3% Additional DR to Central Government pensioners from Jan 2019 - Orders issued

Dearness Relief for Central Government pensioners / family pensioners - Revised rate with effect 01/01/2019

3% Additional DR to CG Pensioners from Jan 2019 - Orders issued

No.42/04/2019-P&PW(D)
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions
Department of Pension & Pensioners' Welfare

3rd Floor, Lok Nayak Bhavan,
Khan Market, New Delhi - 110003
Dated the 06th March, 2019

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Sub: Grant of Dearness Relief to Central Government pensioners/family pensioners - Revised rate effective from 01.01.2019 - reg

The undersigned is directed to refer to this Department's OM No. 42/0612018-P&PW(G) dated 18.09.2018 on the subject mentioned above and to state that the President is pleased to decide that the Dearness Relief admissible to Central Government pensioners/family pensioners shall be enhanced from the existing rate of 9% to 12% w.e.f 01.01.2019.

1. These rates of DR will be applicable to (i) Civilian Central Government Pensioners/Family Pensioners including Central Govt. absorbee pensioners in PSU/ Autonomous Bodies in respect of whom orders have been issued vide this Department's OM No. 4/34/2002-P&PW(D) Vol.1I dated 23.06.2017 for restoration of full pension after expiry of commutation period of 15 years (ii) The Armed Forces Pensioners, Civilian Pensioners paid out of the Defence Service Estimates, (iii) All India Service Pensioners (iv) Railway Pensioners/family pensioners (v) Pensioners who are in receipt of provisional pension (vi) The Burma Civilian pensioners/family pensioners and pensioners/families of displaced Government Pensioners from Burma/ Pakistan, in respect of whom orders have been issued vide this Department’s OM No. 23/3/2008-P&PW(I3) dated 11.09.2017.
2. The payment of Dearness Relief involving a fraction of a rupee shall be rounded off to the next higher rupee.
3. The payment of arrears of Dearness Relief shall not be made before the date of disbursement of pension/family pension of March,2019.
4. Other provisions governing grant of DR in respect of employed family pensioners and re-employed Central Government Pensioners will be regulated in accordance with the provisions contained in this Department's OM No. 45173/97-P&PW (G) dated 2.7.1999 as amended vide this Department’s OM No. F.No. 38/88/2008-P&PW(G) dated 9th July, 2009. The provisions relating to regulation of DR where a pensioner is in receipt of more than one pension will remain unchanged.
5. In the case of retired Judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts, necessary orders will be issued by the Department of Justice separately.
6. It will be the responsibility of the pension disbursing authorities, including the nationalized banks, etc. to calculate the quantum of DR payable in each individual case.
7. The offices of Accountant General and authorised Pension Disbursing Banks are requested to arrange payment of relief to pensioners etc. on the basis of these instructions without waiting for any further instructions from the Comptroller and Auditor General of India the Reserve Bank of India in view of letter No. 528-TA, IV34-80-II dated 23/04/1981 of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India addressed to all Accountant Generals and Reserve Bank of India Circular No. GANB No. 2958/GA- 64 (ii) (CGL)/81 dated the 21st May, 1981 addressed to State Bank of India and its subsidiaries and all Nationalised Banks.
8. In their application to the pensioners/family pensioners belonging to Indian Audit and Accounts Department, these orders issue after consultation with the C&AG.
9. This issues in accordance with Ministry of Finance, Department of Expenditure's OM No. 1I112019 -E.II(B) dated 27th Feb,2019.

Hindi version will follow.

sd/-
(Charanjit Taneja)
Under Secretary to the Government of India

Medical Treatment facilities to Central Government Employees and Pensioners

Reimbursement of Medical Treatment in non- empanelled hospitals to CG Employees and Pensioners - Supreme Court Judgment [WP (Civil) No. 694 of 2015]

In view of the verdict of Hon'ble Supreme Court with regard to the medical treatment of Central Government Employees and Pensioners in non-empanelled hospitals, the Secretary, National Council (Staff Side), JCM has requested the Central Government to kindly take appropriate steps to implement the above judgment in its true perspective so as to ensure better health care to the Central Government Employees and Pensioners.

Shiva Gopal Mishra
Secretary

Ph.: 23382286

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

No. NC-JCM-2018/Health

April 23, 2018

The Secretary
Government of India
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
Nirman Bhavan, New Delhi - 110 001.

Subject : Medical Treatment facilities to Central Government Employees and Pensioners

Reference : Judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in WP (Civil) No. 694 of 2015 delivered on 13th April, 2018

Sir,

The Staff Side of the National Council (JCM) is repeatedly representing to the Government about the difficulties being faced by the Central Government Employees and Pensioners in availilng Medical Treatment from CGHS Hospitals and also from un-empanelled hospitals during emergency. In many cases the CGHS empanelled hospitals charges over and above the charges fixed for different treatment and procedure and the same is denied and disallowed from the Medical Claims of the Employees and Pensioners thereby subjecting the CGHS beneficiaries are forced to take treatment to save their life from various un-empanelled hospitals. The claims from these hospitals are also rejected and the CGHS beneficiary has to bear the entire cost of the treatment. Against these the affected employees and Pensioners have approached different Courts in different parts of the Country and in all those cases the judgments are given in favour of the Employees.

At present the Hon'ble Supreme Court in its above referred Order has given an historical judgment with regard to the medical treatment of Central Government Employees and Pensioners and the Hon'ble Supreme Court has also given various directions to your Ministry for implementation in a time bound manner. The relevant portion of the judgment is given below for your kind ready reference.

"13) It is a settled legal position that the Government employee during his life time or after his retirement is entitled to get the benefit of the medical facilities and no fetters can be placed on his rights. It is acceptable to common sense, that ultimate decision as to how a patient should be treated vests only with the Doctor, who is well versed and expert both an academic qualification and experience gained. Very little scope is left to the patient or his relative to decide as to the manner in which the ailment should be treated. Specialty Hospitals are established for treatment of specified ailments and services of Doctors specialized in a discipline are availed by patients only to ensure proper, required and safe treatment. Can it be said that taking treatment in Specialty Hospitals by itself would deprive a person’ to claim reimbursement solely on the ground that the said Hospital is not included in the Government Order. The right to medical claim cannot be denied merely because the name of the hospitals is not included in the Government Order. The real test must be the factum of treatment. Before any medical claim is honoured, the authorities are bound to ensure as to whether the claimant had actually taken treatment and the factum of treatment is supported by records duly certified by Doctors/Hospitals concerned. Once, it is established, the claim cannot be denied on technical grounds. Clearly, in the present case, by taking a very inhuman approach, the officials of the CGHS have denied the grant of medical reimbursement in full to petitioner forcing him to approach this Court.
   
16) Further, with regards to the slow and tardy pace of disposal of MRC by the CGHS in case of pensioner beneficiaries and the unnecessary harassment meted out to pensioners who are senior citizens, affecting them mentally, physically and financially, we are of the opinion that all such claims shall be attended by a Secretary level High Powered Committee in the concerned Ministry which shall meet every month for quick disposal of such cases. We, hereby, direct the concerned Ministry to device a Committee for grievance redressal of the retired pensioners consisting of Special Directorate General, Directorate General, 2 (two) Additional Directors and 1 (one) Specialist in the field which 'shall ensure timely and hassle free disposal of the claims within a period of 7 (seven) days. We further direct the concerned Ministry to take steps to form the Committee as expeditiously as possible. Further, the above exercise would be futile if the delay occasioned at the very initial stage, i.e., after submitting the relevant claim papers to the CMO-I/C, therefore, we are of the opinion that there shall be a time frame for finalization and disbursement of the claim amounts of pensioners. In this view, we are of the opinion that after submitting the relevant papers for claim by a pensioner, the same shall be reimbursed within a period of 1 (one) months."

In view of the above observations and directions by the Hon'ble Supreme Court we request you to kindly take appropriate steps to implement the above judgment in its true perspective so as to ensure better health care to the Central Government Employees and Pensioners. We have already forwarded many Agenda Points for discussion with the Ministry of Health vide our Letter No. NC-JCM-2017/Health dated 26/04/2017 and 01/09/2017. We regret to inform you that till date Ministry of Health has not convened the meeting with the Staff Side of National Council (JCM). You are therefore requested to convene a meeting with the Staff Side of National Council (JCM) in which the above issue can also be discussed.

Awaiting for your favourable response please.

Thanking you,

Yours Faithfully,

(Shiva Gopal Mishra)

Secretary

Source: Confederation

New Grievance Portal Launched for CG Pensioners

New Grievance Portal Launched for CG Pensioners

New Grievance Portal Launched

PCDA Pension has launched on internet a new grievance portal to lodge grievance of the pensioners. This is already on this website. Pensioners are requested to complete the required details before submitting the complaint / grievance for its redressal. E-mail grievance lodged after 3-11-2017 will not be entertained.

Click to view the Complaint Webpage

Expected DA July 2017 for CG Employees and Pensioners

Expected DA July 2017 for CG Employees and Pensioners

Dearness Allowance is not an attractive word among CG Employees and Pensioners nowadays, because, the hike of DA and DR is around 1 or 2 Percent only. Particularly after 7^th Pay Commission, the All India Consumer Price Index is on down trend. So, employees could not expect more like 6^th Pay Commission regime. Before 2016, all CG Employees and Pensioners got higher of 10% of their basic pay or basic pension as DA or DR.

At present, we have 5 months AICPIN data from Jan to May 2017 and need one more month of June 2017 to calculate the exact percentage of DA and DR with effect from July 2017.

However, there will be no chance to increase the percentage of DA and DR from One Percent. So, the total DA and DR will become only 5% from July to Dec 2017.
The below table will describe a lot…

1 = Month/Year
2 = AICPIN
3 = Total of 12 Months
4 = 12 Monthly Average
5 = DA % with Decimal
6 = DA %

Grant of Dearness Relief to Central Government pensioners/family pensioners - Revised rate effective from 1.1.2017

Grant of Dearness Relief to Central Government pensioners/family pensioners - Revised rate effective from 1.1.2017

F.No.42/15/2016-P&PW(G)
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions
Department of Pension & Pensioners Welfare

3rd Floor, Lok Nayak Bhavan,
Khan Market, New Delhi - 110003
Date : 07th April, 2017

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Subject: Grant of Dearness Relief to Central Government pensioners/family pensioners - Revised rate effective from 1.1.2017.

The undersigned is directed to refer to this Department's OM No. 42/15/2016-P&PW(G) dated 16th Nov, 2016 on the subject mentioned above and to state that the President is pleased to decide that the Dearness Relief admissible to Central Government pensioners/family pensioners shall be enhanced from the existing rate of 2% to 4% w.e.f. 1.1.2017.

2. These orders apply to (i) Civilian Central Government Pensioners/Family Pensioners (ii) The Armed Forces Pensioners, Civilian Pensioners paid out of the Defence Service Estimates, (iii) All India Service Pensioners (iv) Railway Pensioners/family pensioners (v) Pensioners who are in receipt of provisional pension.

3. These orders shall not be applicable on following categories

(i) The Burma Civilian pensioners/family pensioners and pensioners/families of displaced Government pensioners from Pakistan who are Indian Nationals but receiving pension on behalf of Government of Pakistan and are in receipt of ad-hoc ex-gratia allowance.

(ii) Central Government Employees who had drawn lump sum amount on absorption in a PSU/Autonomous body and are in receipt of 1/3 restored commuted portion of pension.

(iii) CPF beneficiaries, their widows and eligible children who are in receipt of ex-gratia payment in terms of this Department’s OM No.45/52/97-P&PW(E) dated 16.12.1997 and revised vide this Department’s OM 1/10/2012-P&PW(E) dated 27.06.2013.

Separate orders will be issued in respect of the above categories.

4. Payment of DR involving a fraction of a rupee shall be rounded off to the next higher rupee.

5. Other provisions governing grant of DR in respect of employed family pensioners and reemployed Central Government Pensioners will be regulated in accordance with the provisions contained in this Department's OM No. 45/73/97-P&PW (G) dated 2.7.1999 as amended vide this Department’s OM No. F. No. 38/88/2008-P&PW(G) dated 9th July, 2009. The provisions relating to regulation of DR where a pensioner is in receipt of more than one pension will remain unchanged.

6. In the case of retired Judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts, necessary orders will be issued by the Department of Justice separately.

7. It will be the responsibility of the pension disbursing authorities, including the nationalized banks, etc. to calculate the quantum of DR payable in each individual case.

8. The offices of Accountant General and authorised Pension Disbursing Banks are requested to arrange payment of relief to pensioners etc. on the basis of these instructions without waiting for any further instructions from the Comptroller and Auditor General of India and the Reserve Bank of India in view of letter No. 528-TA, 11/34-80-11 dated 23/04/1981 of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India addressed to all Accountant Generals and Reserve Bank of India Circular No. GANB No. 2958/GA-64 (ii) (CPL)/81 dated the 21st May, 1981 addressed to State Bank of India and its subsidiaries and all Nationalised Banks.

9. In their application to the pensioners/family pensioners belonging to Indian Audit and Accounts Department, these orders issue after consultation with the C&AG.

10. This issues with the concurrence of Ministry of Finance, Department of Expenditure vide their OM No.1/3/2017-E.II(B) dated 30th March, 2017.

11. Hindi version will follow.

(Charanjit Taneja)
Under Secretary to the Government of India

Click to view the order
Authority: http://pensionersportal.gov.in/

Cabinet approves additional 2% Dearness Allowance / Dearness Relief due from January, 2017

Cabinet approves additional 2% Dearness Allowance / Dearness Relief due from January, 2017

2% DA

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved release of an additional instalment of Dearness Allowance (DA) to Central Government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) to pensioners w.e.f. 01.01.2017. It has increased by 2% over the existing rate of 2% of the Basic Pay/Pension, to compensate for price rise.

This increase is in accordance with the accepted formula, which is based on the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission.

The combined impact on the exchequer on account of both Dearness Allowance and Dearness Relief would be Rs. 5,857.28 crore per annum and Rs.6,833.50 crore in the Financial Year 2017-18 (for a period of 14 months from January, 2017 to February, 2018).

This will benefit about 48.85 lakh Central Government employees and 55.51 lakh pensioners.

Source: PIB

Central government pensioners can track status via SMS, online

Central government pensioners can track status via SMS, online

New Delhi: Over 11.61 lakh Central government pensioners can now track the status of their pension and grievance redressal through SMS as well as monitor receipts online steps that aim to "lessen harassment" for senior citizens.

The web portal launched by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today will enable central civil pensioners, family pensioners and freedom fighter pensioners to view their complete pension profile digitally by logging into www.Cpao.Nic.In.

They will also be provided with SMS facility for tracking status of pension process and their grievance registration as well as disposal.

The website, which will serve as a one-stop destination for providing information and speedy redressal of grievances, can also be accessed through mobile devices and it would also provide an option to pensioners to give their feedback.

Launching the portal, Jaitley said it is an extremely important initiative which will lessen harassment.
“Nobody should be harassed, least of all pensioners because they are mostly senior citizens. And they need that resource and their life depends on that resource. So any delay or red tapism can actually cause a lot of harassment if not destitution,” he said.

He said the facility of tracking pension status on mobile phone is a giant step taken by the Central Pension Accounting Office (CPAO).

The website will provide one-stop solution for pensioners to access information relating to status of pension cases, and pension payments processed by central ministries and banks.

CPAO disburses the pensions through authorised banks to central government pensioners and in the current fiscal it is managing the pension budget of Rs 32,070 crore. In 2015-16, the CPAO handled 60,211 pensioners’ grievances.

Speaking on the occasion, Controller General of Accounts M J Joseph said the portal will bring in transparency and accountability and ensure more responsive way of handling pensioners grievances.

PTI

Wrong Information by Central Government Pensioners to be Treated as Criminal Offence

Wrong Information by Central Government Pensioners to be Treated as Criminal Offence

If central government pensioners provide wrong information to the government, they shall face criminal cases.
Most high-ranking Central Government employees, after retirement, usually find employment in private sectors, and non-governmental organizations. If a former Central Government employee gets employed with a non-governmental organization, he/she is required to provide information about it to the Government.

While providing the information, the person has to ensure that the organization that he/she belongs to is not involved in activities that are contrary to the government’s foreign policies, national security, and goodwill in the society, or is involved in activities or campaigns that could disrupt them.

The person has to also ensure that the agency is not involved in activities that could earn commercial gains. Criminal action will be taken against the pensioner if he/she hides such information and gives false details to the government.

In addition to these, retired officials of the Central Government will also have to provide all the details of the organization that they are employed with, the reason for accepting the employment, their PAN card number, and information on the kind of activities that the organization is involved in.

The information was provided by sources at the Central Government Employees Welfare Department.

Merger of DA & Interim Relief: Strong Argument before 7th CPC by Karnataka CG Pensioners Association

Merger of DA & Interim Relief: Strong Argument before 7th CPC by Karnataka CG Pensioners Association

The Karnataka Central Government Pensioners’ Association writes to 7th CPC on Merger of DA, Interim Relief, Re-employment as Consultant, Pensioner Grievances, Court cases pertaining to Pensionary benefits etc.:-

THE
KARNATAKA
CENTRAL GOVERNMENT PENSIONERS’ ASSOCIATION (REGD.)

( Estd: 1974; Regn. S.No.143/1983-84 d/ 9th August 1983 ) “Swarna”, 120/1,
2nd Main, Gayatri Devi Park Extension, Vyalikaval, Bangalore 56000
(Affliated to BPS New Delhi, AIFPA Chennai & KCCCGPAs Bangalore)
Email ID: cgpakarn@gmail.com Tel: 23468438

RNI Regn No: KRENG/2008/27233		Postal Regn No: KRNA/BGE/200/2012-14
President S SRamanatha Rao Tel: 2661 9394	Vice-President S SKargudri Tel: 25837178	Secretary Ashok S Kololgi Tel: 9448469351	Treasurer K S Menon Tel: 9743771933

Respected Chairman and Members of the 7th CPC –

At the outset, I wish the Commission easy going in its work and hope the Commission comes out with useful recommendations. Presumably, the recommendations apply to the members or some of the members of the Commission too.

Wherever we go and whenever we approach officers for certain help or concessions, as pensioners’ associations; in majority of the cases, the reply has been that they (the presently serving officers) too retire at some time, and that they would like to help out. But help does remain afar. The Ministry of Personnel & Pensions has been doing a great deal to liberalise the situation; but they have their handicaps, as the duty-departments remain lethargic. Not much can be done in this domain, perhaps.

The Point

Several pensioners’ associations/pensioners have written to the Commission on the pensioners’ interests and requirements – I refrain from calling them as ‘demands’ as this is the lot of the beggars. The two imminent issues for favourable consideration by the Commission, nay, the Government are: the Grant of Interim Relief, and the Merger of 50% of DA/DR with pay/pension, both retrospectively.
Both these requirements in principle have been acceded to in the past by the past Pay Commissions as well as the Government; and hence there should be no qualms at all in recommending/granting the two Requirements, in the interest of social justice, whether the Government has specifically made provision for this or not in the Terms of Reference.

(To recall, the Terms of Reference to the Commission by the Government stated clearly “(Item) (h) To recommend the date of effect of its recommendations on all the above. The Commission will make its recommendations within 18 months of the date of its constitution. It may consider, if necessary, sending interim reports on any of the matters as and when the recommendations are finalised. The decision will result in the benefit of improved pay and allowances as well as rationalization of the pay structure in case of Central Government employees and other employees included in the scope of the 7th Central Pay Commission.”

About a year back, the Tamil Nadu Government, while constituting its Pay Commission, granted two months’ pay as Interim Relief. One of the Central Pay Commissions in the past announced two instalments of Interim Relief. This explains the need for Interim Relief. As such, the two Appeals should be sanctioned without much time being wasted, as there are many pensioners in advanced age-rangewho desire to have this benefit.

The other point

I write this from experience. Over the last 50 (fifty) years,there has been a high and steady rise in the number of posts created in several departments of the Government, particularly so in the Class I senior-cadre, who belong to the All-India Services, in contrast to the number of creation of posts in the junior cadres. There is rise in the volume of work admittedly; but not as much as to have a high number of senior officers. Earlier, the Departments functioned with Section Officer (who managed office), Deputy Secretary (who initiated notings), Joint Secretary(who gave opinions) and Secretary (who took decisions), in the higher rank; and they did well in dealing with papers and in deciding the issues. The file-notings used to be clear, committed, fast and final.

In the past few decades, the ranks of Additional Secretary, Special Secretary and Consultants have crept into the Govt service, with more number of Joint Secretaries. It is my contention that these posts are superfluous and their salary/allowance bills are a dent on the Exchequer. More routine tasks are done after consultations over phone. Too many officers and too much time in dealing with disposal of papers – has been the practice in the Government. I therefore strongly opine that the number of such Class I officers in all the Departments of the Government, including the Ministries, must be drastically brought down. The work will be faster, and the responsibility for decisions is fixed on limited number of officers. The Hon’ble Prime Minister has shown the way. He has cut down on the number of Ministries.

There is a whisper that thirty percent of the retired officers are re-employed in their respective departments/offices after retirement, as Consultants or other-wise, continuing to do the same job! This is something difficult to be gulped. Perhaps, this should be examined and checked. The Dept of Personnel & Training in the Ministry of Personnel may help to know the facts. The Commission may kindly take a decision.

The third

Heading the Karnataka Central Government Pensioners’Association, Bangalore, during the last 12-15 years, the Assn has recently projected many Grievances of the pensioners/members with us; and none of them has been conclusively solved. Various Ministries have come up with Grievances cells; and these have become show-cases or postoffices, with just forwarding the complaints to some nodal officers, who remain unhelpful. The Ministry of Personnel and Pensions contemplated on time-frame for redressal of such grievances; but this has been a far cry. The mechanism to get Redressal to the home of the aggrieved pensioners must therefore be fast and satisfactory. It must be remembered that the pensioners are aged, and they need results quick. A good debate on this is required within the Government, and a result-orientation infused into these Grievances cells/portals.

The fourth point

In the last few years, it is experienced that the pensioners have been forced to go to different Courts in respect of their dues and needs. These mainly refer to fixation of pension, fixation of cut-off dates and implementation of Court verdicts by the Governments. This is a situation that the pensioners cannot happily face. A good lot of time and money is wasted. The Government must rationalise and liberalise its attitude, when the learned Judges of the Court have given their verdicts after due hearings from both the parties involved. Can the Commission say something on this point, please?

Grateful Regards to a Great Commission.
n S SRamanathaRao,
n President,
n Karnataka CGPA.
Bangalore,
D/ July 18, 2014.

Source: http://scm-bps.blogspot.in/2014/07/presiden-karnataka-central-government.html