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Thursday 23 July 2015

BPAOEA HAS WON O.A. 050/00440/2014&MA/050/00094/2015 IN CAT PATNA ON 11-5-2015 FILED BY BPAOEA THROUGH GENERAL SECRETARY SHRI SANJAY SINHA REGARDING GRANT OF STEPPING OF PAY OF SENIORS ON ACCOUNT OF DRAWING LESSER PAY THAN JUNIOR DUE TO ACP BENEFITS AS IN O.A. 2124/2011 IMPLEMENTED IN PAOS.  


RECOMMENDATIONS & CONCLUSIONS
 46th SESSION OF I.L.C.

CONCLUDING SESSION OF 46TH I LC

      The 46th session of India Labour Conference concluded yesterday at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi where the recommendations and conclusions were adopted on 5 chosen agenda items after the at length tripartite deliberations which lasted 2 days.

      In his concluding remarks, the chairman of the ILC and Labour and Employment Minister of state (Independent Charge) , Shri Bandaru Dattatreya reiterated his Governments commitment to reform process with tripartite consensus to promote the employment generation at a massive scale particularly for the aspiring youth population of this country. The consensus conclusions/recommendations on each of the agenda items are reproduced here:

      Implementation of the conclusions/ recommendations of the 43rd, 44th and 45th Indian labour conference, particularly on contract labour, Minimum wages and scheme workers and tripartite mechanism Conclusions of the committee are as follows:-

    The committee debated the recommendations of the 43rd, 44th and 45th Indian labour conference at length and expressed its concern over non-implementation of the conclusions, particularly on contract labour, Minimum wages, scheme workers and tripartism. It was therefore unanimously recommended that concrete measures should be undertaken to expeditiously implement the recommendations in letter and spirit. Periodic reviews should be undertaken by the stakeholders.

Recommendations of conference committee on “social security for organized, unorganized and migrant International workers”

      There was an in-principle agreement for coverage of all workers organized as well as unorganized under social security with support wage by Government, if required, for providing decent living conditions. The committee recommended that:

       I.   Mechanism for identification and registration of unorganized workers should be provided. Special drive should be launched for the said purpose and, if required, direct registration by the Government.
     II.       Schemes for organized/ unorganized workers should be made efficient.
     III.      Budgetary provisions should be made for those unorganized workers who are not covered under any specific social security scheme.
    IV.          The cost of registration of unorganized workers should be borne by the  Central/ State Government.
    V.       There should be proper utilization of fund collected through building construction cess and administrative expensed should not be for what is not stipulated.
 VI.    The Anganwadi/ Asha/ Mid-day meal and other such workers, the committee   reiterated that they should be extended coverage under ESI/ EPF.
VII.      As regards ESIC, the following recommendations were given:-
a.     ESIC to expand to cover all states/ UTs. All districts where scheme is running at present should be covered fully/
b.     The ESIC scheme to be expanded to unorganized sector by reducing the threshold form present 10. Self employed  should be provided medical benefit, in phases.
c.     The ESIC should directly run the health services in all the states. Stated should not be asked to bear the cost of Medical expenses.
d.    Medical Facilities should be expanded at a fast pace; establishments of hospitals and dispensaries should be decided based on geographical necessity.
e.     All construction workers should be covered under ESI.
f.     ESI coverage for round the clock for medical benefit.

VIII.    As regards EPF, recommendations were:-
a.     Medical Scheme to EPS pensioners from the surplus Corpus of EDLI Scheme.
b.    Extension of coverage by reducing threshold form 20 to 10. ‘Member of LUB opposed this’
c.     Coverage of both inter-state and international migrant workers under EPF Act.
d.    EPF pension should be enhanced and linked with price index.
IX.       Wages definition should be uniform for all labour laws.
X.        There should be a mechanism so that employers can deposit social security contributions at single window.
XI.       For construction workers, there should be a single contribution from employer.
XII.     Implementation of the decisions taken by 43rd, 44th and 45th ILC with regard to Social Security.

     However, on the point of optional schemes for ESI & EPF, the employee’s representatives strongly opposed whereas the employers representatives were of the view that options should be available.

     Removal of Conditions on payment Ceiling eligibility Limits, Decisions to pay Minimum Bonus without linking to loss when the performance indicator satisfy grant of bonus- The major conclusions emanating from the discussions in the committee are as follows:

     The Conference committee on amendment of Bonus Act – Removal of Conditions on Payment Ceiling, Eligibility Limits. Decisions to pay Minimum Bonus without linking to loss when the performance indicator satisfy grant of bonus constituted to discuss the Agenda item No. 3 of 46th session of the Indian Labour Conference met under the chairmanship of Captain Abhimanyu, Minister of Labour, Govt. of Haryana. Shri Om Prakash Mittal, General Secretary, Laghu Udyog Bharti (LUB) and Ms. Meenakshi Gupta and Mr. B.B. Mallick, Joint Secretary, MoLE respectively were the Vice-Cheirman and Member Secretary of the Committee. The Committee had the representation of all the stake-holders (Workers’ Group, Employers’ Group and State Government).

2.  At the very outset, the chairman of the committee welcomed all the representatives. He observed that the issue of bonus has been pending for long. He expressed the hope that all the partners would understand and appreciate the position of each other and give recommendations keeping in the view the larger national interest. The Vice-Chairman also welcomed all the Members. Thereafter, the Member Secretary introduced the subject. The agenda has following 3 issues:-
(i).               Removal of calculation ceiling;
(ii).             Removal of Eligibility Limit; and
(iii).           Decisions to pay Minimum Bonus without Linking to loss when the performance indicator satisfy grant of bonus.

3. It was mentioned that last revision in the limits (Calculation Ceiling – Rs. 3500 and Eligibility Limit-RS. 10,000) was done in 2007 based on the recommendations of the 41st ILC.

4.  The committee had very intense detailed discussions on all the aspects of the Agenda Item no. 3.

(i).             The Trade Unions were of the view that all the ceilings under the payment of Bonus Act. 1965 i.e. eligibility ceiling, calculation ceiling and maximum percent of bonus payable need to be removed. They further expressed that they would like to reiterate the stand taken by them in the tripartite meeting held on 20 October, 2014.
(ii).                       The Employers, representatives were of the view that total removal of various ceilings may lead to spurt in industrial relation issues. They observed that while making any change in the payment of Bonus Act, 1965 productivity of the workers and paying capacity of the employers have to be taken into account. They further observed that they are not in favour of indexation of cost of living for the purpose of ceiling and bonus calculation. The term ‘Employee’ should be substituted by the term ‘workman’ as defined under the industrial disputes Act. The present system of prescribing limits both for eligibility and calculation should be retained.
(iii).                     The State Government representatives were of the view that minimum, limit of bonus (8.33%) may continue. Regarding limits with regard to calculation and payment ceiling it was stated that they had no comments to offer. They further observed that distinction between statutory bonus and productivity linked bonus is quite relevant in this regard.
(iv).                     The State Government representatives also suggested that the central Government may consider notifying the limits for eligibility of bonus and calculation of bonus through and administrative process based on tripartite mechanism rather then legislative process every time. Appropriate amendment to the payment of Bonus Act, 1965 may have to be carried out accordingly.


Labour laws Amendments proposed/ done by central or State Governments Conclusions of the committee are as follows:-
 1.  The committee reiterates historical role of tripartite mechanism functioning in the country before any enactment/ amendment of labour laws.
2.  Any labour law amendments/ enactment should take into account three purpose namely:
(i).             Rights and welfare of workers;
(ii).                       Sustainability of enterprises and job creation; and
(iii).                     Industrial peace.
3.  The labour laws need to be relooked and updated in a time bound manner.
4.  Committee recommends that the overall exercise of the labour law amendments should be discussed in the tripartite forum and the broad and specific proposals should also be discussed in tripartite meetings.

Recommendations of committee on “Employment and Employment Generation” of 46 the Indian Labour conference (ILC) are as follows:-

1.    The committee noted that the recommendations of 43rd to 45th ILC on Employment & Employability need to be fully implemented.
2.    Recognising the employment potential in micro and small industry, especially in rural areas, an effective single-window system be established to promoted agro-based and micro & small industries with facility like concessional finance etc. A system for centralized marketing of products manufactured by these industries can also be developed.
3.    Enhance the outlays and threshold for public employment generation programmes in both rural and urban areas.
4.    Fill up vacant posts in Central Government, State Governments and Public Sector Undertakings in a time bound manner.
5.    Reiterate the necessity for publishing quarterly employment and unemployment data.
6.    With Central and State Government moving to on-line systems for employment exchanges there is a need for capacity building of Employment Exchanges officers for their revised roles under National Career Service (NCS). Need for integration of Central and State IT initiatives to avoid duplication.
7.    Utilization of idle capacity in Vocational and Educational Institutions and closed/ sick industry for demand responsive training.
8.    Enhance and expand areas for Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) with effective assessment.
9.    Enhance number and improve quality of assessors for vocational training and consider including ITI faculty for assessments.
10.  To identify labour-intensive industries and new areas where jobs can be created like renewable energy and reusable resources etc. and providing employment liked training.

11.   Evolve strategies for increasing female workforce participation in both public and private employment. YSK/Uma (Release ID :123527)

Country wide strike by Central Trade Unions on 2nd September, 2015:

Question raised in Rajya Sabha

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF  LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
RAJYA SABHA
QUESTION NO  251
ANSWERED ON  22.07.2015


Country wide strike by Central Trade Unions
251  Shri Tapan Kumar Sen

Will the Minister of LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT be pleased to satate :-


(a) whether it is known to Government that All Central Trade Unions are going to observe country-wide strike on 2nd September, 2015;

(b) if so, the details of their demands;

and

(c) the steps being taken by Government to meet their demands?

ANSWER
  
MINISTER OF STATE(IC) FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT (SHRI BANDARU DATTATREYA)
(a): Government have not received any notice for the strike on 2nd September, 2015. However, it is learnt that the Central Trade Unions have proposed strike for that day.

(b) & (c): Central Trade Unions had made representations to the Government with certain demands which include that Government should take urgent measures to contain price rise, contain unemployment, strict enforcement of basic labour laws, Universal Social Security Cover for all workers, Minimum Wages of Rs. 15,000/- per month, enhanced pension for workers, stoppage of disinvestment in PSUs, stoppage of contractorisation, removal of ceiling on bonus and provident fund, compulsory registration of Trade Unions within 45 days, no amendment to labour laws unilaterally, stopping FDI in Railways, Defence etc. Several rounds of discussions have taken place between the Government and the Central Trade Unions on the demands. Recently the Government has constituted an Inter-ministerial Committee of five Union Ministers which is holding discussions with CTUs on their demands.

Re-classification / Upgradation of Cities / Towns on the basis of Cencus-2011 for the purpose of grant of House Rent Allowance to Central Government Employees

To view please Department of Expenditure OM No.2/5/2014-E.II(B) dated 21/07/2015 please Click Here.

Friday 10 July 2015

Update of IT modernisation Project of India Post

IT modernisation Project is picking up momentum in various fronts. The latest position of implementation is as follows:
  • Primary Data Centre has been deployed and started functioning at Navi Mumbai since 3rd April, 2013. Disaster Recovery Centre has started functioning at Mysore on 15-05-15.
  • 27373 Departmental Post offices including mail offices and administrative offices have been networked at single Wide Area Network (WAN) and connected to Data Centre.
  • Core Banking Solution (CBS) has been rolled out in 2590 Post Offices.
  • ATMs have been installed and started functioning in 123 Head Post Offices.
  • Core Insurance solution (CIS-PLI) has been rolled out in 13264 Post Offices.
  • Rural Hardware vendor has been finalized and contract has been signed.     Supply of Rural Hardware devices in Pilot BOs will start in November 2015.

Friday 3 July 2015

 STRUGGLE OF BPEF SINCE 1978 NOW ENDED WITH A WIN 

AT LAST,  DEPARTMENT CONCEDED CLAIM OF BPEF FOR SEAT  IN DEPARTMENTAL COUNCIL (JCM). LOT OF THANKS TO HON'BLE MOC&IT SHRI RAVISHANKAR PRASAD AND RESPECTED SECRETARY (POSTS) MS. KAVERY BENERJEE   

BPEF HAS NOMINATED SHRI S.K. MISHRA SECRETARY GENERAL BPEF REPRESENT  STAFF SIDE IN DEPARTMENTAL COUNCIL (JCM)  ON BEHALF OF BPAOEA AND BPCWNGEU 



Wednesday 1 July 2015

Parliament panel wants doubling of pay, automatic pay revision mechanism for MPs

DIGITAL INDIA WEEK

TO VIEW, PLEASE CLICK HERE. 


The Department of Posts, which forms a part of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, is responsible for the planning, development, expansion of operation and maintenance of Postal Services in the country.  It also discharges certain agency functions in respect of Savings Bank and other Small Savings Schemes, collection of customs duty on Postal articles and disbursement of pension to Military and Railway pensioners, Family pension to Industrial Employees of Coal Mines etc. 

            The Department administers Postal Life Insurance for the benefit of Postal, Telecom and other Central Govt. Employees and Employees of State Governments, Public Sector Undertakings, Nationalized Banks and Local bodies etc. Planning and Policy-making at Headquarters. The Postal Services Board is the apex management body of the Department, comprising the Chairman (who is also the Secretary, Department of Posts and Director General) and six Members.  The six members of the Board hold functional portfolios of Operations, Personnel,   PLI, HRD, Technology and Planning.  The Joint Secretary and Financial Advisor to the Department is a permanent invitee to the Board.  The Secretary, Postal Services Board, assists the Board.  Deputy Directors General, Directors and Assistant Directors General provide necessary support to the Board at the Headquarters. 

            Postal Circles For providing postal services, the whole country has been divided  in to 22 Postal circles extending postal services to 30 States and 6 UTs. Each circle is co-terminus with a State except (i) the North Eastern Circle, which comprises six North Eastern States, (ii) Maharashtra circle which includes Goa, (iii) West Bengal Circle includes Sikkim and the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, (iv) Kerala circle includes the Union Territory of Lakshadweep and Mahe District of Puducherry (UT), (v) Punjab Circle includes the Union Territory of Chandigarh, (vi) Gujarat circle includes Daman, Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli (UT), (vii) Andhra Pradesh Circle includes  Telangana State and (viii) Tamil Nadu Circle includes Union Territory of Puducherry ( Except Mahe District).

             The Chief Postmaster General heads each Circle.  Each Circle is divided into Regions comprising groups of field units, called Divisions (Postal / RMS Divisions).  Each Region is headed by a Postmaster General.  In the Circles , DAP and Regions, there are other functional supporting logistics units like Circle Stamp Depots,  Postal Store Depots and Mail Motor Service.  

            Army Postal Services Over and above these 22 Circles, the communication needs of the armed forces are catered to by the Base Circle.  Base Circle is headed by the Additional Director General, Army Postal Service.  The officer cadre of Army Postal Services is drawn on deputation from the Indian Postal Service.  75 % of the other ranks of the Army Postal Service are drawn from the Department of Posts and the remaining personnel are recruited by the Army. 

            Operational Units:-There are 21 GPOs presently functioning in the country. They are:  Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh Circle), Guwahati (Assam Circle), Patna(Bihar), Delhi (Delhi), Ahmedabad (Gujarat), Ambala (Haryana), Shimla (Himachal Pradesh),Sri Nagar (Jammu& Kashmir), Ranchi (Jharkhand),Bangalore (Karnataka),Thiruvanantapuram (Kerala), Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh),Mumbai (Maharashtra),Shillong(North East),Bhubaneswar Orissa), Chandigarh(Punjab), Jaipur (Rajasthan),Chennai(Tamil Nadu), Dehradun (Uttrakhand), Lucknow Uttar Pradesh) and Kolkata (West Bengal Circle).

             Kausik chennai: Rafi Ahmed Kidwai National Postal Academy (RAKNPA), Ghaziabad is the Apex Training Institution and caters to the training needs of the managerial cadres of India Post. It conducts induction training of Indian Postal Service officers and mid-carrier training programmes for Indian Postal Service officers. It also conducts Induction Training for Gr.`B‟ officers besides some specialized need based training's on technology, Marketing and other fields of importance.  

            There are six Postal Training Centers at Darbhanga, Guwahati, Madurai, Mysore, Saharanpur and Vadodra. These Training Centres cater to the training needs of Inspectorial cadre (Inspector Posts/Assistant Superintendents of Posts) and all Gr. `C‟ employees (Postal Assistants/Sorting Assistants. They also conduct induction training for the Inspector Posts and for Postal Assistants/Sorting Assistants. 

            383 Workplace Training Centres (WTCs) in circles are operational.  These WTCs cater to the training needs of various categories of staff near their work place.

            There are also 5 Zonal Training Centres (ZTCs) which cater to training needs of the Postal Accounts Personnel. Engineering wing comprising of Architectural, Civil and Electrical Engineering disciplines is entrusted with design and construction of all Major  & Minor building projects and maintenance of buildings in the Department.