.: November 2014

Friday 28 November 2014

Friday, November 28, 2014

EDITORIAL POSTAL CRUSADER DECEMBER-2014

NDA AND UPA

TWO SIDES OF SAME COIN

New Central Govt. under the leadership of our Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi has completed six months in office. As far as the common people and working class of this country is concerned, no positive action has been taken by the Govt. to mitigate their woes and grievances. Instead much negative steps are taken during this six months period.

Government has withdrawn the guidelines which controls the pricing of essential medicines through National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority. As a result, the prices of essential medicines for treatment of cancer, blood pressure, colestorol, diabetics, heart-deceases etc will shoot up in the market. Prices of medicines for treatment of cancer itself which now costs Rs.8500 may go upto Rs.1,08,000/-. Pharmaceutical corporate companies are the beneficiaries.

Government has made its intention clear that the number of gas cylinders (LPG) per year will be reduced from existing 12 to 9 and also to link it to Aadhar and subsidies through direct cash transfer to Bank accounts. Earlier UPA Govt. has reduced the gas cylinders from 12 to 9 but subsequently it has been withdrawn the order due to widespread protests.

Govt. has deregularised the pricing of diesel. Earlier UPA Govt. has deregulated petrol prices and now the NDA Govt. has deregularised diesel price. Petroleum companies will now be free to decide the prices of petrol and diesel. Even-now the prices of petrol and diesel in India are 40% higher than the prices in the international market.

Govt. has decided to allow 100% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Defence Production. Earlier this move of the UPA Govt. was opposed by NDA saying that it is against the national interest and security of the country. Defence production will now be completely privatised.

Govt. has decided to allow 100% FDI in Railways and also public-private-partnership (PPP). During his speech delivered in Australia Prime Minister has called upon the Industrialists of that country to country to invest in Indian Railways. Doors for privatisation of Railways is opened.

Govt. has decided to allow 49% FDI in Insurance sector. The bill for amending the Insurance Act for this purpose is pending in the Parliament and Govt. spokes person has hoped that the bill will be passed in this winter session of Parliament.

Govt. has decided to disinvest the share of all public sector nationalised banks upto 48%. Road map for privatisation of banking sector is drawn.

Govt. has made it clear that 100% FDI will be allowed in Pension Funds. The future of those who are under the New Pension Scheme will be uncertain due to Pension Fund Privatisation.

Govt has decided to sell the shares of profit making public sector undertakings such as ONGC, BHEL, coal India Ltd. etc to the tune of 25%.

Govt. has made it clear that Indian Post Office Act 1898 will be amended to facilitate grant of licences to multi-national courier services. This will pave way for privatisation of postal sector.

While extending red-carpet welcome to the corporates and multinational companies, the Govt. has declared that all the labour laws which put hurdles before them will be amended. Govt. has already moved in Parliament Labour Law amendments to remove all the protections and rights now enjoyed by the working class including right to strike and right to form unions.

Government has declared that all the loss-making public sector undertakings will be closed or privatised. Air India, BSNL etc. are all in the hit-list.

Government has made it clear that its slogan is “minimum government and maximum governance”. It has imposed a total ban on creation of new posts and for filling up of posts which are lying vacant for more than one year.

Regarding Central Government Employees, none of their legitimate demands are conceded by the Government. DA merger, Interim Relief, Inclusion of Gramin Dak Sevaks (GDS) under 7th CPC, Date of effect of 7th CPC as 1-1-2014, Removal of 5% condition for compassionate appointment - everything stands rejected.

Regarding Postal employees none of the 39 demands raised by Postal JCA (NFPE & FNPO) is settled. Three lakhs GDS are still not included in the 7th CPC and their future is uncertain, Revision of wages of Casual, Part-time, contingent employees with effect from 01-01-2006 is pending before the Government from 2008 onwards. Cadre Restructuring, issues of Postmaster Cadre, Accountants, System Administrators, MMS etc. all pending or rejected.

It is in the above background the Central Trade Unions, JCM National Council staff-side, Confederation of Central Govt. Employees & Workers and Postal JCA has decided to organise following agitational programmes.

1. As a part of nation-wide agitation by all Central Trade Unions including BMS, INTUC, HMS, AITUC, CITU etc. has decided to organise Parliament March on 5th December, 2014 to protest against the anti-people, anti-labour policies of the NDA Government. In the march they will declare future struggle programmes.

2. All the organisations in the JCM National Council (Staff side) including Railways, Defence and Confederation has decided to organise a National Convention on 11th December, 2014 to decide future course of action for realisation of the legitimate demands of the Central Government employees.

3. Postal JCA comprising NFPE, FNPO, AIPEU-GDS (NFPE) and NUGDS has decided to organise a massive Parliament March of 20000 Postal& RMS employees including Gramin Dak Sevaks and Casual, Part-Time, Contingent employees on 4th December, 2014 demanding settlement of 39 point charter of demands. PJCA has decided to go for indefinite strike.

NFPE calls upon the entirety of five lakhs Postal employees to participate in all the above programmes and make it a grand success. Let us pledge that we shall continue our struggle till success.

Thursday, November 27, 2014

MEETING WITH THE CHAIRMAN OF TASK FORCE ON LEVERAGING THE POST OFFICE NETWORK ON 27.11.2014

On behalf of National federation of Postal Employees, Com. Giriraj Singh, President NFPE, Com. R. N. Parashar, Secretary General, NFPE and on behalf of AIPEU Group ‘C’, Com. N. Subramanian, General Secretary, Com. Balwinder Singh, Financial Secretary & Com. A. Veeramani, AGS have met the chairman Shri. T. S. R. Subramanian, Task force on Leveraging the Post office Network on 27.11.2014 at Meghdoot Bhawan, New Delhi.

The Chairman of the Task force warmly welcomed the union leaders and explained how the postal network could be utilized in a positive manner. The interaction with the union side is mainly on the following points.

1. E- Commerce

2. E-Governance

3. Aadhar Centre

4. Financial inclusion

5. Data collection for various departments

6. Data updation for various departments

7. More Insurance products

8. More Savings Products

9. MGNREGA, Old age / widow / Disabled, Pension, Transfer of Benefit schemes

10. Physical network & Component

11. Physical to digital

12. Sale of prepaid cards for various telecom, Mobile services, TV channels as well as post paid payments.

13. Market Surveys

In the memorandum we earlier submitted, many service/business activities of the state governments and other departments of Central Government including private players that can be done by the Postal Departments have been mentioned. All the same were also emphasized in the meeting.

The Chairman asserted us that there will be no retrenchment elsewhere and instead more staff is needed to be employed especially in rural areas. Our view of increasing the work and staff also is positively taken by the Chairman. We requested him to suggest in its report to make the GDS as full time employee while optimizing the Postal Network.

Let us wait and see what it will propose and recommend.

Thursday 27 November 2014

Government Plans to Use Postman to Educate People on Schemes, Policy

NEW DELHI: The government is planning to use India Post's 1.55 lakh-strong branch network to reach out to citizens in far flung and backward areas and educate them about the various policies, schemes and incentives.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting runs various awareness programmes for the citizens leveraging the Internet and the social media.

However, these initiatives are still out of the reach of many who live in backward and far flung areas there is no connectivity, sources said.

"This category of population is sizable and within the reach of post offices. I&B Ministry can design programmes region-wise, which can then be used by the postman to go to these areas and educate the people," a source said.

The idea is to utilise the huge network of India Posts' post offices across the country, especially to reach out to people in areas not connected with the Internet, and educate them about the government's policies, schemes and incentives, the sources added. With the world's largest postal network, India Post has about 1.55 lakh post offices spread across the country.

On an average, a post office serves an area of 21.21 sq km and a population of 7,175 people.

Besides, postman can also be used for directly collecting feedback from the people in rural areas on various policies and schemes, sources added.

"Also digital boards and panels can be set up at the post offices across these areas to educate people on not just schemes and policies, but also on issues related to health and education," they said.

The Task Force set up by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is already holding consultations in this regard with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

Modi has set up the Task Force to leverage the postal network in India to enhance the role of India Posts in financial inclusion, among other services and it is expected to submit its report by year-end.

The Task Force includes the Department of Posts Secretary Kavery Banerjee, Telecom Secretary Rakesh Garg, Department of Electronics and IT Secretary R S Sharma, Rural Development Secretary L C Goyal and former SEBI Chairman G N Bajpai.

Former Cabinet Secretary TSR Subramanian is the Chairman of the Task Force.

Source : http://www.newindianexpress.com/

MORE PHOTOS OF NFPE DIAMOND JUBILEE CELEBRATION AT DWARKA

SEMINAR ON THE SUBJECT “INDIA POST –CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES” ON 24^th NOVEMBER-2014 AT DWARKA (GUJARAT)

HONOUR OF CONFEDERATION LEADERS

THE POSTAL DEPARTMENT HAS BEEN MAKING EFFORTS AT EXPANDING ITS REPERTOIRE OF SERVICES TO BE MORE CUSTOMER-CENTRIC IN CHANGING TIMES.

‘Penta Phones for sale’ says the banner before the district head post-office here, located near the old bus stand. Another of the Postal Department’s efforts at a makeover, the Penta Phone seems to have got off on the right foot. In the last one month, post offices at Sangareddy and Zaheerabad sold about two hundred phones, the stock being cleared within just an hour.

The phones, which can be booked by paying Rs.500, come with a BSNL-to-BSNL talk time offer of Rs.1,999.

That’s not all. Targeting the corporate customer and their needs for fast and end-to-end, reliable transportation across the nation, the department launched ‘Logistic Post’.

Tie-up with Railways

With a tie-up with the railways, and its own strong nationwide network to back it, Logistics Post transports the customer’s goods to the nearest post office. Four routes were launched two months ago, including Hyderabad-Adilabad-Mancherial, Hyderabad-Chennai (via Vijayawada),Hyderabad-Bangalore, and Vijayawada-Visakhapatnam and eight vehicles roped in exclusively for this purpose. The industrial estate at Patancheru in Medak district serves as the Logistics Post Centre.

Another service of the Postal Department is the Book-Now Pay Later (BNPL) scheme, where customers can first avail of the service, and pay their bills later. More than a dozen organisations, including private sector units, have already been using this service.

The Passenger Railway Reservation System (PRRS) was introduced at Sangareddy and Jogipet post offices. However, reservations can only be made during working hours of the department, making it inconvenient for customers.

The E-seva, similar to MeeSeva, introduced by the department provides services to the public at a cost fixed by the government. “Other services being offered by the department include My Stamp – where one can get his or her printed photo on the stamp and use it, Direct Post for distribution of pamphlets, Media Post through which customers can put up advertisements in the department premises, and e-Post which enables a customer to send a scanned copy of a letter to the remotest part of the country where a post office exists,” says Postal Superintendent K. Janardhan Reddy.

Source : http://www.thehindu.com/

Age before duty: Babus to retire at 58 instead of 60

Written By Admin on November 27, 2014 | Thursday, November 27, 2014

In a move that would help curb the relentless increase in the Centre’s non-Plan spending and ease the way for infusion of more young blood and professionalism into the country’s largely moribund bureaucracy, the Narendra Modi government is planning to reduce the retirement age of central government employees from the present 60 to 58.

The move that comes at a time when the Seventh Pay Commission is mulling another sharp boost to the pay structure of the Centre’s 5-million-strong workforce is also aimed at creating the requisite space for lateral entry of technically qualified professionals into the government, official sources told FE.

The retirement age was last revised in 1998, when the then NDA government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee raised it from 58 to 60 years. The last UPA government had reportedly considered enhancing the retirement age further to 62 just before the general elections, but dropped the move.

The superannuation age was increased from 55 to 58 way back in 1962.

The total wage and salaries bill of the central government, excluding PSUs but including the railways, rose sharply between 2008 and 2010 due to the revised pay scales (along with payment of arrears) implemented as per the Sixth Pay Commission’s proposals.

The wage bill rose from Rs 1.09 lakh crore in 2007-08 to Rs 1.4 lakh crore in 2008-09, and further to Rs 1.7 lakh crore in 2009-10, before the growth moderated to Rs 1.84 lakh crore in 2010-11. The government spent Rs 2.54 lakh crore in wages and salaries in 2013-14. The railways (with 1.4 million employees), defence (civil), home affairs, India Post and revenue account for more than 80% of the total spending of the Centre on pays and allowances.

Thanks to successive pay commissions, the salaries and other emoluments of government employees have, on average, more than doubled in every decade since independence even though lack of sufficient performance incentives is still considered to be a drawback.

A merger of 50% of the dearness allowance with the basic salary, likely to be part of the Seventh Pay Commission’s award, which is to implemented from 2016, is expected to hike the Centre’s wage bill by a third and strain its fiscal situation. In February this year, the government hiked DA to 100%, from 90%, benefiting both its employees and 3 million pensioners.

The Centre’s expenditure on pension stood at Rs 74,076 crore in 2013-14 and the estimate for the current fiscal is Rs 81,983 crore. However, growth in the outgo on pension is expected to moderate due to the National Pension System based on the concept of defined contribution, launched in January 2004. The NPS has been accepted by large sections of central government employees and most state governments have shifted their employees to the new system.

According to Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at CARE Ratings, reducing the retirement age will give the government an opportunity to outsource more jobs, including by bringing in people as temporary consultants, who will then have to be paid only a fixed salary but not pension or provident fund. Their salary component will then show up as administrative costs, rather than as wage bill.

The finance ministry is weighing the pros and cons of the proposal to cut the retirement age. The move, sources said, is also in line with the BJP’s manifesto, which had promised to rationalise and converge ministries, departments and other arms of the government, open up government to draw expertise from industry, academia and society and tap the services of the youth in particular to contribute to governance.

Source : http://www.financialexpress.com/

Central govt employees to file assets details by December 31: Govt

Written By Admin on November 27, 2014 | Thursday, November 27, 2014

New Delhi: All central government employees have to file the details of their assets and liabilities along with that of their spouses and dependent children as mandated under the Lokpal Act by December 31, the Lok Sabha was informed on Wednesday.

As per the rules notified under the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act in July this year, every public servant who has filed declarations, information and annual returns of property under the provisions of the rules applicable to such public servants shall file the revised declarations as on August 1 to the competent authority on or before September 15.

The provision of the said rules has subsequently been amended by which the time limit for furnishing of such information or return by public servants has been extended till December 31, Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Jitendra Singh said in a written reply.

The declarations under the Lokpal Act are in addition to similar ones filed by the employees under various services rules.

All Group A, B and C employees are supposed to file a declaration under the new rules. There are about 26 lakh employees in these three categories, as per latest government data.

The Personnel Ministry has also issued new forms for filing these returns which have fields for mentioning details of cash in hand, bank deposits, investment in bonds, debentures, shares and units in companies or mutual funds, insurance policies, provident fund, personal loans and advance given to any person or entity, among others.

The employees need to declare motor vehicles, aircraft, yachts or ships, gold and silver jewellery and bullion possessed by them, their spouses and dependent children.

PTI
Source : http://zeenews.india.com/

MEETING WITH THE CHAIRMAN OF TASK FORCE ON LEVERAGING THE POST OFFICE NETWORK ON 27.11.2014