Morque

COC ZINDABAD CONFEDERATION ZINDABAD WORKERS UNITY ZINDABAD UNITY IS STRENGTH

Search This Blog

Wednesday, May 30, 2018

GDS Strike -


Govt. of India has not included 2.76 lakhs Gramin Dak Sevaks (GDS) of the Postal department under the purview of 7th Central Pay Commission. Govt’s stand is that GDS are not Civil Servants but are Extra Departmental Employees. After much pressure and agitations by Postal Federations finally Government appointed a separate Committee for revision of wages and service conditions of GDS, headed by a retired Postal Board Member Shri Kamalesh Chandra.

2.         Service conditions of GDS are pathetic. No pay scale is granted instead Time Related Continuity Allowance (TRCA) is granted. Minimum monthly allowance for 3 hours is Rs.2295- plus DA and maximum monthly allowance for hours is Rs.3635 plus DA. No other allowances such as HRA, Children Education Allowance etc., are granted. Rent of the building in which Branch Post Office is housed is to be paid by the Branch Post Master (BPM) from his pocket. No maternity leave is granted instead 90 days leave salary is granted from Welfare Fund. No medical reimbursement or Medical Insurance Scheme.  Only 20days paid leave is granted in a year. No time bound promotion except examination based promotion to limited number of Postmen & Group-D vacancies. No pension is granted and GDS service is not counted towards pension.

            In 2011 a Contributory Pension Scheme is introduced with contribution of Rs.200/- each by the employee and the department. But the pension from this insurance annuity based scheme is meager, less than Rs.1000/- per month. In short the wages and service conditions are deplorable.

3.         It is this background; the Kamalesh Chandra Committee submitted its report on 24-11-2016. Most of the recommendations of the Committee are positive. Minimum pay recommended was Rs.10,000/- and maximum Rs.14,500/- plus DA. Composite Allowance in lieu of building rent & Children education Allowance were recommended. Maternity leave for 26 weeks and one week paternity leave, Time bound three promotions on completion of 12,24 & 36 years of service, 30 days ordinary leave, five days emergency leave etc., are also recommended.

4.         Even though the Committee Report is submitted to Govt. on 24-11-2016, even after a lapse of 18 months, the report is not yet implemented. In the case of departmental employees, wage revision as per 7th CPC Report was already implemented from 01-01-2016. Unjustified discrimination is shown towards GDS. As a result, the discontentment and protest among the GDS is growing day by day. NFPE & AIPEU-GDS has conducted various agitational programmes including one day strike on 23-08-2017 and five days continuous dharna at Delhi demanding immediate implementation of positive recommendations of Kamalesh Chandra Committee Report. Other Federations and GDS Unions too conducted their own agitational programmes. Inspite of all these, implementation of the Committee Report is delayed inordinately. The All India Conference of AIPEU-GDS held at Allahabad in March 2018, reviewed whole situation and decided to organize indefinite strike in the month of May 2018.

5.         It is in this back ground, the indefinite strike notice was served by four GDS unions. First BEDEU (BMS) served notice for indefinite strike. Then AIGDSU and NUGDS (INTUC) gave notice for indefinite strike from 22-05-2018. As other GDS Unions had given indefinite strike notice, AIPEU-GDS (NFPE) also decided to service indefinite strike notice from the same date i.e., 22-05-2018 in consultation with NFPE.
Simultaneously, NFPE issued instructions to all Branch / Division / Circle Unions to extend full support and solidarity to the GDS strike by organizing daily protest demonstrations and attending duty by wearing black-badges. In five States viz., Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana & West Bengal departmental employees’ Unions also joined the strike from 22-05-2018.

6.         Indefinite strike commenced on 22-05-2018. 100% GDS in all States went on strike. Out of 1,55,000 post offices, 1,29,500 post offices are Branch Post Offices manned by GDS. All the 1,29,500 Post offices remained closed. Out of five lakhs postal employees 2.76 lakhs are Gramin Dak Sevaks 90 – 95% of GDS went on strike from 22-05-2018 and their percentage increased day by day and came to near total. Regarding Departmental employees, the solidarity strike from 22-05-2018 conducted in Tamil Nadu, Andhra, Telangana and West Bengal withdrawn on the fourth day due to compelling reasons, but the entire GDS in these States are continuing their Strike. In Kerala, departmental employees are continuing their solidarity strike even today.

7          .After giving the strike notice, till, date four round of negotiations took place. First round discussions held with Additional Director General, Department of Posts. Second round of talks held with Secretary, Department of Posts. Third and fourth round of conciliation proceedings was held by Regional Labour Commissioner (Central), New Delhi. All these discussions failed due to the totally negative and adamant attitude of the Govt. and Postal Authorities and hence the strike is continuing. All the four GDS Unions are on strike and it is near total in almost all States. The functioning of the rural postal services is paralyzed as 80% of the post offices are closed and 100% GDS are on strike.

Sunday, May 27, 2018

Revision of Minimum Pay and Fitment formula due to increased revenue collections of the Central Government



Comrades,
                  Today none of the 7th CPC related demands of Central Government Employees are settled. The assurance given by the Group of Ministers to the NJCA leaders regarding increase in Minimum Pay and Fitment formula is in paper even after a lapse of 20 months. Now the Finance Minister has replied in Parliament that “no change in Minimum Pay and Fitment formula is at present under consideration”. 

To avert the 11th July CG employees strike the Hon’ble Prime Minster had instructed the group of Hon’ble Ministers including Shri Rajnath Singhji, Hon’ble Home Minister, Shri Suresh Prabhuji , Hon’ble Railway Minister    and Shri Arun  Jaitelyji , Hon’ble  Finance Minister to hold discussions with the Staff Side (JCM) on 30th June 2016 and the Shri Arun  Jaitelyji , Hon’ble  Finance Minister had published a written assurances in the Government  website on 6th July 2016 leading to deferment  of the strike .

Pay Commission Objective: It is the endeavour of every pay commission to ensure that the pay and allowances of employees should be ‘fair and reasonable’. The pay structure should also motivate the employees to reasonable levels of performance in the tasks assigned to them, so that the general public derive the benefit of their service as intended.

Our demand of revision of Minimum Pay and Fitment formula is quite justified.

Comparison of earlier wage hike we can observe that the fitment factor of 2.57 times   is the lowest comparing to other pay commissions. If we make a study of earlier pay commission.

Pay Commission
Year
Minimum wage ( old )
Minimum wage (revised)
Increase
2nd CPC
1959
Rs 55/-
Rs 80/-
1.45 times
3rd CPC
1973
Rs 80/-
Rs 196/-
2.45 times
4th CPC
1986
Rs 196/-
Rs 750/-
3.82 times
5th CPC
1996
Rs 750/-
Rs 2550/-
3.40 times
6th CPC*
2006
Rs 2550/-
Rs 7000/-
2.74 times
7th CPC *
2016
Rs 7000/-
Rs 18000/-
2.57 times

Comparative picture of pay of Central Government and State Government in regards to minimum wage as on  1.7.2017

Many of the State Governments are following the Central Government pay scales, but a few state Governments have improved upon the Central Government pay scales. The examples are as under:
Government Agency
Group “D” Basic pay in Rs
Add Skill 25% from Group “D” to Group “C”
Group “C”
Basic Pay in Rs
DA %
Add DA Amount in  Rs
Basic Pay in Group “C” in Rs
Govt. of India


Nil
18000
5
900
18900
Andhra  Pradesh &  Telangana 

13000
3250
16250
24.1
3916
20166
Kerala
16500
4125
20625
14
2887
23512
Karnataka

17000
4250
21250
Nil

21250








  

The financial position of the Central Government is very good. Even the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) has shown increase in last few years which is around 7% ,  the Indian economy is fastest growing and placed 7th in the world  ( which is at 2,250.987  billions of $ ), comparing to wages paid in  the world our wages are at lower  level. The Government fiscal budget deficit equal to 3.50 percent of the country's Gross Domestic Product in 2016. Compared to 2008 where the fiscal deficit was at 7.8 %, but today the fiscal deficit is contained at 3.5%. This is also a healthy sign of the economic status of the Central Government financial status, the budget fiscal deficit is always below 4%.  


Direct tax collections in 2017-18 at Rs 9.95 lakh crore, exceeded the revised budgetary target of Rs 9.8 lakh crore. Also, 6.84 crore income tax returns filed in the year against 5.43 crore in the previous year signalling a rise of 26 %  . A net of 99.5 lakh new assesses were added to the tax net.

Net collection from corporate tax went up 17.1 per cent while that from personal income tax rose 18.9 %.

The revenue collection from Goods and Services Tax (GST) exceeded Rs 1 lakh crore in April 2018, GST revenue collected in April 2018 came at Rs 1,03,458 crore.

With the improved economic climate, introduction of e-way bill and improved GST compliance, GST collections would continue to show a positive trend.

The wage bill of the Central Government on in its employees is less than 10% or 3.4% of the GDP,  which is less compared to various countries world wide .  


Vacancy of the Central Government is about 15 % , more than 4 lakhs vacancies are existing in the Central Government the work load is being carried out by the existing employees. The Government being a model employer should pay for its employees and motivate them to work more for implementation of its policies. 
   
Hence due to the improved revenue earning of the Central Government, as assured to the staff side JCM by the Group of Ministers in respect of increase of Minimum Pay and Fitment formula, the Central Government should increase the Minimum Pay and Fitment formula.


Issued by COC Karnataka  

Thursday, May 24, 2018

Application of “Very Good” bench mark for grant of Financial upgradation under MACPS, regarding

No.35014/1/2017-Estt.D
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel P.G & Pensions
Department of Personnel & Training
***
North Block, New Delhi
Dated: 11.05.2018


To


Shri M. Krishnan,
Secretary General & Member,
Standing Committee National Council JCM,
Confederation of Central Govt. Employees & Workers,
1st Floor, North Avenue PO Building,
New Delhi.

Sub: Application of “Very Good” bench mark for grant of Financial upgradation under MACPS, regarding.

I am directed to refer to your letter No. Confdn/Genl/2016-19 dated 14.03.2018 on the above mentioned subject and to state that there is no question of allowing second opportunity of representation against the APAR which are post 2009 as these are already disclosed to the employees in APAR process. However, instructions prescribing modalities of implementation of 7th CPC recommendations for enhancing the benchmark from ‘Good’ to ‘Very Good’ in respect of promotion, is yet to be issued. The matter is under consideration.

2. This issues with the approval of Joint Secretary (E).


Yours faithfully,
Sd/-
(Kuldeep Chaudhary)
Section Officer 

Prescription of Timelines under CGHS for settlement of Medical claims of Pensioner CGHS beneficiaries


Government of India
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
Department of Health & Family Welfare
Directorate General of CGHS
Office of the Director, CGHS

No:Z.15025/38/2018 /DIR/CGHS

545-A Nirman Bhawan,New Delhi

Dated the 14th May, 2018


OFFICE MEMORANDUM


Subject :- Prescription of Timelines under CGHS for settlement of Medical claims of Pensioner CGHS beneficiaries


With reference to the above subject the undersigned is directed to draw attention to the OM No Z 15025/79/1/DIR/CGHS dated the 5th October 2016 and to state that it has now been decided to review the timelines prescribed for processing and settlement of medical claims of pensioner CGHS beneficiaries in compliance of the directions of Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in their Judgement in the WP(Civil) No 694 of 2015 between Shiva Kant Jha Vs UOI delivered on 13th April 2018 and in supersession of the earlier guidelines as per the details given under:

Medical Claims not requiring Special approvals

Pensioner CGHS beneficiaries shall submit the Medical claims to the CMO I/C of the CGHS Wellness Centre , where the CGHS Card is enrolled . CMO I/C of CGHS Wellness Centre issues Serial Number and sends the claim papers to the office of the Addl. Director, CGHS for processing. The Bills shall be processed by the Dealing Asstants and CMO and after the approval by the Additional Director, the bill for payment shall be sent to the Pay & Accounts Office for payment to the beneficiary by ECS. The payment shall be completed within 30 days of submission of the Medical claim papers at the CGHS Wellness Centre.

Medical claims requiring approval of higher authorities
Total time within 45 days in Delhi

Total time within 60 days in other cities

Medical Claims requiring opinion of specialists
Total time 45 days

2. chief Medical Officer in charge shall thoroughly check the papers initially for the completeness of the requisite documents before accepting the claim papers to ensure that the claim papers are not returned subsequently for want of some documents.

3. If approval of Directorate or Ministry is involved, the Addl. Directors shall submit only e-file with self-contained note and recommendation, enclosing only relevant scanned documents. Care shall be taken not to regret medical claims of pensioner CGHS beneficiaries on minor technical objections if, they fall under procedural lapses, which can be condoned.

S/d,
(Dr.D.C.Joshi)
Director, CG

Relaxation of Rules for consideration of reimbursement in excess of the approved rates pertaining to medical claims :


CLICK HERE FOR CGHS ORDER


Government of India
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
Department of Health & Family Welfare
EHS Section

No: Z.15025/38/2018/DIR/CGHS/EHS 
Nirman Bhawan, New Delhi
Dated the 22nd May, 2018

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Subject: - Relaxation of Rules for consideration of reimbursement in excess of the approved rates pertaining to medical claims

With reference to the above mentioned subject the undersigned is directed to draw attention to the Office Memorandum No. 4-18/2005- C&P [Vo]. l-Pt (1)], dated the 20th February 2009 and to state that it has now been decided to modify the Para 3 (2) of the above referred Office Memorandum as per the details given under the succeeding paragraphs.

a) The requests for full reimbursement which fall under the following defined criteria shall be examined by Directorate General of CGHS and submitted to AS&DG (CGHS) for consideration of approval. After the recommendation of AS&DG (CGHS), the concurrence of Internal Finance Division and approval of Secretary, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare are required for reimbursement in excess of CGHS rates:

1) Treatment was obtained in a private unrecognized hospital under emergency and the patient was admitted by others when the beneficiary was unconscious or severely incapacitated and was hospitalized for a prolonged period.

2) Treatment was obtained in a private unrecognized hospital under emergency and was admitted for prolonged period for treatment of Head Injury, Coma , Septicemia, Multi-organ failure , etc.

3) Treatment was obtained in a private unrecognized hospital under emergency for treatment of advanced malignancy

4) Treatment was taken under emergency in higher type of accommodation as rooms as per his/her entitlement are not available during that period.

5) Treatment was taken in higher type of accommodation under specific conditions for isolation of patients to avoid contacting infections

6) Treatment was obtained in a private unrecognized hospital under emergency when there is a strike in Govt. hospitals.

7) Treatment was obtained in a private unrecognized hospital under emergency while on official tour to non-CGHS covered area.

b) The requests from CGHS beneficiaries. having a valid CGHS Card at the time of treatment, in respect of the following conditions shall be considered by a High Powered Committee constituted by Ministry of Health & Family Welfare:

(i) Settlement of medical claims in relaxation of rules

(ii) Approval for air-fare with or without attendant on the advice of treating doctor for treatment in another city even though he/she is not eligible for air travel treatment facilities are available in city of residence

(iii) Representations from CGHS beneficiaries seeking full reimbursements under special Circumstances, which are not notified.

c) The other terms and conditions mentioned in the OM No. 4-18/2005- C&P[Vol. l-Pt(1)] dated the 20 February 2009 shall remain unchanged. 

Sd/-
(Rajeev Attri)
Under Secretary to Government of India