Wednesday, April 18, 2018
Manoj Sinha launches Darpan to facilitate digital services in rural post offices
NEW DELHI: The NDA government Tuesday launched Digital Advancement of Rural Post Office for a New India or Darpan program at an outlay of Rs 1,300 crore, under the ambitious IT modernisation initiative to facilitate 1.29 branch post offices in rural India for digital transactions and online postal services.
The initiative, kicked off by Communications Minister Manoj Sinha, would include provision of handheld devices with cellular or SIM connectivity.
The mega program of the Department of Posts (DoP) would enable a range of digital services in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s prestigious Digital India umbrella program to accelerate service delivery to all Indians.
“As a result of changes we are making in our post offices, I believe our citizens will see a new face of our postal system,” Sinha said.
Friday, April 13, 2018
Availing LTC During CCL – DoPT Order dt: 3.4.2018
No.13018/6/2013-Estt(L)
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions
Department of Personnel & Training
Old JNU Campus, New Delhi 110 067
Dated: 3rd April, 2018
OFFICE MEMORANDUM
Subject: Child Care Leave (CCL) — Clarification Reg.
The undersigned is directed to refer to DoP”Ls O.M. No.21011/08/2013- Estt.(AL), dated 25.03.2013 and to say that references have been received with regard to leaving Head Quarters/Station while on CCL and availing LTC during CCL.
2. In this regard, it is has now been decided that:
(i) An employee on CCL may be permitted to leave headquarters with the prior approval of appropriate competent authority.
(ii) LTC may be availed while an employee is on CCL.
(iii) An employee on CCL may proceed on foreign travel provided clearances from appropriate competent authorities are taken in advance.
3. Hindi version will follow.
sd/-
(Sandeep Saxena)
Under Secretary to the Government of India
General Provident Fund (GPF) Interest Rate from April 2018
(PUBLISHED IN PART I SECTION 1 OF GAZETTE OF INDIA)
F.NO. 5(1)-B(PD)/2018
Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Economic Affairs
(Budget Division)
New Delhi, the 11th April, 2018
RESOLUTION
It is announced for general information that during the year 2018-2019, accumulations at the credit of subscribers to the General Provident Fund and other similar funds shall carry interest at the rate of 7.6% (Seven point six per cent) w.e.f. 1st April, 2018 to 30th June, 2018. This rate will be in force w.e.f.1st April, 2018. The funds concerned are:—
1. The General Provident Fund (Central Services).
2. The Contributory Provident Fund (India).
3. The All India Services Provident Fund.
4. The State Railway Provident Fund.
5. The General Provident Fund (Defence Services).
6. The Indian Ordnance Department Provident Fund.
7. The Indian Ordnance Factories Workmen’s Provident Fund.
8. The Indian Naval Dockyard Workmen’s Provident Fund.
9. The Defence Services Officers Provident Fund.
10. The Armed Forces Personnel Provident Fund.
2. Ordered that the Resolution be published in Gazette of India.
(Anjana Vashishtha)
Deputy Secretary (Budget)
Monday, April 9, 2018
Post office savings account customers can soon avail full digital banking service
New Delhi, Apr 8 (PTI) Around 34-crore post office savings account holders will be able to avail a full-fledged digital banking service from May as the government has approved linking such accounts with that of India Post Payments Bank (IPPB).
"The finance ministry has approved linking of savings bank accounts at post offices with IPPB accounts. This will enable post office account holders to transfer money from their account to any bank accounts...," an official source told PTI.
The 34 crore savings accounts comprise 17 crore post office savings bank accounts and rest are those subscribed monthly income scheme, recurring deposits etc.
The move also paves the way for creating of countrys largest banking network as India Post has plans to link all 1.55 lakh post office branches with the IPPB.
India Post has has started core banking service but it offers money transfer service within post office savings bank (POSB) accounts.
"IPPB is governed by Reserve Bank of India and banking service of post offices comes under the finance ministry. IPPB customers can use NEFT, RTGS and other money transfer services as available for any banking customers. Once POSB accounts are linked with IPPB, customers will be able to enjoy all money transfer service like other banks," the source said.
He said that by May, India Post will give option to POSB account customers to avail this facility.
"The service will be optional. If post office account holders opt for it, their account will be linked to their IPPB account," the source said.
As per an official statement issued earlier, India Post plans to start functioning of all 650 IPPB branches from this month. All 650 branches will be connected to smaller post offices in the districts.
"IPPB branches and all the access points will be linked to postal network which has 1.55 lakh post offices in total. Out of this, 1.3 lakh branches are in rural area," the source said.
With 1.55 lakh branches, India Post will be able to create countrys largest banking network.
"In the second phase, starting September, account holders in post office will have an option to pay for post office products from their IPPB accounts including deposit money for Sukanya Samridhi Yojana, recurring deposits, speed post, etc," he said.
Also, the IPPB will start registering merchants who will accept payment from its customer with help of application. The IPPB customers will be able to make payments to various merchants like grocery store, tickets etc with help of their app, the source said. PTI PRS MKJ
India Is The Nation Of The Most Unemployed In The World: Labour Bureau Statistics
According to the Labour Bureau statistics, India has, today, become the nation of the most unemployed in the world; in the inclusive growth index we are at number sixty and in this case, we are far behind our neighbours.
On the economic development front, inequality and increasing unemployment is the biggest challenge for the fast emerging India. Self-employment opportunities are declining in the country and jobs are continuously decreasing.
But at the same time, another picture is that India is one of the fastest growing peak economies in the world. At some point in time, we have managed to climb up 30 places in the 'Business Accessibility Index'. So the question arises that what is the path of development that we are going to follow to ensure employment generation and equality for everyone?
Indeed, the pace of increasing inequality in India has reached historically high levels. The gap between the rich and the poor has increased alarmingly. This situation is the result of our unemployment growth and non-public spending on GDP growth path.
In the last few decades, most of the countries in the world have developed their economies, but due to privatisation, public capital, and resources have been reduced to the hands of selected few.
In India, economic reforms were implemented in the nineties. Since then, there has been an unprecedented creation of wealth in the country. According to the Credit Suisse Global, multinational financial services company, since 2000, there has been an increase in the value of 9.9 percent annually in India, while its global average has been only 6 percent.
But its benefits have not been found in the large population of the country. Despite India's share in global assets (sixth), the average assets of Indians are much lower than the global average.
In the meanwhile, the inequality has expanded in the distribution of public resources in the country and nearly one-third of the population is still forced to live below the poverty line. The condition is that India has slipped to the hundredth place in the Global Hunger Index of 2017, and in this case, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and many African countries have a better performance than India, while we were at 97th in 2016.
According to Oxfam, only one percent of the people on the global level have only 50 percent wealth. But this figure stands at 58 percent in India and 57 billionaires have assets equal to 70 percent of the country's population.
According to another report from Oxfam, 'The Widening Gaps: India Inequality Report 2018', economic inequality in India is increasing rapidly. In the country's GDP, 15 percent of the wealth has been made, while the share was 10 percent five years ago.
India is the second largest country in the world in terms of population. About 65 percent of the population in the country has an average age of less than 35 years. Such a large young population could be our strength, but due to lack of adequate employment in the country, a large number of youth is unemployed.
According to data from the Economic Cooperation and Development Organisation, the number of young unemployed in the country is very high. This is causing the feeling of dissatisfaction in the society.
Similarly, in spite of all efforts, the participation of women in the total labor force of the country is only 27 percent (In the labor force, household work and care, such as unpaid work is not included). The latest estimates from the World Bank show that in the period from 2004-05 to 2011-12, 19.6 percent of the women moved out of labor force, which is a major drop.
The importance of women's involvement in the labour force can be understood in such a way that the International Monetary Fund estimates that if the presence of women in India's labor force becomes as much as that of men, then it will help in increasing our GDP by 27 percent.
In the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a special emphasis in Goal 8 has been given to 'continuous inclusive and sustained economic development for all, to promote full and productive employment and better work' by 2030. Also mentioned in the same goal - 'By 2020, substantially reduce the proportion of youth not in employment, education or training'.
India is also working towards fulfilling this goal and generating employment for all. Various schemes like Skill India, Make in India, Prime Minister's Employment Generation Programme (PMGEP), Pradhan Mantri Rojgar Protsahan Yojana, and Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana play an important role in this.
The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship was formed in 2014 by the government. After which the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana was launched in 2015. Its aim was to develop the skill of the youth to make them self-employed. But there were many obstacles to the success of this scheme.
Before the scheme started, there was no pre-assessment done of the requirement of the industries and the kind of skills that were being provided to the youth, resulting in a total mismatch when the scheme was launched. The level of training being provided was also below standard and not of the highest quality.
Workers of India are passing through a kind of transition period. The agricultural sector's contribution to the GDP is around 13 percent, but still half of India's population depends on agriculture. On one hand, the agricultural sector is not able to bear this pressure; on the other hand, people here are not required to have the skills required for other jobs. Perhaps, that's why the cost of MNREGA increases.
MNREGA is the only law in our country that guarantees 100 days of employment to all in rural areas. Although there have been many questions arising out of this, due to being only rural centric, guaranteed for only 100 days, corruption and other problems related to implementation, the importance of MNREGA cannot be denied.
In the concept of inclusive development, the development of people of all sections of society, castes, and communities have been included. In this scale, aspects like living, health, education, and environmental status are judged. In the coming days, if we continue to follow this model of development while ignoring the inclusive growth, the inequities will get deeper.
Therefore, it is necessary to increase the public expenditure on basic services such as education and health, and pay special attention to employment generation.
The views expressed in the above article are that of Javed Anis of Charkha Features.
*ANI*
Friday, April 6, 2018
Equal pay for equal work ....
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
RAJYA SABHA
STARRED QUESTION NO. 346
EQUAL PAY FOR DAILY WAGERS/CONTRACT LABOURERS AND REGULAR EMPLOYEES
346. DR. SATYANARAYAN JATIYA:
Will the Minister of LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT be pleased to
state:
(a)the policy of "equal pay for equal work" and the effective measures taken for the implementation of the same; and
(b)in reference to (a) above the measures taken to ensure equal payment to daily wagers and contract labourers employed in institutes, establishments and companies of Government and
private sector as is being given to regular employees employed there?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE(IC) FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
(SHRI SANTOSH KUMAR GANGWAR)
(a) & (b): The principal of "equal pay for equal work" was examined and laid down by the Hon‟ble Supreme Court in the civil appeal number 213 of 2013. The issue before the Hon‟ble Supreme Court was as under:
"whether temporarily engaged employees (daily-wage employees, ad- appointees, employees appointed on casual basis, contractual employees and the like), are entitled to minimum of the regular pay-scale, alongwith dearness allowance (as revised from time to time) on account of their performing the same duties, which are discharged by those engaged on regular basis, against sanctioned posts"
The Hon‟ble Supreme Court held that:
"There can be no doubt, that the principle of "equal pay for equal work" would be applicable to all the concerned temporary employees, so as to vest in them the right to claim wages, at par with the minimum of the pay-scale of regularly engaged Government employees, holding the same post"
The above judgement of the Hon'ble Supreme Court dated 26th October, 2016 covers various sets of temporarily engaged employees, viz. daily-wage employees, adappointees, employees appointed on casual basis, contractual employees etc. It is mandatory for the employer/principal employer to comply with the provisions of labour laws and apply the ratio laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court regarding "equal pay for equal work" while paying wages to its workers/labourers.
In so far as the contract labour is concerned, the Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Central Rules, 1971 provides for wage parity as stipulated in rule 25(2)(v)(a) which is reproduced below:
"in cases where the workmen employed by the contractor perform the same or similar kind of work as the workmen directly employed by the principal employer of the establishment, the wage rates, holidays, hours of work and other conditions of service of the workmen of the contractor shall be the same as applicable to the workmen directly employed by the principal employer of the establishment on the same or similar kind of work"
Source: www.rajyasabga.nic.in
Income tax return forms for FY 2017-18 released
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has released the new income tax return forms for filing returns for the financial year 2017-18.
The new forms -Sahaj (ITR1) , Form ITR-2, Form ITR-3, Form Sugam -ITR-4, Form ITR-5, Form ITR-6, Form ITR-7, and Form ITR-V have been notified for Financial year 2017-18 or assessment year 2018-19.
Like last year, CBDT has been quick of the mark in releasing these forms right at the start of the assessment year to enable people to start filing their returns as soon as possible.
It is noteworthy that this is the first time there will be a penalty leviable for income tax returns filed after the due date which is normally July 1 i.e. ITRs for FY17-18 are due to be filed by July 1, 2018 as per current rules.
The notification, dated April 3, 2018, had made certain amendments in the income tax rules relating to these forms.
ITR 1 is the basic income tax return form. Last year it was meant to be used for individuals with income from salary/pension, one house property and other sources upto Rs 50 lakh.
Source:-The Economic Times
CHQ News: GS writes to Secretary(Posts) protesting on on additional responsibility Preventive Checking of Migrated Data in CBS Offices by Sub-Divisional Heads
No. CHQ/AIAIASP/2018-2020/06. Dated : 02.04.2018.
To,
The Secretary Posts
Department of Posts
Dak Bhawan, Sansad Marg
New Delhi-110001.
Subject : Preventive Checks/actions to avert/unearth and investigate fraud in CBS post offices.
Respected Sir,
While drawing your immediate attention towards Postal Directorate, Financial Services Division letter no. F. No. 25-31/2017-FS-CBS dated 28.03.2018 wherein the burden of checking and verification of Sanchay Post Mock Migration data with Live migrated data, cross-checking of 6 months or older Sanchay Post data with Live migrated data and verification thereof has been placed over the Sub Divisional Head, this Association strongly protests inclusion of the Sub Divisional head in this verification process.
This Association strongly advocates that this verification process should done by SBCO, SBSO and technical officials like System Administrators. Only the SBCO has authority to verify and authenticate data and Sub divisional Head has no authority to verify or authenticate data and arrive at the correct balance/data. Involving Sub Divisional Head has no meaning in this context as Sub Divisional Heads do not have adequate operational skill of the software like Sanchay Post. The Sub divisional heads are neither fully skilled nor have enough time to check data in respect of all Finacle migrated offices under their Sub Division. SDC Chennai/DOP and Infosys should develop such software which can easily filter such desired data.
Therefore, it is requested to kindly relook into this matter and cause to withdraw instructions which direct Sub Divisional Heads to check and verify Sanchay Post data w.r.t. migrated live data issued vide Postal Directorate , Financial Services Division letter no. F. No. 25-31/2017-FS-CBS dated 28.03.2018.
For this, this Association shall ever be grateful.
Your Sincerely
(Rajiv Kumar)
General Secretary.
Tuesday, April 3, 2018
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