15/01/2017

India Post Mail Operations - Documentary Video

GDS Commission latest developments.

FNPO & NUGDS are giving correct information to our colleagues about the GDS commission report without hiding the truth, we are maintaining cent percent transparency in every issue. The following developments have taken place in the last week.

On 09/01/ 2017 Our officers approached Minister to give concurrence to publish a report.

On  10/01/2017 Minister clear the file.

On 11/01/2017 Minster's office raised the objection to publish the report citing Election commission code of conduct.

On 12/01/2017 & 13/01/2017, our department discusses the issue of Election commission code of conduct & staff side pressure finally Department decided to meet Election commissioner on 13/01/2017.

Our Department officers propose to meet Election commissioner on 16/01/2017 to get the clearance.

We may get a reply on the same day or next day.

We request our colleagues, we maintain enough patience on this issue .we cannot remain silent furthermore, we will show our protest on 17/01/2017 by conducting peaceful hunger fast with our NUGDS Circle office bearers to the Department.

FNPO&NUGDS always interested GDS welfare, not other issues.

D.Theagarajan                            P.U. Muralidharan.

S.G. FNPO                                   G.S NUGDS 

The Government is issuing newly designed PAN (Permanent Account Number) cards 

The Government is issuing newly designed PAN (Permanent Account Number) cards that have added security features to make them tamper-proof and with contents written in both Hindi and English, a senior Income-Tax Department official said on Friday.

The distribution of new-look PAN cards, being printed by NSDL and UTIITSL (UTI Infrastructure Technology and Services Ltd), started since January 1. The cards are being issued to new applicants but existing ones can only apply for them. "The distribution of new PAN cards kicked off on January 1. However, these are only for the fresh lot of PAN card applicants," the official said.

 "We have automated the data and made the PAN cards error-free," he said, adding, "In case existing cardholders apply for a fresh PAN card, they will be issued the newly designed cards."

Keeping in view the Rajbhasha policy of the Government, we have made fixed contents of the new PAN cards bilingual in which the headers are in English and Hindi, he said.

The Government has added a new feature to the card, known as Quick Response Code, which will help in verification process.

The code will help in providing all details of the cardholder in one go as when the document is produced before any authority. Hence, no room will be left for the cardholder to either tamper or give any kind of wrong information relating to the card, the official said.

PAN cards are mandatory for any transaction above Rs 2 lakh and for a lot of other activities like opening of a bank account and as identity proof. There are currently more than 25 crore PAN cardholders in the country.

As per Government estimate, every year 2.5 crore people across the country apply for PAN cards.

88 percent of pension accounts have been linked to Aadhaar: Dr Jitendra Singh

Press Information Bureau

Government of India

Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions

12-January-2017 18:15 IST

Dr. Jitendra Singh chairs 29th meeting of SCOVA

88 percent of pension accounts have been linked to Aadhaar: Dr Jitendra Singh

Make Pensioners part of nation building process, says Minister

The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh chaired the 29th meeting of the Standing Committee of Voluntary Agencies (SCOVA) here today. The SCOVA meeting is organised by the Department of Pensions & Pensioners’ Welfare (DoP&PW), Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions and the last such meeting was held on June 27, 2016.

During the meeting, Dr. Jitendra Singh said that today’s interaction was very meaningful and stimulating, thus reflecting on the working of DoP&PW. The Minister said that there are about 50-55 lakh pensioners in the country and almost 88 percent of pension accounts have been seeded to Aadhaar. He further said that minimum pension has been increased to Rs. 9000 per person and ex-gratia amount has been increased from Rs. 10-15 lakh to Rs. 25-35 lakh.Dr. Jitendra Singh said that we need to put in place an institutionalized mechanism to make good use of the knowledge, experience and efforts of the retired employees which can help in the value addition to the current scenario. Dr. Jitendra Singh said the retired employees are a healthy and productive workforce for India and we need to streamline and channelize their energies in a productive direction. We should learn from the pensioners’ experience, he added. The Minister also said that the DoP&PW should be reoriented in such a way that pensioners become a part of nation building process.

In the meeting, discussions were held on the action taken report of the 28th SCOVA meeting. Further many issues related to pensioners were discussed threadbare, such as revision of PPOs of pre-2006 pensioners, Health Insurance Scheme for pensioners including those residing in non-CGHS area, Special “Higher” Family Pension for widows of the war disabled invalidated out of service, Extension of CGHS facilities to P&T pensioners, issue relating to CGHS Wellness Centre, Dehradun etc. The Minister directed for the prompt and time bound redressal of the grievances of the pensioners and said that we should have sympathetic attitude towards them.

The Secretary, DoP&PW, Shri C. Viswanath and other senior officers of the department were also present on the occasion. The meeting was also attended by the member Pensioners Associations and senior officers of the important Ministries/Departments of Government of India.

14.01.2017.

Central government employees to get Rs 9000 minimum pension: Jitendra Singh

New Delhi: The minimum pension has been increased to Rs9,000 per person besides a two-fold hike in ex-gratia amount for central government employees, union minister Jitendra Singh said on Thursday. 

Addressing the 29th meeting of the Standing Committee of Voluntary Agencies (Scova) in the city, he said almost 88% of pension accounts have been seeded to Aadhaar. There are about 50-55 lakh pensioners in the country, said Singh, minister of state in Prime Minister’s office. 

He further said that minimum pension has been increased to Rs.9,000 per person and ex-gratia amount has been increased from Rs10-15 lakh to Rs25-35 lakh, as per a release issued by personnel ministry. 

The Scova meeting is organised by the Department of Pensions and Pensioners’ Welfare (DoP&PW). Singh said there is a need to put in place an institutionalised mechanism to make good use of the knowledge, experience and efforts of the retired employees which can help in the value addition to the current scenario. 

He said the retired employees are a healthy and productive workforce for India and we need to streamline and channelise their energies in a productive direction. “We should learn from the pensioners’ experience,” said Singh. The minister also said that the DoP&PW should be reoriented in such a way that pensioners become a part of nation building process. 

Many issues related to pensioners were discussed threadbare, such as revision of Pension Payment Orders of Pre-2006 pensioners, health insurance scheme for pensioners including those residing in non-Central Government Health Service (CGHS) area and special higher family pension for widows of the war disabled invalidated out of service, etc. The meeting was attended by the member of pensioners associations and senior officers of the important departments of the central government.

13.01.2017

Happy Boghi

Purchase Order placed for supply of 17,000 Passbook Printers to Post Offices by the Directorate

"It is better to close down the branches for some time than the staff face the ire of the public for no fault of theirs," senior vice-president of AIBOC said.

State Bank of India (SBI) can shut down its branches till the supply of cash gets normalised and staff are not put to risk to face the ire of banking public, a top union leader said. “We have suggested to the SBI management to down the branch shutters till the supply of cash gets normalised. It is better to close down the branches for some time than the staff face the ire of the public for no fault of theirs,” D. Thomas Franco Rajendra Dev, Senior vice-president of the All India Bank Officers Confederation (AIBOC), told IANS.

Cash Crunch Situation Improving In Urban, Rural Areas: MoS Finance

Dev wondered how his comrades in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh are saying that cash supplies there are better but such views are not heard from his comrades in other states.“It is strange that Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is not divulging as to the amount of cash supplied state-wise and bank-wise. What is the big secrecy to be safeguarded after the cash has been distributed to states and banks?”According to Dev, in many SBI branches cash is being rationed amongst the account holders.The RBI has been issuing empty statements about currency supplies being comfortable and currency being sent to rural areas whereas in reality it is not so, Dev charged.He said people in Tamil Nadu will not be able to celebrate Pongal festival properly due to cash crunch.

13/01/2017

Child care leave to be applied for in advance: High Court

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has made it clear that child care leave has to be applied for in advance by a woman employee working with the Haryana Government.

Child care leave to be applied for in advance: High Court

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has made it clear that child care leave has to be applied for in advance by a woman employee working with the Haryana Government.

Justice Rajiv Narain Raina of the High Court has also made it clear that it can be availed after the go-ahead by the authorities concerned. The permission for child care leave cannot be granted ex post facto (with retrospective force).

The development is significant as Haryana Government rules make it clear that child care leave is admissible to a woman government employee for a maximum period of two years or 730 days during her entire service for taking care of her surviving children.

It is permissible only for the first two children of the government employee. Their age has to be below 18 years for the mother to avail the leave.

The ruling by Justice Raina came on a petition by Shashi Bala against the state and other respondents. A government employee, she moved the High Court after the department concerned refused to grant ex post facto permission for child care leave.

Taking up her petition, Justice Raina asserted that by the very nature of things, child care leave has to be applied for in advance and due permission needs to be accorded. The right was valuable, because a woman employee would get full salary for the period of child care leave.

“It cannot be applied for to act retrospectively and therefore, there is nothing wrong in the department holding that ex post facto permission cannot be granted,” Justice Raina asserted.

Before parting with the order, Justice Raina observed that the first request in the case in hand was made on April 6, 2011, for granting backdated child care leave with effect from November 30, 2010, to March 30, 2011. Dismissing the plea, Justice Raina added that there was no merit therein.

Haryana Government rules suggest that child care leave cannot be demanded as a matter of right and no one can, under any circumstances, proceed on child care leave without prior proper sanction by the competent authority.

Child care leave is also admissible during the probation period, provided the probation period is extended by the period of child care leave availed. Besides this, the leave may not be availed for a period of less than 30 days.

IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH

CWP No.26951 of 2016

Date of decision:22.12.2016

Shashi Bala

… Petitioner

Versus

State of Haryana and others

..Respondents.

CORAM:- HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJIV NARAIN RAINA

Present: Mr.Ravinder Malik (Ravi), Advocate for the petitioner.

RAJIV NARAIN RAINA, J.(Oral)

By the very nature of things, Child Care Leave has to be applied for in advance and due permission accorded. The right is valuable because female employee gets full salary for the period of Child Care Leave. Child Care Leave cannot be applied for to act retrospectively and therefore, there is nothing wrong in the Department holding that ex post facto permission cannot be granted. In this case first request was made on 6.4.2011 for granting backdated Child Care Leave w.e.f 30.11.2010 to 30.3.2011.

No merit.

Dismissed.

(RAJIV NARAIN RAINA)

JUDGE

22.12.2016

13/01/2017

Extension CGHS facilities to P&T pensioners

Extension CGHS facilities to P&T pensioners

29th SCOVA meeting under the chairmanship of Hon’ble MOS(PP) – Action Taken Report on the Minutes of the 28th SCOVA meeting held under the Chairmanship of Hon’ble MOS (PP) on 27.06.2016

Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions

(Department of Pension & Pensioners Welfare)

Para 4(iv) of the minutes:- Extension CGHS facilities to P&T pensioners

The representatives of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare informed that the 7th CPC has recommended that all Postal Dispensaries should be covered with CGHS. It was decided to await the decision of the Government within a month.

(Action:- Ministry of Health and Family Welfare)

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
The decision of the Government on the recommendations of 7th CPC is still awaited.

DoPPW
Ministries of Health & Family Welfare to indicate latest status during the meeting as to where the matter is pending. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has also been reminded on the same vide DoPPW OM dated 04.01.2017 to expedite the matter.

Authority: www.pensionersportal.gov.in

MOST UNKINDEST CUT OF ALL

PENSIONER’S OPTION – 1 MERCILESSLY REJECTED

It is learnt that the Committee chaired by the Secretary (Pension) has NOT recommended the Option Number – 1 recommended by 7th Central Pay Commission for fixation of pension of pre -2016 Pensioners. Instead, it has recommended extension of the benefit of pension determination recommended by 5th CPC ie ; arriving at notional pay in 7th CPC by applying a formula for pay revision for serving employees in each Pay Commission revision and consequent pension fixation. Now the Implementation Cell of 7th CPC is studying the recommendations of the Pension Committee for processing for submission for approval of Cabinet. Thus , the one and the only favourable recommendation of 7th CPC ie; the real parity in Pension which is also approved by Cabinet with a rider “subject to feasibility” is going to be mercilessly rejected by Government , in spite of repeated requests and demands from NJCA, Confederation and Pensioners Associations

Small Notes and Small Lies: How Truthful Was the RBI’s Cash Circulation Statement?

Deputy governor R. Gandhi’s claims on the quantity of  low-value notes pumped into circulation are false. The ‘giant’ release of small change is just another attempt at spin.

In the ongoing demonetisation saga, the credibility of India’s central bank keeps plunging to new depths.

Repeated contradictory notifications, restrictions on cash withdrawal of deposits, inadequacy of new notes to replace the withdrawn high denomination notes, and a complete lack of transparency are just a handful of examples. What has gone unnoticed, though, is a statement made by R Gandhi, the most senior deputy-governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), on December 7, on the supply of small denomination notes during a 26-day-period after demonetisation was announced.
At the monetary policy press conference, shown live on television, Gandhi, deputy-governor in-charge of currency management, read the following statement covering the period November 10 to December 5, 2016: “As regards lower denomination notes of ₹ 100, ₹ 50, ₹ 20 and ₹ 10, the Reserve Bank, over its counters and through bank branches all over the country, has supplied 19.1 billion pieces of denominations in this period. (₹ 100 – 8.5 billion, ₹ 50 – 1.8 billion, ₹ 20 – 3.1 billion and ₹ 10 – 5.7 billion).  This is more than what the Reserve Bank had supplied to the public in the whole of last three years [italics ours].”
Nobody appears to have fact-checked RBI’s amazing claim that in a short span of 26 days, it supplied more small denomination notes than were supplied over the previous three years. In fact, in its own latest annual report, it turns out that over the last three years (2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16) the RBI supplied a total of 50.2 billion small denomination notes.
Could Gandhi have been guilty merely of poor English, i.e., could he have meant that the 19.1 billion pieces supplied in this 26 day period were more than the supply of small denomination notes in any of the last three years?
Both the retracted and the edited versions of the transcript state, “in the whole of last three years”, and not “any” of the last three years. So it stands to reason that the RBI is explicitly stating that supply exceeded the aggregate supply of the last three years. This is confirmed by an even more emphatic statement by Gandhi in the same conference call:
“And that is why just now I mentioned, 19 billion notes which were equivalent to what we supply in three full years, that was in our custody and which we have given to the public.” [italics ours]
That the senior-most deputy governor, at such a crucial juncture can publicly make such a statement without any subsequent clarification or apology and still retain his post indicates the level of competence and integrity at the highest level of the RBI.

Denomination	Notes Issued 10 Nov – 5 Dec 2016		Notes Issued
	Notes Issued	Amount	FY2014	FY2015	FY2016	Total
Rs	Bn	Rs Bn	Bn	Bn	Bn	Bn
100	8.5	850	5.131	5.464	4.910	15.505
50	1.8	90	1.174	1.615	1.908	4.697
20	3.1	62	0.935	1.086	3.252	5.273
10	5.7	57	9.467	9.417	5.867	24.751
Total	19.1	1,059	16.707	17.582	15.937	50.226

Interestingly, the RBI had originally published the whole of Gandhi’s statement in the conference call, but subsequently, the statement was removed from its website  and an “edited”  transcript was uploaded, wherein the details of the quantum of the specific small denomination notes was removed from the original statement.
It remains a mystery why the RBI decided to remove from its website the specific details of small denomination notes supplied in this period. Were the figures inaccurate, although the figure of a total of 19.1 billion pieces has been retained in the edited version? There is no clarity on this to date, as on most things to do with this whole question.
The last-quoted statement contains a curious phrase: It does not say that the RBI printed 19 billion notes in the 26-day period, which of course would have been physically impossible, given the existing capacity of its presses. It says rather that 19 billion notes were “in our custody… which we have given to the public.” It is surprising that, on November 8, the RBI had “in its custody” more small denomination notes than it would normally supply over a whole year. If the RBI’s claim is factual, it suggests that it was hoarding these notes, precisely what it keeps appealing to the public not to do.
A possible explanation of the large stock of small denomination notes in RBI’s “custody” is that instead of destroying soiled notes as it normally does, it hoarded them in anticipation of the shortage of notes following the sudden demonetisation. There were numerous reports after November 10, of customers and bankers complaining about the soiled notes they were receiving (literally “black” money). These were notes which banks had originally sent to the RBI for destruction. (Last year, the RBI had disposed of 12.9 billion pieces of small denomination notes over the course of the year.)

What was the relevance of showering the public with small denomination notes, perhaps mostly soiled, in the wake of demonetising high denomination notes and thus withdrawing 86% of the value of India’s currency? The total value of these small denomination notes was only 1.06 lakh crore, or about 7% of the value of the currency withdrawn. And within this, more than half the notes were of Rs 50 or less, accounting for a little over 1 per cent of the value of the currency withdrawn. The giant release of small change, then, can only be understood as one more attempt at spin.
None of this should have been necessary. No question of national security is involved. The RBI could have simply laid out all the facts about the receipt and release of notes every day on its website. Instead it shrouded the simplest questions in darkness, left it to the public to make calculations and guesses, and at times simply provided misinformation, as in the case of the deputy governor’s claims. The lack of transparency appears to have been a calculated strategy, to prevent any systematic questioning of a catastrophic decision. However, the lack of transparency has itself destroyed the RBI’s credibility.
Under governor Urjit Patel, the credibility and competence of the Reserve Bank of India has touched the nadir of its 82-year history. In a humiliating development, Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC), headed by a senior leader of the opposition’s Congress party, has demanded the appearance of the RBI governor on January 28, 2017, and has even asked the Governor why he should not be “prosecuted and removed from office”. The credibility of an institution is difficult to establish, but, as we have seen now, it can be destroyed in a month.

12.01.2017

1)Indefinite delay in Publishing GDS Commission Report.

Our letter to the Chairman Postal Board.

Click here to read more.

2)Circular 01/2017 12/01/2017

To

All CWC Members,

All Circle Secretaries of NUGDS.

Click here to read more.

3) Model covering letter to The Chief Post Master General

Click here to read more.

Demonetisation will cause loss of Rs 1.5 lakh crore to GDP: P Chidambaram

Former Finance minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday said the GDP of India would take a hit of at least one per cent if not two owing to the demonetisation move by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "We will all have to suffer because of the folly of one person of this country... The country will face a loss of Rs 1.5 lakh crore," Chidambaram said. He was speaking at the Jan Vedna Sammelan organised by the Congress Party to highlight the hardships faced by people across the country.

Seeking to debunk the "exaggerated claims of the Prime Minister", Chidambaram said instead of targeting black money and corruption, the government has targeted the poor. "The first case of corruption since Rs 2, 000 notes were introduced took place in Gujarat," Chidambaram said.

"Have you heard the CEA make a statement? Has the banking secretary or the finance secretary made a statement on demonetisation? The only person who believes the GDP will not be affected is Finance Minister Arun Jaitley," he said.

Chidambaram also questioned who would compensate those who have lost their lives and livelihoods due to the Modi government's decision. "I demand that the government pay compensation to the daily wage workers who lost their livelihoods," he said, adding that forty five crore people lost their livelihood for 70 days "due to one man's decision."

Cabinet meeting?

Chidambaram also questioned the government over its claim that a Cabinet meeting took place on November 8 before Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the move to demonetise. "We are yet to see a cabinet note of the meeting that took place, there has to be some record of the meeting taking place." He also questioned how the Centre was confident that the RBI would agree to its suggestion of demonetisation while claiming that it is always the RBI that suggests and not the government. They sent a suggestion on November 7 and announced on November 8". 

11/01/2017

Today SG FNPO contacted Senior Officers in Directorate.

Dte has given assurance that GDS Committee Report will be published at the end of this week. There is a time limit for our patience. If the Department did not publish GDS Committee Report as promised before the end of this week, we have no other alternative to go on the hunger fast on 18/01/2017 in all the circles.  Sorry, It is not our intention, but we are forced to go on the hunger fast.

Willingness called by Circle office for adhoc promotion to PM Grade II cadre from among PM Grade I officials - TN Circle

Click here to view the details.

8th Meeting of Committee on Allowances will be held on 12/1/2017

India Post to Start SBI Buddy Wallet Service in Post Offices

In order to move towards digitization of cash transactions at post offices for its Saving Bank Customers, Department of Posts (DoP) has approached the State Bank of India to provide customized services of State Bank Buddy wallet for branches of Post Offices. Cashiers/Postal Assistant at authorized Post Offices will accept two kinds of withdrawal forms from their Saving Bank customers. One for withdrawing cash and other for loading their Buddy wallet.

Draft of process flow is summarized below:

1. DoP would like to open wallets for their identified Post offices across India.

2. To begin with, DoP will start with 1000 Post Offices and then extend to larger no. of Post Offices. All these Post Offices will be provided with a smart phone, by the respective Divisional Heads/Chief Postmaster/Sr. Postmasters. These phones Will be the assets of the post Office concerned and Will be the deposited in the treasury at end of the day. At the beginning of the day the phone will be given to the SB Cashier handling the Buddy wallet.

3. State Bank Buddy wallet will be downloaded from Google play /Apple store and wallet account will be registered on these (Post Offices’ Official) Mobile Numbers.

4. Sansad Marg HO will be assigned as a nodal office for SBl buddy. DoP will share with SBl the list of mobile nos. to be used on Post Office counters. Against each mobile no. in the list, name & address of PO along with other details considered important for accounting and MIS.

5. SBI will prefund all 1000 post office e-wallet accounts with Rs.20,000 (each wallet to be topped up with Rs.20,000).

6. Cashiers/Postal Assistant at Post Offices will pay to their (PO) customers, through P2P facility (using “Send Money/Ask Money) against special withdrawal forms presented by the customers.

7. At 4.30 pm each day, Buddy Team at GITC will send MIS to NDMB (Sansad Marg) & Sansad Marg HO containing the amount consumed by each PO wallet during the day.

8. At the closure of Post Offices? customer dealing, 3:00 pm State Bank Buddy team will run a scheduled job and block all these wallets so that no further transactions can be made on that day.

9. Buddy team will generate Daily Transaction MIS of these wallets post office wise and share it with DoP

10. No PO wallet will be topped up during the day for increased requirement etc.

11. Buddy team will unblock these wallets in SOD (Start of Day) so that wallets will be operational for use.

1- Between Customer & Cashier/Postal Assistant

i. Customer should download buddy wallet from play store or apple store. Assistance may be required. The cashiers/Postal Assistant will be trained by SBI.

ii. Customer should use 'Ask Option" in Buddy giving mobile number of the Cashier.

iii. The statement of transactions on the wallet of the cashier can be made available by the Bank

At Post office

i. Debit SB account of customer

ii. Credit Wallet Account of customer

Reconciliation

The individual PO will download the Buddy report, check it against the transactions made and will

(A) Either confirm that the report tallied with the transactions done in the post offices, to the nodal office.

Buddy Wallet team (gmdigicomm@sbi.co.in) Sansad Marg HO will pay SBl Sansad Marg main branch at the end of the day as per demand raised by them. In the case of any dispute which is raised by post offices as per para B above, the adjustment would be made next day.

10/01/2017

Pongal (14.01.2017), Saturday as closed holiday in Central Government Offices in the State of Tamilnadu.

Felicitation to Shri Rajat S Das working president FNPO.

Shri Rajat S Das retired from service on 31.12.2016 as Fgn Post Supdt.   He served as Circle Secretary for more than a decade in West Bengal Circle.  He also held All India President post of NAPEC and working president of FNPO.  During his tenure he enrolled more members for NAPE Group C union.

A grand felicitation was arranged by Murshidapad colleagues.  During the felicitation SG FNPO, GS NAPE-C, GS NUGDS, Shri Bishwakumat, ASG, Shri Shivaji Vasi Reddy, C.S. NAPE-C Andhra Circle, Shri Baghwan, Finance Secy NAPEC and Shri Koushik former C.S Delhi Circle recalled the glorious services of Shri Rajat S Das.

FNPO wishes Shri Rajat S Das "a happy and peaceful retired life."

09/01/2017
Declaration of Holiday for Makara Sankranthi (14-01-2017) in place of Sri Ramanavami for Operative Offices of A.P Circle