Implementation of 7th CPC and Enhancement of Minimum Wage/Multiplying Factor – NJCA

“A Cabinet Note is being prepared and is likely to be submitted to the Cabinet, Government of India, very shortly. We are not very sure that, the demands raised by the Staff Side, NC/JCM have been incorporated in that Cabinet Note”. – NJCA

NJCA
National Joint Council of Action
4, State Entry Road New Delhi-110055
Ph: 011-23365912, 23343493, Fax: 23363167

NO.NJCA/2016

Dated: May 17, 2016

All Constituent Organisations,
National Council (JCM)

Dear Comrades,

Sub: Meeting with the Cabinet Secretary

On 5th May, 2016 I met the Cabinet Secretary, Government of India, and once again draw his attention towards my letter NO.NC/JCM/2016 dated: May 2, 2016, a copy of the said letter was also handed over to him.

During discussion I also mentioned about the anguish of the Central Government employees because of inordinate delay in implementation of VII CPC recommendations and also their anxiety about enhancement in Minimum Wage as well as Multiplying Factor etc.

I also demanded a meeting with the Staff Side, NC/JCM on all the issues raised by the Staff Side, NC/JCM and demanded that, views of the Official Side should also be made known to the Staff Side.

The Cabinet Secretary agreed to hold a meeting with some of the Secretaries, particularly with the Secretary(Exp.), Secretary, DoP&T and whosoever is required, particularly for discussion.

It has been assumed that, a Cabinet Note is being prepared and is likely to be submitted to the Cabinet, Government of India, very shortly. We are not very sure that, the demands raised by the Staff Side, NC/JCM have been incorporated in that Cabinet Note.

In these circumstances I believe that, we should call a meeting of the NJCA and discuss about the strategy and future course of action, particularly in regard to Strike Notice on 9th June, 2016 and “Indefinite Strike”from 11th July, 2016.

The meeting of the NJCA will be held on 3rd June, 2016 at 16:00 hrs. in JCM Office, 13-C, Ferozshah Road, New Delhi.

Hope, all members of the NJCA will make it convenient to attend the meeting.

Comradely yours,

Sd/-
(Shiva Gopal Mishra)
Convener

7th Pay Commission Arrears To Be Paid In August

The central government is going to start payment of salaries to its 48 lakh officials and employees according to 7th Pay Commission award from July and six months’ arrears are to be paid in August.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has not been under pressure to meet the demand for implementation of 7th Pay Commission as he has surplus money in the national exchequer.

As per official calculation, no huge amount will be required for the payment of arrears.

The government in its annual budget has provisioned Rs 70,000 crore to meet the demand for implementation of 7th Pay Commission for central government employees which will take effect from January 1, 2016, while the allowances would be paid from July 1, 2016.

Basic salary of central government employees is likely to be tripled under the 7th Pay Commission award with employees in the lower rung getting the highest percentage of raise.

In the highest grade, basic salary is likely to rise around to Rs 2,70,000 to Rs 2,50,000 and in the lowest grade to Rs 21,000.

In June end, the cabinet is likely to approve the new pay scales for central government employees after considering report of the 7th Pay Commission, led by Justice A K Mathur, and the report of the 13 member Empowered Committee of Secretaries headed Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha to process the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission, which was set up in January.

The officials familiar with the developments told The Sen Times that the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has not been under pressure to meet the demand as he has surplus money in the national exchequer.

“We have provisioned for around 60-70 per cent of the total burden that was talked about,” the officials said adding about Rs 70,000 crore has been provided in the Budget.

The government will issue a circular in respect of online pay-fixation, which will reduce hassles as doing the same manually is both time-consuming and harassing. Pay fixation is a mandatory procedure for getting new pay and perks, the officials told us.

“We’re at the for issuing the notification and one more month will be required to issue after cabinet nod, so we hopefully say that central government employees will get new pay and arrears in July and August respectively,” a source close to the developments told The Sen Times.

TST

Indian Army Likely To Cut Non-Combat Jobs

In an attempt to become leaner, the 1.2-million strong Indian Army plans to cut non-combat jobs in near future.

Indian Army Chief General Dalbir Singh recently asked the top brass of the armed forces to conduct a study in order to find out how the forces, currently battling a fund squeeze, could be right-sized. General Singh also asked one of his senior-most generals to start reducing the strength from August without disturbing the force’s tooth-to-tail ratio. The ratio is the number of personnel (tail) needed to support a combat soldier (tooth).

Talking to the media in New Delhi on Wednesday, a senior Army officer said: “Spending cuts have squeezed the budget. Strengthening the tooth-to-tail ratio will improve combat efficiency and result in savings. The roadmap to reform should be ready in three months.”

Meanwhile, former Vice Chief of the Indian Army Lieutenant General (Retired) Philip Campose believes that it will be difficult to determine the ratio, as the figure could differ with the model used for calculation. He explained: “But at a very basic level, if we talk about an Army division… it has a fighting complement of around 14,000 soldiers. They are supported by around 3,000 soldiers in a logistics role. The size of this tail can be reduced to improve the ratio.” Currently, the Army, which has a sanctioned strength of 49,631 officers, is short of around 9,106 officers. So, according to Lieutenant General (Retired) Campose, it becomes crucial for the Army to reorient roles of officers in order to improve the ratio.

Interestingly, the Indian Army chief made the move just five months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement that his government would modernise and expand forces. With this announcement, the PM made a clear indication that India would spend more money to sharpen the Army’s combat potential through technology rather than support elements.

From 2005 to 2013, the Indian Army had cut more than 14,000 jobs. The Modi government is well aware of the fact that right-sizing the world’s second biggest force will help control ballooning expenditure. So, it asked General Singh to review the Army’s “logistics philosophy and concepts” and arrive at the “most advantageous model of sustenance”.

While tabling a report in the Parliament on May 3, Defence Secretary G Mohan Kumar said that the South Asian country’s defence spending for 2016-17 was not in keeping with the requirements of the armed forces. In February, the government announced that it would spend INR 2.58 trillion (USD 1 = INR 66.48) or 1.74% of India’s GDP on defence, a marginal increase of 9.7% over last year’s revised estimates.

Government employees may get higher salary than proposed by panel -Notification in the last week of June

Central government employees are likely to get minimum monthly salary of Rs. 24,000 when the proposals of the 7th Central Pay Commission (7th CPC) are implemented. This is more than the Rs. 18,000 recommended by the Commission, a trade union affiliated to the ruling BJP hinted on Tuesday, after meeting a minister in the Narendra Modi government.

"The minister said we will consider the proposal of minimum pay of Rs 24,000," Pawan Kumar, Regional Organizing Secretary, Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), said after meeting Jitendra Prasad, Union Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Zee News reports.

The pay panel had used a multiple of 2.57 to arrive at the minimum monthly salary for various grades, translating into a range from Rs. 18,000 to Rs. 29,200.

Kumar also said that the notification for the implementation of the recommendations of the 7th CPC is expected next month.

"We are expecting the notification for implementation of the 7th Pay Commission in the last week of June, and payout to begin in July," he told the channel.

National Council Staff Side Secretary writes to Cabinet Secretary on 7th Pay Commission Shiva Gopal Mishra

Shiva Gopal Mishra
Secretary

Ph.: 23382286
National Council (Staff Side)
Joint Consultative Machinery
Central Government Employees
13-C, Ferozshah Road, New Delhi – 110001
E Mail : nc.jcm.np@gmail.com

No.NC/JCM/2016

Dated: May 2, 2016

The Cabinet Secretary,
Cabinet Secretariat,
(Government of India),
Rashtrapathi Bhavan,
New Delhi

Dear Sir,
Sub: Recommendations of the VII CPC

We have submitted a rejoinder on the report of VII CPC, seeking bilateral settlement on the issues related to VII CPC.

You are gracious enough to convene a meeting on 1st March, 2016, wherein members of the Staff Side, National Council(JCM) and Empowered Committee of Secretaries participated. Subsequently, another truncated meeting was held on 30th March, 2016. In both the meetings Official Side heard our views, but no reaction of the Official Side was expressed except general remarks.

I have been directed to draw your kind attention towards minutes of the Standing Committee of National Council(JCM) held on 7th May, 2008 and our rejoinder submitted to government in the matter of report of VI CPC.

You will kindly find that, it was not only a general discussion, but also Official Side explained their views on each and every issue.

I would, therefore, request your good self to kindly arrange for similar type meeting for bilateral settlement on each of the issues raised by the Staff Side, NC/JCM before Empowered Committee of Secretaries.

Yours faithfully,
sd/-
(Shiva Gopal Mishra)
Secretary, Staff Side
National Council(JCM)

Better Pay Scales Than 7th Pay Commission Near Finalised: Finmin

 Better pay scales than the 7th Pay Commission recommendations are near to be finalised by Secretaries group, with the intention of boosting central government employees, blueprint for better scales is expected to be handed over to the government after assemblies’ polls, a senior official in Finance Ministry familiar with the matter said asking not be named.

The blueprint for better pay scales is expected to be handed over to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley after assemblies’ polls.

This give a great pleasure to all the central government employees, when the government is likely to modify the better pay package of its employees than 7th Pay Commission recommendations, they can expect a higher package from July.

“The highest salary for central government employees is likely to be fixed at RS 2,70,000 and the lowest at Rs 21,000,” he said.

“The Secretaries group to review employees salaries is likely to submit its final report of proposing the pay scale to the Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley, after the completion of five states assemblies’ poll process as the model code of conduct is currently in place. The Minister will share the report with media after a cabinet nod,” he confirmed.

“The Secretaries group is likely to purpose the fitment factor of 3 for all the employees while 7th pay commission had recommended for applying fitment factor of 2.57 to 2.81.

Now the pay of all central government employees will be fixed Basic Pay multiplying by 3, Basic pay means Pay Band plus Grade Pay and it is so much better than the 7th Pay commission recommendations” he added.

These pay scales will be effective from January 1 for all central government employees.

The 7th Pay Commission headed by Justice A K Mathur proposed the highest salary at Rs 250,000 and the lowest at Rs 18,000. The commission also recommended 14.27 per cent increase in basic pay, 23.55% overall increase in salary, allowances and pensions. The increase in allowances was recommended 63% while pension was proposed to rise 24%.

A 13 members secretary-level Empowered Committee or Secretaries group, led by cabinet Secretary P K Sinha was formed in January to review the recommendations of 7th Pay Commission before cabinet nod and the Secretaries group is likely to finalize its work.

TST

7th Pay Commission: Pay Rise – Likely To Be More Signalled

Central government employees are entitled for getting a pay rise after 7th Pay Commission recommendations but the group of secretaries is likely to suggest they should be paid more than Pay commission recommendations.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley received the 7th Pay Commission’s report from Justice A K Mathur in November.

Around 48 lakh central government employees and 52 lakh pensioners, will get a 30 per cent hike in salaries, with minimum pay Rs 20,000 to help employees out of low pay, a thirteen member Empowered Committee of Secretaries (CoS) headed by Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha for processing the report of the Seventh Central Pay Commission is likely to suggest.

Sources in the finance ministry said the minimum pay is to be increased Rs 20,000 from Rs 18,000, which was recommended by Seventh Pay Commission, they also signalled there would be bigger increases in salaries of other employees.

Sources said central government employees would see their pay increase by 30 percent in the first real-terms cash rise in July 2016.

The pay hike from July is expected to neutralise the impact of inflation, which are being faced by the central government employees.

Sources also told us, “Provided the economy continues to improve, group of secretaries expects to recommend progressive real increases in the pay hike, so that 2016 will mark the start of a new phase of central government employees- of bigger increases in pay than the previous Pay Commissions.”

The group of secretaries is also likely to recommend a permanent Pay Commission should be made like a powerful watchdog with the ability to support the ambition of lifting salaries of central government employees, according to soaring inflation.

the Empowered Committee of Secretaries i.e. group of secretaries, which was set up in January to examine the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission before cabinet nod.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley received the 7th Pay Commission’s report from Justice A K Mathur in November, who headed the panel, who recommended for raising minimum pay to Rs 18,000 per month from current Rs 7,000 while the maximum pay Rs 2.5 lakh per month from current Rs 90,000, which will be effective from January 1, 2016.

The panel also recommended a 14.27 per cent increase in basic pay. The overall increase in salary, allowances and pensions is 23.55%. The increase in allowances will be higher by 63% while pensions will rise 24%.