Submission of Digital Life Certificate Date Extended Upto 31st March

Submission of Digital Life Certificate Date Extended Upto 31st march 2017

EPF & MP Act, 1952 made applicable to all staff employed in ECHS on contractual basis

A single page composite claim form in death cases replaces Form 20, form 5-IF and Form 10-D

Noticing that many pensioners are yet to submit Aadhaar authenticated Jeevan Pramaan as life certificate for continuation of drawal of pension, the EPFO has further extended the last date of submission of Digital Life Certificate through Jeevan Pramaan Patra upto 31st March 2017. Earlier the last date was 28th February 2017.

Members and pensioners of the Employees’ Pension Scheme, 1995 are required to furnish Aadhaar number by 31st March 2017. In case a member has not been allotted Aadhaar Number, a copy of Aadhaar Enrolment ID slip is required to be attached for settlement of claim under EPS, 1995, namely for pension processing and monthly pension payments. Aadhaar number however is not required in case a member of pension scheme having less than 10 years of service chooses to withdraw by making an application in Form 10-C.

An Employee Enrolment Campaign-2017, started by EPFO on January 1st 2017 to cover left out workers, continues upto 31st March 2017. Under the scheme:-

· The employee’s share of contributions if not deducted by the employer is waived.

· Nominal damages to be paid by the employer, in respect of the employees for whom declaration has been made under this campaign, is at the rate of Rupee One per annum.

· Administrative charges have been waived.

Even though the EPF & MP Act, 1952 does not differentiate between casual, contractual and regular employees, it was noted that a large number of contractual employees hired by principal employer including those by the government departments, PSU and autonomous Organizations have remained out of coverage under EPFO. It is the duty of the principal employer to ensure compliance of their outsourced / regular / contract / casual / daily wager to the schemes under EPF Act.

To ensure coverage of workers, principal employers have been advised to ensure that their contractors are registered with EPFO before award of any contract or making any payments. EPFO provides relevant information in this regard to principal employers online.

A health care scheme called ECHS was formulated by Ministry of Defence for its ex-servicemen. The contractual workers of ECHS till now were deprived of the social security benefits under EPFO. The ECHS now has been brought under the ambit of the EPF Act. Ministry of Defence has issued necessary directions to the ECHS for enrolling their contractual staff. Similarly, all eligible workers engaged by contractors working with Military Engineering Services (MES) and Indian Railways have also being requested to ensure coverage of contractual employees under EPFO.

Towards continuous strive to bring increased conveniences and efficiency, a single page Composite Claim Form (Aadhar) replaces Forms No. 19 (UAN), 10C (UAN) & 31(UAN) for subscribers seeding their Aadhar number with UAN. This can be submitted without the attestation of employers. For subscribers who are yet to seed Aadhaar and Bank details with their UAN, a new Composite Claim Form (Non-Aadhar) replaces the existing Forms No. 19, 10C & 31.

In addition, a Composite Claim Form in death cases replaces the existing Forms No, 20, 5-IF and 10-D. The claimants can apply for claim of Provident Fund, Insurance Fund and monthly pension through this single page composite claim form in case of death of a member.

Source: PIB News

Will announcements regarding 7th Central Pay Commission Allowances be made this week?

Will announcements regarding 7th CPC Allowances be made this week?

“Will the authorities announce the Government’s decisions regarding all the allowances for the Central Government employees, including the HRA, at least this week?”

The 7th Pay Commission’s recommendations on the allowances being given to the Central Government employees was nothing short of controversial. The employees were very dissatisfied that the Commission had recommended that the rates of HRA percentage, which they had been receving for the past ten years, be reduced. The various Central Government employees’ unions and federations announced protests to review the recommendations on Minimum Pay, Fitment Factor including HRA.

The centre responded by constituting a special high-level committee, chaired by Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa to review the recommendations on allowances by the 7th CPC. The government had initially instructed the committee to submit its report within four months. Later, citing the stagnation that resulted due to demonetization, the committee was given an additional two months’ time. The extended duration ended last month.

The Allowance Committee was expected to submit its report to the government on February 22. The media – print, websites of all the leading dailies and countless blogs, were full of contradictory reports and guesses. There is no concrete information available on this issue until now.

Meanwhile, the CGDA published a circular on 3rd March 2017 regarding Alloawnce Committee on its official portal. The circular said, MoD has received an Office Memorandum from the Finance Ministry on 23.02.2017 regarding HRA. The O.M. had instructed the Ministry of Defence to submit a detailed report of all its employees, those who were given Government accommodations, and on those who were receiving house rent allowances.

The order said that the step was taken as part of its response to the demand made by the Staff Side of National Council JCM and many other Ministries/Departments, to revise the rates of HRA percentage recommended by the 7th Pay Commission.

Latest reports claim that the government has decided to release its reports after studying the current status of HRA in the Defence sector, which employs the most number of employees among the various Central Government Ministries.

Source: http://teut.in/

GPF Subscribers Enhanced Advance Limit Upto Tweleve Months Of Pay

GPF Advance Limit Enhanced upto 12 Months of Pay – DoPPW Order

Amendment to the provisions of General Provident Fund (Central Service )Rules 1960- liberalization of provisions for drawal of advance from the Fund by the subscribers.

“Enhance the limit of advance upto 12 months of pay or three-fourth of the amount at credit, whichever is less”

No 3/212017 -P&PW (F)(i)

Ministry of Personnel, PG & Pensions

Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare

Desk-F

3rdFloor, Lok Nayak Bhavan,

Khan Market, New Delhi-11 0003

Dated 7th March, 2017.

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Subject : Amendment to the provisions of General Provident Fund (Central Service )Rules 1960- liberalization of provisions for drawal of advance from the Fund by the subscribers – regarding.

The General Provident Fund (Central Service )Rules came into force in 1960. Rule 12 of the said rules provide for drawal of advance by the subscribers, to be sanctioned by the competent authority for reasons indicated in the Rules. Some amendments have been made from time to time to address the concerns raised by the subscribers. However, the provisions, largely. remain restrictive. There is a felt need to liberalize provisions, raise limits and simplify the procedure.

2. The provisions in the. rules have now been reviewed and it has been decided to permit the subscriber to prefer an advance from General Provident Fund (Central Service) Rules 1960 for the following purposes:

Subject:

• (i) Illness of self, family members or dependents,
• 
  
• (ii) Education of family members or dependent of the subscriber. Education will include primary, secondary and higher education, covering all streams and educational institutions,
•  
• (iii) Obligatory Expenses viz. betrothal; marriage, funerals, or other ceremonies,
• 
  
• (iv) Cost of Legal proceedings, .
• 
  
• (v) Cost of defence,
• 
  
• (vi) Purchase of consumer durables,
• 
  
• (vii) Pilgrimage and visiting places of eminence. This will include any travel and . tourism related activities.

3. It has been decided to enhance the limit of advance upto 12 months of pay or three-fourth of the amount at credit, whichever is less. Amount of advance will be recoverable in a maximum of 60 instalments. The advance may be sanctioned by the declared Head of Office . .

4. The declared Head of Department is competent to sanction an advance from the fund for reasons not covered above.

5 Maximum time limit of fifteen days is being prescribed for sanction and payment of an advance from the Fund. In case of emergencies like illness etc., the time limit maybe restricted to seven days.

6. In all the above cases of advance, no documentary proof is required to be furnished by the subscriber. A simple declaration by the subscriber explaining the reasons for advance would be sufficient.

7. Necessary amendment to the GPF(Central Service)Rules 1960, giving effect to the above provisions will be issued in due course.

8. In so far as persons serving in Indian Audit and Accounts Department are concerned, these orders issue in consultation with the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.

9. This issues with approval of Department of Expenditure, vide their ID No. 4(1)/EV/2017 dated 28.02.2017.

10. Hindi version of this OM will follow

( Sujasha Choudhury )

Director

Click Here To View The Order

Authority: http://www.pensionersportal.gov.in/

CCS Rules Regarding Fixing Of Timelines For Finalizing Disciplinary Proceedings

DoPT Instruction regarding fixing of timelines for finalizing disciplinary proceedings

F.No.11012/9/2016-Estt.A-III

Government of India

Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions

Department of Personnel & Training Establishment Division

North Block, New Delhi — 110001

Dated: 7 March, 2017

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Subject: Amendment in Central Civil Services (Classification, Control & Appeal) Rules, 1965 regarding fixing of timelines for finalizing disciplinary proceedings — regarding.

The undersigned is directed to say that it has been proposed to amend the CCS(CC&A) Rules 1965 by introducing stringent timelines for completing Disciplinary proceedings in a time bound manner. The proposed draft Notification for amending CCS (CCA) Rules, 1965 is enclosed herewith. Before framing the Rules, all stakeholders, Ministries / Departments are requested to offer their comments/views, if any, in this regard at the e-mail address poulose.ev13.nic.in latest by 21st March, 2017.

(Poulose.E.V)

Under Secretary to the Govt. of India

Authority: www.dopt.gov.in

AIRF Strongly Protest Against Anti-Labour Steps Of The Railway Board

Anti-labour steps of the Railway Board(Ministry of Railways)No.AIRF/24(C)

Dated: March 7, 2017

The General Secretaries,
All Affiliated Unions

Dear Comrades!

Sub: Anti-labour steps of the Railway Board(Ministry of Railways)

In the DC/JCM Meeting, held today with the Railway Board, AIRF strongly lodged its protest against anti-labour steps of the Railway Board(Ministry of Railways) in general and encroachment on trade union rights by way of issuing orders dated 30.01.2017, in particular, debarring the Supervisory Staff, belonging to Safety Category, working in Grade Pay of Rs.4200 and above from becoming officebearers of the railway unions.

General Secretary AIRF, while expressing his anguish on the attitude of the Ministry of Railways, also pointed out that, despite already arrived at agreements on the following issues, Railway Board have failed to issue instructions for implementation thereof despite lapse of substantial period of time:-

• (i) Upgradation of apex level Group `C’ staff to Group `B’ Gazetted.
• (ii) Placement of the Supervisors in the erstwhile Grade Pay of Rs.4800 in place of GP Rs.4600 .
• (iii) Non-implementation of the agreed structure of the Trackmen in the ratio of 10:20:20:50 and
• their promotional avenue.
• (iv) Stepping-up of pay of the Loco Inspectors.
• (v) Issues related to Running Staff, already agreed upon in the Fast Track Committee.
• (vi) For financial upgradation under MACPS and regular promotions, existing Benchmark(prior to VII CPC) should continue.
• (vi) Regularization of Course Completed Act Apprentices, trained in Railway Establishments, in the Railways, etc. etc.

General Secretary, while expressing serious discontentment over these issues specifically, mentioned that, Ministry of Railways is directly interfering in the functioning of the trade union by issuing dictatorial instructions, which  AIRF and the entire Staff Side is not going to tolerate, and that is why, meeting of the DC/JCM is bycotted.

Pursuant to the above, it has been jointly decided by both the recognized federations to launch undernoted agitational programme all over the Indian Railways:-

(a) 16th March, 2017 – Mass agitations, dharnas, demonstrations at the Branch and Depot levels.

(b) 23rd March, 2017 – Mass agitations by holding dharnas, demonstrations, rallies at the Divisional level.

(c) 30th March, 2017 – Massive demonstrations at the Zonal Headquarters, wherein memorandum addressed to Minister of Railways be handed over to the respective GMs, mentioning therein that, if no corrective action is taken by the Ministry of Railways, organized labour shall be at liberty to go for direct action, entire responsibility of which shall squarely rest with the Railway administration.

All of you are requested to take appropriate action accordingly, and report of the same may be forwarded to AIRF for better appreciation.

With Good Wishes of Holi!

Comradely yours,

sd/-

(Shiva Gopal Mishra)

General Secretary

Source: AIRF