MoS Dr Jitendra Singh inaugurates first ‘Pension Adalat’ today Anubhav Awards 2017 presented to 16 pensioners Minister launches Mobile App to avail the services of Pensioners’ Portal

MoS Dr Jitendra Singh inaugurates first ‘Pension Adalat’ today

Anubhav Awards 2017 presented to 16 pensioners

Minister launches Mobile App to avail the services of Pensioners’ Portal

The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh inaugurated the first ‘Pension Adalat’ here today at the Pre-Retirement Counselling Workshop organised by the Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Government of India. He also presented the ‘Anubhav’ awards 2017 to 16 pensioners for their contribution towards creating institutional memory for the departments. On the occasion, Dr Jitendra Singh launched a Mobile App that has been created to avail the services of Pensioners’ Portal. The Secretary to President Shri Sanjay Kothari was the Guest of Honour. 

Addressing on the occasion, Dr Jitendra Singh congratulated the recipients of ‘Anubhav’ awards. He said that under Anubhav, the retiring employees give an account of their experiences during service. These experiences are of great help to the Government, he added. He said that these experiences will become an important account for research and resource for administrative reference and thus will help in improving our working. 

While inaugurating the first Pension Adalat, he said that Pension Adalats will help in on the spot redressal of pensioners’ grievances. He said that this will also inspire the states. He appealed to the states to implement the good governance measures taken by the Government. 

The Minister said that a number of reforms have been undertaken by the Government to facilitate the pensioners. Highlighting the initiatives of the Government, he said that one of the main initiatives taken was to fix the minimum pension at Rs 1,000. He said that other initiatives such as Bhavishya, Sankalp, Jeevan Praman-digital life certificates, doing away with the obsolete laws and self attestation, among others have also been taken. He said that a mechanism has been put in place where pensioner will get PPO on the day of his retirement. He further said that the retired population is increasing in India and we should do our best to channelize their energies in a positive manner. There should be smooth transition from their active life to retired life, he added. The pensioners should re-orient themselves to the new beginning, the Minister said. 

Shri C. Viswanath, Secretary (Pensions) said that the aim of the department is to provide a life to dignity to the pensioners post-retirement. He said that the pension and gratuity amount has also increased considerably. He further said that about 90% pension accounts have been seeded with Aadhar. He said that Mobile App for Pensioners’ Portal is an initiative of moving from e-governance to m-governance. He said that about 3,700 write ups have been published under Anubhav. Shri Viswanath said that Pension Adalat will help resolve the grievances of pensioners. In future, the Pension Adalats will be set up in other places outside Delhi also, he added. 

The Mobile App will extend all the services meant for the pensioner, which are currently available on the Pensioners’ Portal of the department, to the mobile handset. The Pensions Portal’s features include Personalised Pension Process Road Map, Bhavishya, Pension calculator, CPENGRAMS and What is New. A pensioner can avail various services on it such as checking the date of credit of his first pension, action taken, calculating the commuted pension and giving feedback. Under ‘What is New’, the new orders issued by the department will be available. 

The Pension Adalats are being convened with the objective of bringing on a common table the aggrieved pensioner, the concerned department, the bank or CGHS representative, wherever relevant, so that such cases can be settled across the table within the framework of extant rules. 

The Anubhav scheme had been instituted on the call of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to encourage retiring/retired employees to submit their experiences while working in the government with the objective to create an institutional wealth for the government for future governance as well as to enthuse and inspire the future generations of government officials in their respective assignments. 

Senior officers of the Department were also present on the occasion. 

DA raised to 5% wef 01.7.017- orders issued

Discriminatory order of GOI Ministry of Communication Department of Telecommunication Vide No 47-62/2015-Pen(T) dtd 5th September 2017 Er S C Maheshwari writes to the Ministers concerned

Er. S C Maheshwari Secy. genl. BPS appeals to CM WB to release of 54% Dearness Relief to West Bengal Pensioners

WHO SAID WHAT by S C Maheshwari

WHO SAID WHAT BEFORE THE COMMITTEE FOR EXAMININGTHE FEASIBILITY OF FIRST OPTIONRECOMMENDED BY 7TH CPC

An extract of committee’s report submitted on 1th December 2016
[14tn December 2016]
CHAPTER - 5
VIEWS OF STAFF SIDE OF JOINT CONSULTATIVE MACHINERY / PENSIONERS’ ASSOCIATIONS
5.1 Representations on the revision of pension recommended by the Seventh CPC
5.1.1 After the submission of the report of the Seventh CPC and again after the constitution of this Committee, several representations have been received from the pensioners and pensioners’ associations - some doubting the feasibility of implementation of Formulation 1 for revision of pension recommended by the Seventh CPC and the others favouring this formulation. Those against this formulation question its feasibility on the following grounds
• It would not be possible to get the service records having information regarding the number of increments earned on the last post in respect of all the pensioners;
• Scrutiny of the individual service records to get the information regarding increments earned in respect of more than 50 lakh pensioners would be a herculean task.
• Revision of pension by this method would result in large scale anomalies which may in turn lead to litigation
5.1.2 On the other hand, those in favour of revision of pension by this method see no difficulty in regard to the availability of records. They also cite the precedent of revision during Fifth CPC, when the pension of all pre-1986 retirees was updated by notional fixation of their pay as on 1.1.1986 and by treating 50% of this pay as notional pension as on
1.1.1986.
5.1.3 Here, however, it may be noted that the under the method for notional fixation of pay adopted under Fifth CPC, the pension of all pre- 1986 retirees was updated by notional fixation of their pay as on
1.1.1986 (i.e. the date of implementation of the recommendations of the Fourth Pay Commission) and by treating 50% of this pay as notional pension as on 1.1.1986 Thereafter, the past pensioners who were
brought on to the Fourth CPC pay scales by notional fixation of their pay and those who retired on or after 1.1.1986 were treated alike regarding consolidation for their pension as on 1.1.1996 by adding basic pension, dearness relief, interim relief and by allowing the same fitment benefit of 40% of the pre-1996 basic pension. The consolidated pension was stepped up, where necessary, to ensure that the revised pension was not less than 50% of the minimum of the pay in the revised pay scale corresponding to the pay scale from which the pensioner retired before 1.1.1996. This method, however, did not require counting increments in the post held by the pensioners at the time of retirement.
5 1.4 The problem of non-availability of service records arises only when the notional pay fixation is being done based on counting the number of increments in the last post/scale. Since there was no
requirement of counting of increments in the last post, the administrative authorities did not face any difficulty of locating the service records for the purpose of revision of pension in implementation of the
recommendations of the Fifth CPC. In fact, the method for fixation of notional pay adopted on the recommendations of the Fifth CPC is exactly the same method as the Pay Fixation method analyzed by the SCommittee in para 4.11 (4).
5.2 Meetings with pensioners associations in the Standing Committee on Voluntary Agencies (SCOVA) and Staff side of Joint Consultative Machinery (JCM)
5.2.1 The pensioners associations in the SCOVA and the members of the JCM, Staff side were invited for a meeting with the Committee. A meeting with pensioners associations who are members of SCOVA was held on 5.10.2016 and two meetings with the staff side of JCM were held on 6.10.2016 and 17.10.2016 respectively to present their views on the Formulation 1 for revision of pension recommended by the Seventh CPC The views expressed by the members of SCOVA are as follows:
• Karnataka Posts and Telecommunications Pensioners Association, Bengaluru : Determining the number of increments earned in the retiring pay scale would be a very difficult proposition. Fie, therefore, suggested that instead of actual number of increments earned in the retiring pay scale, the total number of stages reached in that pay scale may be taken into consideration for revision of pension under Formulation 1. This suggestion goes beyond the recommendation of the Seventh CPC.
N F Railway Pensioners Association, Guwahati, Assam: The representative of the Association initially indicated that the pension should be revised by increment method as recommended by the Seventh CPC On explaining the difficulties and the anomalies in implementation of the increment method, he agreed that the method of notional pay fixation in each Pay Commission period would be the appropriate method for revision of pension..
• Central Government Pensioners Association, Ambarnath: Different Departments follows different procedures and formats for PPOs and it would be difficult to determine the number of increments for revision of pension under Formulation 1. The representative of the Association suggested that the format of PPOs should be standardized
• Association of Retired Officers of IA &ID, Chandigarh: It would be difficult to revise the pension by increment method and agreed that the pension of pre-2016 pensioners may be revised by notional pay
fixation in each intervening Pay Commission period.
• Government Pensioners Association Dehradun: The date of promotion is not available in the PPO and the pension file and it would not be feasible to revise the pension in accordance with Formulation 1 recommended by the Pay Commission.
• All India Central Govt. Pensioners Association, Jalandhar: The Association favored the notional pay fixation method in comparison to the increments method for revision of pension
• Uttarapara Central Government Pensioners Associations, West Bengal: The Association favored the notional pay fixation method in comparison to the increments method for revision of pension.
• The Disabled War Veterans (India) Gurgaon opined that the increment method of fixation of notional pay for revision of pension can not be implemented.
5.2.2 There was a general agreement among the Associations that in the absence of the service records and keeping in view the human effort required, it would be extremely difficult to determine the
number of increments earned on the last post for calculating the revised pension of pre-2016 pensioners. Most of these Associations preferred the Pay Fixation method over the Increment Method.
5.2.3 The representatives of the JCM (Staff side) mentioned that in their representation to the Seventh Pay Commission, they had suggested revision of pension of pre-2006 pensioners by notional Pay
Fixation in each successive Pay Commission period. However, Pay Commission recommended the revision of pension by fixing the notional pay on the basis of increments earned in the last post.
5.2.4 The representatives of the JCM (Staff side) agreed that the increments method recommended by the Pay Commission for fixation of notional pension for revision of pension of pre-2016 pensioners may
result in anomalies and that the method of notional pay fixation in each intervening Pay Commission is a much more rational and scientific method and would ensure smooth and faster revision of pension. The
pay fixation method would benefit almost all pre-2016 pensioners.
5.2.5 The JCM (Staff side) mentioned that the Cabinet has approved revision of pension by Formulation 1 (Increment Method), if its implementation is found feasible after examination by the Committee.
They mentioned that in addition to the Service Book/ Personal File, the details of increments earned can be ascertained from the Gradation/ Seniority List issued by the Departments from time to time. Therefore, one cannot say that Formulation 1 recommended by the Pay Commission is not feasible on the grounds of non-availability of records.5 2.6 It may be mentioned here that as per the Central Secretariat Manual of Office Procedure, the Civil List Gradation/Seniority list is required to be retained by the Department for a period of three years. It is, therefore, unlikely that the Gradation list or the Seniority List in respect of the employees who retired long ago would be available in the Departments. Moreover, while the Gradation/Seniority list may contain the date of promotion to the last post before retirement, the pay fixed on the date of such promotion is not available in that list. Therefore, it may
not be possible to accurately determine the number of increments actually earned on the last post before retirement from the Gradation/Seniority List 5.2.7 In regard to the perceived anomalies, the Staff side stated that anomalies arose in implementation of the recommendations of all previous Pay Commissions. Such anomalies can always be rectified through the mechanism of Anomaly Committee.

5.2.8 JCM (Staff side) mentioned that since the increment method recommended by the Seventh CPC has been accepted by the Cabinet subject to its implementation being found feasible by the Committee, a small number of pensioners who are likely to get higher benefit by increments method (mostly retired before 1.1.1996) may feel aggrieved if their pension is not revised by that method. This may lead to litigation
5.2.9 Staff side suggested that both the formulations i.e. Increments Method as well as Pay Fixation Method may be offered to the pre-2016 pensioners along with the 2.57 Fitment Method (already
implemented) and they may be asked to choose one of these formulations for revision of their pension w.e.f. 1.1.2016. This may also reduce the chances of anomalies on account of implementation of the
Increments Method.5.2.10 Minutes of the meetings with the pensioners associations in
the SCOVA and the staff side of the JCM are at Annexure-15 to Annexure -17.
5.3. Meeting with Defence pensioners’ associations and the serving officers of the Services
5.3.1 The members of the Defence pensioners’ associations and the serving officers of the Services were also invited for a meeting with the Committee on 2.12.2016. The views expressed by them are as follows:
Group Capt (Retd) Ashok Seth, Secretary, Airforce Association, N. Delhi agreed that increment method may not be a good formulation and preferred pay fixation method.
Lt Gen (Retd ) Balbir Singh, Lt Gen. (Retd ) V. Chaturvedi and Brig. (Retd.) Kartar Singh of Indian Ex-Service League, New Delhi stated that the increment method is not implementable and would lead to anomalies therefore, the pensioner may be given the choice to get his pension revised under fitment method or actual pay fixation method whichever is more beneficial to him.
• Col. (Retd ) H N Handa, President, Disabled War Veterans ( India), New Delhi stated that increment method is not feasible.
• Brig. J.K. Rao, Dy. Chairman, & APCC, speaking on behalf of the three Services, mentioned that records would be available for working out the number of increments earned in the last post. He however, indicated that there may be difficulties in implementation of increment method and that there would be anomalies. Therefore, the pay fixation method would be preferable. Summing up the position for the defence pensioners he said that revised pension as on 31 December 2015 multiplied by 2.57 or pay fixation method whichever is beneficial should be given to pre2016 defence pensioners He added that in case the increment method is implemented in respect of the Civil pensioners then the benefit of that method may also be extended in the case of Defence pensioners.
5.3.2 There was a general consensus in the meeting held on 2.12.2016 that the increment method recommended by the Seventh CPC for notional pay fixation for revision of pension is not a feasible
option and that the Pay Fixation method is a viable option in this respect. Minutes of the meeting held with the Defence pensioners’ associations and the serving officers of the Services are at Annexure-13.

associations as well as the JCM- Staff side. The Commission stated that there is a distinct transition in the views taken by the successive pay commissions and the Government towards bringing parity between past and present pensioners. The transition started with the Third CPC and was further strengthened by the Fifth CPC recommendation for notional fixation of pay before calculation of pension. The Fifth CPC further introduced the concept of modified parity i.e. the revised pension will not be less than 50% of the minimum of the revised pay scales. This concept of modified parity was also recommended by the Sixth CPC.

​( Note: Then Additional Secretary DOP&PW had very cleverly avoided All India level Pensioners Federations & Associations like Bharat Pensioners Samaj, AIFPA Chennai & NFRP Palghat who had pleaded for 100% parity before the 7th CPC and called smaller associations to represent pensioners case before the Committee)​

Dr Jitendra Singh to inaugurate first ‘Pension Adalat’ tomorrow Pensioners for outstanding contribution towards ‘Anubhav’ to be awarded Mobile App to avail the services of Pensioners’ Portal also to be launched

The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh will inaugurate the first ‘Pension Adalat’ here tomorrow. He will also award the Pensioners for their outstanding contribution towards ‘Anubhav’ – a platform for retiring employees for sharing their experience of working with Government. Moving ahead from e-governance to m-governance, a Mobile App has been created to avail the services of Pensioners’ Portal which will also be launched by Dr Jitendra Singh tomorrow. As a measure of welfare to the pensioners of Government of India, a workshop on Pre-Retirement Counseling (PRC) of 300 retiring Central Government employees is also scheduled to be held. The event is being organized by Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Government of India. 

The objective of this workshop is to create awareness about the post-retirement entitlements as well as an advance planning for life after retirement. There will be four interactive sessions which will cover inter-alia, the road map to retirement, medical facilities for pensioners, re-engagement of retired people for voluntary social activities under ‘Sankalp’. There will be another session on Income Tax and other benefits for senior citizens as well as investment and financial planning for retired people and the Importance of writing a Will. 

The Pension Department in this programme will launch the first of a series of Pension Adalats which is being convened with the objective of bringing on a common table the aggrieved pensioner, the concerned department, the bank or CGHS representative, wherever relevant, so that such cases can be settled across the table within the framework of extant rules. 

The Mobile App to be launched tomorrow will be extending all the services meant for the pensioner, which are currently available on the Pensioners’ Portal of the department, to the mobile handset. With this App, a superannuating Central Government official will be able to monitor the progress of his pension settlement, and retired officials will be able to self-assess their pension through the pension calculator and will also be able to register their grievances, if any, and get updates on orders issued by the Department. 

The ANUBHAV AWARDS 2017 will be presented to 17 pensioners for their contribution towards creating institutional memory for the departments. Anubhav scheme had been instituted on the call of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to encourage retiring/retired employees to submit their experiences while working in the government with the objective to create an institutional wealth for the government for future governance as well as to enthuse and inspire the future generations of government officials in their respective assignments. 

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KSD/NK/PK 

(Release ID :170899)

Eligibility of divorced daughther for grant of family pension-clarification reg-

Extension of CGHS to retired P&T pensioners - reg dt : 28.08.17

SBI reviewing minimum balance charges for savings accounts

SBI reviewing minimum balance charges for savings accounts

PTI

As per the list of revised charges of SBI, failure to maintain monthly average balance in accounts will attract penalty of up to ₹100 plus goods and services tax (GST).

State Bank of India (SBI) said it is reviewing charges for certain categories of accounts for non-maintenance of monthly average balance (MAB) after receiving feedback from customers.

In April this year, the country’s largest lender reintroduced charges on non-maintenance of monthly average balance (MAB) after a gap of five years.

“We have received feedback from our customers on the issue and we are reviewing those. The bank will take into account those and make an informed decision,” the banks managing director [national banking group] Rajnish Kumar told PTI.

“We will internally debate whether any moderation for certain categories of customers like senior citizens and students needs to be done anywhere. The charges are never cast in iron,” he said.

As per the list of revised charges of SBI, failure to maintain monthly average balance in accounts will attract penalty of up to ₹100 plus goods and services tax (GST).

In metropolitan areas, there will be a charge of ₹100 plus GST, if the balance falls below 75% of the MAB of ₹5,000. If the shortfall is 50% or less of the MAB, then the bank will charge ₹50 plus GST.

In rural areas, the monthly average balance requirement has been kept at ₹1,000. Any shortfall in maintaining minimum balance in rural areas can attract penalty in the range of ₹20 to ₹50 plus GST.

Mr. Kumar said the bank has over 40 crore savings bank accounts, which includes 13 crore of Basic Savings Bank Deposit (BSBD) and Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) accounts.

The bank has exempted BSBD and PMJDY accounts from maintaining the minimum balance requirement.

Out of the 27 crore normal savings bank accounts, nearly 15-20% customers are not maintaining monthly average balance.

The bank in April had given notices to all those account holders who did not have monthly average balance and asked them to keep the minimum balance in May.

“When they did not maintain the monthly average balance in May then we recovered in June. We had recovered ₹235 crore from such account holders as penalty,” Mr. Kumar said.

He said there is huge cost in maintaining the savings accounts and banks should be allowed to recover some costs.

“There are lots of operational costs. We also have to invest huge amount of money in technology. There are some costs which I think bank should recover,” Mr. Kumar said, adding the charges which SBI is levying for non-maintenance of minimum balance is very competitive as compared to other lenders.

He said a normal savings account holder has an option to convert his account into BSBD account which will exempt him from maintaining monthly average balance.

Babus in Assam to lose 10% of salary for neglect of parents & disabled siblings

Guwahati, Sep 15 (PTI) The government employees in the north-eastern Indian state of Assam who do not provide for their parents and siblings with disabilities stand to lose 10 per cent of their salary, with the state Assembly passing a bill on Friday for their better upkeep

Under possibly the first such legislation in the country, the amount deducted from their monthly salary will be given to their parents and siblings so they could support themselves

The Assam Employees' Parents Responsibility and Norms for Accountability and Monitoring Bill, 2017, aims "to provide for accountability for employees of the state government or any other organisation in Assam (under the government) in taking care of their parents and divyang (disabled) siblings and in matters connected therewith or incidental thereto"

Earlier, introducing the PRONAM bill, state minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said there are instances of parents having to live in old age homes as their children do not look after them

The PRONAM bill has been brought in so that if employees do not take care of their parents and divyang siblings 10 per cent of their monthly salary will be deducted for their upkeep, he said

The purpose of the bill, he said, was not to interfere in the private lives of employees but to ensure that their parents and siblings facing neglect are able to lodge a complaint with their respective departments

The legislation was passed by the House by voice vote

Sarma said a similar bill will be introduced later for MLAs and MPs, employees of Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) and private companies operating in Assam

Former chief minister and opposition Congress leader Tarun Gogoi termed the legislation an "insult" to the Assamese society, which, he said, has a tradition of looking after old parents and siblings

Claiming such a legislation interfered in the private lives of government employees, Gogoi said, "Our culture is to not only look after our old parents and siblings, educating them, but also to take care of even cousins and other relatives.