Paramilitary service pay and enhancement of casual leave

The Centre today(22/07) ruled out one rank, one pension for personnel of the seven paramilitary forces.

Junior home minister Kiren Rijiju told Parliament today that there was no proposal under consideration to implement the scheme for the seven forces - the CRPF, BSF, CISF, ITBP, SSB, Assam Rifles and the NSG.

"There is no proposal under consideration of the ministry on the issue," Rijiju said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.

The minister, however, pointed out that the proposals regarding granting of paramilitary service pay and enhancement of casual leave on a par with the army had been received by the government.

"The same have been referred to the 7th Central Pay Commission for consideration," he said.

The principle of one rank, one pension for the armed forces has been accepted by the government and is under consideration.

Rijiju also said the home ministry had issued instructions to the seven paramilitary forces to incorporate yoga as part of daily physical exercise.

"It would be appropriate to incorporate yoga in the daily routine of paramilitary personnel. This will also help the paramilitary forces to beat stress, if any, and keep them physically as well as mentally fit," he said.

The home ministry today told Parliament that a total of 228 CRPF jawans had committed suicide in the past seven years.

"Yes, according to available data, 228 jawans of the CRPF committed suicide. The causative factors in most of the cases were found to be generally personal and domestic problems, like marital discord, personal enmity, mental illness, depression etc. In few cases the same could be owing to the work related stress," Rijiju said in the written reply.

Source : The Telegraph

PM Modi to meet chiefs of paramilitary forces to chalk out strategy plans

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided to hold a 'one-to-one' meeting with the chiefs of paramilitary forces later this month in an effort to chalk out important strategy plans for operational efficiency and welfare of these units which are about eight lakh strong. 

Officials said the meeting is tentatively scheduled to be held in the third week of July in the Prime Minister's Office with only Home Minister Rajnath Singh and National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval in attendance.

An order issued by the Union Home Ministry, accessed by PTI, has asked these central armed police forces-- CRPF, BSF, CISF, ITBP, SSB and NSG-- to prepare their respective "talking points" for the proposed meeting and submit them to it which will be sent to the PMO. 

"The PMO has told the Home Ministry that the Prime Minister has desired to hold a one-to-one meeting with the Directors General of these forces.

"Preparations are in full swing in this regard," sources said.

Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Director General Prakash Mishra, the senior-most Chief, has been nominated by the Home Ministry to coordinate on the subject with all the forces, the order said. 

The sources said while the exact agenda of the meeting is yet to be known, it has been indicated that the PM would be discussing with the Directors General (DGs) of these forces some major issues related to their requirements for overall operational efficacy and measures that can be ushered to make these services attractive for young aspirants.

They added that the forces have been asked to specifically prepare a report on the grievances being faced by junior and middle rank personnel  which can be addressed through long term steps and will go a long way in boosting the morale of these troops deployed for rendering a variety of internal security tasks in the country like border guarding, anti-Naxal operations and assisting state governments in maintaining law and order. 

"The meeting is expected to be held in the PMO itself in the presence of the Home Minister and NSA. Not many Home Ministry officials will be a part of the deliberations. 

"However, final plans are being worked out," a senior official privy to the development said.

The sources said issues related to timely promotions and delays in getting proper allowances by the jawans and officers of these forces are also expected to figure during the meeting which will have some specific speaking time reserved for each DG.

The forces, it is understood, have also been asked to prepare a report on the status of future recruitments and raising of additional battalions.

The six paramilitary forces function under the command of the Home Ministry with CRPF being the largest with about three lakh men and women. The elite commando force National Security Guard (NSG) is the smallest with about 12,000 personnel in its ranks. 

Property Returns to be filed twice every

The Centre has made it clear that government servants will have to submit their asset details twice every year under the existing Conduct Rules and the new Lokpal Act until the former are harmonised with the latter. This means that babus will have to undergo the drill of filing their annual property returns twice each year under the two different provisions. 

"The requirement of filing returns regarding assets and liabilities under the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act is in addition to, and not in derogation or supersession of the requirement of filing similar returns under the existing Conduct Rules. In view of this, the requirement of filing of property returns under the existing Conduct Rules is an independent requirement under the applicable rules and the same can be dispensed with, only by amending those rules," theDepartment of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has said, releasing answers to a set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013.

 "In other words, the requirement of filing returns of assets and liabilities under the applicable Conduct Rules has to continue, till such time as the provisions of those rules are harmonised with the relevant provisions of the Lokpal Act and the rules framed thereunder, by carrying out appropriate amendments in them. Public servants are generally required to submit annual property returns as on the January of the year, on or before January 31 of that year. 

The Lokpal Act, on the other hand, requires the filing of annual returns as on the March 31 of the year by each public servant on or before July 31 of that year. Thus, the requirements of the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013 and the relevant Conduct Rules are different in the manner of filing information also," the DoPThas said. 

The DoPT however said it has asked for the required harmonisation to be achieved by October 15, 2015 -- the date by which all government servants are expected to file their first property return under the Lokpal Act. "It is incumbent upon all Ministries / Departments/cadre controlling authorities to ensure that the relevant conduct rules relating to services administered/controlled by them are brought in harmony with the provisions of the Lokpal Act and rules made thereunder within an extended time limit of eighteen months (by October 15, 2015). 

All Ministries/Departments and other cadre controlling authorities have been appraised about this requirement separately through letters dated 8th September, 2014 and 29 December, 2014 issued by this Department," the DoPT has said. 

Under the Lokpal Act, a public servant is required to furnish to the competent authority the information relating to the assets of which he, his spouse and his dependent children are, jointly or severally, owners or beneficiaries; and his liabilities and that of his spouse and his dependent children.

 As against this, the general requirement as contained in most of the applicable Conduct Rules for government servants (AIS Conduct Rules, CCS Conduct Rules), require the public servant to submit a return, giving the full particulars regarding the immovable property owned by him, or inherited or acquired by him or held by him on lease or mortgage, either in his own name or in the name of any member of his family or in the name of any other person; shares, debentures, postal Cumulative Time Deposits and cash including bank deposits inherited by him or similarly owned, acquired or held by him, other movable property inherited by him or similarly owned, acquired or held by him and debts and other liabilities incurred by him directly or indirectly.

Disparity in babus’ designation rocks Defence Ministry

A fresh controversy has cropped up in the defence establishment, this time over disparity in the designation of civilian bureaucrats of the Armed Forces Headquarters Civil Service (AFHQCS) vis-à-vis IAS and defence officers.

The AFHQCS officers are placing themselves at designations above that of their counterparts having the same or even higher grade pay.

While this anomaly has been existing for some time, it was only recently that some defence officers noticed it and took up the matter with Army Headquarters for referring it to the Defence Ministry.

The AFHQCS officers of the level of Deputy Secretary to the Government of India in Pay Band-3 with Grade Pay (GP) of Rs 7,600 are placing themselves as ‘Directors’ in the Services Headquarters while senior military officers of the rank of Lieutenant Colonels, who are in Pay Band-4 with GP Rs 8,000, are being posted as ‘Joint Directors’.

Further, selection grade officers of the IAS and other Group A civil services as well as Army officers of the rank of Colonel, all with a GP of Rs 8,700, are posted as ‘Directors’ while the AFHQCS officers with a similar GP of Rs 8,700 are designating themselves as ‘Principal Director’ and ‘Deputy Director General’. Unlike the defence services and Group A civil services, the AFHQCS officers are promotees from Group B and Group C cadres.

Sources said that as per the system prevalent in all Central government departments, officers with the GP of Rs 7,600 are supposed to be designated as Joint Directors while officers with GP Rs 8,700 are to be appointed as Directors, but the AFHQCS officers have been citing unilateral instructions issued by the office of the Chief Administrative Officer-cum-Joint Secretary (Training), also an AFHQCS cadre officer, to place themselves on senior appointments.

In 2008, a Group of Ministers (GoM) then headed by Pranab Mukherjee had specifically created GP of Rs 8,000 in Pay Band-4 for Lt Cols to denote their position above Deputy Secretary level officers to remove the anomaly created by the 6th Pay Commission which had downgraded Lieutenant Colonels at par with Central deputy secretaries (directors in state government) while equating Colonels with directors of Central government (special secretaries in states). The pay equation of military and civil officers got disturbed after the 4th Pay Commission.