action to not only douse the simmering fire amongst the rank and file but also to plan a joint strategy to address the government. The seventh pay commission not only failed to resolve the pending anomalies of the previous pay commissions but added further salt to the injury by equating the status of the Armed Forces of India with that of the Central Armed police Forces. It is a pity that the bureaucrats in our country fail to draw the distinction between the Armed Forces and the Police Forces. The Pay Commission also went beyond its charter and has tried to tinker with the terms and conditions of service of the rank and file of the Armed Forces. The armed forces were harmed both monetarily as well as status/protocol.

Much has already been written in the media on the subject. The basis of the report is a study carried out by Institute of Defence Studies and Analysis, a strategic think-tank, comparing the pay of Indian Armed Forces with that of certain foreign armies of developed countries. The competence of IDSA to carry out such a study is questionable. Moreover, why only the armed forces have been singled out for such a comparison and why not other services like IAS, IFS, Forest, Railways, IPS to name a few? The answer is simple; the study was motivated and designed to reduce the salary, perks and status of the armed forces. But what worries the soldiers is the possibility of history repeating itself. Though every pay commission since 1973 has been unfair to the armed forces major resentment surfaced after the announcement of the sixth pay commission report in 2008. It led to a major showdown between the three service chiefs and politico-bureaucratic establishment.

The services requested the then government to appoint their representative in the Committee of Secretaries appointed by the government to look into the various anomalies in the 6th CPC report that were brought to the notice of the government. The request of the Service Chiefs was based on the logic that 30% (nearly 1/3rd) of the central government employees affected by the pay commission belonged to the three services. The request was not granted but an assurance was given that their concerns would be addressed with sympathy and without prejudice. In keeping with the apolitical stance of the Armed Forces the service chiefs conceded but were taken aghast when the report of the committee was announced after approval of the government. The services found that not only were their major grievances not addressed three more glaring discrepancies were introduced in the final Cabinet notification. The three service chiefs not only felt let down in front of the forces they commanded but also badly humiliated. They took up the matter separately with the Defence Minister and the Prime Minister and conveyed the concerns of the Armed Forces. But they learnt to their dismay that real villain was none else than their own Ministry of Defence (MOD) which presented a very weak case without relevant supporting documents to the PMO and Finance Ministry.Incidentally, this was worse than the aftermath of 5th Pay Commission ten year earlier when the armed forces pointed out 48 anomalies out of which only eight had been resolved during the decade preceding announcement of 6th Pay Commission Award. Fortunately, Admiral Sureesh Mehta, a no non-sense officer, was the Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee then. He convinced his other two colleagues to delay the implementation of flawed 6th CPC Report in the Armed Forces. Accordingly, the decision was communicated by the respective service headquarters to their rank and file through a signal message.

 The message was received with great jubilation by the subordinate units which sent jitters to the politico-bureaucratic nexus as well as received adverse comments from certain quarters in the media. It was Nitin Gokhale who came in open support of the service chiefs and wrote, “If the said signal, as the communication is called in military parlance, is defiance, then no military chief will ever be able to give assurances to, and take, his men in confidence. Anyone who has dealt with the armed forces will tell you that there is not an iota of truth in the canard that is being spread about the three Chiefs ‘defying’ the civil authorities. Yes, they questioned the bureaucracy’s attempts to wittingly or unwittingly introduce pay and status disparities between the armed forces and their civilian counterparts. Yes they took the matter to Prime Minister but in no way did they defy the government.” The bold stand taken by the three Chiefs had the desired result and the Prime Minister appointed a group of ministers to resolve the grievances of the armed forces. A couple of main points were immediately settled and the services accepted the implementation of 6th CPC.

 But true to its traditions the MOD continued to play the spoilsport and number of unresolved anomalies were referred to the 7th CPC. As mentioned earlier 7th CPC report rather than assuaging the hurt feelings of the armed forces has further aggravated the anger and resentment.

The continued apathy of the bureaucracy towards men in uniform is perplexing. World over Armed Forces are considered as the last bastion of a nation and are always held at a different pedestal but in our country under the garb of ensuring civil supremacy the politico-bureaucratic nexus has been working against the interests of the armed forces. The soldiers are remembered and honoured at the time of crisis but forgotten soon thereafter. It is the sheer sense of patriotism which continues to motivate the armed forces personnel to continue to shed their blood for Bharat Mata despite the neglect they suffer at the hands of politico-bureaucratic authorities. Knowing fully well that the armed forces are unhappy with the treatment meted to them by the 7th CPC, effort is being made through the media to spread lies. The latest attempt is an article in a leading national daily titled “Our service chiefs may earn more than US generals.” It states that for the first time, the Indian Army Chief and his counterparts in the IAF and Navy will draw more salary than the top general and equivalent in the US based on purchasing power parity (PPP) terms when the 7th CPC report is implemented. PPP based comparison is misleading and flawed.

Also, how can the pay of officers of two different armies having different terms & conditions of service be compared? Moreover, the figures quoted in the article were exaggerated as was evident from another news item published a few days later by Asian Age titled “Indian service chiefs earn less than top US general reveals new data.” Such articles are aimed at creating confusion among the rank and file and create distrust among the officers and other rank. No nation, more so India, can afford to have disgruntled armed forces. It is thus necessary that the history is not made to repeat itself by prudent political intervention at this stage and all genuine grievances of the armed forces are addressed sympathetically and without prejudice before approving the flawed report of 7th CPC. The Prime Minister needs to intervene to ensure that the justice is done to the armed forces and the trend of widening rift in civil-military relations is halted without further delay. There is a murmur already doing the rounds among the rank and file that if history repeats itself who will don the mantle of Admiral Sureesh Mehta this time?

Read at: Daily Excelsior
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7th Pay Commission Latest News – BMS met Minister to highlight issues

7th Pay Commission Latest News – BMS met Minister to highlight issues

Even as Empowered Committee appointed by Govt is processing 7th pay Commission recommendations, Labour unions and staff federations are emphasizing Govt for rectifying certain anti-employee recommendations of 7th Pay Commission

7th Pay Commission Latest News – BMS met Minister for issues such as Removal of 5% ceiling for Compassionate Appointments, 5% annual increment, rationalization of pay structure, abolition of certain allowances, discontinuance of Grade Pay etc

A delegation of Labour Union leaders representing Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) led by Pawan Kumar today held a meeting with Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh and sought his intervention for redressal of their issues, mainly pertaining to grant of one-time relaxation from ceiling of 5% for compassionate appointments in Ministry of Defence and the 7th Central Pay Commission (CPC).

They also thanked the Government for having brought in a legislation in response to their demand for fixing the minimum wage for Government employees.

The BMS leaders pointed out to the ceiling of 5% on compassionate ground vacancies imposed over Central Government employees and requested that this be removed in order to make it possible to accommodate more candidates. They submitted that Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) is the competent authority to grant relaxation of the ceiling over vacancies falling under direct recruitment quota in Group-C posts and requested the Minister to kindly take a sympathetic view.

The demand to rationalize the pay structure through 7th Central Pay Commission was also taken up by the BMS representatives. They stated that the allowances were allowed by department as per their operational and administrative needs, but alleged that the 7th CPC on its own initiative had declared them as “outlived their utility” and recommended for their discontinuance. They also complained that the concept of grade pay and pay band has been done away, which should be reconsidered.

Among the other points raised by the BMS delegation were modification of the minimum pay and cognizance of “Senior Citizen and Parents Maintenance Act”, which provides liability of mother and father who are employed sons / daughters.

On behalf of the Government Employees National Federation, an affiliate of BMS, the delegation also sought attention to the fact that the employees are getting only 3% incremental benefit which, they demanded, to be increased to 5%.

Dr Jitendra Singh gave the delegation a patient hearing and said their observations and inputs will be put up at the appropriate level.

Among other members present in the meeting were Sadhu Singh, Shivkant Mishra, P.C. Sharma, Virender Kumar, Yogender Rai, Rajnish Kumar, Nirmal Jain, A.K. Dhankar, D.K. Sharma, Sunil Gupta and Manoj Kumar Singh

Source: DailyExcelsior.com
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7th Pay Commission News – Government may consider minimum pay of 24000

7th Pay Commission News – Government may consider minimum pay of 24000

BMC Secretary’s report follows the meeting of Labour Union Leaders with Minister of State of Personnel, Mr.Jitendra Sangh

7th Pay Commission News – Govt may consider minimum pay of 24,000-7th CPC pay to be paid from July – Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh Secretary reports to Zee Media

With each passing day, the picture of higher monthly payout for central government employees, than what was recommended by the 7th Pay Commission, is emerging clear.

In a meeting with the BJP’s labour wing Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, Jitendra Prasad, Union Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, told the delegation that government would positively look into the demand of the central government employees. “The minister said we will consider the proposal of minimum pay of at 24,000”, Pawan Kumar, Regional Organizing Secretary told Zee Media Bureau.

The Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh is the largest central trade union organization in India, and claims to have more than 10 million members.

The trade union also sought increase in the Multiplication Factor and changes in the HRA.

The 7th CPC under AK Mathur had proposed Multiplication Factor of 2.57, according to which the fitment of each employee in the new pay matrix is proposed to be done by multiplying his or her basic pay on the date of implementation by a factor of 2.57.

“We are expecting the notification for implementation of the 7th Pay Commission in the last week of June, and payout to begin in July”, added Kumar.

He further assured that DoP&T is actively considering for grant of one time relaxation for compassionate appointment in Ministry of Defence. He added that Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh has ruled out possibilities of strike to get a better salary revision under 7th Pay Commission. “We are not part of those who say that we will strike”to get a better pay hike, added Kumar.

As per report, the National Joint Council of Action (NJCA) has decided to serve indefinite strike notice to the Govt on 9th June 2016 and to commence indefinite strike from 11th July 2016, if the Govt fails to come to a negotiated settlement on 7th CPC related issues with the JCM National Council Staff Side.

Source: Zee News
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Honarable MoS has assured positively to enhance the minimum pay, multiplying factor of 7th CPC

Hon’ble MoS has assured positively to enhance the minimum pay, multiplying factor of 7th CPC

BHARATIYA PRATIRAKSHA MAZDOOR SANGH
(An Industrial unit of Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh)
Recognized by Ministry of Defence, Govt of India
02 A, Naveen Market Kanpur – 208001

REF: BPMS / Circular / 17th TC / 01
Dated: 07.05.2016
To,
Office Bearers & CEC Members BPMS,
President / Secretary of unions
affiliated to BPMS.

Subject: Meeting with MoS, DoP&T Dr. Jitendra Singh.

Dear Brothers & Sisters,

Namaskar,

I hope that all of you will be quite well. This is to inform you that today (07.05.2016), a meeting held with Hon’ble MoS, DoP&T Dr. Jitendra Singh, attended by Shri Sadhu Singh, Shri Virendra Sharma along with other office bearers of Railways, Postal, Autonomous Bodies under the leadership of Shri Pawan Kumar, Regional Organizing Secretary Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh.

Hon’ble MoS has assured that the Government of India is considering positively to enhance the minimum pay, multiplying factor of 07th CPC. But exact amount / number would be decided / declared by the Cabinet Committee.

He further assured that DoP&T is actively considering for grant of one time relaxation for compassionate appointment in Ministry of Defence.

For payment of Bonus arrears to Central Government employees, he is going to write a letter to finance Minister, Govt of India to issue necessary directives.

Hon’ble Defence Minister has fulfilled his promise / statement of 17th Triennial Conference of BPMS regarding Ordnance Factories Recruitment Centre (OFRC) on 29th April, 2016.

All of you are requested to give it a wide publicity through gate meetings, print and electronic media, press conference etc.
With regards,
Brotherly yours
Mukesh Singh
Dy General Secretary
Source-bpms.org.in
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7th Pay Commission – Cabinet Ready to Accept Secretaries Group Recommendations

7th Pay Commission – Cabinet Ready to Accept Secretaries Group Recommendations – The finance minister on the personnel side,  will take care of higher take away better than the 7th Pay commission recommendations. A 13 members secretary-level Empowered Committee or Secretaries group, led by cabinet Secretary P K Sinha was formed in January to review

7th Pay Commission – Cabinet Ready to Accept Secretaries Group Recommendations – The finance minister on the personnel side,  will take care of higher take away better than the 7th Pay commission recommendations.


A 13 members secretary-level Empowered Committee or Secretaries group, led by cabinet Secretary P K Sinha was formed in January to review the recommendations of 7th Pay Commission before cabinet nod and the Secretaries group is likely to submit its report before June 30.

The 7th Pay Commission headed by Justice A K Mathur proposed the highest salary at Rs 250,000 and the lowest at Rs 18,000. The commission also recommended 14.27 per cent increase in basic pay, 23.55% overall increase in salary, allowances and pensions. The increase in allowances was recommended 63% while pension was proposed to rise 24%.

The move was the lowest increase in 70 years.

A Senior official in Finance Ministry, familiar with the 7th pay commission matter said in anonymous, the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is sure that his Ministry will be able to find the money to back the cabinet the pay plan of central government employees.

“The finance minister on the personnel side,  will take care of higher take away better than the 7th Pay commission recommendations,” the reliable sources added.

The Secretaries group is likely to propose 30 percent basic pay raise instead of 14.27 per cent as a way to both boost central government employees’ take home pay and its efforts to fight inflation that year by year surges to a very high.

The central government employees pay raise is expected to be tied to the anticipated rise in private sector wages in the upcoming months.


The previous 6th Pay Commission had recommended a 20 per cent hike, which the then government doubled while implementing it in 2008.

Sources said that the higher pay raise is needed for the central government employees to stay competitive in purchasing power and inflation.

“The central government employees, by practice are entitled to a 30% pay increase in their income and the ministry will take the proper step in ensuring that they do receive it,” reliable sources added.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has also been provisioned Rs 70,000 crore in the Union Budget 2016-17 to meet the demand for the 7th Pay commission award that is expected to be effective from January 2016.

The central government employees are expected to get their pay hike from July after cabinet nods to the recommendations.
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NPS Subscription earns double digit yearly returns for the past 5 years

NPS Subscription earns double digit yearly returns for the past 5 years

The average NPS fund has given 100-125 basis points more than what the retirement savings of the estimated 3.7 crore EPF subscribers have earned during this period.

NPS Subscription earns double digit yearly returns for the past 5 years which comparatively higher than EPF interest rates – Central and state government employees covered by the scheme earned between 9.3% and 10.15% during this period.

If the 5 basis point hike in interest rate of the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) made subscribers smile, those covered by the New Pension System (NPS) must be laughing.

Most NPS investors earned double-digit returns in the past 3-5 years. Central and state government employees covered by the scheme earned between 9.3% and 10.15% during this period.

The performance of individual schemes is not very helpful because NPS investors put money in a combination of funds. Therefore Economic Times studied the blended returns of four different combinations of the equity, corporate debt and gilt funds. Ultra-safe investors are assumed to have put 60% in gilt funds, 40% in corporate bond funds and nothing in equity funds.

A conservative investor would put 20% in stocks, 30% in corporate bonds and 50% in gilts. A balanced allocation would put 33.3% in each of the three classes of funds while an aggressive investor would invest the maximum 50% in the equity fund, 30% in corporate bonds and 20% in gilts. The table shows the average blended returns of the seven pension funds.

Admittedly, the short-term picture of the NPS is not very encouraging because of the negative returns from stocks in the past one year. Aggressive investors have earned less than 3% and balanced investors made only 4.93%, though ultra-safe investors who stayed away from stocks got 8.89%.

But the long-term picture is different. On average, gilt funds have given 9.75% annualised returns while corporate debt funds have churned out more than 11% in the past five years. As a result, the average return for ultra-safe investors in the past five years is in double digits.

The average NPS fund has given 100-125 basis points more than what the retirement savings of the estimated 3.7 crore EPF subscribers have earned during this period. “Even a 100 basis point higher return can make large impact on the corpus in the long term,” says Sumit Shukla, CEO of HDFC Pension Fund.

Will the good times continue for gilt funds and corporate bond funds? Experts say this trend will not stay forever. “NPS is a long-term investment and the bonds are predominantly held to maturity. Over a longer period, the portfolios will deliver returns similar to the yield-to-maturity of the bonds in the portfolios,” says Manoj Nagpal, CEO of Outlook Asia Capital. The average yield-to-maturity of the bonds is roughly 8.4%, which is higher than the PPF rate but lower than what the EPF offers.

Should you switch from EPF to NPS?

This raises the critical question: should you switch from EPF to the pension scheme? The proposal to switch from EPF to NPS was announced in last year’s budget and this year’s budget extended a onetime tax exemption to such a shift.

A legislation to amend the Employees’ Provident Fund & Miscellaneous Provisions Act has already been framed and is lying with the Law Ministry. The amendment allows EPF subscribers to make a one-time switch to the NPS. Once he shifts to NPS, the employee will have a one-time chance to return to the EPF fold.

But experts believe it may not be a wise move to shift your retirement savings to the NPS because of the difference in tax treatment. While the EPF corpus is completely tax free, this year’s budget has proposed to make 40% of the NPS tax free.

Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) chairman Hemant Contractor says there should be tax parity in all retirement products.

“Why would anybody want to shift his money from the fully tax-free EPF to the NPS where only 40% of the corpus will escape tax? If there is parity in the tax treatment, a lot of subscribers would shift from EPF to NPS,” he told Economic Times recently.

For investors, the tax benefits are an important consideration. The new tax deduction offered on the NPS attracted investors in a big way in 2014-15, with almost 1.2 lakh new voluntary accounts opened during the year. Within nine months, the assets under management of funds for the private sector shot up more than three-fold from Rs 6,361 crore in April 2015 to touch Rs 20,261 crore by December 31, 2015.

Financial advisors see another problem in the NPS. At least 40% of the maturity corpus has to be put in an annuity to earn a monthly pension. Annuity rates in India are very low compared to what other options can offer.

The Senior Citizens’ Saving Scheme, for instance, gives 8.6% returns compared to 6.75% offered by annuities that return the principal after death. The PFRDA wants that the investor should be allowed to look beyond annuities.

Source: The Economic Times
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Revision of minimum rates of wages and variable dearness allowance w.e.f. 01.04.2016

Revision of minimum rates of wages and variable dearness allowance w.e.f. 01.04.2016

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
(RAILWAY BOARD)
RBE No.37/ 2016
No.2016/E (LL)/AT/MW/1
New Delhi dated: 29.04.2016
The General Managers, Zonal Railways, Production Units and PSUs,
Metro Railway, Kolkata, CORE, Allahabad
The General Managers,(Construction), All Indian Railways
The Director General, RDSO, Lucknow
The DG/Railway Staff College, Vadodara
The Directors, IRICEN, IRIEEN, IRISET, IRIMEE, IRITM
The CAO, COFMOW, Tilak Bridge, New Delhi
The CAO, Rail Coach Factory / Raebareli, Kishan Ganj, Delhi-7
The CAO, Rail Wheel Plant, Bela

Sub: Revision of minimum rates of wages and variable dearness allowance w.e.f. 01.04.2016.

A copy each of Orders No.(i)1/13(3)/2016-LS.II, (ii) 1/13/(4)/2016-LS.II, (iii) 1/13/(5)2016-LS.II, (iv) 1/13/(6)/2016-LS.II and (v) 1/13/(7)2016- LS.II dated 31.01.2016 revising the rates of variable dearness allowance for contract workers engaged in (i) Construction or maintenance of roads or in Building operations etc. (ii) Stone mines for Stone breaking & Stone Crushing, (iii) loading and unloading operations in railway goods sheds, parcel offices of Railways, (iv) Employment of Sweeping and Cleaning excluding activities prohibited under the Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993 and (v) employment of Watch and Ward respectively is sent herewith for information and strict compliance. The rates are applicable w.e.f. 01.04.2016.

2. Railways, being Principal Employer are required to ensure that the contractors are complying with the provisions of the Contract Labour(R&A) Act, 1970 and Minimum wages Act, 1948 strictly and arranging prescribed minimum wages to the contract labourers.

3. This issues with the concurrence of the Finance Directorate of Ministry of Railways. Please acknowledge receipt.
(D.V.Rao)
Director Establishment (LL)
Source:  NFIR
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Extension of date of Public Notice for addressing anomalies on One Rank One Pension (OROP)

Extension of date of Public Notice for addressing anomalies on One Rank One Pension (OROP)

F. No. 12(39)/2015/D(Pen/Pol)(Part-V)
Ministry of Defence
Department of Ex-servicemen Welfare
D(Pension/Policy)
New Delhi,
Dated 09.05.2016
Public Notice for addressing anomalies on One Rank One Pension (OROP)

Government of India, Ministry of Defence, Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare vide Public Notice No. 12(39)/2015/D(Pen/Pol)(Part-V) dated 13.04.2016 had invited representation, suggestions/views on the revised pension as notified under OROP order dated 03.02.2016, to the MoD, DESW through post or by email by 29th April 2016.

2. Keeping in view several representations received requesting for the extension of last date for submission of representation, suggestions/views on the revised pension as notified under OROP orders, the last date of the submission of representation, suggestions/views has been extended upto 15th May 2016.

Postal Address: Under Secretary/D(Pension/Policy)
Room No. 220A,
‘B’ Wing
Sena Bhawan; New Delhi-110011
Email ID: us-pen-pol@desw.gov.in
(R.K. Arora)
Under Secretary (Pension/Policy)
Tele: 01123012973
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