One Rank One Pension: Govt says No to Annual Revision of Pensionary Benefits

New Delhi: The Central government on Friday told the Supreme Court that it will not revise the formula for One Rank-One Pension (OROP) scheme nor would it bring down the timeline for periodical revision of the pensionary benefits for retired armed forces personnel. Appearing before a bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, Additional Solicitor General Maninder Singh made the government's stand clear in response to a PIL. "We will not revise the OROP formula. The government has already gone out of its way," Singh submitted. The law officer added that whatever has to be decided by the government has already been done. "More than Rs 10, 000 crore has been sanctioned after much deliberation. This has huge ramifications on the exchequer and any interference would further burden us," Singh told the Court. The ASG sought dismissal of the petition by Indian Ex-servicemen Movement also on the ground that there is a limited scope of reviewing a policy decision. "This petition is not maintainable because it seeks to challenge a policy decision," said Singh. Representing the petitioner, senior advocate Vivek Tankha replied that he is ready to argue on both maintainability and merits of his plea.
The Court then asked Singh to file a formal affidavit in reply to the petition and fixed the matter for hearing after four weeks. The Indian Ex-servicemen Movement (IESM) and others have challenged the government’s policy of periodic review of pension once in five years. It has sought a direction for the government to implement OROP as recommended by the Koshyari Committee with an automatic annual revision, instead of the current policy of periodic review once in five years. “OROP is the uniform desire of all three defence services. Ex-servicemen are presently drawing pension that is not consistent with their rank and/or length of service... the pension of past pensioners be automatically and contemporaneously enhanced, whenever there is any future increase or enhancement in the rates of pension,” said the petition. It added the government should be directed to fix the pension on the basis of highest pension of financial year 2014-15 and not 2013.

MACP FROM 01/01/2006 ORDER

‘Complete ban’ on holding protests at Jantar Mantar unacceptable: Supreme Court

The apex court asked the government to lay down guidelines for granting permission to hold protests in Jantar Mantar and Boat Club near India Gate.

The Supreme Court on Monday said there cannot be a “complete ban” on holding protests at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, and asked the government to lay down guidelines for granting permission to protesters.
A bench comprising Justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan said there was a need for striking a balance between conflicting rights such as right to protest and right of citizens to live peacefully.  “There cannot be a complete ban on holding protests at places like Jantar Mantar and Boat Club (near India Gate),” the bench said while directing the Centre to frame guidelines on the matter.
The bench was hearing a batch of petitions, including the one filed by Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sanghtan challenging the decision of the National Green Tribunal, which had banned all kinds of protests at these (Jantar Mantar, Boat Club) places.
The National Green Tribunal last year banned all forms of protests at the venue, saying they violated environmental laws. The green panel said it was the duty of the state to protect its people from noise pollution. A bench headed by Justice R S Rathore ordered the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) to remove all make-shift structures, loudspeakers and other protest paraphernalia along the road stretch leading to Jantar Mantar. It identified Ramlila Grounds in Ajmeri Gate as an alternative site for agitators holding dharnas.  According to North body officials, only one organisation can hold an event at any given time at Ramlila Maidan.
Jantar Mantar has been the site of many famous protests — including Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption movement, Babri Masjid demolition protests and the Tamil Nadu farmers’ protest.

Delay in payment of pension to Defence Pensioners/Family Pensioners by PDA

Delay in payment of pension to Defence Pensioners/Family Pensioners by the Pension Disbursing Agencies 

0/0 the principal Controller of Defence Accounts (Pensions) 

Draupadighat Allahabad – 211 014 

Circular No. 203 

No. AT/Tech/342-III 

Dated: 17/07/2018 

To 

1. The Chief Accountant, RBI Deptt. of Govt. Bank Accounts, Central office C-7, Second Floor, Bandre- Kurla Complex, P B No. 8143, Bandre East, Mumbai-400051 
2. The Director of Treasuries of all State 
3. The Manager CPPC of Public Sector Banks including IDBI 
4. The CDA (PD) Meerut 
5. The CDA, Chennai 
6. The Nodal Officers (ICICl/AXIS/HDFC Bank) 
7. The Pay 85 Accounts Officer 
8. The Military. 85 Air Attache, Indian Embassy, Kathmandu, Nepal 
9. The D.P.D 0 
10. Post Master, Kathua (J 85 K) and Camp Bell Bay 

Sub: Delay in payment of pension to Defence Pensioners/Family Pensioners by the Pension Disbursing Agencies. 

The payment of pension to Defence (including Defence civilian) pensioners/family pensioners is disbursed by Pension Disbursing Agencies (PDAs) as per instructions contained in Defence Pension Payment Instructions (DPPI), 2013. Any other order issued by the Government affecting in disbursement of pension are also supplied to the PDAs through circulars for timely & correct implementation. 

However, some of the issues have been highlighted in the 30th Standing Committee of Voluntary Agencies (SCOVA) meeting held on 23/03/2018 under the chairmanship of Hon’ble Minister of State (PP) and accordingly our HQrs office i.e. CGDA, New Delhi has instructed to this office to issue suitable guidelines on the following issues to the PDAs disbursing Defence (including Defence civilian) pensioners/family pensioners. 

1. Delay in commencement of family pension to spouse on death of pensioners: It has been decided in the SCOVA meeting that family pension should commence within one month of the receipt of death certificate in respect of the deceased pensioner and other required certificates as stated in DPPI, 2013. Therefore, you are advised to make sure that the families of the deceased pensioners get the family pension in time and an acknowledgement is invariably given by the PDAs to the family member on receipt of the death certificate of the deceased pensioner and application for commencement of family pension. 

2. Timely (i) Restoration of commuted pension and (ii) Commencement of Additional Pension on attaining the age of 80 years : In the SCOVA meeting it has been pointed out that commuted amount of pension is not being restored after deduction of 15 years. It has also been pointed that the additional pension on attaining the age of 80 years of age and above is not being started when it is due. Necessary guidelines in the matter has already been issued vide this office Circular No.165 dated 22/02/2013 and Circular No.191 dated 23/03/2017. therefore, you are advised to take necessary action accordingly. 

3. Item wise details of payment made to be shown in the pass books of pensioners: This office Circular No.128 dated 13-07-2007 and Circular No.184 dated 06-06-2016 regarding issue of pension slip to Defence pensioners/family pensioners has already been circulated to all the PDAs to issue pension Slip to all the Armed forces personnel/Defence civilian pensioners including family pensioners at the commencement of pension and thereafter whenever there is a change in the quantum of pension. Now, it has been decided in the SCOVA meeting that item wise details of payment made to the pensioners to be shown in the pass books of the pensioners. The same has already been implemented by the SBI to some extent. Therefore, you are advised to take necessary action accordingly in the matter. 

(Sandeep Thankur) 

Addl. CDA (Pensions) 

Source: Click here to view/download the PDF

Delinking of Qualifying Service of 33 years w.e.f. 01.01.2006 - Restoration of pension in respect of Defence Personnel i.r.o. PSU/CAB absorbed : PCDA Circular 602

OFFICE OF THE PR. CONTROLLER OF DEFENCE ACCOUNTS (PENSIONS) 

DRAUPADI GHAT, ALLAHABAD- 211014 

Circular No. 602 

Dated: 10.07.2018 

To, 

1. The Chief Accountant, RBI, Deptt. Of Govt, Bank Accounts, Central Office C-7, Second Floor, Bandre- Kuria Complex, P B No. 8143, Bandre East Mumbai-400051 

2. All CMDs, Public Sector Banks. 

3. The Nodal Officers, ICICl/HDFC/AXIS/IDBI Banks 

4. All Managers, CPPCs 

5. Military and Air Attache, Indian Embassy, Kathmandu, Nepal 

6. The PCDA (WC), Chandigarh 

7. The CDA (PD), Meerut 

8. The CDA, Chennai 

9. The Director of Treasury, All States 

10. The Pay and Accounts Officer, Delhi Administration, R K Puram and Tis Hazari, New Delhi. 

11. The Pay and Accounts Office, Govt of Maharashtra, Mumbai 

12. The Post Master Kathua (J&K), Camp Bell Bay. 

13. The Principal Pay and Accounts Officer Andaman and Nicobar Administration Port Blair. 

Subject :- Restoration of pension in respect of Defence Service Personnel who had drawn lump sum payment on absorption in Public Sector Undertakings/ Autonomous Bodies-delinking of qualifying service of 33 years for revised pension with effect from 01.01.2006. 

Reference:- This office Circular No. 568 dated 13.10.2016 and Circular No. 592 dated 05.12.2017. 

A Copy of Govt. of India, Ministry of Defence, Deptt of ESW letter No. 1(04)/2007/D(Pen/Pol) dated 20.06.2018 on the above subject, which is self explanatory, is forwarded herewith for your information, guidance and necessary action. 

2. In terms of GoI, MoD letter No. 1(2)/2016-D(Pen/Pol) dated 30.09.2016, revised consolidated pension and family pension of pre-2006 Armed Forces pensioners w.e.f. 1.1.2006 shall not be lower than 50 % and 30% respectively of the minimum of the pay in the pay band plus grade pay corresponding to the pre-revised scale from which the pensioner had retired/ discharged/ invalided out/ died including Military Service Pay and “X” Group pay, if any, without pro rata reduction of pension even if they had rendered qualifying service of less than 33 years at the time of retirement. 

3. Now it has been decided by the Government that while determining the revised pension of above said category of absorbee pensioners/family pensioners with effect from 1.1.2006, the pension/ family pension shall also be revised in accordance with the provisions contained in the GoI, MoD letter No. 1(2)/2016-D(Pen/Pol) dated 30.09.2016 referred above. 

4. The pension in terms of this order will be revised by the respective Pension Sanctioning Authorities Suo-moto by issuing Corrigendum PPOs in all affected cases. No application in this regard shall be called for either from the pensioners or from the PDAs concerned. Further, PDAs would also brought into notice of PSAs, such left out cases, if any, for revision of pension. 

5. All other terms and conditions shall remain unchanged. 

6. This circular has been uploaded on PCDA (P) website www.pcdapension.nic.in. 

(Sushil Kumar Singh) 

Jt. CDA(P) 

Source: Click here to view/download the PDF

DA CALCULATION METHOD TO BE MODIFIED

New Delhi: The central government is set to modify the index and base year for calculating Dearness allowance (DA), a move that may result in another type of DA will be given to 4.9 million central government employees and 6.1 million pensioners, the labour ministry sources said.

New series of CPI-IW, which will be used for determining D.A. According to the sources, the labour ministry is re-working the consumer price index (CPI-W) that is used to determine DA and the labour bureau under the ministry has finalised the new CPI-IW with base year 2016.
The sources further said that the base year is proposed to be revised in every six years so that it captures the change in living expenses more accurately.
The base year of the current CPI-IW is 2001 and it was last changed in 2006 by the Sixth Central Pay Commission. Prior to that, the base year was 1982.
DA is an increment paid as a percentage of basic salary to employees to adjust their salary to reflect the change in the cost of living.

The proposed index will include addition of new industrial centres to make price gauze more representative, taking total number of industrial centres under consideration to 88 against 78 now. Additionally, various new items are being added to the list, including cars and mobiles, to cover the change in lifestyle of industrial workers and employees over the last 15 years, the sources said.
The new index will soon go to the technical advisory committee for vetting, after which it will go to the national tripartite consultation before it is finalised, the sources said.
The labour bureau had taken approvals from standing tripartite committee at all stages of development of the index, the official further added.
The Union Cabinet increased DA to 7 percent from 5 percent effective January 2018. The revision done in March was based on the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission and had benefited the central government employees and the pensioners.
Now, with the latest revision in Dearness Allowance (DA), central government employees can witness further increase in their compensation.

Details of the 7th CPC National Anomaly Commitee Meeting on 17th July 2018

National council(Staff Side)
Joint Consultative Machinery
for Central Government Employees
13-C, Ferozshah Road, New Delhi-110001
E Mail : nc.jcm.np@gmail.com

No.NC-JCM-2018/NAC

Dated: 17/07/2018

To
The All Member of the
National Council (Staff Side)JCM

Comrades,

The meeting of the 7 CPC National Anomaly Committee was held today (17/7/2018). Shri Chandramouli, Secretary(P), DOPT presided over this meeting. The Department of personnel had identified the following six items only for discussion:
1.Item No.3 - Removal of Condition of 3% stipulated to grant bunching benefit
2.Item No.4 - Fixation of pay on promotion
3.Item No.5 - Removal of Anomaly in pay matrix
4.Item No.8 - Lesser pay in higher level of pay matrix
5.Item No.9 - Bunching of steps in the revised pay structure
6.Item No.14 - Grant of GP 5400 to Sr section officer of Railways and AAOs of IA&AD and Organised Accounts (Civil Accounts, Postal Accounts and Defence Accounts)
After completing discussions on the above items the Staff Side insisted that the following remaining items may also be given up for discussion.
Item No.1 Anomaly will computation of Minimum Wage
Item No.2. 3 % increment at all stages
Item No.6 Anomaly due to index rationalization
Item No.7 Anomaly arising from the decision to reject option No.1 in pension fixation
Item No.10 Minimum Pension
Item No.11 Date of Effect of Allowances - HRA Transport Allowance, CEA etc.
Item No.18 Anomaly in the grant of D.A. installment w.e.f. 1.1.2016
After discussion on the above items, the official side informed that the DOPT had already examined those issues and have come to the conclusion that those items will not come under the ambit of the definition of Anomaly. The Staff Side contested this. It was decided that the DOPT will convey the reasoning to the staff side and hold meeting with the Staff Side to sort out the differences.
The following items has been referred to Departmental Anomaly Committee of the respective Department/Ministries.
Item No.15. Technical Supervisors of Railways
Item No.16 Anomaly in the assignment of replacement of Levels of pay in the Ministry of Defence, Railways, Mines etc in the case of Store Keepers
Item No. 17 Anomaly in the assignment of pay Levels in the case of Research Assistants in Ministry of AYUSH, Homeopathic Department.
The staff side then raised the following other issues.
1. Central Govt employees may bc granted one more option to switch over to 7 CPC from a date subsequent to 251h of July 2016 - the official side in formed that the matter is under consideration and a decision would be taken shortly.
2, The issue of pay fixation of ex-servicemen in the Last pay drawn by them before retirement from armed forces is remaining unsettled - the official side informed that the matter has been referred to Min. of Defence by DOPT lor their comments. Decision Would be taken after receipt of comments from MOD.
3. The Staff side raised the issue of not convening meetings of the National Council, JCM and Standing Committee.
4. The Staff Side also informed of the decision taken by the NJCA in its meeting held on 3-7-2018 of the revival of the deferred indefinite strike by the Central Govt Employees if no settlement is brought about on major demands like upward revision of minimum pay, fitment factor and NPS before 7-8-2018.

With Greetings

Yours fraternally
(Shiva Gopal Mishra)
Secretary