AIRF to conduct secret ballot for indefinite strike on 11-12th, February 2016

All affiliated unions of AIRF had conducted Strike Ballot on 37 Point Charter of Demands in the month of December, 2013. After Strike Ballot, 7th CPC was appointed by a Notification by the Govt. on 28th February, 2014 and some of the issues were partially resolved. In the meantime General Election of Country was convened, we had to postponed the strike as per decision of the General Council of AIRF held at Kota 9W. C. Railway) in February, 2014. The new Govt. led by Shri Narendra Modi took oath on 26th May, 2014. The next General Council of AIRF held in July, 2014 postponed the strike decision further to provide time to the new Govt. to settle. But the same Govt. instead of reciprocrating the good gesture issued notification on 22nd August, 2014 permitting 100% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Construction, Operation and Maintenance and after one month i.e. on 22nd September, 2014 appointed a Committee headed by Shri BibekDebroy for re-structuring of Indian Railways.

STRIKE BALLOT

All affiliated unions of AIRF had conducted Strike Ballot on 37 Point Charter of Demands in the month of December, 2013. After Strike Ballot, 7th CPC was appointed by a Notification by the Govt. on 28th February, 2014 and some of the issues were partially resolved. In the meantime General Election of Country was convened, we had to postponed the strike as per decision of the General Council of AIRF held at Kota 9W. C. Railway) in February, 2014.

The new Govt. led by Shri Narendra Modi took oath on 26th May, 2014. The next General Council of AIRF held in July, 2014 postponed the strike decision further to provide time to the new Govt. to settle. But the same Govt. instead of reciprocrating the good gesture issued notification on 22nd August, 2014 permitting 100% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Construction, Operation and Maintenance and after one month i.e. on 22nd September, 2014 appointed a Committee headed by Shri BibekDebroy for re-structuring of Indian Railways.

The Committee had since submitted its report drawing a road – map for privatisation of Indian Railways through contractorisation. Inspite all out protest by all affiliated union of AIRF and other Central Govt. Employee’s organisation Govt. did not stop in taking all antilabour steps, rather escalating the same. The 7th CPC was appointed to submit its report within 18 months i.e. by August, 2015. During deliberations of NC/JCM with the Pay Commission, Justice A. K. Mathur, the Chairman of the 7th CPC assured that he would submit the report to the Govt. on 28th August, 2015. But the Govt. extended the date for submission of the report by 4 months.

The Pay Commission has submitted its report on 19th November, 2015, which is over loaded with all antilabour recommendations. The National Joint Council of Action has submitted a rejoinder to the report to the Govt. on 10th December, 2015 and AIRF has submitted two rejoinders on the report of 7th CPC to the Ministry of Railways on 14th& 15th December, 2015, fixing a time frame of 1st week of February, 2016 for a negotiated settlement failing which all the Central Govt. Employees including Railways would be compelled to launch an indefinite strike from any date from 1st week of March, 2016. There was only a preliminary discussion with the Govt. on 12th December, 2015.

The Govt. has formed a Committee of Empowered Secretaries of the Govt. of India headed by the Cabinet Secretary. Finding no further response Com. Shiva Gopal Mishra, the Convenor of National JCA has sent a communication to the Union Finance Minister on 21st January, 2016 highlighting the protest Dharna launched by all Central Govt. Employees Organisations across the country from 19th to 21st January, 2016. The empowered Committee of Secretaries of the Govt. of India headed by the Cabinet Secretary has also been appointed by the Govt. on 27.01.2016 to process the implementation of the report of 7th CPC. The 2nd Strike Ballot perforced by FDI, Deb Roy Committee’s report, anti labour report of 7th CPC etc. would be conducted on 11th& 12th February, 2016 on the following Charter of Demands.

CHARTER OF DEMANDS

1. To improve Minimum Wage of Rs.18,000/- and multiplying factor. Reject all the retrograde recommendations of the VII CPC.
2. Scrap National Pension Scheme(NPS) and restore Old Pension Scheme for all those who appointed on or after 01.01.2004.
3. Settle 36-point Charter of Demands, include reduction in duty hours, removal of anomalies of 6th CPC, removal of ceiling of Rs.3500 for PLB, grievances of different categories of railwaymen, improvement in the medical facilities, railway quarters etc. etc., already submitted to Ministry of Railways by the AIRF in December, 2013(on which strike ballot was conducted on 20th and 21st December, 2013).
4. Scrap Report of Bibek Deb Roy Committee and implement positive recommendations of D.P. Tripathi Committee.
5. Re-call the Notification issued by the Government of India on 22nd August, 2014 in the matter of 100% FDI in Construction, Operation and Maintenance of Indian Railways and to scrap all the agreements entered with the Foreign/National Companies in detriment to the interest of the Indian Railways and the country as a whole.
6. Stop all anti-workers amendments in the labour-laws.
7. Injustice done with the Technicians, Technical Supervisors(Engineers), Loco & Traffic Running Staff, Operating and Medical Categories Staff, etc. etc. in respect of allotment of Pay Matrix and promotions also should be done away with and justice be administered.
8. Parity in pay structure and promotional scope for Common Categories with those working in the Central Secretariat/Ministries should be ensured.
9. Retain all the existing allowances and advances.
10-A. Constitute Joint Committee at each Ministry/Department level to resolve VII CPC anomalies, aberrations and injustice within a time frame manner, and powers for the same should be delegated to the Ministries to resolve their issues at the Ministry level. 10-B. Set-up National Joint Committee to discuss and resolve all VII CPC anomalies, aberrations and injustice within a time frame. 11. Ensure payment of arrear for PLB as per amendment in the Bonus Act, as was done in the year 2008. The All India Railwaymen’s Federation gives a clarion call to all railwaymen irrespective of their affiliation to any organization to participate in the Strike Ballot and exercise opinion in this regard.

Prime Minister asks for maximum benefit and early implementation of 7th CPC award

In relief to Central government employees and pensioners, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked a Committee of Secretaries to accept the 7th Pay Commission’s recommendations without diluting them to provide maximum benefits to over 47 lakh government employees and 52 lakh pensioners.

The empowered committee, which was headed by Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha and comprised of  12 Secretaries, was set up on January 27 to process the recommendations of the Seventh Central Pay Commission.

A top official in the government told Express that theCommittee has been asked to speed up the review so that the Cabinet can  take a decision and the 7th Pay Commissionaward can be released at the earliest to the employees and pensioners.

“The government feels that recommendations to  introduce ahealth insurance scheme for staff and pensioners and double gratuity should not be diluted. The committee has been told to address the genuine concerns raised by stakeholders and accommodate their demands as much as possible. Although, there is indication that the committee may suggest some changes keeping in mind representations from middle and junior level, the decision will be taken after consultations with all the stakeholders. The entire process will take a couple of months,” the official added.

The pay panel recommended 23.55 per cent increase in pay and allowances and also recommended fixing minimum pay at Rs 18,000 per month and maximum at Rs 2.55 lakh. The ceiling of gratuity has been increased from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh and 24 per cent hike has been recommended in pensions.

The Committee has secretaries from the Finance Ministry, Home, Defence, Department of Personnel and Training, Department of Pension, Revenue, Expenditure, Health, Post, Science & Technology on board. Besides, Chairman, Railway Board, Deputy Comptroller & Auditor General and Secretary (Security) are also on the board. The committee may co-opt with any other Secretary, whenever found necessary.

The committee will also examine the views of the concerned stakeholders including staff associations before finalising it for Cabinet approval.

Source : Indian Express

7th CPC implementation- Minutes of the Meeting of Nodal Officers held on 2-2-2016

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF JOINT SECRETARY (IC) WITH NODAL OFFICERS HELD ON 2ND FEBRUARY, 2016

A meeting of all the Nodal Officers of various Ministries/Departments, who have been appointed to interact with the Implementation Cell in connection with the processing of the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission, was held on 02.02.2016. Joint Secretary (IC), Department of Expenditure, presided over the meeting.

2. While explaining the background and the context in which the meeting of Nodal Officers was held, it was brought out in the meeting that after the receipt of the report of the 7th Central Pay Commission on 19.11.2015, Ministry of Finance initiated a proposal to setup an appropriate mechanism to process the recommendations of the Commission. With the approval of the Cabinet, an Empowered Committee of Secretaries (E-CoS) headed by the Cabinet Secretary has been set up on 27.1.2016 to screen the recommendations and to firm up the conclusions for approval of the Cabinet. An Implementation Cell (IC), as a dedicated and focused wing in the Department of Expenditure (DoE) has been created to work as the Secretariat for the E-CoS.

3. As the recommendations of the Commission relate to various Ministries/ Departments, their views/comments would be essential to process the matter for submitting the same before the E-CoS. JS(Pers), D/o Expenditure wrote a d.o. letter to the Secretaries of various Departments on 21.11.2015, wherein all the Departments were requested to formulate their views/comments on the recommendations of the Commission pertaining to them after taking into account the representations of the Staff Associations and also to nominate a Joint Secretary level Nodal Officer for interaction with the Implementation Cell. While a number of Ministries/Departments have sent their comments and nominated their Nodal Officers, the comments received from some Ministries are simply in the nature of forwarding the representations of the Staff Associations without their comments.

4. In the above background, JS(IC) explained that there was a need for all the Ministries/Departments to furnish their comments in a structured format so that their collation and analysis could be placed before E-CoS in a systemic manner. Accordingly, JS(IC) impressed upon the following action points to be acted upon by the Nodal Officers to enable an expeditious processing of the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission:

Departments who have not yet nominated a Nodal Officer, should do it within the next 2 days.

(ii) To be ensured that Nodal Officers are not changed midway, unless extremely unavoidable.

(iii) Nodal Officers may get acquainted with the recommendations of the Commission as specifically applicable to their Departments. Nodal Officers to find out which Wing/Office (attached or subordinate or UT) is concerned with the recommendations of the Commission. The mechanism of Nodal Officers should also be put in place in attached/subordinate/UTs so that the comments of such offices could be properly coordinated at the level of the Department concerned without any further delay.

(iv) The comments of the attached/subordinate offices/UTs should be compiled by Nodal Officers at the Department level itself.

(v) Nodal Officers to take note of any representation or demand of the Staff Association under the administrative purview of their Department. Nodal Officers to ascertain the views/comments of the concerned office on the recommendation of the Commission in the light of the representation /demands raised by the Staff Association.

(vi) In case, there is any need for consultation with the Staff Association at the level of the Department, the same may be done as per the assessment of the Department.

(vii) Thereafter, the formal views/comments of the Department should be sent to the Implementation Cell (IC) on the recommendations of the Commission, which are specifically and directly related to that Department.

(viii) In case, the Department is of the view that any recommendation which are specifically related to their Department, need any modification, adequate justification in clear-cut terms should be brought out while sending the comments to the Implementation Cell (IC).

(ix) In case of any modification, the extra financial implications (per annum) over the recommendation of the Commission should be clearly indicated.

(x) If no modification of the recommendations of the Commission is suggested, approval of the Secretary of the Department should be obtained before sending the recommendations to the Implementation Cell (IC). if, however, any modification is suggested, approval of the Minister should be obtained.

(xi) While the views/comments of the Departments on the recommendations of the Commission directly and specifically applicable to that Department are mandatory, a Department is free to offer views/comments on the recommendations which are of general nature or concerning other Departments.

(xii) Besides sending the comments/views of the Department in the running format, the same should also be sent to the Implementation Cell (IC)in the `prescribed proforma’ within two weeks. The soft copies of the same should also be sent through email. The email id of JS(IC) is : jsic-cpc@nic. in

(xiii) Nodal Officers shoud regularly keep a watch on the website of the Finance Ministry at the link http://www.finmin.nic.in/the ministry/dept expenditure/ notification/7cpc/index.asp. E-mails should also be checked regularly for the purpose. The updates/further action to be taken shall be posted there to facilitate quick action.

5. Apart from the above action points, it was also felt that sub-groups may be formed after the receipt of comments from the Ministries/Departments to accord focused consideration to certain specific issues, if necessary.

6. Besides above, after detailed deliberations, the Nodal Officers also agreed to the following :

(i) Even if the Department has no comments, it should send a response, saying that it has `Nil Report’.

(ii) While certain Departments have already given their comments, these comments would be sent again in the ‘prescribed format’ and in accordance with the points brought out in para 4 above.

(iii) Nodal officers would ensure that the comments of their Departments on all the recommendations of the Commission and also on the representations received so far from the Staff Associations are forwarded to Implementation Cell (IC) in the prescribed format in a consolidated fashion and not in piece-meal within next two weeks.

(iv) If a representation was made by a Staff Association before the 7th Central Pay Commission and the Commission after due diligence has not accepted the demand made therein, the same matter should normally not be considered at this stage. However, if Departments consider that the issues are of such nature that they require consideration at this stage also, then they may give their comments with full justifications to the Implementation Cell (IC).

7. With the above discussions, the meeting ended with a vote of thanks to the Chair.

Signed copy

The Empowered Committee of Secretaries to submit its report by June

Report on Pay Commission recommendations to be submitted by June New Delhi: The Empowered Committee of Secretaries, headed by Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha on the Seventh Pay Commission’s recommendations is expected to submit its report by June, official sources said. 


              Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha (pictured) is head the Empowered Committee of Secretaries (CoS) for processing the report of the Seventh Central Pay Commission. The Seventh Pay Commission took 21 months to finalize the report and now the secretaries committee will take the next four to five months to review it. 

           The Empowered Committee of Secretaries, who will screening the Seventh Pay Commission’s recommendations to send their review to increase in basic pay for all government employees in the region of 18-20% instead of 16%, which was recommended by the Pay Commission. Finance Ministry officials said the lower grade salaries might see a slight increase due to the commission’s recommendations in this segment is the lowest in 70 years. “If the increase was high, it would cast a huge impact on the budget outlay.

             So, the increase should be little,” said an official. There is no change will be made in highest salary while the lowest salary will be Rs 20,000 instead of the proposed Rs 18,000, said an official. The Pay Commission also recommended for abolition of allowances and advances like risk allowance, small family allowance, festival advance, motor cycle advance

            . The advantages and disadvantages of the matter will also be discussed in the review meeting. The first meeting of Empowered Committee of Secretaries to review the commission’s report is scheduled tomorrow. “After the first meeting, the Empowered Committee will seek suggestions from all the stakeholders for drafting of their report on the Seventh Pay Commission recommendations to address the concerns of central government employees in an effective manner,” the official said.

              Accordingly, there is a high possibility that a number of points made in the report may be amended or struck off by the empowered committee for convincing every section of central government employees. So, the Empowered Committee will need more time to convince every stakeholder before its final nod.

Report On Pay Commission Recommendations To Be Submitted By June

The Empowered Committee of Secretaries, headed by Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha on the Seventh Pay Commission’s recommendations is expected to submit its report by June, official sources said.

Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha (pictured) is head the Empowered Committee of Secretaries (CoS) for processing the report of the Seventh Central Pay Commission.

The Seventh Pay Commission took 21 months to finalize the report and now the secretaries committee will take the next four to five months to review it.

The Empowered Committee of Secretaries, who will screening the Seventh Pay Commission’s recommendations to send their review to increase in basic pay for all government employees in the region of 18-20% instead of 16%, which was recommended by the Pay Commission.

Finance Ministry officials said the lower grade salaries might see a slight increase due to the commission’s recommendations in this segment is the lowest in 70 years.

“If the increase was high, it would cast a huge impact on the budget outlay. So, the increase should be little,” said an official.

There is no change will be made in highest salary while the lowest salary will be Rs 20,000 instead of the proposed Rs 18,000, said an official.

The Pay Commission also recommended for abolition of allowances and advances like risk allowance, small family allowance, festival advance, motor cycle advance.

The advantages and disadvantages of the matter will also be discussed in the review meeting.

The first meeting of Empowered Committee of Secretaries to review the commission’s report is scheduled tomorrow.

“After the first meeting, the Empowered Committee will seek suggestions from all the stakeholders for drafting of their report on the Seventh Pay Commission recommendations to address the concerns of central government employees in an effective manner,” the official said.

Accordingly, there is a high possibility that a number of points made in the report may be amended or struck off by the empowered committee for convincing every section of central government employees.

So, the Empowered Committee will need more time to convince every stakeholder before its final nod.

Expected DA on 1.1.2016 is Over – Ends with 6% Hike at 125%

The index is one point decreased and ends with 269. The AICPIN points for the months of July 2015 till December 2015, has concluded with some ups and downs. The AICPIN points that started at 263, has ended on an average of 261.4 points (263, 264, 266, 269, 270, and 269).

Since all the AICPIN points required for calculating the DA for the months of July to December have been released, the additional Dearness Allowance, which will be issued from the month of January 2016, has been decided. It will be implemented only after the central cabinet gives its approval.

The final instalment of the DA, to be issued as per the recommendations of the 6th Pay Commission, will see an increase of 6 percent and end at 125%. With this, it concludes its 10-year-long journey.

Starting from January 2006, Dearness Allowance was revised 20 times based on the method recommended by the 6th Pay Commission. It began at zero on 01.01.2006, and increased, step by step, to 125 percent by 01.01.2016. In other words, there was an average increase of 6.25 % each time.

Since the final instalment of DA percent and the 2.57 Fitment Factor, recommended by the 7th Pay Commission, are closely related to each other, there is tremendous curiosity to know about it.

It is surprising that the 7th Pay Commission had very accurately predicted the rise.

Based on the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission, the basic pay of all the Central Government employees will be calculated, with effect from 01.01.2016. There will be no dearness allowance for the six months starting from January to June 2016. The first instalment of the Dearness Allowance will be issued from July onwards.

The 7th Pay Commission has not recommended any changes in the DA calculation method. Therefore, the method implemented by the 6th Pay Commission will be used.

Based on the AICPIN points of January to June 2016, the additional DA will be calculated and will be given as the first instalment of the new DA.

It is being said that only after seeing the report submitted by the 13-member Empowered Committee constituted by the centre will the government decide on implementing the 7th Pay Commission reports.

7th Pay Commission Salary

Salary for Pay Band 5200-20200
Grade pay – 1800, 1900, 2000,2400, 2800

Salary for Pay Band 9300-34800
Grade pay – 4200,4600,4800,5400