Revision of Interest rates for Small Savings Schemes : Deposits including PPF lowered by 0.1 percent from tomorrow

Revision of Interest rates for Small Savings Schemes : Deposits including PPF lowered by 0.1 percent from tomorrow 

NOMINATION OF THE MEMBERS OF THE STAFF SIDE OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL (JCM)

NOMINATION OF THE MEMBERS OF THE STAFF SIDE OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL (JCM).

Congratulations to Sri.D.Kishan Rao G/S NAPE Group 'C'.

Review of' Transfer Policy' circulated by Directorate vide letter No.141/2013- SPB - II dated 31.1.2014 - invitation of suggestions /comments.

Review of' Transfer Policy' circulated by Directorate vide letter No.141/2013- SPB - II dated 31.1.2014 - invitation of suggestions /comments.

Directorate has called the opinions on transfer & placement Committee.

A copy of the Directorate letter is posted below.

Please submitt your suggestions / comments immediately.

PROMOTIONS FROM POSTMASTER (GRADE -II) TO GRADE -III RELEASED BY TELANGANA CIRCLE

Revised allowances for Central Government Employees likely to be announced after April 12

Revised allowances for Central Government Employees likely to be announced after April 12.

Revised allowances including House Rent Allowance will likely be announced for the Central Government staff after the ongoing Budget session of Parliament is over on April 12.

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.

7th Pay Commission: Employee Unions Seek Early Finalisation Of Allowance Report.

The allowance committee is supposed to examine and make recommendations as to whether any changes in the recommendations of the 7th central pay commission related to allowances are warranted and if so in what form.

A high level committee examining the recommendations of 7th pay commission on allowances held a meeting with different stakeholders on Tuesday. A top union official told NDTV that the employee representatives have sought an early finalisation of allowance panel report. Meanwhile, the allowance committee has sought views from different ministries on 14 benefits, a Press Trust of India report said, citing sources. These allowances include accidental allowance, outstation detention allowance, trip allowance, and ghat allowance. The committee on allowances (related to 7th central pay commission) was constituted through a government order dated July 22, 2016. The allowance committee is supposed to examine and make recommendations as to whether any changes in the recommendations of the 7th central pay commission related to allowances are warranted and if so in what form.

Minister of State for Finance Arjun Ram Meghwal on March 24 had again clarified that the allowance committee related to 7th pay commission is yet to submit its report. The minister added the allowance committee is now in the process of finalising its report and the government would take a decision after the report is submitted. The minister also explained why the allowance committee has taken more time to finalise its report. The allowance committee related to 7th pay commission awards “has taken more time than was initially prescribed in view of large number of demands received,” he clarified.

“The committee has received a large number of demands on allowances and even now receives demands in this regards. All the demands have been diligently examined,” the minister said.

The allowance panel is likely to finalise its views on HRA or house rent allowance at its next meeting, reported news agency Press Trust of India, citing sources. The Seventh Pay Commission had recommended that HRA be paid at the rate of 24 per cent, 16 per cent and 8 per cent of the new basic pay, depending on type of cities. The 7th Pay Commission had also recommended that the rate of HRA be revised to 27 per cent, 18 per cent and 9 per cent, respectively when DA crosses 50 per cent, and further revised to 30 per cent, 20 per cent and 10 per cent when DA crosses 100 per cent.

Source:- NDTV PROFIT

Directorate Letter No. 20-45/2016-SPB-II dated 18th Feb 2017 regarding clarification on Benchmark for Promotion

Directorate Letter No. 20-45/2016-SPB-II dated 18th Feb 2017 regarding clarification on Benchmark for Promotion.

Aadhaar should not be undermined by critics: Ashok Lavasa

Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa

Amid mounting criticism by Opposition and civil society on the government’s efforts to make Aadhaar mandatory for a number of schemes, including to pay income taxes, Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa defended the move and said the government’s initiatives should not be undermined. Speaking at an industry body event on Wednesday, Lavasa said for many years Indians applauded developed economies which had common unique identification for their citizens.

“I think this platform of Aadhaar which has been created should not be undermined. It is very important. Linked to this is the whole gamut of public expenditure which is a matter of concern not only for those who want more efficiency in public spending but also all of us who are concerned with transparency and removal of corruption,” Lavasa said. “It (Aadhaar) is revolutionary in the sense and what it has done is something which has not been done anywhere in the world. You have 105 crore (1.05 billion) people who have a unique identity.” 

Apart from central government schemes such as the rural employment scheme, employee pension benefit, food security act, livelihood missions, schemes for expecting mothers, small businesses, crop insurance policies, anganwadi schemes and various other programmes with or without direct benefit transfers, the Narendra Modi government has also passed rules or amended existing acts to make Aadhaar mandatory to pay taxes and to link with all mobile numbers. This even as the Supreme Court has stated that Aadhaar is not compulsory to avail benefits under central government schemes. 

The criticism has increased after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley tried to bring in additional amendments in the Finance Bill to make mandatory the linking of Aadhaar with PAN cards. Not only Opposition MPs like Derek O’Brien of the Trinamool Congress and Tathagata Satpathy of the Biju Janata Dal, but even Rajeev Chandrashekar, affiliated to the ruling party, raised concerns on privacy issues related to unique identification database.

Lavasa also said the direct benefits transfer (DBT) in various social sector schemes have resulted in savings to the tune of Rs 34,000 crore for the Centre. “There have been some palpable achievements in some of the schemes where DBT has been implemented. There is an assessment that in all these schemes, the quantum of savings would be about Rs 34,000 crore. So far, DBT has been implemented in 78 schemes and there are many more in which it has to be implemented,” he said.

Stating that use of technology has made the system more transparent, he said Aadhaar seeding has brought about efficiency and inter-linking of beneficiaries has enabled weeding out bogus and un-deserving people.

“About 1.73 lakh (173,000) public distribution scheme shops have point of sale machines and all these are Aadhaar-enabled. The fertiliser depots are in the process of installing PoS machines. The subsidy in fertiliser has remained where it was in previous years, but the subsidy in kerosene has come down tremendously, the finance secretary stated as an example.

Lavasa also reiterated India’s gross domestic product growth for 2016-17 was expected to be around seven per cent and could be higher than 7.5 per cent for 2017-18. Speaking on the increasing trend among western leaders stressing on protectionism, Lavasa said at a time when people were talking about building walls, literally and figuratively, and when global trade was expected to reduce as a share of global growth, Indian industry should focus on deepening and strengthening the local economy. “It is important for industry to look into the Indian market in a bigger way, how to strengthen the rural economy,” he said.

Business Standard.

TAX EXEMPTION TO NATIONAL PENSION SYSTEM

TAX EXEMPTION TO NATIONAL PENSION SYSTEM

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

MINISTRY OF FINANCE

DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE

RAJYA SABHA

STARRED QUESTION No. *285

TO BE ANSWERED ON TUESDAY, THE 28th MARCH, 2017

7,CHAITRA, 1939 (SAKA)

TAX EXEMPTION TO NATIONAL PENSION SYSTEM

*285. SHRI N. GOKULAKRISHNAN:

Will the Minister of FINANCE be pleased to state:

(a) whether it is a fact that the maturity amount of the National Pension System has no tax benefits like Public Provident Fund (PPF) and Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF);

(b) if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether Government has received any representation requesting to provide tax exemption to NPS at par with PPF and EPF; and

(d) if so, the stand of Government in this regard?

ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF FINANCE

(SHRI ARUN JAITLEY)

(a)to (d):- A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

Statement referred to in reply to parts (a) to (d) of Rajya Sabha Starred Question No.*285 for 28th March, 2017 by Shri N. Gokulakrishnan, MP reg. Tax Exemption to National Pension System.

(a)&(b) Prior to Finance Act, 2016, National Pension System (NPS) referred to in section 80CCD was Exempt, Exempt and Tax (EET) i.e., the monthly/periodic contributions during the pension accumulation phase were allowed as deduction from income for tax purposes; the returns generated on these contributions during the accumulation phase were also exempt from tax; however, the terminal benefits on exit or superannuation, in the form of lump sum withdrawals, were taxable in the hands of the individual subscriber or his nominee in the year of receipt of such amounts unlike PPF and EPF which have been enjoying EEE regime i.e. Exempt, Exempt, Exempt.

Vide Finance Act, 2016, section 10 of the Income-tax Act was amended to provide that any payment from National Pension System Trust to an employee on account of closure or his opting out of the NPS shall be exempt from tax, to the extent it does not exceed forty percent of the total amount payable to him at the time of closure or his opting out of the scheme. Further, Section 80CCD was also amended by Finance Act, 2016 to provide that the whole amount received by the nominee of NPS subscriber on his death shall be exempt from tax.

Further, vide Finance Bill,2017 as passed by the Lok Sabha on 22.03.2017, it has been proposed to exempt partial withdrawals by employees from their NPS accounts in accordance with the guidelines prescribed under Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Act,2013.

Furthermore, it has also been proposed in the Bill to amend section 80CCD of the I.T.Act,1961 so as to increase the upper limit of deduction for contribution into NPS from ten per cent of gross total income to twenty per cent in case of individual other than employee.

(c) &(d) Yes, Madam, the Government has received such representations in the past and the stand of Government was reflected in the amendments made in Income-tax Act vide Finance Act,2016 and Finance Bill 2017 as discussed above.

Grant of Dearness Allowance to Central Government employees - Revised Rates effective from 01.01.2017 : Finanance Ministry Order

Grant of Dearness Allowance to Central Government employees - Revised Rates effective from 01.01.2017 : Finanance Ministry Order

 

FNPO affiliated unions agitational program is postponed

Today(28-03-2017), the Directorate has called us for a meeting to discuss long pending issues of FNPO affiliated unions viz NUPE, MTS & NUCW.  The meeting was chaired by MS. Meena Datta, Director General (Addl) along with the Directors. 

NUPE PM & MTS meeting was held at 11.00 AM and it lasted up to 1300 hrs.  NUCW meeting was held in the afternoon 15.00hrs to 16.00hrs.

 MS. Meena Datta, Director General (Addl), assured that the details of the meeting will be intimated to The Chairman Postal Board immediately after his arrival to the Head Quarters.

 The minutes of meeting will be issued after the approval of Chairman (Postal Board).  Based on the assurance, the agitation program of FNPO affiliated Unions is  postponed for time being.

Submission of Allowance Committee Report

Submission of Allowance Committee Report

Latest news on submission of 7th CPC Allowance Committee Report

“Yesterday(28.03.2017) in Parliament, Minister of State for Finance Shri Santhosh Kumar Gangwar said in a written reply to a question regarding the submission of Allowance Committee Report. He said that the Allowance Committee is now in the process of finalizing its Report. Decisions on implementing the Report will be taken after the Report is submitted by the Committee.”

Detailed Questions and Answers:

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

MINISTRY OF FINANCE

DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE

RAJYA SABHA

STARRED QUESTION No. 2986

TO BE ANSWERED ON TUESDAY, THE 28th MARCH, 2017

CHAITRA 7, 1939 (SAKA)

ALLOWANCE OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES

2986. SHRI A. VIJAYAKUMAR

SHRI RAM KUMAR KASHYAP:

Will the Minister of Finance be pleased to state:

(a) Whether Government has formed a Committee for taking decision about the allowances to the Central Government employees and removal of anomalies in their pay scales announced by the Seventh Pay Commission;

(b) if so, whether the Committee has submitted its report;

(c) if so, the main features thereof and if not, the reasons for delay in submission of report;

and

(d) the time by which recommendations of Seventh Pay Commission regarding the allowances are proposed to be implemented?

ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE
(SHRI SANTOSH KUMAR GANGWAR)

(a) to (d): The Committee on allowances has been constituted vide order dated 22.07.2016 to examine and make recommendations as to whether any changes in the recommendations of the 7th CPC relating to allowances are warranted and if so, in what form. A separate anomaly committee at National Level has also been set up, vide O.M. dated 09.09.2016, to settle the anomalies arising out of the implementation of the 7th CPC recommendations.

The National Anomaly Committee has made recommendations on the calculation methodology of the Disability Pension for Defence forces personnel. The Committee on allowances has received a large number of demands on allowances and even now receiving such demands. All the demands have been diligently examined. The Committee has already held 13 meeting so far and interacted with the representatives of Central Nodal Ministries, National Council (Staff Side), Joint Consultative Machinery (JCM) and officers and representatives of employee associations of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Home Affairs, Railways, Defence and Department of Posts. The Committee is now in the process of finalizing its Report. Decisions on implementing the Report will be taken after the Report is submitted by the Committee.

Source : Rajya Sabha

Conduct of LDCE for LGOs for promotion to the cadre of P A / S A from Postman / Mail Guard and MTS cadre for deputation to Army Postal Services

Conduct of LDCE for LGOs for promotion to the cadre of P A / S A from Postman / Mail Guard and MTS cadre for deputation to Army Postal Services

Opening of Post Office Passport Seva Kendra (POPSK) at Hanamkonda HPO, Warangal

Inauguration of Post Office Passport Seva Kendra (POPSK) by Deputy Chief Minister Kadiam Srihari on Wednesday on the Eve of Ugadi Festival at the Head Post Office Hanamkonda near Ambedkar Chowrasta in Warangal Dist, the POPSK started its functioning from Wednesday.

Terming it as a gift by the Centre and State governments for the Warangal people, Srihari promised to construct a separate building for the POPSK. But the officials should ensure to process 3,000 passports per month, he said. 

         “If you take steps for the upgrading the POPSK to issue 3,000 passports as against the present capacity of issuing 1,000 passports per month, we will construct a new building within a year,” he assured.

Srihari also said that setting up the POPSK would be much beneficial for the residents of the erstwhile Warangal district who were earlier forced to go to Hyderabad, and appealed the people to utilise the services available at this Post Office Passport Seva Kendra.

Being the second biggest city, and a known educational hub with a national institute like NIT, a large number of residents from Warangal city and other parts of the district go abroad to either pursue studies or in search of employment.

MP(RS) Captain V Lakshmikantha Rao appreciated Deputy CM for making efforts to get the POPSK for the city. Chief Post Master General of Tealangana Circle  Brig. B Chandra Shekar,Hyderabad Region Post Master General Col.  M Elisha, Director of Postal Service V Upendar, Warangal MP P Dayakar, MLAs D Vinay Bhaskar, A Ramesh, MLC M Srinivas Reddy, Mayor N Narender, Regional Passport Officer E Vishnu Vardhan Reddy,  District Collector Amrapali Kata, Police Commissioner G Sudheer Babu and others were among those who were present during the inauguration.

7th Pay Commission Allowances Committee Meeting held on 28th March 2017

Meeting of Committee on Allowances held on 28.3.2017  remained inconclusive.

7th Pay Commission Allowances Committee Meeting held on 28th March 2017 – AIRF reports that discussion held on 28 th March 2017 has ended without conclusion.