Archive for March, 2009
Issue of Individual Plastic Cards to each CGHS Beneficiary
CGHS vide Circular No. Misc.6024/2007/CGHS(HQ)/CGHS (P) dated 17/12/2007 made it mandatory for each CGHS beneficiary to have Individual Plastic Card in place of Index Card for the family. All existing CGHS Card Holders in Delhi/NCR, who have not applied for Plastic Cards so far, may apply immediately.
6% hike in DA for central Govt employees
In a decision that will have a total financial implication to the tune of Rs 6,020 crore over a 14 month period starting January 1, 2009, the Union Cabinet on Thursday approved a six percent hike in the Dearness Allowance (DA) given to Central Government employees and pensioners.
The decision will benefit 41 lakh Government employees and another 38 lakh pensioners. Although revision of DA is done every six months, the quantum of the hike is being viewed as another poll sop doled out by the government with an eye on the forthcoming general elections.
Following Thursday’s decision. the DA component in the salaries and pensions will increase from the 16 to 22 per cent. While the financial implication of the move on the salary component will be Rs 4,100 crore, the implication on the pension component will be around Rs 1,920 crore.
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram said that the hike will be effective from January 1 and will be payable from March 1 this year.
New Pension Scheme
The New Pension Scheme works on defined contribution basis and will have two tiers – Tier-I and II. Contribution to Tier-I is mandatory for all Government servants joining Government service on or after 1-1-2004 (except the armed forces in the first stage), whereas Tier-II will be optional and at the discretion of Government servants.
In Tier-I, a Government servant will have to make a contribution of 10% of his basic pay plus DA, which will be deducted from his salary bill every month by the PAO concerned. The Government will make an equal matching contribution. However, there will be no contribution from the Government in respect of individuals who are not Government employees.
Tier-I contributions (and the investment returns) will be kept in a non-withdraw able Pension Tier-I Account. Tier-II contributions will be kept in a separate account that will be withdraw able at the option of the Government servant. Government will not make any contribution to Tier-II account.
The existing provisions of Defined Benefit Pension and GPF would not be available to the new recruits in the central Government service, i.e. to the Government servants joining Government service on or after 1-1-2004.
In order to implement the Scheme, there will be a Central Record Keeping Agency (CRA) and several Pension Fund Managers (PFM) to offer three categories of Schemes to Government servants, viz., options A, B and C based on the ratio of investment in fixed income instruments and equities. The participating entities (PFMs and CRA) would give out easily understood information about past performance, so that the individual would be able to make informed choices about which scheme to choose.
An independent Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) will regulate and develop the pension market.
As an interim arrangement, till such time the Statutory PFRDA is set up, an interim PFRDA has been appointed by issuing an executive order by M/o Finance (DEA).
Till the regular Central Record Keeping Agency and Pension Fund Managers are appointed and the accumulated balances under each individual account are transferred to them, such amounts representing the contributions made by the Government servants and the matching contribution made by the Government will be kept in the Public Account of India. This will be purely a temporary arrangement as announced by the Government.
Tier-II will not be made operative during the interim period.
A Government servant can exit at or after the age of 60 years from the Tier-I of the Scheme. At exit, it would be mandatory for him to invest 40 per cent of pension wealth to purchase an annuity (from an IRDA-regulated Life Insurance Company) which will provide for pension for the lifetime of the employee and his dependent parents/spouse. He would receive a lump-sum of the remaining pension wealth which he would be free to utilize in any manner. In the case of Government servants who leave the Scheme before attaining the age of 60, the mandatory annuitization would be 80% of the pension wealth.
Over 8,500 Railway officers booked for fraudulent practices
New Delhi : In a drive to check corruption and bring in transparency in its administration, Indian Railways has ordered departmental action against more than 8,500 officers for their alleged involvement in various fraudulentpractices. The data updated till November 2008 shows that in 25,845 drives carried out bythe Vigilance Directorate of the Railway Board, 8,638 officers including 117 gazetted ones, were booked for various charges including making of traffic under charges and fraudulent payment to staff.
There are about 13,000 gazetted officers and nearly eight lakh non-gazetted officers in the world’s largest employer which has a total strength of 14 lakh approximately. Of the staff booked for fraudulent practices, a maximum number of them — 1,403 — including 1,395 non-gazetted and eight gazetted officers were from South Western Railway, followed by 1,334 in Northern Railway, 760 in Southern Railway and 728 in North Eastern Railway zone.
"The Vigilance department carries out regular checks to bring in transparency and accountability in administration. It will intensify its drive in the coming months to check leakage of revenue," a senior ministry official said. Railways has realised Rs 79.88 crore from its drives during the said period. In another development, the Railway Ministry has identified 10 sectors as thrust areas for intensive vigilance, to monitor misuse of various concessions, implementation of various schemes to boost traffic and checking in general coaches to detect fraud in the unreserved tickets.
"Railways, in line with the instructions of Ministry of Home Affairs, every year prepare two lists — Agreed and Secret list — as a measure to combat corruption and to keep awatch on the officials whose integrity is suspected," the official said. The Agreed List, prepared in consultation with CBI, includes names of officers whose integrity are doubtful. While, the Secret List are of those officers of doubtful integrity on the basis of accepted inquiry reports or proved charges of corruption. "Persons in Agreed and Secret List are not assigned any sensitive posts and their working is kept under constant surveillance," he said.railsamachar
runningstaff 