Dept of post celebrating National Postal Week
The Department of Posts is celebrating the National Postal Week to highlight its role and contribution in the lives of people.
As part of the week-long exercise, the department would celebrate Savings Bank Day on 10th October that is tomorrow, Mail Day and Philately Day on October 13, Postal Life Insurance Day on October 14 and on the final day Business Development Day.
The department will also celebrate the World Post Day to commemorate the establishment of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) in 1874 in the Swiss capital Berne.
(PD)
An Open Letter to Every Indian
English Version
https://www.indiapost.gov.in/VAS/Pages/News/NationalPostalWeek2016.pdf
Formation of Committee to streamline NPS: Notified in 7th CPC - RTI Reply
RTI Reply in connection with formation of committee to Streamline NPS
While 'surgical strikes' were under way, govt cut Army's disability pensions
New Delhi, October 10, 2016
As army para-commandos slipped silently across the Line of Control (LoC) on September 28 on a perilous mission to punish anti-India jihadis and their Pakistani army backers, the Government of India quietly put the finishing touches on a plan to slash disability pensions for injuries incurred in the line of duty.
On September 30, the day after India began celebrating the successful “surgical strikes”, the ministry of defence (MoD) issued a letter that dramatically reduced pensions for soldiers invalided out from the army after being crippled by battle injuries, or by injuries directly attributable to hazardous military service.
It was just as well that the commandos returned without significant casualties. If a young soldier with severe injuries — what cold medical jargon terms “100 per cent disability” — from that operation had been invalided out from service, he would have found his monthly pension slashed from Rs 45,200 to just Rs 27,200 — down by Rs 18,000 a month.
The team leaders in the “surgical strikes”, majors with 10 years of service, have been hit even harder — with pension for 100 per cent disability slashed by over Rs 70,000 a month. Junior commissioned officers, the spine of the army, are also badly affected. Naib subedars with 26 years of service will find their 100 per cent disability pensions slashed by Rs 40,000 a month.
“Shocked is an understatement to describe what we feel,” said a top serving general. “Instead of joining us in celebrating the strikes, the MoD has stabbed us in the back.”
Two weeks later, as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) uses military images and the army’s intrepid cross-LoC raid as vote-catchers in four impending state elections, news is filtering through the army hierarchy that the slashing of disability pensions includes not just battle disability pensions, but also pensions for medical disabilities found to be attributable to, or aggravated by, military service. These include training accidents, including parachuting, respiratory ailments caused by long exposure to extreme altitudes, loss of digits/limbs due to frostbite, etc.
This bombshell has been lobbed onto the army through a draft gazette notification dated September 30, issued ironically by the “Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare”. In this document, posted on the defence ministry website, the reduced rates are listed out in a paragraph titled: “Enhancement in rate of disability pension”.
It scraps a decade-old system that the Sixth Central Pay Commission (6th CPC) instituted in 2006. In that, disability pensions arising from battle injuries, or disabilities attributable to/aggravated by military service, were calculated on a “percentage basis”, related to the last pay drawn.
Now, for unspecified reasons, disability pensions will be calculated according to a far less generous “slab system” that existed earlier. The 7CPC has proposed, and the government accepted, that the earlier system be reinstated.
Adding insult to financial injury, civilians will continue to be paid pensions according to the earlier “percentage system”.
Until the September 30 notification, officers and soldiers who had suffered 100 per cent disability in battle were entitled disability pension that matched their last pay drawn. In addition, they would draw a “service component” of pension, which amounted to 50 per cent of their last pay drawn.
Under the new rules, which come into effect retrospectively from January 1, 2016, the “service component” remains unchanged, but a “slab system” has been introduced for disability pension, which is significantly lower than the percentage system — Rs 27,000 a month for officers, 17,000 for junior commissioned officers (JCOs), and Rs 12,000 for all other ranks (ORs).
A soldier with five years of service earns Rs 30,400 a month; 100 per cent disability pension would match that figure. In its place, he will now be entitled to a flat rate of Rs 12,000 a month. A major with 10 years of service earns Rs 98,300 a month. In place of that figure for 100 per cent disability, he will get just Rs 27,000 a month.
For lower disability percentages, disability pension is calculated on a pro-rata basis.
Besides battle casualties, most service-related disabilities are those categorised as “attributable to/aggravated by military service”. This too has been badly hit for the army.
According to the army headquarter’s calculations, the new “slab system” would cause a loss of Rs 2,040 a month to a senior sepoy with 100 per cent disability, Rs 3,472 to a subedar, and Rs 6,855 per month to a lieutenant colonel.
Source : http://www.business-standard.com
Govt warns employees against criticising policies
Press Trust of India | New Delhi October 10, 2016
The Centre has warned employees of disciplinary action if they indulge in criticism of the government or its policies.
The move comes after officers of Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise) and All India Association of Central Excise Gazetted Executive Officers, among others, suggested changes in Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN), a private company tasked with creating information technology infrastructure for the goods and services tax (GST), and composition of Revenue Secretary-led GST council secretariat.
“Of late, it has been noticed that some associations or federations have commented adversely on the government and its policies. It may be brought to the notice of all associations or federations that if anyone indulges in criticism of the government and its policies, appropriate action (including disciplinary action) shall be taken,” an order issued recently by finance ministry said.
It cited service rules that bar any government servant from making any adverse criticism of any policy or action of the government.
“No government servant shall, in any radio broadcast, telecast through any electronic media or in any document published in his own name or anonymously, pseudonymously or in the name of any other person or in any communication to the press or in any public utterance, make any statement of fact or opinion which has the effect of an adverse criticism of any current or recent policy or action of the central government or state government,” the service rules say.
Citing existing norms, the finance ministry said the primary objective of the service associations is to promote common service interest of its members.
The ministry asked chief commissioners and directors general concerned to ensure that only recognised employees associations get the benefits mentioned in the rules.
All recognised service associations or federations are entitled for certain benefits such as correspondence and meetings with the head of administrative departments, provision of accommodation for the association subject to availability, facility of special casual leave up to 20 days in a year to office-bearers of associations and payment of Travelling Allowance and Dearness Allowance for attending officially sponsored meetings.
“In the case of service associations or federations which are not recognised or whose recognition has expired, office-bearers of such associations or federations shall not be entitled for these benefits,” the finance ministry said.
Besides service associations, Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Parliament Subramanian Swamy has also been opposing majority stake for private entities in GSTN and has already written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi objecting to this.
The central government holds 24.5 per cent stake in GSTN, while state governments together hold another 24.5 per cent.
The remaining 51 per cent equity is with non-government financial institutions, like HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and LIC Housing Finance.
“Management of GSTN be entrusted to Directorate General, Systems of Central Board of Excise and Customs, as GSTN is a newly created special purpose vehicle, which does not have any experience in implementing any IT project or domain knowledge in Indirect Tax laws,” the IRS association had said in a statement.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister, had recently approved ‘Project Saksham’, a new indirect tax network (systems integration) of the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC).
The total project cost involved is Rs 2,256 crore, which will be incurred over a period of seven years.
Source : http://www.business-standard.com
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