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DPE ORDERS DATED 4-7-2016 RAISING IDA WITH EFFECT FROM 1-7-2016
ida-july-16-new.pdf...........................................................ida-july-16-old.pdf
Dear Comrades,
I am a lucky person. Rather, more lucky than many. I have done little work but I am the receiving bowl for all congratulations and praises for the gain.
It is because of the great help rendered by Shri Ananthakumarji that we got this gain. We should be thankful to him for the unusual help.
Comrades Gangadhara Rao, Changappa, Babu, Murthy and others of Bangalore worked relentlessly for achieving 78.2%. It is only because of them we got it.
Com. Natarajan and Com. DG have done marvellous work as leaders of the Organisation.
Comrades R L Kapoor, R C Malhotra and DPS Sisodia in Delhi spent lot of time for this.
They all deserve congratulations.
I can not forget the services of late Comrade Chhidu Singh. We felt very much his absence during these months.
I was performing as a co-ordinator only. Just because I am handling the whatsapp and Email group I received all praises from you all. I receive it on behalf of TEAM AIBSNLPWA and transfer it to the Team.
REAL GAIN
The real gain is that the condition of 60:40 is removed by Cabinet itself. In future we need not depend upon the financial condition of BSNL Company for any pension revision. It is 100% responsibility of the government to pay pension to us. A dangerous clause in Rule 37A is gone. For ever!
Nobody talked about this before 2009; before AIBSNLPWA was formed. NO BODY talked about BSNL pensioners before August 2009; before we started functioning as an All India organisation. Now all are talking for BSNL pensioners. Many will claim for the gain.
VICTORY HAS MANY FATHERS; FAILURE IS AN ORPHAN.
Thank you comrades. Thank you...
P S Ramankutty
6th July 2016.
Official Press release from Cabinet secretariat after todays cabinet meeting
Cabinet approves Revision of pension of BSNL Pensioners Removing Anomalies The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the revision of pension of BSNL pensioners and family pensioners, who retired prior to 10.06.2013 by allowing the benefit of merger of 50% DA/DR with Basic Pay/ Pension, effectively amounting to 78.2% DA/DR for the purpose of fitment, and (ii) Modifying the liability of BSNL towards the payment of pensionary benefits to the retired employees.
The pension of BSNL pensioners/family pensioners, who retired prior to 10.06.2013 has been revised w.e.f. 01.01.2007 notionally with actual benefit w.e.f. 10.06.2013, by allowing the benefit of merger of 50% DA/DR with Basic Pay/ Pension, effectively amounting to 78.2% DA/DR for the purpose of fitment at par with the serving employees of BSNL. However, increase in the amount of DCRG, leave encashment and commutation of pension in respect of these pensioners shall not be increased on this account.
The pension liability in respect of employees of Department of Telecommunications (DOT) / Department of Telecom Services (DTS) / Department of Telecom Operations (DTO) who retired prior to 01.10.2000 is solely borne by Government of India and the BSNL will have no liability in respect of these employees. In respect of employees who are absorbed in BSNL, the liability on account of pensionary benefits shall be fully borne by Government while BSNL will continue to discharge pension liability by way of pension contribution in accordance with FR-116 for the period they so work/worked.
The revision entails an estimated recurring annual expenditure of approximately Rs 129.63 crore for pensioners and Rs 24.93 crore for family pensioners and arrears from 2013-14 would be Rs 239.92 crore approximately for pensioners and Rs 44.62 Crore approximately for family pensioners. Approximately118500 pensioners all over India will be benefitted by this revision.
This revision will fulfill the long pending demand of revision of pension of BSNL absorbed employees who retired prior to 10.06.2013 and will bring the pensioners at par with the serving employees of BSNL by removing the anomalies. It will help in reducing the financial burden of BSNL and removing prospects of industrial unrest in BSNL while fulfilling the commitment of Government.
Background:
The decision of the Cabinet has come in the wake of an anomalous situation created in the difference of pension formula among the BSNL retirees who retired before and after 10.06.2013. Further, the decision regarding pensionary liability is on persistent demand from various quarters and a series of deliberations at different levels to fulfill the assurance given by the Government before corporatization i.e. before formation of BSNL.
Dear Comrades,
I was away from Trivandrum for 3-4 days to attend some domestic functions in my native village. During those days, I found some disturbing news in whatsapp spread by some other organisations/individuals creating a panic situation. It was widely circulated that Cabinet returned the file on 78.2% case.
Hence our leaders- Com. Gangadhara Rao, Com. Changappa and Com. Murthy – on 3-7-2016 met Shri Ananthakumar who attended the last cabinet meeting. Shri Ananthakumar asked them “who told that the file was returned”. Then he told with confidence that “You relax. Your case is under SERIOUS consideration of the Government.”
I do not find any reason for panic. To get removed the stipulation of 60:40 condition on pension liability is not that easy. It should go for ever. It should be 100% responsibility of the Government to pay pension to BSNL retirees from the Consolidated Funds. So, I was very happy when Telecom Department itself moved that proposal. Even if the decision is delayed little, the condition should be removed. For Ever. We are getting older every day. In future, we can not do this strenuous exercise every time to get some benefit from the government.
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SEVENTH CPC REPORT AND GOVT. DECISION
We have already reported in this Site what exactly is the impact of Cabinet Decisions on the CPC report. The immediate benefit on 1-1-2016 is only 32% of basic pay or basic pension. In July 2016, the benefit will come down to 30.2%. Every six months the net benefit will come down like that. Finally, within 3-4 years the gains of seventh CPC will be nullified totally. For those who occupy government quarters the benefit is very very negligible say just 14.14% of their basic pay from 1-1-2016. There are thousands of railway employees living in railway quarters, mostly in dilapidated conditions. .... Living with rats and snakes....They will get very small benefit.
Therefore, there is widespread anger among the employees.Some discussion took place between Union leaders and Group of Ministers consisting of S/s Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley and Suresh Prabhu. Further discussion may take place tomorrow.I expect that the minimum pay may be raised from Rs 18000.Naturally it will raise the minimum pension from Rs 9000 for central government pensioners.The Conversion factor has to be modified accordingly.Let us wait and see.
...................... P S Ramankutty
Leaders who addressed the Madurai District Conference on 28-6-2016
TODAY OUR COMS Dy G/S GANGADHARA RAO ,KARNATAKA C/S CHANGAPPA AND MURTHY MET S/SHRI ANANTHAKUMAR HON.MIN.FOR FERTILIZERS AND CHEMICALS AND EXPRESSED OUR PENSIONERS ANXIETY REGARDING 78.2% IN THE BACKDROP OF CABINET APPROVAL FOR 7th CPC AND NO INFORMATION ABOUT OUR CASE. SHRI ANANTHAKUMAR ASSURED THAT THERE IS NO NEED FOR ANY ANXIETY AND OUR CASE IS UNDER ACTIVE CONSIDERATION OF CABINET. LET US WAIT PATIENTLY.
From Today, 1-7-2016, a new BSNL CIRCLE comes into existence.
Present AP Circle is bifurcated as Andhra and Telengana Circles. Under Telengana Circle, there will be following Nine SSAs: Hyderabad, Nizamabad, Khammam, Warangal, Mahaboobnagar, Karimnagar, Medak(Sangareddy), Nalgonda and Adilabad. Headquarters will be at Hyderabad.
Under the new Andhra Circle there will be 13 SSAs which are: Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, Rajahmundry (East Godavari), Eluru (West Godavari), Vijayawada, Guntur, Cuddappah, Kurnool, Ongole, Nellore, Ananthapur and Tirupathi. Headquarters of the Circle is Vijayawada.
Labour Bureau of India has released the Consumer Price Index for May 2016:
It is 275 points.
With this, the IDA rate from July 2016 is assessed as 114.8%.
From January 2016 it continues as 112.4%.
Hence, the increase from July 2016 is 2.4%.
The Government of India has finally taken a decision on Seventh CPC report. It has rejected all the proposals from the Empowered Committee and accepted the CPC report almost in toto.
Minimum pay for Group D will be Rs 18000, not 23400 as propagated. A Group D is getting Rs 7000 as minimum pay + Rs 8750 as CDA now.So, the net increase is only Rs 2250.00.
If you multiply the existing pay by 2.57 you will get new basic pay.
Same multiplication factor of 2.57 is applied for pensioners.There is no difference between serving staff and pensioners.
Immediately the pension will be revised multiplying by 2.57. In other words;
Present basic pension: Rs 100 plus Present DA : Rs 125
New basic pension: Rs 257.00 + 0% DA: Net increase is 32 % of existing basic pension.
CPC suggested another method to revise pension giving weightage to increments earned in the scale at the time of retirement. It is something like OROP (One Rank One Pension). Government will constitute a committee to study if this method is feasible or not. Pensioners have to wait for another 4 months to see the Committee’s recommendations.
IN SHORT, the Government has not given anything extra to the employees and pensioners.
Fifth CPC suggested 20% increase to employees and pensioners. The Gujral Government increased it to 40% then. Sixth CPC suggested 40% increase in pension and gave Grade Pay to serving staff, which is something about 54%. Government accepted that recommendation.
This is the lowest increase ever given by any CPC. It is most disappointing.
And, Mr Arun Jaiteley, the Finance Minister says it is HISTORIC.
It is HISTORIC because it is the lowest.
Cabinet approves Implementation of the recommendations of 7th Central Pay Commission
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the implementation of the recommendations of 7th Central Pay Commission (CPC) on pay and pensionary benefits. It will come into effect from 01.01.2016.
In the past, the employees had to wait for 19 months for the implementation of the Commission’s recommendations at the time of 5th CPC, and for 32 months at the time of implementation of 6th CPC. However, this time, 7th CPC recommendations are being implemented within 6 months from the due date.
The Cabinet has also decided that arrears of pay and pensionary benefits will be paid during the current financial year (2016-17) itself, unlike in the past when parts of arrears were paid in the next financial year.
The recommendations will benefit over 1 crore employees. This includes over 47 lakh central government employees and 53 lakh pensioners, of which 14 lakh employees and 18 lakh pensioners are from the defence forces.
Highlights:
1.The present system of Pay Bands and Grade Pay has been dispensed with and a new Pay Matrix as recommended by the Commission has been approved. The status of the employee, hitherto determined by grade pay, will now be determined by the level in the Pay Matrix. Separate Pay Matrices have been drawn up for Civilians, Defence Personnel and for Military Nursing Service. The principle and rationale behind these matrices are the same.
2.All existing levels have been subsumed in the new structure; no new levels have been introduced nor has any level been dispensed with. Index of Rationalisation has been approved for arriving at minimum pay in each Level of the Pay Matrix depending upon the increasing role, responsibility and accountability at each step in the hierarchy.
3.The minimum pay has been increased from Rs. 7000 to 18000 p.m. Starting salary of a newly recruited employee at lowest level will now be Rs. 18000 whereas for a freshly recruited Class I officer, it will be Rs. 56100. This reflects a compression ratio of 1:3.12 signifying that pay of a Class I officer on direct recruitment will be three times the pay of an entrant at lowest level.
4.For the purpose of revision of pay and pension, a fitment factor of 2.57 will be applied across all Levels in the Pay Matrices. After taking into account the DA at prevailing rate, the salary/pension of all government employees/pensioners will be raised by at least 14.29 % as on 01.01.2016.
5.Rate of increment has been retained at 3 %. This will benefit the employees in future on account of higher basic pay as the annual increments that they earn in future will be 2.57 times than at present.
6.The Cabinet approved further improvements in the Defence Pay Matrix by enhancing Index of Rationalisation for Level 13A (Brigadier) and providing for additional stages in Level 12A (Lieutenant Colonel), 13 (Colonel) and 13A (Brigadier) in order to bring parity with Combined Armed Police Forces (CAPF) counterparts at the maximum of the respective Levels.
7.Some other decisions impacting the employees including Defence & Combined Armed Police Forces (CAPF) personnel include :
Gratuity ceiling enhanced from Rs. 10 to 20 lakh. The ceiling on gratuity will increase by 25 % whenever DA rises by 50 %.
A common regime for payment of Ex-gratia lump sum compensation for civil and defence forces personnel payable to Next of Kin with the existing rates enhanced from Rs. 10-20 lakh to 25-45 lakh for different categories.
Rates of Military Service Pay revised from Rs. 1000, 2000, 4200 & 6000 to 3600, 5200, 10800 & 15500 respectively for various categories of Defence Forces personnel.
Terminal gratuity equivalent of 10.5 months of reckonable emoluments for Short Service Commissioned Officers who will be allowed to exit Armed Forces any time between 7 and 10 years of service.
Hospital Leave, Special Disability Leave and Sick Leave subsumed into a composite new Leave named ‘Work Related Illness and Injury Leave’ (WRIIL). Full pay and allowances will be granted to all employees during the entire period of hospitalization on account of WRIIL.
8.The Cabinet also approved the recommendation of the Commission to enhance the ceiling of House Building Advance from Rs. 7.50 lakh to 25 lakh. In order to ensure that no hardship is caused to employees, four interest free advances namely Advances for Medical Treatment, TA on tour/transfer, TA for family of deceased employees and LTC have been retained. All other interest free advances have been abolished.
9.The Cabinet also decided not to accept the steep hike in monthly contribution towards Central Government Employees Group Insurance Scheme (CGEGIS) recommended by the Commission. The existing rates of monthly contribution will continue. This will increase the take home salary of employees at lower levels by Rs. 1470. However, considering the need for social security of employees, the Cabinet has asked Ministry of Finance to work out a customized group insurance scheme for Central Government Employees with low premium and high risk cover.
10. The general recommendations of the Commission on pension and related benefits have been approved by the Cabinet. Both the options recommended by the Commission as regards pension revision have been accepted subject to feasibility of their implementation. Revision of pension using the second option based on fitment factor of 2.57 shall be implemented immediately. A Committee is being constituted to address the implementation issues anticipated in the first formulation. The first formulation may be made applicable if its implementation is found feasible after examination by proposed Committee which is to submit its Report within 4 months.
11. The Commission examined a total of 196 existing Allowances and, by way of rationalization, recommended abolition of 51 Allowances and subsuming of 37 Allowances. Given the significant changes in the existing provisions for Allowances which may have wide ranging implications, the Cabinet decided to constitute a Committee headed by Finance Secretary for further examination of the recommendations of 7th CPC on Allowances. The Committee will complete its work in a time bound manner and submit its reports within a period of 4 months. Till a final decision, all existing Allowances will continue to be paid at the existing rates.
12. The Cabinet also decided to constitute two separate Committees (i) to suggest measures for streamlining the implementation of National Pension System (NPS) and (ii) to look into anomalies likely to arise out of implementation of the Commission’s Report.
13. Apart from the pay, pension and other recommendations approved by the Cabinet, it was decided that the concerned Ministries may examine the issues that are administrative in nature, individual post/ cadre specific and issues in which the Commission has not been able to arrive at a consensus.
14. As estimated by the 7th CPC, the additional financial impact on account of implementation of all its recommendations in 2016-17 will be Rs. 1,02,100 crore. There will be an additional implication of Rs. 12,133 crore on account of payments of arrears of pay and pension for two months of 2015-16.
CONGRATULATIONS FOR THE LOWEST IN 70 YEARS
Zee News says that Finance Minister Mr Arun Jaitley has congratulated the central govt officers, employees and pensioners for the ‘historic rise’ in pay and pension !!!!
For what ??
The lowest increase in70 years!!!!
NOTHING TO CHEER
Cabinet has given approval to the Seventh CPC recommendations, media says. But, what exactly is the improvement made by Cabinet? Not known. There was a calculated propaganda in the media about the 'BONANZA" to be given to government employees. Now, after the decision is taken the media talks about GDP, Overall expenditure, total expenditure, impact on economy etc. etc. See the report by SEN TIMES, the so-called newspaper of bureaucrats.The decision to this effect was taken in a meeting which was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, sources said.
The pay panel, in November last year, had recommended a 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.
The government in January had set up a high-powered panel under the Cabinet Secretary to process the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission that will have a bearing on remuneration of nearly 50 lakh central government employees and 58 lakh pensioners.
The Commission had recommended a 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 GDP.
The entry-level pay has been recommended to be raised to Rs 18,000 per month, from the current Rs 7,000, while the maximum pay, drawn by the Cabinet Secretary, has been fixed at Rs 2.5 lakh per month from the current Rs 90,000.
While the Budget for 2016-17 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.
SCOVA MEETING AND OUR ISSUES
Standing Committee of Voluntary Agencies met on 28-6-2016.The Minister for Personnel and Pension Dr Jitendra Singh attended it for few minutes only. Com. K B Krishna Rao of Karnataka P&T Pensioners Association and Com. D Balasubramanian of Chennai based Federation of Central Pensioners raised our cases in the said meeting:
78.2%: Secretary, Pension informed that a favourable Cabinet Note is submitted to Cabinet on 78.2% case for BSNL retirees.
Pension Anomaly: DoT representative assured that this case would be settled within one month. It was pointed out that several times such assurances were given but not kept up. Then DoT Representative assured again that this time it would be definitely done.
CPC REPORT AND RUMOURS
The media is simply spreading rumours. Nothing has been revealed officially to anyone. Even Staff Side leaders were not told anything. If the media reports are to be believed, the Cabinet meeting scheduled for 29th June 2016 may take up the matter. Something will come out officially on 30th. Let us wait for that.
28-6-2016 1130 AM: Madurai SSA branch is holding its general body meeting now at Madurai, Tamilnadu.
Com. Natarajan, GS is attending the same
SHRI. ANANTHAKUMAR ASSURES AGAINOur Dy. GS Com. Gangadhara Rao and Karnataka Circle Secretary Com. Changappa met Shri Ananthakumar, Honourable Minister for Chemicals & Fertilizers, appraised him of the present position of our case and requested his help once again for early clearance of the case by Cabinet.
Shri Ananthakumar assured that he would do needful.
Every day, through Telephone calls, Whatsapp, Emails and SMS – we are receiving enquires about further developments in the case of 78.2%.One comrade from Varanasi informed that some BSNL pensioner there even got a copy of the order issued by Government. We do understand the anxiety of BSNL pensioners. It is a very very important issue for them. But, not for the Government or the Cabinet.
We can not expect that Shri Narendra Modiji, the Prime Minister, will cancel his foreign trips and wait in Delhi office to sign the order for us. 78.2% case is not an issue of national importance for him.
One week back, Department of Telecom has sent the Cabinet Note to Cabinet Secretariat.They are expected to include this item in the agenda for Cabinet meeting within a period of two weeks. Central Cabinet is meeting every Wednesday. It met on 22-6-2016 also. 78.2% was not an item for that meeting.Even after including the item in the agenda, Cabinet may postpone discussion and decision.Cabinet may take up politically important issues first.Service matter has least priority for the Government and political leaders.
Due to our persistent efforts, the issue of 78.2% has reached Cabinet Secretariat. Thereafter it will complete normal formalities and procedures. We have to wait.There is no other way.
SO, BE PATIENT.
In the media – both print and electronic- lot of news items are appearing about the proposed decision of Government on 7th CPC report. Some reports say that the minimum pay will be increased to Rs 23400. It is also reported that the Empowered committee has recommended 30% increase of basic pay. It shows that the Media people have no idea of the issue. CPC has recommended increase of 32% of basic pay/pension and a minimum pay of Rs 18000. Now Media adds 30% of Rs 18000 (which is not given) and arrives at 23400. It is all nothing but blabbering. Actual position will be known within two weeks. Let us wait for that.
Off late, the Media talks about the fear of government about inflation if some more money is given to employees and pensioners. (They are not Vijay Mallyas.). See the extracts from a report appeared yesterday night in Electronic Media.
News:
New Delhi, June 22: The much awaited recommendations of VII Pay Commission are expected to be implemented from July. The Empowered Committee of Secretaries has finalised the report containing the revised recommendations. According to reports, Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has tasked Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha to screen the recommendation once again before handing over the report to Finance Ministry. Sources claim that government is concerned over the populist measures suggested by Secretaries Panel, which could adversely impact the economy. Not only would the implementation of 7th CPC increase burden on state exchequer by Rs 1,00,000 crores, but also increase the disposable income of central government employees. Fearing this steep jump in inflation, Finance Ministry could scale down the recommendations of the Commission.
We are happy to inform that through the joint efforts of comrades Anupam Kaul and R.L. Kapoor, a meeting of the BSNL Pensioners was held on 21.06.2016 at Kidwani Bhawan, New Delhi and it was decided to form Delhi Headquarters Branch of our Association at New Delhi.
The following office bearers of the ad-hoc body have been elected unanimously in the meeting held on 21.06.2016, presided over by Com. R.L. Kapoor:-
President : Com. R.L. Kapoor, Ex. ADG
Vice President: Com. D.N. Dwivedi, Ex. DE
Vice President: Com. A.K. Pandey, Ex. DE
Secretary: Com. Anupam Kaul, Ex. DE
Assistant Secretary Com. Kartar Singh, Ex. SDO
Assistant Secretary: Com. G.C. Mago, Ex. ADG
Organizing Secretary: Com. H.N. Dwivedi, Ex. SDE
Organizing Secretary: Com. C.K. Bhan, Ex. AGM
Treasurer : Com. R.L Dhar, Ex. AGM
Central Head Quarters heartly welcomes the new branch and the new members in capital city of New Delhi to our Association..