Amendment to Rule 64, 71, 72 & 80 of CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972

NO.20/16/1998-P&PW (F)
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions
Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare

3rd Floor, Lok Nayak Bhavan
Khan Market, New Delhi-110511
Dated the 19th April 2010.

  

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

  

Subject: Amendment to Rule 64, 71, 72 & 80 of CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972 - Issue of Notification dated 7th April, 2010, published in the Gazette of India on 12th April, 2010 – regarding.

  

              The undersigned is directed to enclose a copy of Notification No. S.O. 829 (E) dated 7th April, 2010, published in the Gazette of India on 12th April, 2010 on the subject cited above and to request that the contents thereof may please be brought to the notice of all offices/employees under their control for information and compliance.

  

Encl: as above

(Tripti P. Ghosh)
Director

Click here to get Original Office Memorandum

DoT Makes Effort to Break Impasse on BSNL Strike

DoT Makes Effort to Break Impasse on BSNL Strike

A Section of employees, both executives and non-executives, have given a notice for indefinite strike from 20th April, 2010 for settlement of their following demands:

Settle ITS absorption issue;

No disinvestment/No privatization of BSNL;

No retrenchment/No VRS;

No unbundling of last mile copper & other infrastructure;

No outsourcing;

Immediate procurement of mobile lines; andChaitra

Ensure IDA pension revision to BSNL retirees.

Revision of wages.

In order to resolve the issue, meetings were held at the level of CMD BSNL, Secretary, Department of Telecom and the Minister of Communications & IT. The Unions were assured that they will be taken into confidence before arriving at a final policy decision regarding disinvestments, VRS etc. Assurances on all other issues were also given by the Minister with definite time frame. During the discussions, the Unions seemed to be convinced. However, for the reasons best known to them, the Unions have decided to go ahead with the strike unilaterally. Even now the Government is having an open mind to resolve the issues.

All efforts are being made to ensure that the services are not disrupted and no inconvenience is caused to our esteemed customers.

Secretary, Department of Telecommunications, Governemnt of India,

New Delhi, April,19 2010/Chaitra 29,1932

MEDICAL FACILITIES FOR RETIRED EMPLOYEES

FACILITIES FOR RETIRED EMPLOYEES

'RETIRED EMPLOYEES CAN SUE GOVT FOR NEGLIGENCE UNDER CGHS'

The verdict, read with a ruling of the SC in 1995 that in-service Central Government employees are consumers under the Central Government Health Service Scheme, now catgorieses the entire working and retired work force as consumers, as far as health care is concerned under the scheme

Lakhs of retired central government employees can rejoice as the apex consumer forum has held them to be the sonsumers under the CGHS schme, thus conferring a right on them to sue the Centre for damage in case of deficiency in health care provided to them and their dependents.

This was unanimous decision of a full Bench of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) comprising its preseident Justice M.B.Shah, members Rajyalakshi Rao, B.K. Taimni, Justice K.S.Gupta, Justice S.N. Kapoor and P.D.Shenoy. This verdict, read with a ruling of the Supreme Court in 1995 that in-service central government employees are consumers under the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS). now categorises the entire working and retired work force of the Central Goverment as consumers, as far as health are is concerned under the scheme.

The question before the NCDRC was "whether a pensioner and beneficiary of the CGHS would be a consumer under the provisions of Consumer Protection Act, 1986, for alleged deficiency in service by the CGHS Medical Officer".

Answering in the affirmative, NCDRC said medical treatment facilities extended to a retired under CGHS could not be termed as 'free service' as it was in consideration of service rendered by him to the government till the age of superannuation, which conferred a right on him to get pension as well as other benefits, including medical treatment presribed by various rules or the schemes framed by the Centre.

"Such employee would be a consumer as defined in Section 2(1)(d)(ii) of the Consumer Protection Act," said Justice Shah , writing for the Bench. Explaining the reason behind the conclusion that would make the retired employees feel less neglected, the NCDRC said service rendered by the government employees before retirement would be "consideration" for providing medical facilities to him or his family members.

"Hence, it cannot be said that the hospital which is subsidised by the government is rendering service free of charge," it said.

The NCDRC verdict came on a petition filed by retired employee Jagdish Kumar Bajpai, throgh advocate Nikhil Nayar, claiming that he was refused medicines for his wife by the CGHS dispensary in Kanpur. He also claimed damages to the tune of Rs. 4 lakh alleging that his wife died due to the negligence of the medical officer.

(The above news item appeared in Ahmedabad Edition ofTimes of India dated November 7, 2005 - Needless to say that this verdict is relevant to the working and retired employees of ONGC as the Central Government Medical Attednance Rules also apply on ONGC.)

Unethical Practices by Some Hospitals for Claiming Insurance

Unethical Practices by Some Hospitals for Claiming Insurance

Meena Kumari, at 25 years of age, had never expected that in her life she would have to undergo a surgery which would have a major impact on her life. Last year, she had consulted a Chennai based private hospital for irregular menstrual cycle. It was diagnosed by this private hospital as small fibroid in her uterus and subsequently underwent hysterectomy to get her uterus removed. As this individual was covered by the government employees’ health insurance scheme, a claim amounting to Rs 40,000/ - prepared by the hospital was sent to the insurance company for re-imbursement.

Upon further investigations by an expert panel comprising of doctors from an insurance company, this surgery has been deemed as unnecessary and unjustified.

More than 30% of the hysterectomies done under the insurance scheme are unwarranted not only by the medical fraternity and across insurance companies but also by the senior medical practitioners. This has rendered several women as medically unfit to conceive, thereby complicating the social lives of such families and this classic example is strongly illustrative of violation of medical ethics.

An analytical study of the records available across insurance companies depict that under the government employees’ health scheme, approximately 540 ladies in the age group of 25-35, members exceeding 100 in the age range from 20-30 years, had undergone surgeries pertaining to either removal of uterus or ovaries.

V Jagannathan, Chairman of Star Health and Allied Insurance, has conducted numerous marathon meetings with hospitals, warning them against medical malpractices and quoted examples by citing numerous instances. For example, when one of the patients was contacted by the Insurance Company, the patient replied that she had agreed to undergo surgery just because she was informed that it could turn cancerous. In fact, surgery is not the only remedy for irregular menstrual cycle in women. It is not a necessity that many young women should have to undergo this ordeal. It can simply be treated by administration of medications to regularize their periods and added that further examination in such women revealed that there was absolutely no family history or any ailment pertaining to their reproductive system. Just recently, two private hospitals in Nagercoil and Kanyakumari were “blacklisted” in connection with exorbitant expenses from the beneficiaries of the Kalaignar health insurance scheme implemented by the government of Tamil Nadu, India.
Source: medindia

Irda tells postal dept to fall in line, triggers row

Irda tells postal dept to fall in line, triggers row

India's top insurance regulator has demanded that the country’s postal department adhere to its norms while selling insurance products, triggering a potentially damaging row between the two and forcing the finance ministry’s intervention.

The Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (IRDA), which regulates all insurance products in the country, has threatened to ban all policies sold by the Department of Posts (DoP) in case of a failure to comply.

A rattled finance ministry, which is already locked in a high-profile mediation effort to resolve a row between the IRDA and Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) over unit linked insurance policies (ULIPS), was forced to step in asking for restraint and the matter is now being discussed between the three.

“....We are working to find an amicable solution on how both IRDA and the Postal Department can solve this issue. Any final decision will be taken only after giving due consideration to benefit of existing policy holders,” a finance ministry official said.

The postal life insurance has over 15 million policy holders. It offers two life insurance schemes, Postal Life Insurance and Rural Postal life Insurance with a corpus fund of Rs 14,000 crore and Rs 4,000 crore, respectively as on March 2009. All insurance products offered by the DoP are not covered by IRDA’s rules and regulations.

The current one and the bigger battle between IRDA and SEBI highlight the importance of clear rules of demarcation between various regulators and government bodies in a sector whose growth has assumed gigantic proportions.

The insurance regulator argued that compliance with IRDA’s norms will actually benefit the department of post. “In fact they (department of post) have lost a number of times to get group insurance schemes from public sector players such as BSNL in the past,” said an IRDA official stating the case for expedition of decision on investment of the corpus under Post Office Insurance Fund as per IRDA guidelines.

Under the Insurance Act 1938, Section 118 (C), life insurance schemes run by several state governments for their employees and the Postal Life Insurance Scheme of the central government don’t come under the IRDA purview. The insurance regulator is looking to extend its reach. “IRDA has asked us to form a separate insurance division. They further want us to follow their norms regarding requirement for capital and deposits. Given our huge base, it doesn’t make sense unless some relaxation is provided for,” said an official in the ministry of Communications and IT.

As per a report from Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), the department of post failed to achieve the yearly target set for procurement of business both in Postal Life Insurance (PLI) and Rural Life Insurance during 2002-03 and 2006-07. It states that in case of PLI, the shortfall in target went up from 17% in 2002-03 to 41% in 2006-07.
Source: Economic Times

CAT refuses to give relief to Delhi Police officer

CAT refuses to give relief to Delhi Police officer

The Central Administrative Tribunal has refused to give relief to a Delhi Police sub-inspector, whose one year of service was forfeited after he was found guilty of dereliction of duty.
"If there is some evidence against the SI, which has not been rebutted and a clear finding has been recorded by the inquiry officer, it is neither a case of 'no evidence' nor 'no misconduct', the Tribunal bench, comprising members Veena Chhotray and Shanker Raju, said.

"Accordingly, on proper procedure followed by the Delhi Police, he has been rightly held guilty and punished," it said.

The CAT passed the order on a plea of Dinesh Kumar, challenging the Delhi Police decision to forfeit his one year of approved service temporarily for not properly investigating a case of theft entrusted to him.
Source:PTI

Former V-C's wife asked to return house rent allowance

Former V-C's wife asked to return house rent allowance

Vrinda Khole, wife of former vice-chancellor (V-C) of Mumbai University Vijay Khole, has moved the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) against an order passed by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) asking her to return the amount she earned as House Rent Allowance (HRA) between May 20, 2005 and September 27, 2009.

The government on January 12 had sent her a recovery notice, seeking back the amount of Rs5.01 lakh, as she was residing with her husband at the V-C’s bungalow, the official residence at Kalina campus.

A single member bench of Jog Singh issued the notice and sought its reply. “The respondents have been granted time till April 30 to file their reply,” said Khole’s advocate Sandeep Marne.

Vrinda Khole had joined the National Institute for Research in Reproductive Health (formerly known as Institute for Research in Reproduction) as research officer on January 2, 1985.

She was promoted as senior research officer on July 1, 1990 and at the post of deputy director (known as Scientist ‘F’) from July 1, 2005. She is due to retire on April 30, 2014.

Vrinda moved in to the V-C’s official residence after her husband Vijay Khole was allotted a bungalow in Kalina campus in May, 2005.

She was still earning the HRA. The ICMR asked for the HRA paid to her as she was living in a government accommodation.
Source: DNA India

Council (ICAR) consider to give MACP upgradation from Grade Pay Rs.4800 to Rs.5400...

  

INDIAN COUNCIL OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH
KRISHI BHAWAN : NEW DELHI

  

F.No.33(3)/2009-Estt.I

  

Dated: April 12, 2010

  

To,
Directors of all ICAR Research Institues / NRCs/ PD/ Bureaux etc.

  

Sub: Modified Assured Career Progression Scheme (MACPS) – Clarification thereof – reg.

  

Sir/ Madam,
Reference is invited to the Council’s letter No. 33(3)/2009-Estt.I dated 2.3.2010 regarding implementation of Modified Assured Career Progression Scheme (MACPS). A large number of references have been received regarding grant of financial upgradation under the above Scheme. It is clarified that the cases of financial upgradation under MACP Scheme upto the Grade Pay of Rs.4800/- in PB-2 and Rs.5400 in PB-2, may be examined in accordance with the extent guidelines on the subject and finalized at the Institute level. However, the cases related to the granting of Grade Pay of Rs.5400/- in PB-3 and above, if any, may be referred to Council through SMD for the approval of competent authority in the enclosed proforma.

  

Yours faithfully,
(K.N.Choudhary)
Under Secretary (Admn.)