Category Archives: CG Employees

57th Anniversary of the Glorious Five day Strike of 1960

11 Tuesday Jul 2017

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The 5 days strike by the Central Government Employees started from 11th July 1960 will always inspire not only the CG Employees, but the entire working class in India. It was the biggest strike that Indian government had to face since Independence in 1947. This year is the 57th anniversary of the same.

The strike called by the All India Railwaymen Federation (AIRF), All India Defence Employees Federation (AIDEF) and Confederation of Central Government Employees and Workers demanded the government to modify the retrograde recommendations of the II Central Pay Commission, grant of Minimum Wage, Full neutralisation for cost of living etc.

The Government dealt the strike with iron hands. The government declined to meet the leaders of the Joint Action Committee. Instead it promulgated the Essential Service maintenance Ordinance against the strike with stringent punishment. Prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru termed the strike as ‘Civil Rebellion’ and issued instructions to suppress it with all the might of the central and state governments. Thousands of workers were jailed (outsiders also for supporting the strike), dismissed, terminated, suspended, charge sheeted, severely punished and transferred. The All India leaders were arrested and paraded hand-cuffed through the streets of Delhi. The government dealt with the strikers as enemies of the country. The strike could not go on more than 5 days. It was mercilessly suppressed by the government.

It took more than 4 years to get all the officials got reinstated. Even that was only after the Members of Parliament like Coms. A.K.Gopalan, Nath Pai, S.M.Banerjee and others lambasted the government in the Parliament about the inhuman treatment of the strikers by the government.

I was working at Cannanore (Kannur) at that time. Three comrade were put in jail, punished for 6 months rigorous imprisonment. I was kept out of service, charge sheeted and punished. The working class realised  the inhuman face of the Congress government. Though suppressed with in a decade the government was compelled to accept at least some of the demands.

By once again going on a one day strike on 19th September 1968, the workers showed that they will continue to fight for their rights.

On this 57th anniversary, we pay homage to the great martyrs and pledge ourselves to continue the struggles in the path shown by them.

Red Salute to Martyrs!

(For details of the struggle, go through the book ” History of P&T TU Movement” being published shortly )

 

FALSE PROPAGANDA AND UNFOUNDED CRITICISM BY SUPPORTERS OF NDA GOVERNMENT’S DECISION ON ALLOWANCES FOR CG EMPLOYEES

06 Thursday Jul 2017

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The Central government has cheated its employees by not implementing its assurances on allowances: A statement issued by Com.M.Krishnan, Secretary General Confederation of CG Employees is given below:

“FALSE PROPAGANDA AND UNFOUNDED CRITICISM BY SUPPORTERS OF NDA GOVERNMENT’S DECISION ON ALLOWANCES

Immediately on announcement of Govt’s decision on Allowances a well-orchestrated propaganda was unleashed by the NDA Govt through media and its political machinery and also through some organizations and employees who supported the Government’s decision. The crux of the propaganda is as follows :-

1) The following facts will reveal the hollowness of the propaganda of the Govt, and the criticism of those who supports the Govt’s decision.

2) It has been decided by the Government that HRA shall not be less than 5400, 3600 & 1800 for X, Y, and Z category of cities respectively. This floor rate has been calculated @ 30%, 20% and 10% of the minimum pay of 18,000-. This will benefit more than 7.5 lakhs employees belonging to pay level 1,2, and 3.

3) It is because of the JCM Staffside Federations who opposed and rejected the HRA rate recommended by Pay Commission, the employees have lost one and half years arrears of allowances. Government was ready to implement HRA and allowances from 01-01-2016 along with Revised Pay.

4) Even in the past Revised HRA and other Allowances were not given from the same date. HRA and other Allowances are implemented from a later date without retrospective effect.

The propaganda and criticism, though not succeeded, should not go uncountered. This is part of a deliberate attempt by the Govt. and its political machinery to misguide the general public and employees.

(1) More than 7.5 lakhs lower level employees ( in pay level 1, 2 and 3) will be benefited due to the decision of the Govt. to retain minimum HRA of 5400, 3600 and 1800 as 30, 20 & 10% of minimum pay of 18,000-.

It will not benefit 7.5 lakhs employees in lower level 1, 2 and 3. It will benefit only few thousand employees.

In Pay level – I the starting pay is 18,000-. After getting eight (8) increments (eight years service) pay will become 22,800-. An employee drawing 22,800- will get HRA above 5400, 3600, 1800 even if the HRA is 24% (5472) 16% (3648) and 8% (1824).

In Pay level – 2 the starting pay is 19,900- After getting five increments (5 years service) pay will become 23,100-. The official will draw 5544 (24%) 3696 (16%) and 1848 (8%) even if the minimum 5400, 3600, 1800 is not retained.

In Pay level – 3 the starting pay is 21,700-. After getting 2 increments the pay will become 23,100- . 24% (5544), 16% (3696) and 8% (1848) will be above 5400, 3600 and 1800-.

From the above it can be seen that only those officials below 8 years service in Pay level – 1, below 5 years service in Pay level – 2 and 2 years services in Pay level – 3 will be benefited by the decision of the Govt to retain 5400-, 3600- and 1800- at level 1, 2 and 3 as minimum HRA at X, Y and Z class cities respectively. How many central Govt employees below 8 years service in level -1 and below 5 years service in level -2 and below 2 years service in level – 3 will be working in the Central Govt departments as on date. Only few thousands. All others in level -1,2 and 3 will draw more than 5400-, 3600- and 1800-even if HRA is 24%, 16% and 8%. This being the reality, Govt through its press release given to media made false propaganda that 7.5 lakh employees will be benefited by the Govt’s decision !!! And those who welcomed the Govt’s decision are repeating the same lies.

(2) It is because of the Federation leaders representing JCM National Council Staffside who opposed the HRA rate recommended by 7th CPC, employees lost one and half year arrears.

What is real fact?

Every time when Pay Commissions submit its report to Govt, Implementation Committee or Empowered Committee is constituted by the Govt to examine the recommendations of the CPC and submit report to the Govt for acceptance by Cabinet. The implementation Committee or Empowered Committee will call for suggestions / modifications to the CPC recommendations from all organizations including National Council JCM Staffside. This time also Govt and the Implementation Committee followed the same procedure.

Accordingly, National Council JCM Staffside submitted detailed memorandum to Govt and Implementation Committee / Empowered Committees, seeking 26 modifications in the recommendations including Minimum Pay, Fitment formula, Allowances including HRA, Transport Allowance, Advances, MACP conditions, CCL conditions etc.,. The JCM Staffside also presented their view points before the Implementation Committee headed by Joint Secretary and Empowered Committee headed by Cabinet Secretary. Suppose the JCM Staffside leaders / Federations decides not to submit any memorandum seeking modifications in the retrograde recommendations of the 7th CPC before the Implementation Committee / Empowered Committees and keep quite ( as argued by those who criticize the leaders and support the 7th CPC recommendations), what will be the reaction of the employees ? Will they not blame the leaders for silently supporting the Govt for implementing all the retrograde and negative recommendations of the 7th CPC ?

Inspite of JCM Staffside requesting for modifications the Cabinet on Pay Scale meeting held on 29-06-2016 decided to accept the recommendations of the 7th CPC without any modifications, rejecting the modifications requested by the Staffside. Cabinet also decided to refer all the allowances including HRA to a Committee headed by Finance & Expenditure Secretary.

Cabinet on 29-06-2016 has not decided to grant 24%, 16% and 8% HRA recommended by 7th CPC. Then where is the question of accepting or rejecting the decision of the Govt when there was no such decision by the Cabinet.

Not only JCM Staffside Federations almost all the Unions / Federations / Associations have submitted memorandum to Govt seeking modifications in the retrograde recommendations of 7th CPC. What is wrong in it ? The fact is that Govt deliberately constituted the Allowance Committee and referred HRA and other Allowances to the Committee to delay and deny the arrears from 01-01-2016. Instead of protesting against the Govt’s decision (that is what Confederation has done), those who are desperately trying to turn the anger and resentment of the employees against Unions / Federations who demanded modifications, are bound to fail, as Central Govt employees are not that much fools to believe that propaganda.

(3) Even in the past, HRA and Allowances were not given retrospective effect.

Govt and those who welcomed and thanked Govt for its decision on allowances are continuously repeating the argument that in the past also allowances were not given retrospective effect from the date of Revision of Pay. But what is the actual fact?

In the past, revised allowances including HRA were granted from the month / next month of notification of Revised Pay Rules. Even then JCM Staffside has not welcomed or thanked the Govt but strongly protested and demanded grant of allowances from the same date from which Revised Pay is implemented. Even if the old practice is taken as precedence, this time employees have every right to get revised allowances including HRA from 01-07-2016 as Revised (Pay) Rues was notified on 25-07-2016. Those who welcomed the Govt’s decision are consciously and deliberately hiding this fact as many employees do not know what has happened in the past.

The NDA Govt and its political machinery has made this type of propaganda when the Cabinet approved the recommendations of Pay scales recommended by the 7th CPC on 29-06-2016 without any modifications. At that time the propaganda was “big bonanza” to Central Government employees. This time also the same method of propaganda is adopted and the unfortunate part of it, is that some of our friends representing employees too contributed to such a false and baseless propaganda.

Confederation supports Defence Workers’ Struggle against Privatisation

04 Tuesday Jul 2017

Posted by in CG Employees, TU News - India

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CONFEDERATION EXTENDS FULL SUPPORT AND SOLIDARITY TO THE STRUGGLE OF DEFENCE EMPLOYEES AGAINST PRIVATISATION.
Successive Governments after 1990s have started permitting private sector in the field of Defence production. During May 2001, the Defence Industry sector which was reserved for the Government sector and Public sector was opened to 100% for Indian private sector with 26% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Subsequently the FDI cap in Defence was raised to 49% and now the NDA Govt raised it to 100%. Government has issued so far 222 licenses to private corporate sector like ADHANI, AMBANI, L&T, ASHOK LEYLAND, BHARAT FORGE, GODREJ &BOYCE, PUNJ LLOYD, PIPAVAV DEFENSE, PREMIER EXPLOSIVES etc,. The present Govt is bent upon to extend all types of support to the Indian private corporate houses and their foreign collaborators. Recently the Prime Minister office asked all the 41 Ordnance Factories, the information about the name of the products manufactured, its photographs, technical description, land holding by each factories, details of plants and machinery, strength of employees etc.,
On 27-04-2017, the Ministry of Defence issued an order with the approval of the Defence Minister Shri Arun Jaitely, to completely outsource 143 defence equipment like Military, Vehicles, Ammunition, Ammunition boxes, Guns, Rifles, Tanks, Troop comfort items etc., which are being manufactured at present by the ordnance factories. This decision of the Govt is going to affect more than 25 Ordnance factories and about 20,000 defence employees will be thrown out of job. Again another order was issued categorizing 39 more items as “non-care” items for outsourcing. All these decisions are taken to encourage private corporates, making the state-owned Defence Industries sick and redundant and bringing in their place the private corporate sector whose sole intention is to earn more and more profit.
The All India Defence Employees Federation (AIDEF) is on a war path and has already started series of agitations and campaign programmes against the policy decision of the Government to privatise Defence Industry and closure of ordnance factories rendering thousands of defence employees surplus and consequent retrenchment.
As a higher form of agitation AIDEF has commenced indefinite relay hunger fast near Parliament (Jantar Manthar) from 3rd July 2017 onwards. The relay fast was inaugurated by Com. Sharad Yadav, MP. Former Vice President of AIDEF.
The National Secretariat of Confederation of Central Govt Employees and Workers extends full support and solidarity to the struggle of the Defence Employees against privatization. ( Courtesy: Confederation News)

Confederation / Standing Committee Members JCM disown the statement of Secretary National Council.

01 Saturday Jul 2017

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STANDING COMMITTEE MEMBERS, STAFF SIDE NATIONAL COUNCIL JCM, REPRESENTING CONFEDERATION DISAGREE AND DISOWN THE STATEMENT OF SRI. SHIV GOPAL MISRA, SECRETARY, STAFF SIDE, NATIONAL COUNCIL JCM

It was extremely unfortunate that the Staff Side Secretary through his press statement issued yesterday has chosen to praise the Modi Government over the decisions it had taken on various demands of the Central Govt. employees. The said statement was issued apparently without causing any consultation either formally or informally with the other members of the Staff Side, in any case not at all in consultation with the signatories of this statement. We, being the members of the Standing Committee, emphatically disagree and distance ourselves from the position taken by him in the Press Statement.
There had been no justification for the 7th CPC to reduce the rate of HRA by an imagined factor of 0.8. Neither during the discussions, the staff side had with the committee headed by the Expenditure Secretary, nor in the press release issued after the Cabinet meeting, the Govt. had advanced any logic for their decision to restore the rate of HRA only for those who draw pay at the level of Rs.18000. There had been no appreciation of any of the concerns or issues raised by the staff side and whatever decisions so far taken by the Govt. was inconsonance with the views and recommendations of the top echelons of the bureaucracy, be in the matter of allowances, minimum wage, fitment factor, rejection of option no.1 for the pensioners or withdrawal of NPS. There is no justification, whatsoever, for denial of arrears of HRA with effect from 01.01.2016.

The highly defective computation of minimum wage by the 7th CPC and the consequent denial of a reasonable wage structure, withdrawal of existing allowances and benefits, virtual abrogation of the time bound promotion to the lower category of employees; rejection of option No. 1 to pensioners, refusal to grant atleast a minimum guaranteed pension under NPS, denial of arrears of HRA from 01.01.2016 require the strongest condemnation.
The fact that decisions taken by the Govt. on 7th CPC issues are clear reflections of Modi Government’s. anti- labour attitude ought to have been, what the staff side secretary conveyed through his press release. His statement has, as stated earlier sadly reflects the total disconnect between the common Central Govt. employees and JCM staff side leadership.

Had it been the statement on behalf of the AIRF, we would not have issued this denouncement at all, as we consider that it is the prerogative of each organisation to view things in their perspective and formulate their opinions.

KKN Kutty M. Krishnan M. S. Raja
Member, Member, Member,
Standing committee, Standing committee, Standing committee,
National Council JCM National Council JCM National Council JCM
R

Confederation protests against the Central Government’s Betrayal on Allowances

29 Thursday Jun 2017

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Confederation of CG Employees has protested against the betrayal on allowances and called upon the workers to organise immediate protest demonstration in front of all offices. The circular is given below:

NATIONWIDE PROTEST DEMONSTRATIONS AGAINST THE CABINET DECISION ON ALLOWANCES TO CG EMPLOYEES
CENTRAL GOVT EMPLOYEES AGAIN BETRAYED BY NDA GOVERNMENT.
DATE OF EFFECT FROM 01-01-2016 AND RESTORATION OF RATE OF HRA DENIED
HOLD NATIONWIDE PROTEST DEMONSTRATIONS IN FRONT OF ALL OFFICES
NDA Government has once again betrayed the entire Central Govt Employees. The demand of the employees to restore HRA to 30, 20 & 10% is denied. Date of effect for allowances is fixed as 01-07-2017 denying 18 months arrears.

The BJP lead NDA Government deliberately delayed the legitimate right of the employees. The assurance given by Cabinet Ministers regarding increase in Minimum Pay and Fitment Formula is also not honoured till date. NDA Government is the worst Government as far as employees and workers are concerned.

Confederation National Secretariat calls upon entire Central Govt Employees to hold demonstrations in front of all Central Govt Offices protesting against the anti-employees, anti-workers stand of the NDA Government.

VII CPC – Cabinet Approves Allowances for CG Employees

28 Wednesday Jun 2017

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Cabinet approves recommendations of the 7th CPC on allowances

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi approved the recommendations of the 7th CPC on allowances with some modifications. The revised rates of the allowances shall come into effect from 1st July, 2017 and shall affect more than 48 lakh central government employees.
While approving the recommendations of the 7th CPC on 29th June, 2016, the Cabinet had decided to set up the Committee on Allowances (CoA) in view of substantial changes in the existing provisions and a number of representations received. The modifications are based on suggestions made by the CoA in its Report submitted to Finance Minister on 27th April, 2017 and the Empowered Committee of Secretaries set up to screen the recommendations of 7th CPC.
7th CPC recommendations on Allowances
The 7th CPC had adopted a three-pronged approach in examining a total of 197 allowances which involved an assessment of the need for continuation of each allowance, appropriateness of the set of people covered by the allowance and rationalisation which involved clubbing of allowances with similar objectives. Based on the examination on these lines, the 7th CPC recommended that 53 allowances be abolished and 37 be subsumed in an existing or a newly proposed allowance.
For most of the allowances that were retained, the 7th CPC recommended a raise commensurate with inflation as reflected in the rates of Dearness Allowance (DA). Accordingly, fully DA-indexed allowances such as Transport Allowance were not given any raise. Allowances not indexed to DA were raised by a factor of 2.25 and the partially indexed ones by a factor of 1.5. The quantum of allowances paid as a percentage of pay was rationalised by a factor of 0.8.
A new paradigm has been evolved to administer the allowances linked to risk and hardship. The myriad allowances, their categories and sub–categories pertaining to civilians employees, CAPF and defence personnel have been fitted into a table called the Risk and Hardship Matrix (R&H Matrix). The Matrix has nine cells denoting varying degrees of risk and hardship with one extra cell at the top named as RH – Max to include Siachen Allowance. Multiple rates applicable to individual allowances will be replaced by two slab rates for every cell of the R&H Matrix.
Modifications approved by the Cabinet
The modifications approved today were finalised by the E-CoS based on the recommendations of the CoA. The CoA had undertaken extensive stakeholder consultations before finalising its recommendations. It had interacted with Joint Consultative Machinery (Staff side) and representatives from various staff associations. Most of the modifications are on account of continuing requirement of some of the existing arrangements, administrative exigencies and to further the rationalization of the allowances structure.
Financial Implications

The modifications approved by the Government in the recommendations of the 7th CPC on allowances will lead to a modest increase of ₹1448.23 crore per annum over the projections made by the 7th CPC. The 7th CPC, in its Report, had projected the additional financial implication on allowances at ₹29,300 crore per annum. The combined additional financial implication on account of the 7th CPC recommendations along with the modifications approved by the Cabinet is estimated at ₹30748.23 crore per annum.

Highlights of Cabinet approval on Allowances

1. Number of allowances recommended to be abolished and subsumed:
Government has decided not to abolish 12 of the 53 allowances which were recommended to be abolished by the 7th CPC. The decision to retain these allowances has been taken keeping in view the specific functional requirements of Railways, Posts and Scientific Departments such as Space and Atomic Energy. It has also been decided that 3 of the 37 allowances recommended to be subsumed by the 7th CPC will continue as separate identities. This has been done on account of the unique nature of these allowances. The rates of these allowances have also been enhanced as per the formula adopted by the 7th CPC. This will benefit over one lakh employees belonging to specific categories in Railways, Posts, Defence and Scientific Departments.
2. House Rent Allowance
HRA is currently paid @ 30% for X (population of 50 lakh & above), 20% for Y (5 to 50 lakh) and 10% for Z (below 5 lakh) category of cities. 7th CPC has recommended reduction in the existing rates to 24% for X, 16% for Y and 8% for Z category of cities. As the HRA at the reduced rates may not be sufficient for employees falling in lower pay bracket, it has been decided that HRA shall not be less than ₹5400, ₹3600 and ₹1800 for X, Y and Z category of cities respectively. This floor rate has been calculated @ 30%, 20% and 10% of the minimum pay of ₹18000. This will benefit more than 7.5 lakh employees belonging to Levels 1 to 3.
7th CPC had also recommended that HRA rates will be revised upwards in two phases to 27%, 18% and 9% when DA crosses 50% and to 30%, 20% and 10% when DA crosses 100%. Keeping in view the current inflation trends, the Government has decided that these rates will be revised upwards when DA crosses 25% and 50% respectively. This will benefit all employees who do not reside in government accommodation and get HRA.
3. Siachen Allowance
7th CPC had placed Siachen Allowance in the RH-Max cell of the R&H Matrix with two slabs of ₹21,000 and ₹31,500. Recognizing the extreme nature of risk and hardship faced by officers / PBORs on continuous basis in Siachen, the Government has decided to further enhance the rates of Siachen Allowance which will now go up from the existing rate from ₹14,000 to ₹30,000 per month for Jawans & JCOs (Level 8 and below) and from ₹21,000 to ₹42,500 per month for Officers (Level 9 and above). With this enhancement, Siachen Allowance will become more than twice the existing rates. It will benefit all the soldiers and officers of Indian Army who are posted in Siachen.

4. Dress Allowance
At present, various types of allowances are paid for provisioning and maintenance of uniforms/outfits such as Washing Allowance, Uniform Allowance, Kit Maintenance Allowance, Outfit Allowance etc. These have been rationalised and subsumed in newly proposed Dress Allowance to be paid annually in four slabs @ ₹5000,₹10,000, ₹15,000 and ₹20,000 per annum for various category of employees. This allowance will continue to be paid to Nurses on a monthly basis in view of high maintenance and hygiene requirements. Government has decided to pay higher rate of Dress Allowance to SPG personnel keeping in view the existing rates of Uniform Allowance paid to them (which is higher than the rates recommended by the 7th CPC) as also their specific requirements. The rates for specific clothing for different categories of employees will be governed separately.
5. Tough Location Allowance
Some allowances based on geographical location such as Special Compensatory (Remote Locality) Allowance (SCRLA), Sunderban Allowance & Tribal Area Allowance have been subsumed in Tough Location Allowance. The areas under TLA have been classified into three categories and the rates will be governed as per different cells of R&H Matrix and will be in the range of ₹1000 – ₹5300 per month. The 7th CPC had recommended that TLA will not be admissible with Special Duty Allowance (SDA) payable in North-East, Ladakh and the Islands. Government has decided that employees will be given the option to avail of the benefit of SCRLA at pre-revised rates along with SDA at revised rates.
6. Recommendations in respect of some important allowances paid to all employees:
(i) Rate of Children Education Allowance (CEA) has been increased from ₹1500 per month / child (max. 2) to ₹2250 per month / child (max.2). Hostel Subsidy will also go up from ₹4500 per month to ₹6750 per month.
(ii) Existing rates of Special Allowance for Child Care for Women with Disabilities has been doubled from ₹1500 per month to ₹3000 per month.
(iii) Higher Qualification Incentive for Civilians has been increased from ₹2000 – ₹10000 (Grant) to ₹10000 – ₹30000 (Grant).

7. Recommendations in respect of some important allowances paid to Uniformed Services: Defence, CAPFs, Police, Indian Coast Guard and Security Agencies

i. The 7th CPC has recommended abolition of Ration Money Allowance (RMA) and free ration to Defence officers posted in peace areas. It has been decided that Ration Money Allowance will continue to be paid to them and directly credited to their account. It will benefit 43000 Defence officers.

ii. Technical Allowance (Tier – I & II) are paid to Defence officers belonging to technical branches @₹3000 per month and ₹4500 per month. 7th CPC has recommended that Technical Allowance (Tier – II) be merged with Higher Qualification Incentive for Defence personnel. In view of the specific requirements of Defence Forces for the Defence personnel to keep pace with changing Defence requirements and technologies, the Government has decided not to discontinue Technical Allowance. The list of courses for these allowances will be reviewed to remain in sync with the latest technical advancements in Defence.

iii. The facility of one additional free railway warrant (Leave Travel Concession) presently granted to personnel of Defence Forces serving in field/high altitude/CI Ops shall also be extended to all personnels of CAPFs and the Indian Coast Guard.

iv. Rates of High Altitude Allowance granted to Defence Forces and CAPF personnel will be governed by the R&H Matrix. The rates will go up from ₹810 – ₹16800 per month to ₹2700 – ₹25000 per month.

v. Field Area Allowances are granted to Indian Army, Air Force & CAPF personnel. The rates of Field Area Allowances (Modified Field, Field & Highly Active) will be governed by the R&H Matrix. The rates will go up from ₹1200 – ₹12600 per month to ₹6000 – ₹16900 per month. Classification of field areas for this allowance will be done by Ministry of Defence for Defence personnel and by Ministry of Home Affairs for CAPFs.

vi. The rates of Counter Insurgency Ops (CI Ops) Allowance, granted to Defence and CAPFs while deployed in counter – insurgency operations will be governed by the R&H Matrix. The rates will go up from ₹3000 – ₹11700 per month to ₹6000 – ₹16900 per month.

vii. Rates of MARCOS and Chariot Allowance granted to marine commandos of Indian Navy will be governed by the R&H Matrix. The rates will go up from ₹10500 – ₹15750 per month to ₹17300 – ₹25000 per month.

viii. Rates of Sea Going Allowance granted to personnel of Indian Navy will be governed by the R&H Matrix. The twelve hour conditionality for determining the eligibility of Sea Going Allowance has been reduced to four hours. The rates will go up from ₹3000 – ₹7800 per month to ₹6000 – ₹10500 per month.

ix. Rates of Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (COBRA) Allowance granted to CRPF personnel deployed in Naxal hit areas will be governed by the R&H Matrix. The rates will go up from ₹8400 – ₹16800 per month to ₹17300 – ₹25000 per month.

x. Rates of Flying Allowance granted to flying branch and technical officers of Defence Forces will be governed by the R&H Matrix. The rates will go up from ₹10500 – ₹15750 per month to ₹17300 – ₹25000 per month. It has been extended mutatis mutandis to BSF Air Wing also.

xi. Rates of Higher Qualification Incentive for Defence Personnel have been increased from ₹9000 – ₹30000 (Grant) to ₹10000 – ₹30000 (Grant).

xii. Aeronautical Allowance, presently paid to personnel of Indian Navy, has been extended to Indian Coast Guard. The rate of this allowance has been increased from ₹300 per month to ₹450 per month.

xiii. Rates of Test Pilot and Flight Test Engineer Allowance will be governed by the R&H Matrix. The rates will go up from ₹1500 / ₹3000 per month to ₹4100 / ₹5300 per month.

xiv. Rates of Territorial Army Allowance have been increased from ₹175 – ₹450 per month to₹1000 – ₹2000 per month.

xv. Ceilings of Deputation (Duty) Allowance for Defence Personnel have been increased from ₹2000 – ₹4500 per month to ₹4500 – ₹9000 per month.

xvi. Rates of Detachment Allowance have been increased ₹165 – ₹780 per day to ₹405 – ₹1170 per day.

xvii. Rates of Para Jump Instructor Allowance have been increased from ₹2700/3600 per month to ₹6000 / 10500 per month.

xviii. Special Incident / Investigation / Security Allowance has been rationalized. Rates for Special Protection Group (SPG) have been revised to 55% and 27.5% of Basic Pay for operational and non – operational duties respectively.

8. Recommendations in respect of some important allowances paid to Indian Railways

i. Rates of Additional Allowance have been increased from ₹500 / 1000 per month to ₹1125 / 2250 per month. This has also been extended to Loco Pilot Goods and Senior Passenger Guards also @₹750 per month.

ii. In view of strenuous nature of the job, new Allowance namely Special Train Controller’s Allowance @5000 per month for Train Controllers of Railways has been introduced.

9. Recommendations in respect of some important allowances paid to Nurses & Ministerial Staffs of Hospital

i. Existing rate of Nursing Allowance has been increased from ₹4800 per month to ₹7200 per month.

ii. Rate of Operation Theatre Allowance has been increased from ₹360 per month to ₹540 per month.

iii. Rates of Hospital Patient Care Allowance / Patient Care Allowance have been increased from ₹2070 – ₹2100 per month to ₹4100 – ₹5300 per month. 7th CPC recommendations modified to the extent that it will be granted to Ministerial staff also.

10. Recommendations in respect of some important allowances paid to Pensioners

Rate of Fixed Medical Allowance (FMA) for Pensioners has been increased from ₹500 per month to ₹1000 per month. This will benefit more than 5 lakh central government pensioners not availing CGHS facilities.

i. The rate of Constant Attendance Allowance granted on 100% disablement has been increased from ₹4500 per month to ₹6750 per month.

11. Allowances to Scientific Departments

i. The recommendations of 7th CPC to abolish Launch Campaign Allowance and Space Technology Allowance has not been accepted. In order to incentivize the supporting employees in Space and Atomic Energy sector, the rate of Launch Campaign and Space Technology Allowance has been increased from ₹7500 per annum to ₹11250 per annum. Professional Update Allowance for non-gazetted employees of Department of Atomic Energy will also continue to be paid at the enhanced rate of ₹11250 per annum.

ii. The 7th CPC had placed Antarctica Allowance, paid to the Scientists and other members undertaking the expedition to Antarctica under the Indian Antarctic programme, in the RH-Max Cell of the R&H Matrix. The rates of the RH-Max Cell recommended by the 7th CPC were less than the existing rates of Antarctica Allowance which is currently paid on per day basis. Considering the specific nature of these expeditions and to provide appropriate increase in rates, Government has decided to keep Antarctica Allowance out of the R&H Matrix and the allowance will continue to be paid on per day basis as per existing practice. The Rates of Antarctica Allowance will go up from ₹1125 per day (Summers) and ₹1688 per day (Winters) to ₹1500 per day (Summers) and ₹2000 per day (Winters).

12. Allowances paid to D/o Posts

i. The recommendations of 7th CPC to abolish Cycle Allowance, granted mainly to Postmen and trackmen in Railways, has not been accepted. Keeping in view the specific requirement of this allowance for postmen in Department of Posts and trackmen in Railways, the cycle allowance is retained and the rates have been doubled from ₹90 per month to ₹180 per month. This will benefit more than 22,200 employees.

Conclusion

While increasing the rate of allowances affecting the central government employees, especially the Defence, CAPF and Coast Guard personnel, the staff of Railways, Postal department and nursing staff, the total number of allowances have been rationalized from 197 to 128. Thus, the Government has shown a great deal of fiscal prudence and at the same time addressed the genuine concerns of the employees and responded to some of the administrative exigencies necessitating the modifications. (Courtesy: CEC Karnataka)

MASS DHARNA IN FRONT OF FINANCE MINISTER’S OFFICE A RESOUNDING SUCCESS

23 Tuesday May 2017

Posted by in CG Employees

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23rd MAY 2017

ABOUT 3000 CENTRAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES AND PENSIONERS RALLIED IN FRONT OF NORTH BLOCK, THE CENTRE OF GOVERNANCE OF GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

AN OUTBURST OF PROTEST, ANGER, RESENTMENT AND DISCONTENTMENT AGAINST THE BETRAYAL OF NDA GOVERNMENT

The mass dharna organized in front of Union Finance Minister’s office at North Block, New Delhi was a thundering success. Inspite of repeated intervention of the police authorities and also denial of police permission in the last minute, employees and pensioners poured in thousands from all parts of the country and defeated the attempt of the authorities to prevent the Confederation from conducting the dharna at the declared venue, North Block, the centre of governance of Govt. of India. About 3000 employees and pensioners participated. As South Block and North Block are highly protected security zone in Delhi, during the last more than 15 years, no agitational programme could be organized near South/North Block. The dharna participants included employees from various affiliates of Confederation, Central Government Pensioners Associations, Autonomous body employees and pensioners. As a mark of solidarity and support of Central Secretariat employees, the leaders of Central Secretaries Employees Associations also participated in the mass dharna. The demands raised in the 21 point charter of demands of Confederation submitted to Government during the 16th May 2017 strike was highlighted. The demands included honour assurance given by the Group of Minister’s on 30.06.2016 to NJCA leaders, Increase minimum wage and fitment formula, grant revised allowances including HRA and Transport Allowance from 01.01.2016, Implement option-I parity recommended by 7th Pay Commission for pre-2016 pensioners, Implement positive recommendations of Kamalesh Chandra Committee Report on GDS and grant Civil Servant Status to Gramin Dak Sevaks, Regularise casual, Part-time, contingent, daily-rated and contract workers and grant equal pay for equal work, withdraw stringent conditions imposed on MACP promotions, Scrap PFRDA Act and withdraw NPS, stop outsourcing, Fill up all vacant posts, remove 5% condition on compassionate appointments, upgradation of pay scale of LDC/UDC, parity in pay to stenographers, Assistants, Ministerial staff in subordinate offices and in all organized accounts cadres with that of Central Secretariat staff etc.

The mass dharna programme was presided by Com. K. K. N. Kutty, National President, Confederation. Coms: M. Krishnan, Secretary General, Confederation, R. N. Parashar, Secretary General, NFPE, Asok Kumar Kanojia, President, ITEF, Tapas Bose, President, Audit & Accounts Associations, R. Seethalkshmi, Convenor, Women’s Sub Committee, M. K. Kaushik, Ghanashyam, Central Secretariat Employees Association, Worlikar, National Federation of Atomic Energy Employees, Srikrishna Sharma, Central Government Pensioners Association, Rajasthan, Jaipur, Giriraj Singh, President, NFPE & COC Delhi addressed the huge gathering. Com. Vrigu Bhattacharjee, Secretary General, Civil Accounts Employees Association & General Secretary, COC Delhi welcomed the dharna participants and Com. Geetha Bhattacharjee, National Secretariat member, offered vote of thanks. The mass dharna commenced at 11 AM and concluded at 2.30 PM. Slogans condemning the betrayal of the Group of Ministers were shouted.

The successful mass dharna once again proved that it is Confederation and Confederation alone is dare enough to fight against the betrayal of the NDA Government and also against all injustices meted out to the Central Government employees and Pensioners. The unprecedented success of the 16th March 2017 one day strike and the 23rd May 2017 mass dharna programme is a clear message to the Government that Confederation shall not rest, till the genuine and justified demands of the Central Government employees and Pensioners are settled.

Let us march forward to our next programme i.e; HUMAN CHAIN of Central Government Employees and Pensioners in all major cities in front of all important offices on 22nd June 2017.

Yours faithfully,

(M. Krishnan)
Secretary General (Courtesy: Confederation website)

Recession in employment.

17 Wednesday May 2017

Posted by in CG Employees, Neo-liberal policy, PSU

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While Modi Government is praising itself on more employment  in the country during the last three years of its rule, the daily reports coming in the press give a completely different picture.

The government is not filling up the vacant posts due to retirement in the central departments like Railway, Posts, Income Tax etc. etc. Public Sector Units have been directed not to fill up the vacancies. In the private sector, the situation is not different. Infoysis, Wipro, Cognizant, IBM, Ford – all these MNCs have started retrenching workers in thousands. The decision of USA, Gulf countries etc. to restrict migrant job seekers is one of the reasons.

Government of India has to take urgent steps to ensure that the young people get jobs.

Historic Strike of the Railway Workers 1974

09 Tuesday May 2017

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There is no parallel for the historical and glorious strike of the Railway workers in May 1974, which continued for more than three weeks. The strike was to start from 8th May 1974, but the arrest of the leaders including Com. George Fernandez, Secretary General of AIRF, resulted in the strike a few days earlier. The entire railways system collapsed due to the strike. Thousands of trains were stranded due to the strike.

The government used all its repressive machinery against the workers. 5 comrades became martyrs. Lakhs of workers were arrested, jailed, dismissed and terminated. Railway colonies were closed, family members evacuated, electricity cut and even women and children attacked. It was a saga of struggle and sacrifice.

P&T Employees and other central government employees in Kerala, Bengal etc. participated for three days, but could not continue due to repression.

8th May 2017 is the 43rd anniversary of this great struggle. On this day we remember those martyrs and other comrades who challenged the government and fought for their rights including Bonus!