Friday, November 27, 2015
CBS GO-Live of Bagdehi SO-768220(Odisha) on 26.11.2015
The CBS GO-Live photo of Bagdehi SO-768220(Odisha), the office has been sucessfully inaugrated on date 26/11/2015 by Smt Sangita Khalko,Sarpanch, Bagdehi in the present of Sri Trilochan Roy,Supdt of Post Offices,Sambalpur Division,Sri Deepak Kumar IPO Jharsuguda,Sri Deba Shankar Neti SPM Bagdehi & Sri Madhaba Ch. Pradhan System Administrator Sambalpur HO.
NFPE News : DECEMBER 1st & 2nd , 2015 STRIKE DEFERRED
SECRETARY GENERAL AND ALL GENERAL SECRETARIES OF NFPE & AIPEU GDS (NFPE) WILL SIT ON TWO DAYS HUNGER FAST INFRONT OF DAK BHAWAN, NEW DELHI ON 1st & 2nd DECEMBER 2015.
ONE DAY MASS HUNGER FAST IN FRONT OF ALL CPMG / PMG & DIVISIONAL OFFICES ON 11th DECEMBER 2015.
TO EXPRESS OUR ANGER, RESENTMENT AND STRONG PROTEST AGAINST THE REJECTION OF THE LEGITIMATE DEMANDS OF THREE LAKHS GRAMIN DAK SEVAKS BY THE NDA GOVT.
The Federal Secretariat of NFPE held at NFPE Office, New Delhi on 26-11-2015, reviewed the whole situation prevailing among the postal employees in general and the Gramin Dak Sevaks (GDS) in particular after the submission of the 7th Central Pay Commission Report to the Govt and also after the appointment of a separate committee for GDS by the Govt, headed by a retired Postal Board Member as Chairman.
The Federal Secretariat further reviewed the proposed two days strike call given by NFPE and AIPEU GDS (NFPE) for realization of the legitimate demands of the Gramin Dak Sevaks, which include bringing the GDS also under the purview of 7th CPC treating them as Civil Servants.
The main demand of NFPE and AIPEU GDS (NFPE) in the charter of demands submitted to Govt and Postal Board is “inclusion of GDS under the purview of 7th CPC”. NFPE organized series of agitational programmes for the GDS demands including dharnas, hunger fast, GDS Parliament March, Parliament March under the banner of Postal JCA (NFPE & FNPO), one day strike on 12th December 2012 and 48 hours strike on 12th& 13th February 2014. Due to our agitational programmes the Postal Board was compelled to submit the proposal for inclusion of GDS under 7th CPC to Finance Ministry with favourable recommendations. But the Finance Ministry rejected the proposal three times and it is in this background NFPE& AIPEU GDS (NFPE) decided to go for two days strike on December 1st& 2nd demanding the Govt to include GDS under the 7th Pay Commission.
Even though the Govt refused to include the GDS under the 7th CPC, the 7th CPC has suo moto examined the main demand of the GDS ie., treating them as Civil Servants and extending them all the benefits of the departmental employees, ofcourse proportionately. It is most unfortunate that the Pay Commission headed by a retired Supreme Court Justice as Chairman, has considered our demand and categorically stated that Gramin Dak Sevaks are holders of Civil Posts but outside the regular civil service and hence can not be treated at par with other civilian employees. After this observation of the Seventh CPC even if the GDS are included in the 7th CPC they are not going to get a fair deal. This has compelled us to modify the demand placed by us before the Govt in the charter of demands.
NFPE, from the very beginning has opposed the appointment of an Officer Committee for GDS and NFPE & AIPEU GDS (NFPE) has tried their best to prevent appointment of an Officer Committee and compelled the department to make effort for inclusion of GDS under 7th CPC itself. But now NDA Govt rejected our demand and has unilaterally appointed GDS Committee with a retired Postal Board Member as Chairman and cheated three lakh GDS employees. From our past experiences we know that the retired officers of the Postal Department will never do justice to the Gramin Dak Sevaks.
In view of the fact that 7th CPC has rejected our demand for Civil Servant status and also the Govt has unilaterally imposed the officer committee on GDS, the Federal Secretariat felt that it is not appropriate to go for an immediate strike with the demands raised by us in the charter of demands, i.e., inclusion of GDS under 7th CPC. Now GDS can get justice only if NDA Govt take a policy decision to regularize the services of GDS treating them as Civil Servants. Federal Secretariat is fully aware that we can not expect such a decision from the present NDA Govt and it requires change in the policy of the Government towards GDS. To make a change in the policy decision of the Govt., a bigger mobilization and strike of all postal employees including GDS with the active support and solidarity of other central Govt employees under the banner of Confederation of Central Govt Employees and workers and also the JCM National Council Staffside organizations is required.
The Federal Secretariat decided to explore all possibilities and wider consultations for such a united struggle. The Federal Secretariat felt that to pave way for wider consultations, the independent strike call of NFPE & AIPEU GDS (NFPE) need to be deferred and all likeminded organizations are to be brought under a common platform. Accordingly Federal Secretariat unanimously decided to defer the proposed two days strike scheduled to be held on 1st & 2nd December 2015.
The Secretary General and all General Secretaries of NFPE shall sit on two days hunger fast in front of Dak Bhawan, New Delhi on 1st& 2nd December 2015 expressing our strong protest to the Govt and also demanding regularization of Gramin Dak Sevaks by granting them civil servant status with all consequential benefits of regular employees.
The Federal Secretariat, while saluting the grass root level workers for their intensive campaign and preparation for the strike, calls upon them to organize one day hunger fast infront of all CPMG / PMG and Divisional Offices throughout the country on 11th December 2015 to ventilate our anger, resentment and strong protest against the callous and inhuman attitude of the NDA Govt towards three lakh Gramin Dak Sevaks who are the backbone of the Postal Department catering to the needs of the rural population of this country in postal sector.
Federal Executive of NFPE will meet shortly to review the situation and shall decide future course of action.
SECRETARY GENERAL
Thursday, November 26, 2015
Proposed strike on 1st & 2nd December, 2015 was deferred
As per decision of the N F P E Federal Secretariat taken today evening (information received through SMS from the Circle Secretary, AIPEU, Gr.-C, Odisha), the proposed strike on 1st & 2nd December, 2015 has been deferred.
Details will be published latter.
= B SAMAL =
Secretary, AIPEU, Gr.-C
Bhubaneswar
Will Seventh Pay Commission ease woes of the realty sector?
Here’s how the recommended 16% rise in basic salary and the 138.7% increase in HRA could spur demand for housing
Will the Seventh Pay Commission help the real estate sector that has been enmeshed in a host of problems over the last several years? Tracing the history of such central government salary revisions in the past, analysts hope that it will boost consumption in the economy.
This time around, there’s reason for real estate developers to smile, too. Here’s how the recommended 16% rise in basic salary and the 138.7% increase in house rent allowance (HRA) could spur demand for housing.
First, it implies a higher disposable income. Second, higher HRA will boost rentals and with the cost of property remaining range-bound, it will improve rental yields. This, in turn, could motivate investment in residential property.
A Bank of America-Merrill Lynch report outlines several other proposals in the pay commission report that could prop up housing demand. For instance, the subsidized housing loan limit has been hiked, while the period of continuous service to avail of it has been reduced. Further, this is likely to extend to both spouses separately, if they are central government employees.
Note that in the recent past, the government has initiated reforms like opening realty projects to foreign direct investment and real estate investment trusts. Besides, with interest rates being lowered and some firms being able to lure private equity investors, there is a ray of hope that the debt-laden realty firms would get some relief.
But these are at the corporate level and these alone are not enough. Retail demand for property is still in a state of inertia with most developers stuck with unsold inventory. New launches have petered out and cash flows are insufficient to cover basic costs of developers in many cases.
A few weeks ago, a Crisil Ltd report said that with construction costs outpacing customer advances lately, and debt servicing being refinanced for the past two years (2013-2015), developers have been caught in a debt spiral. The 25 developers covered under the study have seen a 25% jump in residential debt toRs.61,500 crore as on 31 March 2015, compared with Rs.48,800 crore as on 31 March 2013. The underperformance of the BSE Real Estate index, therefore, for a long period and its sporadic rise when any new reform measure is announced show lack of equity investor confidence.
While the reforms stated earlier may help alleviate the interest cost pressure at least partially, the Seventh Pay Commission may give the much-needed demand push. “It should set the pace for higher home sales and improve cash flows for developers. Collectively these steps could bring relief to the realty sector,” says Binaifer Jehani, director, Crisil Research.
Source : http://www.livemint.com/
Chance for reforms: 29% central employees to retire in 10 years
One of the chief problems in reforming India’s bureaucracy is that it is a powerful pressure group, which does not like to see a drop in its influence or a drop in its numbers. Now, a rare opportunity presents itself.
Of 3.3 million civilian central-government employees at the beginning of April 1, 2014, nearly one million (around 29%) are in the age group of 50-60 years, according to data released by the 7th Pay Commission recently.
“This is a ready pointer to the number of retirements that would take place in the next ten years,” said the report, running into nearly 900 pages. “The Commission notes that losing experienced high-level personnel entails unquantifiable costs as new recruits will require training and on-the-job skills. At the same time it presents ministries/departments the opportunity to align their personnel requirement in line with their current and future challenges.”
That observation is in line with afrequently mentioned need for administrative reform, which could include bringing in professionals from outside government, introducing performance-linked salaries and paying higher salaries to fewer employees.
“Successive governments have been guilty of turning a blind eye to administrative reform without which economic reform will not have its desired effect,” former cabinet secretary KM Chandrasekhar wrote in a column in The Economic Times. “The greatest obstacle to ease of doing business is administrative incapacity and, to this, governments traditionally pay no heed. It is time we brought administrative reform to the top of the governmental agenda and create systems that ensure efficiency and accountability.”
IndiaSpend’s analysis of the staffing of government departments and numbers of those facing retirement reveals the opportunities that exist in each.
The Pay Commission decides salaries and incentives for central-government employees. The Commission, which is constituted once in every 10 years, is alsoconsidered to be the base to decide salaries for state government employees.
“A central-government employee is defined as all persons in the civil services of the Central Government or holding civil posts under that government and paid salaries out of the Consolidated Fund of India. This, however, does not include such persons appointed to serve Parliament or the Union Judiciary,” the report said.
Here are some departments that have a heavy concentration of employees in the 50-60 age group:
The government recruited 857,764 people between 2006 and 2014 – an annual recruitment of only 100,000 people every year.
During the years 2012 to 2017, India’s labour force is projected to increase by 44.6 million, which is an average annual increase of more than 8.9 million. “This suggests that the Central Government is at best a marginal source for employment generation,” said the Pay Commission report.
The recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission are likely to cost the exchequer more than Rs 1 lakh crore ($15 billion) in financial year 2016-17, an increase of 23% over existing salaries and allowances.
The 7th Pay Commission hasrecommended a minimum pay of Rs 18,000 per month — for peons, clerks and some police head constables — and an annual increment of 3%. It has also recommended doubling the ceiling on gratuity (lump sum paid based on years of service) to Rs 20 lakh from the current Rs 10 lakh, enhanced medical insurance and pension schemes.
Source : http://wap.business-standard.
Govt to hike minimum wages to boost economy: Labour Secy
New Delhi, Nov 26 (PTI) The government will enhance minimum wages and make it mandatory across the country to boost demand of goods and services for pushing economic growth and creating jobs, Labour Secretary Shankar Aggarwal today said.
"We will create a law to give certain minimum wages across the country in all trades and not only in scheduled employments (as per existing law)," Aggarwal said while addressing at a conference organised by CII here.
He further said, "We will increase the wages under Minimum Wage Act so that workers have decent wages aligned with inflation and have some money to buy goods and services."
Aggarwal is of the view that the economic growth can be boosted by creating jobs and for that there is need of creating demand of goods and services for increasing manufacturing and other economic activities.
"For creating jobs, we need to create demand for goods and services. But it would happen only when there is money in the pocket of buyers," he said.
In the present scenario, labour is under the concurrent list of the constitution. The centre as well as the states fix minimum wages for skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled workers in their jurisdiction.
Trade unions have been demanding for a minimum wage of Rs 15,000 per month across the board which should be applicable in the entire country.
Labour Ministry is now mulling an amendment to Minimum Wage Act to fix a mandatory minimum level of wages applicable across the country for all categories of workers, which will be aligned with inflation and sufficiency to create demand for goods and services.
Aggarwal also said that the government will very soon cover all workers under various social security schemes.
Speaking at the same event, International Labour Organisation Director (India) Panudda Boonpala said labour law reforms is a huge and complex task.
She added, dialogue as well as collective bargaining is the way out for going ahead with massive labour law reforms.
"We will create a law to give certain minimum wages across the country in all trades and not only in scheduled employments (as per existing law)," Aggarwal said while addressing at a conference organised by CII here.
He further said, "We will increase the wages under Minimum Wage Act so that workers have decent wages aligned with inflation and have some money to buy goods and services."
Aggarwal is of the view that the economic growth can be boosted by creating jobs and for that there is need of creating demand of goods and services for increasing manufacturing and other economic activities.
"For creating jobs, we need to create demand for goods and services. But it would happen only when there is money in the pocket of buyers," he said.
In the present scenario, labour is under the concurrent list of the constitution. The centre as well as the states fix minimum wages for skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled workers in their jurisdiction.
Trade unions have been demanding for a minimum wage of Rs 15,000 per month across the board which should be applicable in the entire country.
Labour Ministry is now mulling an amendment to Minimum Wage Act to fix a mandatory minimum level of wages applicable across the country for all categories of workers, which will be aligned with inflation and sufficiency to create demand for goods and services.
Aggarwal also said that the government will very soon cover all workers under various social security schemes.
Speaking at the same event, International Labour Organisation Director (India) Panudda Boonpala said labour law reforms is a huge and complex task.
She added, dialogue as well as collective bargaining is the way out for going ahead with massive labour law reforms.
ITUC News : The South Korean government has declared war on the country's trade unions
Those unions were engaged in peaceful protest against a proposed reform to the country's labour laws when police blocked their march, attacked them with water cannon, and arrested 51 union activists. One of the protestors hit by the water cannon remains in a coma.
Four days ago, the police raided eight offices of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) and its affiliates and regional branches. They confiscated computers, external hard drives, and meeting documents.
And they issued an arrest warrant for Han Sang-gyun, the KCTU president. He is now under the protection of the Jogyesa Temple, a Buddhist order.
The international labour movement, including the International Trade Union Confederation and global union federations have issued a call for a massive online protest campaign
Four days ago, the police raided eight offices of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) and its affiliates and regional branches. They confiscated computers, external hard drives, and meeting documents.
And they issued an arrest warrant for Han Sang-gyun, the KCTU president. He is now under the protection of the Jogyesa Temple, a Buddhist order.
The international labour movement, including the International Trade Union Confederation and global union federations have issued a call for a massive online protest campaign
AIPEU, Gr.-C, Odisha Circle branch protests against irregular deputation of staff on Sundays/Holidays
N F P E
All India Postal Employees Union, Group-C
Odisha Circle Branch, Bhubaneswar - 751 007
Trilochan Parida
President
No. UN/AIPEU, Gr-C/Odisha/11-2015
To,
Sri Tilak De, IPoS.
Chief Post Master General,
Odisha Circle, Bhubaneswar-751001.
Sub- Irregular deputation of staff in holiday & Sunday from the divisions for data cleansing/ data entry of PLI/RPLI in PLI Section, CO, Bhubaneswar from 26-11-2015 to 30-11-2015 (including Saturday & Sunday).
Respected Sir,
This Circle Union time and again protested against irregular drafting of staff for various works on Sundays & holidays, debarring them to avail their weekly off and facilities of holidays and the instructions of the Directorate vide letter No 16-56/2011-SR dated 08-07-2011 & letter No 08/15/2011-SR dated 09-01-2012 is being grossly deviated. There is no change in such irregular drafting of staff at the level of divisions, ROs and even now at Circle level- which has been taken by this circle union with deep concern.
The circle office has issued order through DDM PLI letter No LI/Mc Camish-PLI CPC/2015 dated 23 rd November 2015 to depute staff from Koraput, Puri, Sundargarh, Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Bhadrak, Kalahandi & Phulbani divisions to attend PLI Section, Bhubaneswar for above purpose from 26-11-2015 to 30-11-2015, including Saturday & Sunday. It is nothing but exploitation of staff in presence of a crystal clear instruction from the Directorate.
While strongly placing our protest against such unilateral and arbitrary order, it is urged upon to cancel the same to avoid great resentment of staff from all corners.
AN IMMEDIATE RESPONSE IN THE MATTER IS SOLICITED.
WITH REGARDS.
Yours faithfully
(R.C.Mishra)
Circle Secretary
Copy to- All circle office bearers & divisional secretaries for information & n/a.
Why we must not grudge them a pay hike
In the heyday of Indian socialism, the perception of government was benign. In today’s climate of liberalisation, the government is viewed with hostility. That must explain the negative reaction both in the media and amongst the public at large to the increases in pay for Central government employees recommended by the Seventh Pay Commission (SPC).
The pay hikes are modest — embarrassingly so in comparison with pay increases and bonuses in the private sector. Yet, media reports talk of a ‘bonanza for babus’. The impact on the fiscal can be easily digested by the Indian economy. Yet, analysts warn of slippages in the fiscal deficit, a possible boost to inflation, and a setback to public investment. Do we want to run the government — which comprises not just civil servants but the police, armed forces, nurses, doctors, regulators and academics — at all? Or have we persuaded ourselves that all of the government is simply money down the drain?
Setting pay in government
The SPC’s figures don’t come out of nowhere. The Commission has a rigorous basis for setting pay in government. It arrives at a figure for minimum pay in government with reference to norms laid down by the 15th Indian Labour Conference (ILC) in 1957. The ILC had said that the minimum wage should cover the basic needs of a worker and his family, that is, a spouse, and two children who are below the age of 14. The SPC has spelt out the norms it has used for determining basic needs. It has gone by food requirements specified by a well-known nutritionist. To this are added provisions for clothing, fuel and lighting, education, recreation, festivities, medical expenses, and housing. There is an addition of 25 per cent to the total of the above to provide for the skill factor (the basic needs having been determined for an unskilled person). The SPC report provides detailed computations for each of these items. No reasonable person can accuse the SPC of being overgenerous.
Based on these norms, the SPC arrives at a minimum wage of Rs. 18,000 for a government employee. This is 2.57 times the minimum pay in the Sixth Pay Commission. The increase over the projected pay on the current basis as of January 1, 2016 is 14.3 per cent. This is the second lowest increase recommended by any Pay Commission since the first one, and it is way below the 54 per cent increase following the last one. The multiplication factor of 2.57 is used to arrive at pay for all levels of government except for a few at the top where a slightly higher multiple is used.
As before, pay at the lower levels of government is higher than in the private sector; at the top, the position is reversed. In today’s context, this may not be a bad thing at all. Pay in the private sector today is contributing towards massive inequalities in Indian society. Having a very different structure in government is a useful corrective to trends in the private sector. It will help contain tensions created by rising inequality.
Good news
So far as the impact on government finances is concerned, the SPC numbers provide a stream of good news. First, the impact of the pay hike on the Central government (including the railways) will amount to 0.65 per cent of GDP. This is less than the impact of 0.77 per cent of GDP on account of the Sixth Pay Commission.
Second, the impact on the Central government (excluding Railways), which is what matters when it comes to the Union budget, is 0.46 per cent of GDP. As some of the increase in salary comes back to the government as taxes, the impact, net of taxes, will be even less — say, 0.4 per cent of GDP (assuming an average tax rate of around 20 per cent on government pay). This is a strictly one-off impact. The correct way to view it, therefore, would be to amortise it over a period of, say, five years. The annual impact then is 0.08 per cent of GDP. The impact on the fiscal at the central level is barely noticeable.
Trends in the wage burden in the government are worth noting. Pay and allowances in the Central government have remained stable since 2010-11 at around 1.8-2.0 per cent of GDP. Thus, pay and allowances have been rising at roughly the same level as nominal GDP or 11-12 per cent. This is the increase after taking into account increments, adjustments for dearness allowance and promotions. In the private sector, such an increase would be considered laughable at all but the lowest level.
Pay, allowances and pension (PAP) as a proportion of government expenditure has been declining sharply. In 1998-99, PAP was 38 per cent of revenue expenditure. The SPC estimates that this figure has fallen to 18 per cent in 2015-16. (It will go up to 22 per cent in 2017-17 consequent to the SPC award, but will decline thereafter, as pay grows at a lower rate than government expenditure). The implication is striking: in financial terms, the workforce in government has been effectively downsized by nearly half over the past 17 years.
Pay in the private sector is contributing towards massive inequalities in society. Having a different structure in government will help contain tensions created by this inequality
Even in terms of numbers, India’s central bureaucracy (including the Railways but excluding the armed forces) has neither been increasing in recent years nor hugely bloated in absolute terms. The number of employees grew to a peak of 41.76 lakh in 1994. It has declined since to 38.9 lakh in 2014. Of the total, 13.8 lakh is accounted for by security-related entities (police and defence civilians). Railways and Post, which perform commercial functions, account for 15 lakh personnel. There are other commercial departments as well, such as Communications. Excluding security and commercial functions, the total central employment is just 4.18 lakh. “The ‘core’ of the government…”, the SPC report notes, “is actually very small…”
The SPC substantiates its point by comparing India’s Central government workforce with that of the federal government workforce in the U.S. In 2012, the non-postal civilian workforce in the U.S. was 21.3 lakh. In India, the corresponding figure in 2014 was 17.96 lakh. The number of personnel per lakh of population in India was 139 in 2014, way below the figure of 668 for the U.S. India’s bureaucracy needs not so much downsizing as right-sizing — we need more doctors, engineers, IT specialists, tax experts, judges, and so on.
The government is not bound by the SPC’s recommendations. It can opt for higher pay hikes as happened with the previous Pay Commission. Assuming the government goes along with the SPC, what impact on growth can we expect? Increased pay for government employees means greater government expenditure and hence a fiscal stimulus — provided government expenditure on other counts is not reduced and the fiscal deficit rises. This happened at the time of the Sixth Pay Commission. Higher wages for government employees contributed to a higher fiscal deficit and helped stimulate growth in the short run.
This time round, the Finance Ministry insists that it will stick to its fiscal deficit target for 2016-17 after providing for the SPC pay hike. If it does so, the reduction in fiscal deficit will be contractionary. Hence, the pay hike will not lead to economic expansion in the aggregate. However, greater income in the hands of government employees could favourably impact sectors such as the real estate, automobiles and consumer goods.
(T.T. Ram Mohan is professor at IIM Ahmedabad)
//copy//Courtesy : The Hindu (dt.24th Nov 2015)
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