Superannuation Retirement

Shri M T Choudhari, Sr.PM, Amravati HO, Nagpur Region is retiring from Government Service on superannuation on 31.03.2017.

This Association Wishes him a very Happy and Healthy Retired Life 

Superannuation Retirement

Shri N P Arsay, Sr. Superintendent of Post Offices, Akola Dn., Nagpur Region is retiring from Government Service on Superannuation on 31.03.2017.

This Association Wishes him a very Happy and Healthy Retired Life 

Validity of Self Attested affidavits

The second Administrative Reforms Commission in its 4th Report titled ‘Ethics in Governance’ and 12th Report titled ‘Citizen Centric Governance’ had stressed on the need for simplification of Government procedures. As a part of simplification, the State Government of Punjab in the year 2009-10 decided to do away with the practice of submitting of affidavits and also allowing of self-attestation of copies of certificates for small level Government jobs. However, this decision did not have any bearing on the requirement of submission of affidavits in the Courts as per the law. This initiative of State Government of Punjab had won the Prime Minister’s Civil Services Award. As the part of replication of the aforesaid initiative, the Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances has been requesting on a regular basis the Central Ministries/ Departments and the State/UT Governments to adopt the similar procedure. This is a continuous process. 

This was stated by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions and Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Dr. Jitendra Singh in a written reply to a question by Shri Mahesh Poddar in the Rajya Sabha today.

PIB.

Distribution of Group C Posts After Cadre Restructuring in All over India

30069 PA posts are reduced in cadre restructuring.  On other hand 21514 LSG, 7381 HSG-II & 967 HSG-I new posts are increased besides 735 posts in new HSG (NFG) cadre created.These reduction and increase has not made any change in the total sanction strength of Gr. C cadre. 
 

Review of 'Transfer Policy' circulated by Directorate vide letter No.141-141/2013-SPB-II dated 31.01.2014-invitation of suggestion/comments.

To view, please CLICK HERE. 
 

Probation and/or confirmation of Direct Recruit Postal Assistant/Sorting Assistant in Department of Posts-Qualifying test.

To view, please CLICK HERE. 
 

Sad Demise

Mother of Shri Janawade, ASP expired today at 1630hrs, at Native place. It is a shock to family of Shri Janawade Sir.

This Association conveys heartfelt condolence on his demise and pray to almighty to give courage to the family members to bear the shock.

RESTORATION OF OLD PENSION SYSTEM IN PLACE OF CONTRIBUTORY PENSION SYSTEM

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

MINISTRY OF FINANCE

DEPARTMENT OF FINANCIAL SERVICES

RAJYA SABHA

UN STARRED QUESTION NO. 2130

TO BE ANSWERED ON MARCH 21, 2017/PHALGUNA 30, 1938 (SAKA)

RESTORATION OF OLD PENSION SYSTEM IN PLACE OF CONTRIBUTORY PENSION SYSTEM

2130. Shri T. G. Venkatesh

Will the Minister of FINANCE be pleased to state:

(a) whether it is a fact that the newly introduced Contributory Pension System is not beneficial to the employees and so the employees unions are requesting Government to re-introduce the old pension system in its place, if so, the details thereof; and

(b) whether any representation has been received in this regard by Government, if so, the details thereof and the stand of Government in this regard?

ANSWER

The Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance 

(Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar)

(a) & (b) National Pension System (NPS), which is a contributory pension system, has, inter alia, the following features which benefit the employees:

• NPS is a well designed pension system managed through an unbundled architecture involving intermediaries appointed by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) viz. Pension Funds, Custodian, Central Recordkeeping and Accounting Agency, National Pension System Trust, Trustee Bank, Points of Presence and Annuity Service Providers. It is prudently regulated by PFRDA which is a statutory regulatory body established to promote old age income security and to protect the interests of subscribers of NPS.
• Dual benefit of Low Cost and Power of Compounding– The pension wealth which accumulates over a period of time till retirement grows with a compounding effect. The all-in-costs of the institutional architecture of NPS are among the lowest in the world.
• Tax Benefits– Tax benefits are available to the NPS subscribers under various provisions of the Income- tax Act, 1961.
• Transparency and Portability is ensured through online access of the pension account by the NPS subscribers, across all geographical locations and portability of employments.
• Partial withdrawal– Subscribers can withdraw up to 25% of their own contributions towards their pension account, before attaining superannuation age for certain specified purposes subject to certain conditions.

Representations have been received from certain quarters regarding the implementation of NPS which, inter alia, include the demand that NPS may be scrapped and the Government may revert to old defined benefit pension system. However, there is no proposal to replace the NPS with old pension scheme in respect of Central Government employees recruited on or after 01.01.2004.

Source: RAJYA SABHA

Aadhaar Card Can't Be Mandatory For Government's Welfare Schemes: Supreme Court

Government can't be stopped from using Aadhaar card in schemes like opening of bank accounts.

NEW DELHI: Aadhaar cannot be mandatory for central welfare schemes, the Supreme Court said today, but added that it cannot stop the government from linking the 12-digit identification number to the opening of bank accounts or filing of tax returns.

The government recently made it mandatory for citizens to produce the 12-digit Aadhaar number for benefits under nearly three dozen central schemes including free mid-day meals for schoolchildren. Aadhaar was also made compulsory for scholarships and other schemes for backward castes and the disabled. Aadhaar cards are mandatory for subsidized cooking gas and foodgrains.

The government has said it will enable people to get their biometric identity documents by June 30.

Aadhaar cards will also be needed for filing tax returns - a move that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley says will check tax evasion.

The Supreme Court today said it cannot stop the government from doing so but reiterated its earlier order that Aadhaar cannot be mandatory for people to benefits under official welfare schemes.

Last week, responding to opposition criticism in parliament, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said that Aadhaar may soon become the only card required to identify a person, replacing Voter IDs and PAN or Permanent Account Number. He said as many as 98 per cent or 108 crore people have Aadhaar numbers.

The government has said that until all beneficiaries are assigned Aadhaar cards, subsidized foodgrain will be provided on ration cards and Aadhaar enrolment slips or a copy of an applicant's request for Aadhaar enrolment.

The centre has asked states to link Aadhaar numbers with the ration card or with bank accounts for cash transfer of food subsidy.

The use of Aadhaar as the identity document for benefits or subsidies simplifies delivery and helps make the system more transparent and efficient, the government says.

Source : http://www.ndtv.com/

Now Postal Assistant becomes AAO - New Recruitment rule of Assistant Account Officer

Click below link download Order copy 

Download

Promotion of Digital/Cashless Transactions by Government

Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Finance

24-March-2017 16:51 IST

Promotion of Digital/Cashless Transactions by Government 

The data on payment system indicators such as Paper Clearing, National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT) and National Automated Clearing House (NACH), registered growth in December, 2016 as compared to November 2016. However, the same showed a decline in January 2017 as compared to December 2016.

• Immediate Payment Service (IMPS), Unified Payment Interface (UPI) and Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) recorded a growth in January 2017 and December 2016 as compared to November 2016.

• Card transactions at Point of Sale (POS) registered growth in December 2016 as compared to November 2016. However, the same declined in January 2017 as compared to December, 2016.

• Pre-paid Payment Instrument (PPI) - considerable growth in January, 2017 and December, 2016 as compared to November, 2016.

In order to attract general public and facilitate significant behavioural change among public towards digital transactions NITI Aayog had launched two major schemes - Lucky Grahak Yojana for consumers and Digi-Dhan Vyapar Yojana for merchants. 12,72,290 consumers and 70,000 merchants have won prizes for digital payments made through AEPS, USSD, UPI and RuPay cards as on 22nd March 2017.

To incentivize the States/UTs for promotion of digital transactions, it was decided that Central assistance of Rs. 50 crore would be provided to the districts for undertaking Information, Education and Communication (IEC) activities to bring 5 crore Jan Dhan accounts to digital platform. The fund allocation is based on proportion of Jan Dhan accounts of all States/UTs. Under the scheme an incentive @ Rs. 10/- is provided for every individual who has transited to digital payment mode and undertaken at least two successful transactions by any of the five digital payments modes viz: UPI, Rupay / Debit / Credit / Prepaid Cards, AEPS, USSD and E-Wallets. NITI Aayog has so far released an amount of Rs 15.06 crore to 533 Districts as first installment.

In addition to above following measures were also taken to promote less cash payment :

• Unified Payment Interface (UPI) based Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) App which supports remittance transactions both push and collect was launched.

• Approval has been given for introduction of revised architecture of Unified USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data ) platform (*99#) USSD 2.0 version. This integrates UPI based transactions for USSD users through any type of handset.

• In principal approval has been accorded to National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) for launch of pilot for the Aadhar Pay Payment mechanism, which will enable the merchant to accept payment from customers using their Aadhar number and biometric data to be authenticated by UIDAI.

• In-principle approval has been given for launching the National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) system, which uses the Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) tags for vehicle identification and toll calculation; the toll will be automatically deducted from the prepaid accounts linked with the respective RFID tag.

• In order to facilitate wider acceptance of card payments, the following special measures for debit card transactions (including for payments made to Government), has been introduced for a temporary period between January 1, 2017 and March 31, 2017 ;

i. For transactions upto ? 1000/-, MDR has been capped at 0.25% of the transaction value.

ii. For transactions above ? 1000/- and upto ? 2000/-, MDR has been capped at 0.5% of the transaction value.

With a view promote less- cash payments, the Reserve Bank of India has been releasing its Vision for Payment and Settlement Systems in India on its website since May 2005. The latest Vision document titled “Payment and Settlement Systems in India: Vision-2018” has been released on its website on June 23, 2016. The Vision-2018 aims at building best of class payment and settlement systems for a ‘less-cash’ India. The broad contours of Vision-2018 revolve around 5 Cs – coverage, convenience, confidence, convergence and cost. To achieve these, Vision-2018 will focus on four strategic initiatives such as responsive regulation, robust infrastructure, effective supervision and customer centricity.

This was stated by Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today. 

Decision on 7th CPC allowances – Deep sense of frustration among employees

Decision on 7th CPC allowances – Deep sense of frustration among employees

Delaying 7th CPC allowances announcement will cause deep sense of frustration among Central Government employees.

“Reports indicate that the Government might take more time to announce its decisions regarding the Ashok Lavasa Committee’s report on allowances that were prescribed by the Seventh Pay Commission”

The Committee on Allowances was formed under the leadership of Ashok Lavasa in July 2016 to review the recommendations on allowances by the 7th CPC. The committee was initially given 4 months period to submit its report to Finance Ministry.

Later, citing the stagnation that resulted due to demonetization, the Finance Ministry extended the period for submitting the report to 22nd Feb 2017.

Replying to a question in the Parliament, Central Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said, on March 10, that the Allowance Committee has not yet submitted its report and that the government will immediately announce its decisions on the report as soon as it is received. He added that the committee is in the last leg of preparing its reports and that it would be submitted to the government very soon. And again, the DoPT Minister said the same statement in the Lok Sabha on 22nd March 2017.

Previously, it was said that the government will announce its decision as soon as the assembly elections in the five states concluded. Also, announcements were expected in Arun Jaitley’s budget speech in the Parliament. BJP’s win in the elections is now believed to be the reason behind a dramatic change in the situation.

As far as the Central Government employees are concerned, those living in the accommodations provided by the government are not bothered by the House Rent Allowance because the government doesn’t pay them any House Rent Allowance. Moreover, most higher officials stay in government accommodations.

Decisions on allowances offered to the armed forces are of special significance.

More than 50 lakh employees are hoping that the Centre will implement the revised allowances from April 1 onwards.

Source: http://7thpaycommissionnews.in/

Sad Demise

Mother of Shri Suresh Bansode, Postmaster, Aurangabad, expired today, the funeral ceremony at Beed at 2000hrs today. It is a shock to family of Shri Suresh Bansode.

This Association conveys heartfelt condolence on his demise and pray to almighty to give courage to the family members to bear the shock.

Special Leave connected to inquiry of sexual harassment: CCS (Leave) Amendment Rules, 2017

THE GAZETTE OF INDIA: EXTRAORDINARY [PART II-SEC. 3(i)]

MINISTRY OF PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCES AND PENSIONS

(Department of Personnel and Training)

NOTIFICATION

New Delhi, the 15th March, 2017

G.S.R. 251(E).-In exercise of the powers conferred by the proviso to article 309 read with clause (5) of article 148 of the Constitution and after consultation with the Comptroller and Auditor General of India in relation to the persons serving in the Indian Audit and Accounts Department, the President hereby makes the following rules further to amend the Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules, 1972, namely:-

1. (1) These rules may be called the Central Civil Services (Leave) Amendment Rules, 2017.

(2) They shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.

2. In the Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules, 1972, for rule 48, the following rule shall be substituted, namely:

48, Special Leave connected to inquiry of sexual harassment - Leave upto a period of 90 days may be granted to an aggrieved female Government Servant on the recommendation of the Internal Committee or the Local Committee, as the case may be, during the pendency of inquiry under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 and the leave granted to the aggrieved female Government Servant under this rule shall not be debited against the leave account.

[F. No. 13026/2/2016-Estt. (L)]

GYANENDRA DEV TRIPATHI, Jt. Secy.

Footnote : The principal rules were published vide Notification Number 80. 940, dated the 8th April, 1972 f and were last amended vide Notification number G.S.R. 711(E) dated the 8th October, 2014.

Note : The principal rules were published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part-II, Section 3, Sub-section (i), vide number S.O. 940 dated the 8th April, 1972 and have been subsequently amended.

Read at dopt.gov.in

Branches of SBBJ, SBH, SBM, SBP and SBT to operate as branches of SBI from April 1, 2017

Date : Mar 20, 2017

Branches of SBBJ, SBH, SBM, SBP and SBT to operate as branches of SBI from April 1, 2017

All branches of State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur (SBBJ), State Bank of Hyderabad (SBH), State Bank of Mysore (SBM), State Bank of Patiala (SBP) and State Bank of Travancore (SBT) will function as branches of State Bank of India from April 1, 2017. Customers, including depositors of State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Hyderabad, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Patiala and State Bank of Travancore will be treated as customers of State Bank of India with effect from April 1, 2017.

The Government of India has issued the Acquisition of State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur Order 2017, Acquisition of State Bank of Hyderabad Order 2017, Acquisition of State Bank of Mysore Order 2017, Acquisition of State Bank of Patiala Order 2017 and Acquisition of State Bank of Travancore Order 2017. The orders dated February 22, 2017 issued by the Government of India were published under Extraordinary Part II-Section 3-Sub-section (i) in the Gazette of India sanctioning the Acquisition of State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Hyderabad, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Patiala and State Bank of Travancore by State Bank of India in terms of sub section (2) of Section 35 of the State Bank of India Act, 1955 (23 of 1955).

Alpana Killawala
Principal Adviser

Press Release : 2016-2017/2504

Operating Procedure of GDS Fee Collection in Post Offices

Sad Demise

Father of Shri Kiran Reddy, IP, Mumbai Regional Office, Mumbai  expired today, the funeral ceremony at his Native place. It is a shock to family of Shri Kiran Reddy.

This Association conveys heartfelt condolence on his demise and pray to almighty to give courage to the family members to bear the shock.

Voluntary Retirement

Smt. Juee Palekar, ASP, Pune Regional Office is retiring from Government Service on Voluntarily on 15.03.2017.

This Association Wishes her a very Happy and Healthy Retired Life 

Sad Demise

Father of Shri D. T. Phanse, ASP, Circle Office, Mumbai  expired  on 12.03.2017 at 20:30 hrs. at his Native Ratnagiri due to old age It is  a  shock to family of Shri D T Phanse

This Association conveys heartfelt condolence on his demise and pray to almighty to give courage to the family members to bear the shock.