Central Government Employees working in Kashmir Valley

No. 18016/3/2010-Estt. (I)
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, P.G. and Pensions
(Department of Personnel & Training)

North Block, New Delhi.
Dated, the 28th December, 2010

CORRIGENDUM

Sub: Special concessions/facilities to Central Government Employees working in Kashmir Valley in attached / subordinate offices or PSUs falling under the control of Central Government.

The undersigned is directed to refer to this Department of even Number dated 15.3.2010 extending the Special concessions / facilities to Central Government Employees working in Kashmir Valley in attached / subordinate offices or PSUs falling under the control or Central Government, for the period with effect from 1.1.2010 to 3 1.12.2010 and to say that the Annexure attached with the OM stands partially modified to include the Notes. The Annexure as modified is attached herewith.

Sd/-
(Simmi R. Nakra)
Director (P&A)

All Ministries/Departments of the Government of India. (As per standard mailing list)

Annexure

Details of package of Concession/Facilities to Central Government employees working in Kashmir Valley in Attached/Subordinate Offices or PSUs falling under the control of Central Government:-

I. Additional H.R.A. and other concessions:

(A) Employees posted to Kashmir Valley

(i) These employees have an option to move their families to a selected place of their choice in India at Government expense. T.A. for the families allowed as admissible in permanent transfer inclusive of transportation of personal effects, lump-sum payment for packing etc.

(ii) Departmental arrangements for stay, security and transportation to place of work for employees.

(iii) HRA as for Class 'A' city applicable for employees exercising option at (i). Such employees will be eligible for drawing the normal HRA as well at their place of posting provided Departmental arrangement is not made for his/her stay.

(iv) The period of temporary duty extended to six months. For period of temporary duty daily allowance at full rate is admissible, apart from departmental arrangements for stay, security and transportation.

(B) Employees posted to Kashmir Valley who do not wish to move their families to a selected place of residence;

A per diem allowance of Rs. 10/- is paid for each day of attendance to compensate for any additional expense in transportation to and from office etc. This will be in addition to the transport allowance, which the employee is otherwise eligible for under Ministry of Finance order No. 21(2)/2008-E.II(B) dated 29.8.1008.

II. MESSING FACILITIES:
Messing Allowance to be paid to the employees at a uniform rate of Rs. 15/- per day by all Departments, or in lieu messing arrangements to be made by the Departments themselves. This rate of allowance will have to be adhered to uniformly by all the Ministries/Departments with effect from 01.07.1999. The slightly higher rate of Rs. 25.50 adopted by the Department of Telecom and Posts and allowed to be continued as a special case by the Department of Personnel in consultation with the Ministry of Finance, would, however, continue to be paid at the said rate.

III. ADJUSTRMENT OF MIGRANT EMPLOYEES:

As a purely temporary measure, the employees migrated from the Kashmir Valley are accommodated to the extent possible in the available vacancies under the respective Ministries/Departments in offices located outside but adjacent to the union Territory of Delhi.
IV. PAYMENT OF LEAVE SALARYIAD HOC FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE:

Arrangements were made for payment of leave salary for the period upto 30' April, 1990 in respect of employees who may not have received their emoluments after migration. Such employees were allowed to be given either leave salary at the minimum of the scale or some adhoc financial assistance as an advance to be adjusted from their dues after they join duty. Further the migrant employees who were unable to join their respective places of posting in the Valley due to the prevailing circumstances, were extended this facility till they were adjusted in accordance with (iii) above.

V. REGULARISATION OF THE PERIOD OF ABSENCE OF J&K MIGRANT EMPLOYEES:

In August, 1992, it was decided that the period of migration of a Central Government employee, who migrated from Kashmir Valley in view of the disturbed conditions would be treated as Earned leave to the extent which may have been due to him on the date of proceeding for migration. However, the position was reviewed by the Ministry of Personnel in April, 1997 and if was decided that the Earned Leave which was at the credit of the Central Government migrant employee at the time of migration will not be adjusted against the migration period, but will remain available for the purpose of leave encashment on the date of their retirement in respect of the employees who had already retired or would retire in future. The period of absence would however count in the service for the purpose of pension, but shall not count for earning any kind of leave. During the period of absence, a migrant employee is entitled to his pay (excluding special pay and local allowances) dearness allowance, which he would have been otherwise paid from time to time including benefit of increment had he reported for duty immediately after expiry of his Earned leave.

VI. PAYMENT OF MONTHLY PENSION TO PENSIONERS OF KASHMIR VALLEY

Pensioners of Kashmir Valley who are unable to draw their monthly pensions through either Public Sector Banks or PA0 treasuries from which they were receiving their pensions, would be given pensions outside the Valley where they have settled, in relaxation of relevant provisions.

NOTE:- I. The package of concession/facilities shall be admissible in Kashmir Valley comprising of six districts, namely Ananhag, Baramulla, Budgam, Kupwara, Pulwama and Srinagar.
2. The package of concession/facilities shall be admissible to Temporary Status Casual labourers working in Kashmir Valley in terms of para 5(i) of the Casual Labourers (Grant of Temporary Status and Regularization) Scheme of Government of India. 1993.

3. The benefit of additional HRA admissible under the Kashmir Valley package shall be admissible to all Central Government employees posted to Kashmir Valley irrespective of whether they are natives of Kashmir Valley, if they choose to move their families anywhere in India subject to the conditions governing the grant of these allowances.

4. The facilities of Messing Allowance and Per Diem allowance shall also be allowed to natives of Kashmir Valley in terms of the Kashmir Valley package.

DOPT Order

Clarification on Children Education Allowance and Hostel Subsidy - DOPT Order

Clarification on Children Education Allowance and Hostel Subsidy - DOPT Order

Department of Personnel and Training has published in its website today, an important clarification order[No.1211/08/2010-Estt.(AL) dated on 30.12.2010] about the Children Education Allowance and Hostel Subsidy issue.
This department has already issued some clarifications through the previous orders, still further doubts receiving from various department of Central Government to DOPT.
Now, clarifications given as some type of 'questions and answers' by the DOPT.
This order is very useful to Central Government Employees to clear the doubts regarding the Children Education Allowance Scheme...

We have given some answers collected from this order...

1. The upper age limit for children will now be 20 years or till the time of passing 12th Std. whichever is earlier.

2. 'One set of shoes' means 'One pair of shoes'.

3. 'Two sets of uniform' means a set of uniform will include all items of clothing prescribed for a day and irrespective of the colours/winter/summer/PT uniform.

4. 'Station' means first three digits of the PIN Code(indicate Revenue District) of the area where the employee is posted and /or residing.

5. No reimbursement whether the fee paid to Private Tutors.

If your want to read the original Office Memorandum, Pl. click the link given below...
http://persmin.gov.in/WriteReadData/Estt/12011_08_2010-Estt.-AL.pdf

Recommendations of the Fifth Central Pay Commission on scales of pay of posts of Superintending Engineers and equivalent in the Organized Group ‘A’ En

No. I-11012/3/2010-CRD
Government of india
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions
Department of Personnel and Training


3rd Floor, Lok Nayak Bhawan,
New Delhi- 110003.
December 29, 2010

Office Memorandum

Subject: Recommendations of the Fifth Central Pay Commission on scales of pay of posts of Superintending Engineers and equivalent in the Organized Group ‘A’ Engineering Service.

Attention is invited to this Department’s O.M. No.22/1/2000-CRD dated June 6, 2000 containing instructions to give effect to the recommendations of Fifth Central Pay Commission (FCPC) contained in Para 50.45 of its report to convert the Non-Functional pre-revised pay scale of Rs. 4500-5700 (revised: Rs. 14300-18300) applicable to the Superintending Engineers and equivalent into a ‘Functional’ grade and to introduce a Non-Functional Second Grade in the scale of Rs.12000-16500 for the Executing Engineers and equivalent of All the Organized Group ‘A’ Engineering Services. These instructions were amended comprehensively vide this Department’s O.M. No. 22/1/2000-CRD dated December 20, 2000.

2. Certain amended provisions with regard to eligibility criteria for grant of functional grade of Rs. 14300-18300 (pre-revised) to the Superintending Engineers and equivalent prescribed in Sub-para I (ii) of this Department’s O.M. No. 22/I/2000-CRD dated December 20, 2000 were quashed by the Gauhati High Court in its Order dated April 1, 2009 in the Writ Appeal No. 7 of 2006. This decision has now been upheld by the Supreme Court also vide its Order dated February 11, 2010 in the Civil Appeal No. 1902 of 2010. These amended provisions were formulated in supersession of the original provisions contained in Sub-paras 3(a), 3(b) and 3 (c) of this Department’s O.M. No. 22/1/2000-CRD dated June 6, 2000.

3. Consequently, the Sub-para 3(a) of this Department’s O.M. No. 22/1/2000- CRD dated June 6, 2000 would now read as under:

“The ‘functional’ grade of Rs. 14300-18300 shall be applicable to the posts of Superintending Engineers and equivalent that are variously designated and included in the Organised Group ‘A’ Engineering Services. Placement of Personnel in this ‘functional’ grade will, however, be subject to actual availability of vacancies in the grade. This shall be permitted only on completion of thirteen years of regular service in Group ‘A’ and regular service of four years in the grade of Executive Engineer and equivalent including the service rendered in the Non-Functional Second Grade Or nine years of regular service in the grade of Executive Engineer and equivalent, including regular service, if any, rendered in the Non-Functional Second Grade for the Executive Engineer and equivalent in the pay-scale of Rs. 12000-16500.”

5. This issues with the concurrence of the Department of Expenditure vide its ID Note No. 32 (5) —E-III (B)/2010 dated August 11, 2010 and the Department of Legal Affairs vide its Dy. No.FTS-3054/10A dated November 22, 2010.

(Pratima Tyagi)
Deputy Secretary to the Government of India

Interest bearing advances/Sixth Central Pay Commission recommendation on House Building Advance-enhancement in past cases-regarding

No.I-17011/2(1)/2009-H.III
Government of India
Ministry of Urban Development
(Housing -III section)
*****

Nirman Bhawan, New Delhi.
Dated:- the 14th July, 2010

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Subject:     Interest bearing advances/Sixth Central Pay Commission recommendation on House Building Advance-enhancement in past cases-regarding.

       The undersigned is directed to invite attention to this Ministry's O.M. No.I-17011/2(1)/2009-H.III dated 27th November, 2008 on the above subject and to say that it has been decided in consultations with Ministry of Finance to make the afore-said orders applicable with effect from 1st January, 2006. Accordingly, an enhancement of House Building Advance, if applied for, may be granted for an amount equivalent to the difference between the previously sanctioned amount and the new amount determined on the basis of pay in the pay band, in past cases, where HBA was sanctioned on or after 1-1-2006 but before 27-11-2008 subject to complying following conditions:-

(a)       The Government servant should not have drawn the entire amount of HBA sanctioned under earlier orders and /or where construction is not completed/full cost towards acquisition of house/flat is yet to be paid.

(b)       There will be no deviation from the approved plan of construction on the basis of which the original sanction of House Building Advacne was accorded. The revised cost of the original plan can, however, be considered for determining the additional amount, subject to the prescribed maximum limits.

(c)       Supplementary Mortgage Deed, Personal Bond and Sureties will be drawn and executed at the expense of the loanee.

(d)       The actual entitlement will be restricted to the repaying capacity computed on the basis of the formula laid down in this Ministry's O.M. No.I-17015/16/92-H.III. dated 17.10.2000. It should be ensured that the entire amount of advance with interest is recovered before retirement of the Government servant.

(e)       Rate of Interest: The rate of interest chargeable in such cases would be as per the slab applicable to the total sanctioned amount i.e. amount already sanctioned on or after 1-1-2006 but before 27.11.2008 plus the enhanced sanction. However, the new rate of interest would be chargeable only on collective amount that would remain outstanding on grant of enhancement so granted. Thus, the amount of HBA that has already been re-paid on old rates will not attract the fresh interest charges.

2.       However, the existing limit of maximum admissible amount of Rs.7.50 lakh for the purpose of construction/purchase of new house/flat and Rs.1.80 lakh would remain unchanged. In other words, the sum total of previously sanctioned HBA and the enhancement granted under these orders cannot exceed the aforesaid limits. In any case, not more than one enhancement is admissible to a Govt. employee.

3.       The applications for enhanced HBA should be submitted within six months from the date of issue of this order.

4.       Ministries/Departments whose branch offices are situated in the far flung areas like in case of Ministry of Defence, etc., are advised to give wider publicity to these orders through modern communication mean like facimile e-mail, web-sites etc. so that there is no occassion for any representation for extending the time limits of six months on the grounds of receiving these orders late.

s/d
(V.K. Gupta)
Deputy Financial Adviser

Major Initiatives of Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions During 2010

Major Initiatives of Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions During 2010

      The Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions took several new initiatives during 2010 for raising the efficiency of bureaucracy and better service delivery mechanisms. Steps were taken towards capacity building and strengthening of the historic Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005. Major policy initiatives taken by the Ministry are as under:

Whistleblowers’ Bill tabled in Lok Sabha

      The Public Interest Disclosure and Protection to Persons making the Disclosure Bill, 2010, (commonly known as Whistleblowers’ Bill) was tabled in the Lok Sabha. The bill is presently under examination with the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice.

      The Bill provides for adequate protection to the persons reporting corruption or willful misuse of power or willful misuse of discretion which causes demonstrable loss to the government or commission of a criminal offence by a public servant. The identity of the complainant is kept secret. It also provides punishment for revealing the identity of a complainant, negligently or malafidely.

Changes in IAS recruitment Exam

      The pattern of UPSC exam for Civil Services has been changed. The Government has approved the proposal for introduction of Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) in place of Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination. The CSAT will come into effect from Civi Services Examination, 2011. This will enable screening of candidates having a right aptitude for Civil Services.

      In CSAT, one of optional subjects, which a candidate could have chosen out of 23 optional, is being replaced with a common paper on aptitude test. The CSAT is aimed at providing a greater degree of level - playing field to candidates of different backgrounds.

Steps to Strengthen RTI Act

i).       A new Central Sector Scheme on ‘Improving Transparency and Accountability in Government Through Effective Implementation on RTI Act’ has been approved. The scheme aims at Awareness Generation and Capacity Building of Stakeholders. Draft RTI Amendment Rules have been posted in the website persmin.nic.in for seeking comments finalising the same.

ii).       The provisions related to RTI applications received by a public authority regarding information concerning other public authority/authorities have been clarified.

iii).       35000 RTI Posters on Regional Languages i.e. Bangla, English, Marathi, Oriya, Kanada and Malayalam were displayed in Regional Post Offices.

RTI Logo & RTI Portal launched

      Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) launched RTI logo & RTI portal with a view to give this historic legislation an iconic symbol and one stop knowledge bank for information seekers. The simple and iconic logo represents people’s empowerment through transfer and accountability in Governance. The logo’s shape and structure make it easy to remember, recall and replicate with minimal distortion.

      In the last five years the RTI regime has heralded a regime of transparency and accountability and strengthened the democratic structure of the country. Success stories of citizens using the RTI Act abound. The Act has achieved great success in empowering the citizens of India. However it was felt that the core values of the RTI regime – Empowerment, Transparency and Accountability- need to be given a shape in the form of a logo. The logo would be displayed at all public authorities and will be used in various communications related to RTI.

      The Right to Information Portal www.rtigateway.org.in is one stop knowledge bank forinformation seekers, information providers, trainers, Information Commissions, students and academicians. It provides for a digital library, discussion fora, e- newsletter and a blog.

Distant learning for Govt. employees

      The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) and Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) signed a Memorandum of Understanding for offering Distance & E-Learning Programmes to Government employees. The Government employees can now enroll for a wide spectrum of Programmes offered by IGNOU and get their fees reimbursed on successfully completing the programmes. The courses are open to central government employees working in Ministries / Departments / Attached offices and the faculty members of State Apex Training Institutions.

      The purpose of the Programme is to increase the availability and flexibility of options open to employees for enhancing their knowledge and skills in order to improve the functioning of Government organizations and the delivery of services to the public.

      The categories of courses open for enrolment under this programme are Short-Duration Specialised modules; Certificate Programmes and Masters, PG and PG Diploma Programmes.

46th Meeting of the National Council (JCM)

      The 46th Meeting of the National Council (JCM), the apex body of the Joint Consultative Machinery for the Central Government Employees, was held under the Chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary Shri K. M. Chandrasekhar. Senior leaders of the Central Government Employees’ Unions/ Federations and Secretaries of various Ministries/Departments actively participated in the deliberations. the need for the Staff Organizations to work in harmony with the official side to enhance productivity and efficiency and the endeavour of the Government to maintain a sustained level of contact with the Staff Side to take forward the process of consensus building were highlighted at the deliberations. Various issues of importance to the Central Government employees and their families were also discussed with a view to find amicable solutions and to ensure harmonious relationship.

Quality Management System ‘Sevottam” developed

      A Quality Management System (QMS) ‘Sevottam’ framework has been developed for bringing improvements in the quality of public service delivery. This is a citizen centric initiative for institutionalizing an assessment-improvement framework for improving the quality of service delivery on a continuous basis through the involvement of Ministries / Departments and citizens. Sevottam includes three dimensions of a public service organization as follows: (a) Citizen’s / Client’s Charter that specifies the service delivery standards (b) Grievance Redress Mechanism that gets activated if the service delivery is not as per standards in the charter (c) Service Delivery Capability of the organization to delivery service as per standards in the charter. A ‘nine point quality of compliance’ criteria based on published standards has been developed. Pilot Projects on Sevottam in 10 Central Ministries / Departments has been concluded in June 2010.

      The Depertment of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances (DARPG) organized fo workshops/seminars for 62 Ministries/Departments on Designing & Implementing SevottComplaint Citizen’s Charter and Grievance Redressal. Sevottam framework focuses on improv service delivery through setting of standards and monitoring the performance of service delivery against Results Framework Document (RFD) standards.

Centralized Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) upgraded

      An upgraded version of the Centralized Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) was inaugurated in September, 2010. CPGRAMS is an online internet based facilityfor citizens to lodge their grievances from any part of the country or the world. It is accessible at http://pgportal.gov.in and also through www.darpg.nic.in . It is also a tool for effective monitoringof redress of grievance received through the Grievance Redress Mechanism, established in Government of India. The System networks 89 Central Ministries / Departments / Organizations including all responsibility centres under them. Through CPGRAMS citizens can lodge complaints online and immediately get a unique registration number for further reference. The number is useful for checking the progress on redress of their grievance and for sending reminders. Citizens have a choice to lodge the grievance directly with the Ministry / Department concerned or to send it to DARPG. The grievances received in PG Division are forwarded online to the Ministry / Department concerned for redress. Reports can also be generated through the System for analyzing grievance prone areas for taking remedial action for preventing similar grievances from arising in future.

      All grievances received by post / by hand are also lodged on to the CPGRAMS by PG Division on behalf of the citizens. Acknowledgements are generated and issued by post, and final redress response is also sent by post in all such cases.

E-Office Pilot Project launched

      DARPG has taken up the e-Office Mission Mode Project (MMP) under National Governance Plan (NeGP). The project has been conceptualized to modernise the Central Government Offices through introduction of Information Technology. The e-Office MMP envisages a user-friendly and integrated file and records management software solution with implantation of associated process reforms. Under the e-Office Mission Mode Project, DARPG proposes to devise an e-Manual to be adopted by the various Government of India offices in the e-office environment. The e-Office MMP is aimed at introducing the concepts of e-file in the government offices leading to a paperless office.

The broad objectives of e-Office are: - (i)       To improve efficiency, consistency and effectiveness of Government responses.

(ii)       To reduce turnaround time and to meet the demand of the citizen charger

(iii)       To provide for effective resource management to improve the quality of administration.

(iv)       To enhance transparency and accountability Detailed studies have been conducted through National Institute for Smart Governance on various processes involved in the implementation to ensure successful implementation of the Project.

      The project will be implemented in other Government Ministries/Departments in phased manner after its successful implementation / assessment at the pilot locations. Presently the MMP is targeted Central Government Offices only.

13th Conference on e-Governance

      The thirteenth National Conference on e-Governance was organised by DARPG in coordination with the Department of Information Technology, Government of India and Department of Information and Technology, Government of Rajasthan, at Jaipur.

      National Awards for e-Governance 2009-10 were given away in seven categories to 17 organisations. These awards are given to recognise and promote excellence in implementation of eGovernance initiatives. These initiatives could be from Government to Government (G2G), Government to Citizen (G2C) or Government to Business (G2B). An exhibition showcasing the capacities, products and e-Governance initiatives of the Government and private sector will also be inaugurated.

      The theme for this year’s Conference was “e-Governance from Citizens’ Perspective”. The Conference explored how the use of ICT had transformed governance from the perspective of the beneficiaries of the services. It made an attempt at a reality check to ascertain the outcome of the services rendered and whether it has achieved the intended objectives of transparent, effective, responsive and accountable governance. The focus sector this year was Education with the agenda, “ICT in Education-enhancing quality and reach”. During the Conference, discussions were held on e-Governance from Citizen’s Perspective; leveraging mobile technology for better service delivery –financial inclusion through mobile technology; public distribution system (direct access to the citizens through e- Governance) and ICT in education – enhancing quality and reach.



Source: PIB