Thursday 29 December 2016

29.12.2016

Grant of Dearness Relief to Pensioners who are in receipt of provisional pension-Revised rate effective from 1.7.2016 on implementation of decision taken on recommendation of 7th Central Pay Commission.

Fresh guidelines on Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 issued by DoPT

Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Women and Child Development

28-December-2016 14:43 IST

Fresh guidelines on Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 issued by DoPT

WCD Ministry will hold consultations on a regular basis on issues pertaining to the Act: Smt Maneka Sanjay Gandhi

The Minister for Women and Child Development, Smt. Maneka Sanjay Gandhi, had held a review meeting on implementation of Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 on 26.10.2016. During the meeting, some cases of sexual harassment pending with certain ministries/ departments were also examined. On the basis of the discussions, it was decided that DoPT will issue fresh instructions so that some of the issues can be suitably addressed.

On the basis of the decisions taken, DoPT has issued fresh guidelines regarding Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace vide their Office Memorandum dated 22.12.2016. According to the O.M., following have to be observed by the ministries/departments and Internal Complaints Committees:

(i) Brief details of the implementation of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act including the number of cases received and disposed shall form a part of the Annual Report of all ministries/ departments and authorities there under.

(ii) The enquiry of cases must be completed within 30 days and under any circumstances within 90 days from the date of the complaint.

(iii) The ministries/ departments etc. have to keep a watch on the complainant so as to ensure that she is not victimized in any manner because of her having filed the complaint. The aggrieved woman has been given further option to send representation to the Secretary or head of the organization in case she feels that she is being victimized because of her complaint. The concerned authority will be required to dispose of this complaint within 15 days.

(iv) All ministries/ departments etc. are now required to submit a monthly progress report to the Ministry of Women and Child Development so that the progress can be monitored.

Smt. Maneka Sanjay Gandhi, while appreciating DoPT for having quickly issued the guidelines, stated that the WCD Ministry shall continue to work on issues related to sexual harassment of women at workplace and she will be holding further consultations to see if there are any other areas which need to be looked into. The WCD Ministry will be coming out with a comprehensive plan to train the heads of Internal Complaint Committee under the Central Government Ministries/ Departments, the Minister added.

Postal Dept gives wings to priority mail

Tribune News Service | Amritsar, December 25

In a historic development, the Punjab circle of the Postal Department connected the priority mail and parcel service, including Speed Post and Express Parcel, with flights taking off from Guru Ramdassjee International Airport in the holy city.

Parcels in local post offices and meant for delivery in metros and other cities across the country, including Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai, will now be sent through flights to their destinations.

PM Swain, Chief Postmaster General, Punjab and Chandigarh, launched the air linkage of priority mail to all destinations at the head post office today.

The facility will provide faster and reliable delivery of Speed Post and Express Parcel, booked from Amritsar and other important cities in Punjab circle.

Speaking on the occasion, Swain said priority articles booked till previous evening in Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Gurdaspur, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Phagwara, Batala, SBS Nagar and Hoshiarpur, which were shipped during night through Departmental Mail Motor Service to Amritsar hub, were handed over to airlines in the morning for delivery at far off destinations.

He said it would give impetus to business, trade, commerce and industrial activities in cities, including Amritsar, Jalandhar, Kapurthala and Hoshiarpur, besides helping in economic growth of the region. Garments, sports and other goods, which are manufactured in Punjab, will reach more customers with the launch of priority Speed Post and Express Parcel to cities like Chennai, Bangalore and Mumbai.

Swain flagged off the first air consignment from Amritsar Head Post Office today.

He said parcels would be sent through different airlines depending on their efficient connectivity.

He further added that first historic air linkage of Speed Post letters and parcels, booked in Ludhiana, Chandigarh, Jalandhar, Patiala and Amritsar for Kolkata and other major destinations in North East India, including Guwahati, Agartala and Silchar, was established from Chandigarh International Airport, Mohali, last week.

28/12/2016

Law Ministry rejects Finance move to link small savings to Aadhaar

Ahead of launching the demonetisation drive, the Finance Ministry had sought Law Ministry’s opinion whether Aadhaar submission could be made compulsory for small savings scheme.

The Law Ministry has turned down Finance Ministry’s proposal that a person investing in small savings schemes — these attract gross deposits of over Rs 2 lakh crore each year — be made to link the accounts to his or her Aadhaar number.

Ahead of launching the demonetisation drive, the Finance Ministry had sought Law Ministry’s opinion whether Aadhaar submission could be made compulsory for small savings schemes like Kisan Vikas Patra, Public Provident Fund, National Savings Certificate, Senior Citizen Saving Scheme and Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana.

The rationale put forth by Finance Ministry’s Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) was that individuals evade scrutiny by parking cash below Rs 50,000 into multiple small savings accounts because such deposits (below Rs 50,000) do not seek permanent account number (PAN) details.

The Law Ministry turned down DEA’s proposal on October 4 saying such schemes cannot be notified as “service within the meaning of Section 7 of the Aadhaar Act” since small savings are serviced under the Public Account Fund of India and not the Consolidated Fund to which the Aadhaar Act applies.

Section 7 of the Act states that the government can ask an individual to furnish his Aadhaar number to establish his identity “as a condition for receipt of a subsidy, benefit or service for which the expenditure is incurred from, or the receipt therefrom forms part of, the Consolidated Fund of India”.

Not satisfied with the legal opinion, the DEA once again approached Law Ministry to reconsider the October 4 advice, saying that the fresh reasoning for bringing small savings under the Aadhaar ambit was that the “expenditure incurred to campaign for small savings scheme was derived from the Consolidated Fund”.

On December 14, Law Ministry reiterated its earlier opinion and directed that all transactions relating to these schemes should be accounted from the Public Account Fund as per the National Small Savings Fund (Custody & Investment) Rules.

Quoting a 2001 order of a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court, the Law Ministry said “when a statute vests certain power in an authority to be exercised in a particular manner, the said authority has to exercise it only in the manner provided in the statute itself”.

In fiscal 2014-15, deposits in small savings schemes were Rs 289,080 crore while withdrawals were Rs 248,667 crore.

Source: Indian express.