Forces seek new pension formula

Even as the retired veterans from forces are asking for one-rank-one pension (OROP), the ‘joint services’ memorandum submitted to the 7th pay commission has recommend a pension formula that is based on the last pay drawn.

Sources told the Tribune that the memorandum submitted on behalf of the three services, the Army, the IAF and the Navy, to the commission has suggested that 75 per cent of the last pay drawn should be the benchmark for calculating pension for jawans. In case of officers, 60 per cent of last pay drawn be the benchmark for calculating pension.

This demand has been put forward as the government is yet to implement the one rank-one pension (OROP). On its part, the government has accepted the OROP. Its modalities are being worked out over the past 12 months.

The Rajya Sabha Petitions Committee chaired by Bhagat Singh Koshyari in December 2011 stated that clubbing the defence personnel with the civilian employees for pension purposes was not a considered decision.

The committee laid down the definition of OROP: “It implies that uniform pension be paid to Armed Forces personnel retiring in the same rank with the same length of service, irrespective of their date of retirement, and any future enhancement in the rates of pension to be automatically passed on to the past pensioners.

This implies bridging the gap between the rate of pensions of the current pensioners and the past pensioners and also future enhancements in the rate of pension to be automatically passed on to the past pensioners.”

Three weeks ago, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had promised “OROP will be implemented....it has a lot of financial implications which are being worked out”. On the civilian side, the pension is 50 per cent of the last pay drawn and the same formula was applied for the forces in the last pay commission.

The forces have argued that 50 per cent of the last pay drawn was more in tune for civilians. People in forces retire early and only 2 per cent of them make it to the rank of Major General or equal in the IAF and Navy that is at a par with Joint Secretary.

The memorandum also says the Military Service Pay (MSP) amount is very small and suggested it be fixed at 30 per cent of basic pay for jawans and 15 per cent of the basic pay for officers.

In case of disability pension, a minimum 10 years of service is required to be eligible. And if a person is injured critically within 10 years and cannot continue further in the forces, he cannot get pension. This 10-year period should be waived, the memorandum suggested.

LTC likely to be extended to Maldives, Lanka, Bhutan and Nepal

The government is working out on a proposal extending the leave travel concession (LTC) for government employees to four countries — Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives and Sri Lanka — to boost tourism in the neighbourhood. The LTC will be modeled on the schemes for the north-east and J&K which helped increase tourism and fueled economic improvement in the two regions. 

Sources in the tourism ministry said, "Introducing LTC for 20 lakh government employees could encourage greater people to people exchange among the Saarc countries. But there will have to be some reciprocal arrangement. We are working on that." Sources said India was in touch with the countries to consider the proposal's viability. 

At the Saarc summit, Modi had highlighted the need for better connectivity in the region. In his speech, he had said, "It is still harder to travel within our region than to Bangkok or Singapore; and, more expensive to speak to each other."

Aadhar No. linked to eAwas-Directorate of Estates

Aadhar No. linked to all applications of eAwas

 

 

No.12035/11/2013-Pol.ll
Government of India
Ministry of Urban Development
Directorate of Estates

 

 

Nirman Bhavan,
New Delhi-110 108

Dated the 2nd December,2014-12-11

 

 

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

 

Sub: Request to all existing allottees and new applicants for General Pool Residential Accommodation for providing Aadhar [UID] numbers in e-Awas (Automated System of Allotment) of the Directorate of Estates.

******

 

 

The undersigned is directed to say that the Government has decided to link Aadhar [UID] numbers of Government servants who are occupying General Pool residential accommodation (GPRA) all over the country. Accordingly, all the existing allottees of General Pool residential accommodation shall enter their Aadhar [UID] numbers in their accounts in e-Awas at the earliest. New applicants for General Pool residential accommodation shall enter their Aadhar [UID] numbers in online forms while applying for residential accommodation.

 

2. All Ministries / Departments of the Government of India are requested to give wide circulation of these instructions among its employees for their compliance.

 

                                                                                                                     (Swarnali Banerjee)
                                                                                                          Deputy Director of Estates (Policy)
                                                                                                          Phone : 2306 2505

 

UNITED MOVEMENT OF CENTRAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES-MERGER OF 100% DA

NATIONAL CONVENTION OF JCM
NATIONAL COUNCIL STAFF SIDE ORGANISATIONS
ON 11TH DECEMBER 2014 AT NEW DELHI

 

Venue: MPCU Shah Auditorium, Sree Gujarati Samaj, Raj Niwas Road, Civil Lines (Opposite Civil Lines Metro Stations) Delhi.

Time: 12:00 noon to 16:00 Hrs (12 AM to 4 PM)

JCM National Council Staff side organisations will be organizing a National Convention of all Central Government Employees at New Delhi on 11.12.2014. Railway. Defence and Confederation will participate in the convention. Convention will adopt a joint declaration on future course of agitational programmes on the following demands of the Central Government Employees.

1. Effect of wage revision of Central Government Employees from 01.01.2014 accepting memorandum of staff side JCM, Grant interim relief and merger of 100% DA, Ensure submission of the 7th CPC report within the time frame of 18 months.
2. Include the Gramin Dak Sewaks within the ambit of the 7th CPC.
3. No privatization or FDI in Railways and Defence establishments.
4. No ban on recruitment/creation of Posts.
5. No outsourcing, contractorisation and privatization of government functions. Withdraw the proposed move to close down the printing presses, stationery offices and Medical Stores Depots. Regularise the existing daily rated/casual and contract workers.
6. Scrap PFRDA and restore the defined benefit statutory pension scheme.
7. No Labour reforms which are inimical to the interest of workers.
8. Lift the arbitrary ceiling on compassionate appointments.
9. Revise the JCM functioning at all levels as an effective negotiating forum for settlement of the demands of the CGEs.
10. Remove the bonus ceiling.
11. Ensure five promotions in service career.
ALL AFFILIATED ORGANIZATIONS OF CONFEDERATION ARE REQUESTED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE NATIONAL CONVENTION WITHOUT FAIL

Politics took over mourning - Uniforms and boots of the dead CRPF personnel

 

Politics took over mourning in Chhattisgarh a day after Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh placed wreaths on the coffins of 14 CRPF personnel killed in a Maoist ambush in Sukma.

Uniforms and boots of the dead CRPF personnel were found in a garbage dump of the Ambedkar Hospital in Raipur where autopsies were performed on Tuesday. These lay there for more than 24 hours and were spotted by relatives of hospital patients on Wednesday. They took photographs and sent them to journalists.

The Opposition Congress was quick to move in. A group led by Raipur party president Vikas Upadhyaya reached the hospital, raised slogans, collected the bloodstained belongings and took them to the state Congress headquarters for a “dignified cremation”. It didn’t matter to them that seizure of the property of a dead person without the consent of his or her family is treated as an offence, a theft under IPC.

As word spread, the police reached the Congress office but party leaders refused to part with the belongings. Later, a CRPF commandant showed up and the Congress leaders handed him the belongings.

 

State Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel said: “The Raman Singh government threw the uniforms of the deceased personnel in a garbage dump. We brought the belongings to ensure a proper cremation.”

But BJP’s Shivratan Sharma called the Congress act of whisking away the belongings “laashon ki rajniti (politics over bodies)”.

No one was ready to take the blame for the uniforms in the garbage dump.

Ambedkar Hospital superintendent Dr Vivek Chaudhary told The Indian Express: “It is the duty of the attendants of the deceased to collect their belongings but no officer from the CRPF was present during the post-mortem yesterday. In fact, no one came to collect the belongings until this morning.”

“We kept the uniforms and other material in the mortuary. The sweepers who came in this morning to clean the mortuary threw them outside. It was the responsibility of the CRPF,” Chaudhary said.

The CRPF, in turn, said the police and hospital staff should have taken care of the belongings.

“When a postmortem is done, doctors are required to keep a packet of all belongings. These are later handed over to police which include these in properties related to the case. When we learnt that some civilians had taken away the belongings, we sent an officer to coordinate with police to ensure the release of the material. It is unfortunate that the procedure was not followed properly,” H S Siddhu, IG, CRPF, said.

Former Chhattisgarh DGP Vishwaranjan called the act a “great dishonour”: “The uniform is the most prized possession of a policeman. Throwing it away is a great dishonour. Either these belongings should be kept in a museum of the security force as a mark of their commitment to the cause, or given to the family with respect.”

But Siddhu said belongings like uniforms and boots of dead personnel are never given to their families. “Their personal effects are sent home. But what they were wearing at the time of the incident becomes case property,” he said.

On Tuesday evening, a relative of a patient also shot a video of a dog entering the mortuary and nibbling away at what seemed to be body parts on the floor. Confirming that a dog did enter the mortuary, hospital superintendent Chaudhary said: “A dog entered the mortuary through its channel gate but the visceras were not of the personnel. Those have been kept safely. These were some other remnants.”

Doctors said no post-mortem examination was conducted in the hospital after the autopsies of the CRPF personnel.

CRPF’s biggest single-day casualty in Chhattisgarh this year

In the CRPF’s biggest single-day casualty in Chhattisgarh this year, 14 of its personnel, including two officers, were killed in a Maoist attack in Chintagufa area of Sukma district on Monday afternoon. At least 15 personnel have been injured — five are reported to be in a serious condition.

The victims, including      Deputy Commandant D S Verma and Assistant Commandant Rajesh Kapuria,           were from the 223 battalion of the CRPF.
“Our parties were inside (the forest) for an operation when the Maoists ambushed them. Fourteen personnel were killed,” confirmed ADG (Naxal Ops) R K Vij. The incident took place deep in the forest, around 10 km southwest of the last police camp at Chintagufa.

According to reports, a huge team of over 550 CRPF and state personnel had left the police camps in Chintagufa and Kankerlanka for the operation on Saturday. One party was led by CRPF IG (Chhattisgarh) H S Siddhu.

At around 2 pm today, the security personnel reportedly faced Maoist resistance near Tondamarka village in Kasarpad. Maoists opened heavy fire, and the ambush lasted for over an hour. The rebels also looted a significant number of weapons.

“The forces have returned to the Chintagufa camp. The chopper could not fly because of low light,” said Vij. Air support could not be provided to rescue the injured personnel and get the bodies.

Today’s incident took place in the same region where seven personnel were injured in a Maoist attack just over a week back, when the rebels had managed to hit the Mi 17 that had been sent to evacuate the injured. Considered a “liberated zone”, the forces have rarely been able to venture into this area.
“It is a challenge for the country. I am personally hurt by this incident,” said Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today. He said he would reach Sukma distrct tomorrow.

The attack has come at a time when Chhattisgarh has been citing record Naxal surrenders in the last six months. Just yesterday, Chief Minister Raman Singh had said “the Maoists would be finished from Chhattisgarh soon”.

The CRPF has recently undertaken massive operations in the interior areas of Sukma.
Singh, who was in New Delhi, curtailed his visit and is returning tonight. He will hold a high-level meeting of senior officers.

The attack also comes a day before the People’s Liberation of Guerrilla Army of the CPI (Maoist) is set to begin its foundation week from December 2-8.
Significantly, a delegation of the National Security Advisory Board is in Chhattisgarh these days to review the Maoist situation in the state.

Military Canteen (CSD)- No change in the ceiling limit

 

 

CSD- At present no change in the ceiling limit is proposed.

Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Defence

28-November-2014

 

Ceiling for purchasing goods in military canteens has been prescribed taking into account the budgetary allocation to the Canteen Stores Department (CSD) by the Government, actual need / requirement of the individual and their purchasing power. For ceiling purpose the officials have been divided into 5 categories as mentioned under:-

No.	Ranks & Category	Grocery (Rs.)	Against Firm Demand (Rs.)	Liquor (Units)
(i)	Lt Gen & above & equivalent	7,500	95,000	14
(ii)	Brig to Maj Gen  & equivalent	7,500	95,000	12
(iii)	Lt to Col & equivalent	7,500	95,000	10
(iv)	JCOs& equivalent	5,000	65,000	07
(v)	Sep to Hav& equivalent	3,500	40,000	05

The ceiling was revised on 21st August 2006 and again on 27th October 2008 to be effective from 1st January 2009. At present no change in the ceiling limit is proposed.

 

This information was given by Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar in a written reply to ShriKeshav Prasad Maurya in Lok Sabha today.
DM/HH/RAJ