Circle Union writes to Chief PMG, Odisha on posting of LSG officials

Circle Union writes to Chief PMG, Odisha on posting of LSG officials

No. P3Odisha/08-01/2017

Dated at Bhubaneswar the 27^th January, 2017

To

The Chief Postmaster General

Odisha Circle

Bhubaneswar – 751 001

Sub:  Implementation of  Cadre Restructuring proposal for Group-C postal employees in Odisha Circle – Regarding

Ref.- D G (Posts) letter No. 25 – 4 / 2012 – PE.I, dated 27.05.2016

Respected Sir,

            This has a kind reference to this Circle Union’s letter No. P3Odisha/03-01/2017, dated 20^th January, 2017 with request first to complete the process for  HSG-I and HSG-II cadre and then to go for LSG cadre to avoid any dislocation in managing the huge number of vacant posts under both the  higher selection grades.

            Regretfully, our letter has not yet been acknowledged.

            Now as known to this Circle Union, DPC for LSG cadre is almost completed.

As a matter of practice, what we have been witnessing is that while the promoted officials to LSG Cadre under Berhampur and Sambalpur Region are just allotted leaving their posting orders to be issued by the concerned PMGs, the same for Head Quarters Region are directly issued by the Circle Office, Bhubaneswar.  But this time, it will be certainly a huge task for the Circle office to issue posting orders even for the Head Quarters Region since the numbers are more.

In this context, we would like to bring to the kind notice of the Chief PMG the instructions issued under Para – 10 of  the Directorate’s letter No 25-04/2012-PE-I(Pt) dated 11.11.2016 which states as follows.

“With regard to the guidelines of posting of the staff on newly created posts of LSG, as per the existing guidelines of delegation of powers, HOCs are empowered to take such decisions”.

In addition, as per instructions laid down under Para – 4 of the Directorate’s letter No. 137-4/2006-SPB.II, dated 30.05.2006 (Amendment to Recruitment Rules for LSG and HSG-II in POs and RMS Offices), movement of personnel in LSG to the extent possible may be restricted to the Divisions.

Therefore, this Circle Union would like to suggest the Circle administration to allot the promoted LSG officials to the respective Divisional Heads with instruction to post them calling for options of the approved officials for better staff welfare.

There may not be any second opinion that a well-placed employee can be able to give his best to achieve the target assigned to the post offices which is the need of the hour in this changed scenarios of India Post.

Hope, our suggestion will be considered affirmatively keeping in view the mass scale transfer and posting now going to arise due to promotions out of the cadre restructuring of Group-C employees.

        With regards.

Yours faithfully,

( BRUHASPATI  SAMAL)

Circle Secretary

7th Pay Commission: No 'achhe din' for central govt employees as Centre likely to delay higher allowances by 3-4 months

7th Pay Commission: No 'achhe din' for central govt employees as Centre likely to delay higher allowances by 3-4 months

New Delhi, Jan 27 : Central government employees, who have been waiting for higher allowances under the 7th Pay Commission since July last year, will have to wait another 3-4 months to get pay bonanza. The central government is likely to delay the payment of the higher allowances as per the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission as the model code of conduct has been imposed following the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur. The five state polls begin on February 4. The results would be declared on March 11.

Implementing the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission, the government has given higher basic pay with arrears, effective from January 1, 2016 to its employees. The Centre referred hike in allowances other than dearness allowance to the ‘Committee on Allowances’ for examination. The 7th Pay Commission had abolished 51 of the total 196 allowances. A sources within the Finance Ministry linked to Sen Times,  the central government might delay the hike higher allowances by by another 3-4 months on the pretext of the model code of conduct.

“The government want to keep in abeyance to issue higher allowances notification as government wishes to give the higher allowances without arrears from August,the implementation month of the 7th Pay Commission recommendations, to its employees,” a finance ministry official was quoted as saying. The government gave extension the ‘Committee on Allowances’ till February 22, 2017 to submit the report on higher allowances.

If the government accepts the report of the ‘Committee on Allowances’, higher allowances will be paid with retrospective effect from August 2016. Then the government will have to pay the arrears and the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is very much against the payment of higher allowances arrears. “Government is very pleased to pay the higher allowances to its employees after Budget,” a Finance Ministry official had said.

The 7th Pay Commission report submitted by Justice (retd) AK Mathur had suggested a total hike, inclusive of salary and allowance, of 23.5 per cent. The basic pay was increased by 14.27%.

650 districts in country to have post office PSKs

650 districts in country to have post office PSKs

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has drawn up ambitious plans of opening post office Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs) in 650 districts across the country soon.

Disclosing this during the inauguration of a post office PSK here on Wednesday, MEA Secretary D.M. Mulay said the MEA was planning to collaborate with the Department of Posts by opening PSKs at district level across the country to meet the growing demand for passports. The demand for passports in India, which is around 2 crore a year, was the third highest in the world after China and the U.S. A total of 60,000 passports are issued every day in the country, he added.

While there are a total of 89 PSKs in the country, the first two post office PSKs were opened at the Metagalli Post office in Mysuru and the Head Post office at Dahod in Gujarat in pilot mode on Wednesday.

Usha Chandrashekar, member, Postal Services Board, who was also present at the inauguration, said the postal officials will be processing the applications for verification of documents and obtaining the photographs and biometrics of the applicants at the post office PSKs.

The Department of Posts, which was earlier only handling posts, has also been handling a variety of other services, including delivering e-commerce parcels, insurance, social security products, and agricultural seeds. Now, it will be handling delivery of passport-related services in an IT-enabled manner, she added.

Union Minister Ananth Kumar, who inaugurated the post office PSK in Mysuru, hoped that all the districts of the country will have a PSK in one year’s time and appreciated Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj’s initiative in the regard.

 Pratap Simha, MP, recalled that the demand for a PSK for Mysuru was the first issue on which he had spoken in the Parliament after his election. He revealed that the decision to start a post office PSK in Mysuru from Wednesday was taken only last Friday and appreciated the officials of the Regional Passport Office, Bengaluru, led by RPO P.S. Karthigeyan for making the necessary arrangements in quick time.

Govt to look into issues of Aadhaar being made mandatory for select schemes

Govt to look into issues of Aadhaar being made mandatory for select schemes

The Centre is examining various questions raised by Software Freedom Law Centre (SFLC), a legal services organisation, with regard to violation of the Supreme Court’s order against making Aadhaar mandatory for access to certain services, sources close to the development, told Business Line.

According to sources, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of Electronics and Information Technology, has recently responded to a letter by Rajya Sabha MP, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, saying he was ‘getting the matter examined’.

Chandrasekhar, in his letter to Prasad in December, had asked the government to state the ‘correct position under law’ on the issue of Aadhaar being made mandatory by various government and private entities with regard to their schemes, which, he said was a violation of the apex court’s orders.

Chandrasekhar had also raised question in the Rajya Sabha in November, after which SFLC had written in detail to Chandrashekar, listing out about 120 violations between September 2015 and September 2016, based on which the MP had written a letter to Prasad, who incidentally is also the Law & Justice Minister.

Exempted schemes

The Aadhaar scheme is instituted and operated by the Unique Authority of India (UIDAI) and in 2015, the Supreme Court had restricted the voluntary use of Aadhaar to six government schemes — the public distribution system (PDS), LPG, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), Prime Minister’s Jan Dhan Yojna and National Social Assistance Programme (old age and widow pension). The court had clearly emphasised that no person should be denied any service for lack of an Aadhaar card or number.

However, many schemes are being run wherein Aadhaar has been made mandatory to avail of the services.

• Citing SFLC’s list, Chandrasekhar highlighted some of the schemes wherein Aadhaar has been made mandatory.
• “For instance, he has mentioned government considering EPFO’s voluntary pension scheme linked with Aadhaar, Linking BPL ration cards with Aadhaar made mandatory for PDS in Bengaluru, Paytm starting Aadhaar-based KYC process, government saying households not to get LPG subsidy without Aadhaar,” said a government official.
• 111 crore cards issued
• Meanwhile, the government is enrolling Aadhaar numbers to the maximum number of people, including children, asking the authority to enrol as many people as possible at the earliest.
• As of Wednesday, 111 crore Aadhaar cards have already been generated, according to the UIDAI website.
• Recently, Prasad had also said that the more people are enrolled with Aadhaar, the maximum number of benefits they would get. He had also said that the government was now going to introduce a new Aadhaar-based digital payment system for the common man.
• But, several citizen groups have pointed out that the mandatory use of Aadhaar in social welfare schemes was leading to exclusion and harassment of the poor, and was in violation of Supreme Court’s six orders in three years.
• The citizens groups also pointed out that the Aadhaar Act 2016, ‘nowhere authorises the seeding of the Aadhaar number in any database. “The 2016 Act clearly speaks only of ‘authentication’, viz., asking the UIDAI database to verify that we are who we say we are. So, asking anyone to put the number in any other database (the LPG database, for example, is unsupported by the law),” they said.

//copy//-POTOOLS

AIPEU-GDS TAMBARAM DIVISION (TAMIL NADU CIRCLE) CONFERENCE

AIPEU-GDS TAMBARAM DIVISION (TAMIL NADU CIRCLE) CONFERENCE

The 2nd Biennial Divisional Conference of AIPEU GDS has been held on 29-01-2017 in the premises of Ambathur HO, Chennai.

Com.J.Ramamoorthy, All India President, Gr.C & Circle Secretary, Gr.C., Tamil Nadu circle inaugurated the conference. Com.K.V.Sridharan, Former General Secretary, AIPEU Gr.C., & Com.P.Pandurangarao, General Secretary, AIPEU-GDS attended as Cheif Guests.

Com.K.V.Sridharan elaborately explained about the recommendations of Shri Kamalesh Chandra Committee.

Com.R.Sivannarayana, Former All India President, AIPEU GrC., Com.A.Veeramani, Asst. Genl Secretary, AIPEU GrC (CHQ), Com.R.Dhanraj, Dy Genl, Secretary, AIPEU GDS., Com.D.Sivagurunathan, All India Vice President, AIPCPCCWF., Com.Manimeghalai, All India Mahila Committee. Gr.C., Com.P.Suresh, Asst. Circle Secretary, P4, TN Circle, Com.Madaswamy, Pensioner's Association, Com.Ashokan, Divl, Secretary, Gr.C., Ambathur, Com.Selvakumar, Br. Secy., Gr.C., Tambaram, Com.Siva Kumar, Br Secretary, Gr.C., Avadi Br and many other leaders attended and addressed the meeting.

More than 200 GDS Comrades attended and graced the meeting. The arrangements made by Com.Ashokan, Com.V.S.Giri, Com.Suresh and team is appreciated.

 A new set of office bearers elected unanimously for AIPEU GDS, Tambaram division for the ensuing period.

President : Com.J.Bharathiraja

Secretary: Com.V.A.Palani

Fin Secy : Com.C.Jothibabu

AIPEU GDS CHQ  conveyed heartfelt thanks and congratulations to the comrades of Tambaram for conducting the conference successfully.

 Highlights of DoPT OM No. 28020/1/2010-Estt(C) Dtaed 17.08.2016

Compiled by K.V.Ramesh, Sr.JGS IRTSA.

1. Technical Resignation:

·         Government servant should have applied through proper channel for a post in same or some other Department.

·         If the conditions are met, it will be taken as Technical resignation, even if it was not mentioned as Technical Resignation while applying and all admissible benefits should be extended.

·         If competent authority not allowed the forwarding of application, it will not be treated as Technical resignation.

·         Benefits are admissible even if the employee applied before joining the service and application was not routed through proper channel, provided employee should intimate such application immediately after joining the service. 

2. Balance leave credited:

·         Balance of utilized Child Care Leave and other leaves will be carried forward.

·         In case of permanent absorption in PSU/Autonomous Body/State Govt. employee is eligible for cash equivalent of leave salary in respect of EL & HPL at his credit subject to the limit of 300 days.

3. LTC carry forwarded: Entitlement for LTC will be carry forward.

4. Pay Protection: Protection of Pay will be given.
If employee rejoins his previous post:

·         In case employee rejoins his earlier post, he will be entitled for increments for the period of his absence from that post.

·         Transfer of GPF will be governed.

·         Seniority in the post held by the employee on substantive basis continues to be protected.

5. However the period spent in other department will not be counted for minimum qualifying service for promotion.

6. Past service counted for Pension: Employee originally joined before 1.1.2004, joined the new post on technical resignation after 1.1.2004, his past services are counted towards pension.

7. Transfer of NPS account: In case of NPS, the balance standing in Personal Retirement Account along with PRNA will be carried forward to new office.

8. Service Book transfer: Service Book from the date first appointment must be kept in the custody of head office in which employee is serving and transferred with him from office to office.

9. Medical Examination & verification:

·         If standard of medical examination is same for the new post, then employee need not to undergo fresh medical examination.

·         No need for verification of character & Antecedents of the employee, if period of discharging from previous post and appointment to new post is less than a year.

10. Lien will be maintained for two years normally, 3 years in exceptional cases.

11. Joining Time, Joining time pay & allowances:

·         Central & State Govt employees are eligible for joining time, which will be included as qualifying service in new Job.

·         During Joining Time, Eligible for pay equal to pay drawn in old post before relinquishment, DA &

HRA. No Transport allowance

·         Entitled for Transfer Travelling Allowance.

Download Technical Resignation and Lien highlights and OM No. 28020/1/2010-Estt(C) Dtaed 17.08.2016 by clicking the below link

Download

RICT DEVICE TRAINING MANUAL

RICT DEVICE TRAINING MANUAL

OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE OF RICT DEVICE:

Click below link to download RICT materials

CLICK HERE FOR FULL DETAILS

The introduction of Hand-held Device viz., Main Computing Device (MCD) with all its peripherals going to be used in Branch Post Offices is well presented for the information of GDS and all others.

This gives us preliminary information along with some theoretical knowledge (for unaware GDS) & practical knowledge (for those who are in good practice in some Circles/Divisions) over the MCD (Hand-held Device) and its usage in BOs.

2 arrested for fraud in postal department recruitment

LUCKNOW: Two members of a gang fleecing job aspirants were nabbed by sleuths of STF on Saturday. Those arrested were identified as Ram Praveen and Dharamraj Kumar, both of Nalanda, Bihar. The police also seized their two mobile handsets. 

SSP STF Amit Pathak said the gang leaked results of exam for selection of multi-tasking staff and postman conducted by Indian Postal services on a fake website ahead of official results. Preliminary investigations revealed the kingpin Dharamraj used to make calls and ask for money promising selection and charged Rs 30,000 from each candidate for the post of multi-tasking staff and postman.

They had duped around 300 students giving them different bank account numbers to deposit cash and had amassed Rs 90 lakh. "We are probing their bank details and also of others associated with the gang," police told TOI. 

The gang used to call up applicants who had scored less than qualifying marks and assured to increase their marks against payment of cash. The gang had leaked data of applicants and results from third party which conducted the examinations. 

They had created a fake website of Indian Postal Department Examination Results and duped thousands of applicants and eventually the exam had to be cancelled. The exam was conducted by Indian PostalServices in December 2015, at Agra, Allahabad, Bareilly and Lucknow. 

To win the confidence of aspirants, the miscreants formed a base in Nalanda, one of the most revered seats of learning in Bihar. STF inspector Abhinav Singh said the probe began when V K Gupta, vigilance officer of postal department lodged an FIR in 2016 regarding the fraud. 

Source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/2-arrested-for-fraud-in-postal-department-recruitment/articleshow/56840101.cms

Relaxation in the norms of promotions from LSG to HSG-II & HSG-II to HSG-I as one time measure - CHQ writes to Department

Relaxation in the norms of promotions from LSG to HSG-II & HSG-II to HSG-I as one time measure - CHQ writes to Department

REFLECTION OF THE RECURRENT LAPSES IN OBSERVING FINANCIAL DISCIPLINE IN THE ANNUAL PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT REPORT (APAR)

REFLECTION OF THE RECURRENT LAPSES IN OBSERVING FINANCIAL DISCIPLINE IN THE ANNUAL PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT REPORT (APAR)

India Post Payments Bank gets RBI nod to start ops

India Post Payments Bank gets RBI nod to start ops

TNN |  Jan 28, 2017

NEW DELHI: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has given its nod to the India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) to start operations. The government has also appointed an interim CEO, who will help set up the entity.

IPPB is the third entity (got final licence from RBI on January 20) after Airtel and Paytm payment banks to get the central bank's approval, sources said. Operations are expected to start before March 31 and will be gradually rolled out in 650 districts using the network of 1.54 lakh post offices. 

The government has appointed A P Singh as the interim managing director and CEO of IPPB. A 1986 batch Indian Postal Service officer, Singh was earlier joint secretary in the department of investment and public asset management (DIPAM). He has also served as the deputy director general in-charge of financial inclusion and payment systems in the founding team of UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India). The Aadhaar enabled payments system, e-kyc (electronic know your customer) and direct benefit transfers were piloted by him. 

Payments banks are brainchild of former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan, who came up with the idea of differentiated bank licences. These banks do not offer loans and several other facilities that are offered by full-fledged banks and are not allowed to accept deposits over Rs 1 lakh. But, they can be of immense help in taking banking services across the country and in remote areas.

Earlier this month, Airtel Payments Bank launched nationwide operations, offering 7.25% interest on savings, which is more than maximum 7% paid by SBI on FDs. Paytm is expected to start operations of its payments bank next month.

The India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) has been incorporated as a public limited company under the department of posts with 100% equity from the government.

It will offer demand deposits such as savings and current accounts up to Rs 1 lakh, digitally-enabled payments and remittance services of all kinds between entities and individuals and also provide access to third party financial services such as insurance, mutual funds, pension, credit products, forex, and more, in partnership with insurance companies, mutual fund houses, pension providers, banks, international money transfer organisations, according to its website.

The postal payment bank will use postmen to help deliver banking services. The huge network of post offices provides enough muscle to the new player and it has also drawn up plans to offer services through internet and mobile banking, and pre-paid instruments such as mobile wallets, debit cards, ATMs, PoS (point of sale) and MPoS (mobile point of sale) terminals. Postmen will trained in soft skills to be able to carry out banking operations. 

Source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

IndiaPost becomes 3rd entity to receive licence to start payment bank operations

IndiaPost becomes 3rd entity to receive licence to start payment bank operations

IndiaPost becomes 3rd entity to receive licence to start payment bank operations

NEW DELHI: IndiaPost has become the third entity to receive a final license last week from the Central Bank to start its payment bank operations. Country’s largest telcom service provider Bharti Airtel and digital payments firm Paytm are the other two to have received the license while only Airtel has started operations so far. 

The government has also appointed AP Singh has interim MD and CEO of the India Post Payment Bank. A 1986 Indian Postal Service Officer he was earlier Joint Secretary in the department of disinvestment, ministry of Finance and Deputy Director General incharge of financial inclusion and payments systems at Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). Singh was one part of the founding team that launched Aadhaar and was stationed at the department of Post prior to UIDAI. 

As per the initial road map, each post office in the country will offer the post bank services. The department of post has an existing network of around 1,55,000 post offices currently. ET had reported earlier that IndiaPost plans to open 650 new branches for the payment bank. The branches will be co-located with the existing post offices. The idea is that the 650 branches will be in located in postal district headquarters and all the branches under that particular head post office will be enabled by the payment bank services. This will cover the entire network of 155,000 post offices in the country. 

Earlier this month, Airtel Payments Bank launched nationwide operations, offering 7.25% interest on savings bank balances, which is more than the maximum 7% paid by SBI on its fixed deposits. Bharti and Kotak Mahindra, which holds a 20% stake in the payments bank, would invest Rs 3,000 crore in the venture. 

Payments banks can accept deposits from individuals and small businesses of up to Rs 1 lakh per account. And RBI had set a condition that formal license has to be obtained before 31 March. 

ALIBABA backed Paytm also said early in January that it has received the final license from RBI and the company hopes to launch operations in February with the first branch coming up in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.

While operation of Payment Banks such as Paytm are likely to be focused on technology based differentiation, IndiaPost is banking on its huge reach especially in the rural areas to be successful.

Source : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/

REFLECTION OF THE RECURRENT LAPSES IN OBSERVING FINANCIAL DISCIPLINE IN THE ANNUAL PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT REPORT (APAR) 

CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS

CLARIFICATION REGARDING TIMELY PAYMENT OF GPF FINAL PAYMENT TO THE RETIRING GOVERNMENT SERVANT – DOPT ORDERC.

No.3/3/2016-P&PW (F)
Ministry of Personnel, PG & Pensions
Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare
Desk-F

3rd Floor, Lok Nayak Bhavan,
Khan Market, New Delhi-110003
Dated 16th January 2017.

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Subject: Clarification regarding timely payment of GPF final payment to the retiring Government servant – regarding

            During review meetings held to evaluate the status of implementation of Bhavishya with Ministries/Departments, it was observed that GPF final payment in many cases is not being paid to the retiring Government servants immediately on retirement from service leading to payment of interest for the delayed period.

2. Rule 34 of General Provident Fund (Central Service) Rules clearly provides that when the amount standing at the credit of a subscriber in the General Provident Fund becomes payable, it shall be the duty of the Accounts Officer to make payment. The authority for the amount payable is to be issued at least a month before the date of superannuation, but payable on the date of superannuation. It may be noted that the requirement of submitting a written application by the retiring Govt. servant for GPF final payment has been dispensed with vide this Department’s Notification No.20(12)/94-P&PW (E) dated 15.11.1996 and notified under S.O NO.3228 dated 23.11.19963. As per Rule 11(4) of GPF Rules, in case the GPF balance is not paid on retirement, interest on the GPF balance is required to be paid for the period beyond the date of retirement also. While interest for the first six months beyond retirement can be allowed by the PAO in the normal course, approval of Head of the accounts office is required for payment of interest beyond six months and that of Controller of Account/Financial Adviser beyond a period of one year.

4. To ensure timely final payment of GPF, and to avoid unnecessary financial burden on account of interest beyond retirement, it has now been decided that every case, in which payment of interest on General Provident Fund becomes necessary in terms of Rules 11(4) of GPF Rules, 1960, shall be put up for consideration to the Secretary of the Administrative Ministry/Department. In all such cases the Secretary of the Administrative Ministry/Department will fix responsibility at all levels to take appropriate action against the Government servant or servants who are found responsible for the delay in the payment of General Provident Fund.

5. This issues with the concurrence of the Ministry of Finance, Department of Expenditure, vide their 10 NO.187/EV/2016 dated 2th September 2016.

6. Hindi version will follow.

(Seema Gupta)
Director