Dearness Allowance to Railway employees - Revised Rates effective from 01.01.2018

Dearness Allowance to Railway employees - Revised Rates effective from 01.01.2018

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA (BHARAT SARKAR)

Ministry of Railways (Rail Mantralaya)

(Railway Board)

PC-VII No.- 97

File No. PC-VII/2016/1/7/2/1

RBE No.: 39/2018

New Delhi, dated: 19.03.2018

The General Manager/CAOs(R),
All India Railways & Production Units, (As per mailing list)

Sub:  Grant of Dearness Allowance to Railway employees - Revised Rates effective from 01.01.2018.

The undersigned is directed to refer to this Ministry's letter RBE No 137/2017 dated 06.10.2017 (F. No. PC-VII/2016/I/7/2/1) on the subject mentioned above and to say that the President is pleased to decide that the Dearness Allowance payable to Railway employees shall be enhanced from the existing rate of 5% to 7% of the basic pay with effect from 1st January, 2018.

2. The term 'basic pay' in the revised pay structure means the pay drawn in the prescribed Level in the Pay Matrix as per 7th CPC recommendations accepted by the Government, but does not include any other type of pay like special pay, etc.

3. The Dearness Allowance will continue to be distinct element of remuneration and will not be treated as pay within the ambit of Rule 1303 (FR 9(21)), Indian Railway Establishment Code, Volume -II (Sixth Edition - 1987) - Second Reprint 2005.

4. The payment on account of Dearness Allowance involving fractions of 50 paise and above may be rounded to the next higher rupee and the fractions of less than 50 paise may be ignored.

5. The payment of arrears of Dearness Allowance shall not be made before the date of disbursement of salary of March, 2018.

6. This issues with the concurrence of Finance Directorate of Ministry of Railways.

S/d,

(Jaya Kumar G)

Deputy Director, Pay Commission-VII

Railway Board

Revised Cadre Structure due to merger of posts: Commercial-cum-Ticket Clerk, Sr. Commercial-cum-Ticket Clerk, Chief Commercial-cum-Ticket Clerk, Commercial Superintendent

Revised Cadre Structure due to merger of posts: Commercial-cum-Ticket Clerk, Sr. Commercial-cum-Ticket Clerk, Chief Commercial-cum-Ticket Clerk, Commercial Superintendent - reg.

RBE No. 28/2018
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
(RAILWAY BOARD)
No.E(NG)I-2016/PM1/12(pt)

New Delhi, dated: 22.02.2018

The General Manager (P)
All Indian railways & Pus
(as per standard list)

Sub: Revision in cadre structure and staffing pattern due to merger of three categories of posts in the Commercial Department over Indian Railways - viz. Ticket Checking (TC), Commercial Clerk (CC), and Enquiry-cum-Reservation-Clerk (ECRC). 

The 7th CPC's recommendations pertaining to the Commercial Department staff of the Railways are contained in Para 11.40.64 to 11.40.70 of their Report.

Upgradation of posts proposed from erstwhile GP 1900 to GP 2000, and from erstwhile GP 2400 to GP 2800 have already been notified for implementation vide Annexure-B of Railway Board’s communication No. PC- VII/2016/RSRP/2 dated 02.08.2016 (RBE No. 93/2016). Recommendations regarding the merger of posts in the three consultation with both recognized staff Federations (AIRF and NFIR) and with the concerned Directorates in the Railway Board, it has now been decided to implement the merger into a unified category of 'Commercial and Ticketing Staff' in a phased manner. Details of the cadre structure/AVC, staffing pattern and norms of appointment/selection for this unified category are tabulated in the Annexure to this letter.

2. The following modalities may be adopted while switching over to the unified cadre structure detailed in the accompanying Annexure:

2.1 Merger of the three categories will follow a graded approach. In first phase, the Ticket Checking category as a whole, with all its existing incumbents, will continue as a separate category with its existing cadre structure and staffing pattern, while the existing staff working in the categories of CC and ECRCs may be merged. The merged categories of CC and ECRC will accordingly have a four tier structure of posts and functional designation, as below:

i) Commercial-cum-Reservation-Clerk in Level-3 (entry level)

ii) Senior Commercial-cum-Reservation Clerk in Level-5 consisting of merged posts currently designated as Senior Commercial Clerk and Enquiry-cum-Reservation Clerk that are in Leve-5

iii) Chief Commercial-cum-Reservation Clerk in Level-6 consisting of merged posts currently designated as Head Commercial Clerk and Enquiry-cum-Reservation Supervisor that are in Level- 6

iv) Commercial Superintendent in Level-7 consisting of merged posts currently designated as Chief Booking Supervisor and Chief Enquiry-cum-Reservation Supervisor that are in Level- 7.

2.2 In the second phase of the merger, all future recruitments to the relevant category(ies) will be in the unified cadre structure merging Ticket Checking category also with the cadre of CC & ECRC. The final unified cadre structure with designation of posts, staffing pattern and norms for appointment will be as detailed in accompanying Annexure.

2.3 As merger progresses from the first phase (Para in 2.1 above) to the second phase (Para in 2.2 above), nomenclature(s) of posts will also change correspondingly.

3. 10 + 2 minimum entry qualification has been prescribed for entry into Level-3 of the Ticket Collectors/ Commercial Clerks categories, as may be seen in the accompanying Annexure. It is clarified that this stipulation (of 10 + 2 minimum qualification) will not apply to existing regular staff against promotional intake.

4. Usual rules/principles will apply while determining inter se seniority in the merged categories.
5. Received training modules necessitated due to the merger above will be prepared an notified separately by the concerned Directorate.

(P.M.Meena)
Dy. Director-II/Estt.(NG)I

ANNEXURE TO LETTER RAILWAY BOARD'S LETTER NO. E(NG) I/2016/PM1/12 DATED 22.02.2018 (RBE No. 28/2018)

S. No.	Name of post	Mode of appointment	Classi- fication	Level and Revised Pay Structure	Qualification/ Training/Age	Grade wise %age distribution of the total merged and unified Cadre
1	Commercial- cum-ticket Clerk (erstwhile PB-1 Rs.5200-20200, G.P. Rs.1900/2000) (The posts operate in erstwhile G.P. 2000 now, as post in G.P. Rs.1900 has been upgraded to G.P. Rs.2000).	50% by DR	Recruitment	Level-3 Rs.21700- 69100	DR qualification - 12th (+2 stage) or its equivalent examination with not less than 50% Marks in the aggregate. 50% is not to be insisted upon in case of SC/ST/Ex- Servicemen Proper training will have to be imparted to the employees as per present requirement. Age limit for DR 18-27 years	11%
		33-1/3% by General Selection (T&C Staff in erstwhile G.P.Rs.1800)	General Selection
		16-2/5% by LDCE	Selection
2	Sr. Commercial- cum-ticket Clerks (erstwhile PB-1, Rs.5200-20200, G.P. Rs.2800) (The posts operate in erstwhile GP 2800 now, as post in GP Rs.2400 has been upgraded to G.P. Rs.2800).	50% DR by	Recruitment	Level-5 Rs.29200- 92300	DR qualification— A University Degree or its equivalent Age limet for DR- 18-30 years Proper training will have to be imparted to the employees as per present requirement.	22%
		50% by Promotion.	Non- Selection
3	Chief Commercial- cum-ticket Clerk (erstwhile PB-2, Rs.9300-34800, G.P. Rs.4200)	Promotion	Selection	Level-6 Rs.35400- 112400	Proper training will have to be imparted to the employees as per present requirement.	47%
4	Commercial Superintendent (erstwhile PB-2, Rs.9300-54800, G.P. Rs.4600)	Promotion	Non- Selection	Level-7 Rs.44900- 142400	Proper training will have to be imparted to the employees as per present requirement.	20%

Source: www.indianrailways.gov.in

Compulsory Military Service - What says Parliamentary Standing Committee 40th Report?

Compulsory Military Service - What says Parliamentary Standing Committee 40th Report?

Compulsory Military Service to Government Servants - Matter is with DOPT

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence has recommended five years Compulsory Military Service to Government Servants to be made mandatory and it was informed that the matter is now with DOPT

The Standing Committee on Defence, headed by Maj Gen B C Khanduri, AVSM (Retd) has submitted its 40th Report on ‘Demands for Grants (2018-19)’ to the Central Government this month.
The Committee, taking into the account of acute shortage of manpower in Officers Rank in Armed forces, has recommended five Years Compulsory Military Service should be Made mandatory for Government Officers on their initial appointment to address this issue. When the Committee asked the Ministry of Defence about the status of this recommendation, the Ministry has said that the matter has been taken up with DOPT and response of the Department is awaited

The Committee has taken serious view over the functioning of Bureaucrats in respect of addressing the issue of Shortage of Manpower in Armed Forces. The standing Committee is not satisfied with the Ministry's reply and made the following observations and recommendations in the Report.
The observation and Recommendation of the Committee as follows …

Shortage of manpower in the forces
"From the data furnished by the Ministry, the Committee note that there is a shortage of 7679 Officers and 20,185 JCOs/ORs in Army, 1434 Officers and 14,730 Sailors in Navy, 146 Officers and 15,357 Airmen in Air Force"

While examining the Demands for Grants 2017-18, the Committee pondered on this issue and recommended for providing five years of compulsory military service to such aspirants wanting to directly join Central and State Government Gazetted services. The Ministry, in its Action Taken Reply on the matter has stated that the recommendation regarding providing five years compulsory military service to such aspirants wanting to directly join Central and State Government services, with a view to overcome shortage of officers in Armed Forces, has been taken up with Department of Personnel and Training (DoP&T). The response of the Department is awaited.

Apparently, the Ministry of Defence has not taken up the matter with due seriousness with the DOP&T. The Committee, while recommending five years of compulsory military service to such aspirants wanting to directly join Central and State Government Gazetted services, have taken into account the fact that there is a perennial and alarming shortage of Officers and PBOR in the Armed Forces, which needs to be corrected. The Committee, once again express their desire that the issue of shortage of officers needs to be given priority for being addressed."

In the same report the Committee fired the Ministry of Defence on another issue with the following comments

"The Committee found the reply as bureaucratic in nature and not conveying anything about specific actions taken or proposed"

So it appears that the Standing Committee on Defence is very serious in addressing the issue of Shortage of Manpower in Armed Forces by enforcing Five Years Compulsory Military Service to such aspirants wanting to directly join Central and State Government Gazetted services .

As the matter is now with DOPT, it is believed that the Central Government may accepts this recommendation though it had earlier rejected the Proposals submitted in Parliament for implementation of Compulsory Military Training for Youths and Citizens.

EPFO Rate of Interest

EPFO Rate of Interest
The declared rate of interest on Employees Provident Fund (EPF) paid to the subscribers during the last three years is as under:

Year	Rate of Interest (in per cent.)	Date on which Rate of Interest declared
2014-15	8.75	23.01.2015
2015-16	8.80	23.05.2016
2016-17	8.65	24.04.2017

The interest rate on EPF is determined by the Central Government in consultation with the Central Board. The Central Board of Trustees (CBT), Employees Provident Fund (EPF), in its meeting held on 21.02.2018, has recommended 8.55 per cent. rate of interest to EPF subscribers for 2017-18. The proposal has now been sent to the Ministry of Finance for their concurrence to the interest rate of 8.55 per cent to the EPF subscribers for the year 2017-18.

Approximately 19,97,84,374 number of accounts of account holders are likely to be credited with the statutory rate of interest declared for the year 2017-18.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Labour and Employment Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha on 19.3.2018.

Vacancy of non teaching staff in KVs of Delhi

Vacancy of non teaching staff in KVs of Delhi

As on 28.2.2018, 7885 teaching posts and 4404 non- teaching posts are lying vacant in Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs).

The details of vacancies in Delhi Region, School-wise including sub-staff of Kendriya Vidyalaya (KV), INA Colony are annexed. In KVs, services like watch and ward, gardening and cleanliness are outsourced. All the sub-staff have been trained to work in the laboratories etc.

Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) has informed that no such urgent need has been felt for recruitment of sub- staff in KVs of Delhi Region.

Recruitment of all employees including sub-staff in KVS is a continuous process and no specific time frame can be given in this regard.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Human Resource Development Shri Upendra Kushwaha in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha on 15.3.2018.

Pass marks reduced in CISCE Examinations for Class X & Class XII

Ministry of Human Resource Development

Pass marks reduced in CISCE Examinations for Class X & Class XII

9 MAR 2018

The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) has informed that it has reduced the pass marks for the Class X from 35% to 33% and for class XII from 40% to 35% from the Examination year 2018 onwards.

The CISCE has informed that this year (ISC year 2018 Examination) the Indian School Certificate (ISC) practical examinations were evaluated in the School on the days of the respective practical examination, as against the earlier practice of evaluating them at the centralized marking centers.
The requisite details are given hereunder:-

Sr. No.	Class	Numbers of Students
(i)	X (ICSE)	1,84,253
(ii)	XII (ISC)	'81,758

This information was given by the Minister of State (HRD), Shri Upendra Kushwaha today in a written reply to a Lok Sabha question.

LDC to UDC Upgradation - Railway Board Report

LDC to UDC Upgradation - Railway Board Report

ABOLISH AND UPGRADE ALL POSTS OF LOWER DIVISION CLERKS (LDCs) TO UPPER DIVISION CLERKS (UDCs) - MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS IS NOT IN FAVOUR OF THE STAFF SIDE DEMAND

Action taken report on the minutes of the standing Committee National Council JCM held on 03.05.2017

Minutes - Reacting to the comment made by the official side, the staff side pointed out that prima-facie, on introduction of computerized functioning in almost all departments, the functions assigned to LDCs have become redundant.

Decision - What is required is to get the report from each department and take a conscious decision, as LDC is a common category.

Report of the Ministry of Railways (OM dated 01.12.2017)

In view of functional requirement of Ministry of Railways (Railway Board) and promotional aspects of MTS, proposal to abolish and upgrade all posts of LDCs (LDC now as Junior Secretariat Assistant) to UDCs (now called as Senior Secretariat Assistant) may not be recommended and besides this, RBSCS is patterned on the lines of the CSCS and the existing system is working well, unless there is any change in CSCS, no change is desirable in RBSCS. 7th CPC has also not provided upgradation of to LDCs; therefore to abolish and upgrade all posts of LDCs to UDCs is considered not feasible.

Source: Confederation

Pasting of Reservation Charts on Train Coaches Discontinued?

Pasting of Reservation Charts on Train Coaches Discontinued?

Discontinuing Reservation Chart Preparation

Based on a similar successful experiment conducted by South Western Railway, the practice of pasting of reservation charts on train coaches was discontinued at New Delhi, Hazrat Nizamuddin, Bombay Central, Chennai Central, Howrah and Sealdah stations of Indian Railways on experimental basis for a period of three months. Keeping in view the positive feedback received from Zonal Railways, it has been decided to discontinue pasting of reservation charts on reserved coaches of trains at all erstwhile A1, A & B category of stations as a pilot project for six months starting from 01.03.2018.

The logic behind doing away with the practice of pasting of reservation charts on reserved coaches is as under:-

(i) Passengers holding confirmed ticket are aware of their coach/berth number as the same is indicated on the tickets at the time of booking itself, except in case of First Class air-conditioned class.
(ii) At present around 65% of the reserved tickets are being issued through internet for which, mobile number is invariably captured on which an SMS is sent at the time of booking.
(iii) Waitlisted and Reservation Against Cancellation (RAC) passengers get their status update on their registered mobile number through SMS at the time of preparation of first reservation chart which is at least four hours before the scheduled departure of the train.
(iv) Digital charting system has been installed at major stations and at other stations manual boards are installed for displaying the status of the waitlisted tickets to guide the passengers.
(v) Apart from the above, Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) service through 139, online booking website is available for passengers for checking the status of the tickets on real time basis.
(vi) It will save the cost of stationery as well as savings on account of manpower involved in pasting of reservation charts.

In view of the reasons mentioned above, now there is no need for the passengers to check their reservation status through the reservation charts displayed on the coaches. Moreover, reservation charts continue to be displayed on the station platforms for passengers including senior citizens who would like to view it on charts/ digital charts in all stations including A-1, A & B category stations.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Railways and Coal Shri Rajen Gohain in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha on 14.3.2018.

7th CPC Minimum Pay and Fitment Factor: Confederation writes to NJCA

7th CPC Minimum Pay and Fitment Factor: Confederation writes to NJCA

NJCA 

 

CONFEDERATION WRITES TO NJCA LEADERS

Ref: Confdn/Genl/2016-19

Dated: 14.03.2018

To
1. Shri M. Raghavaiyya
Chairman,
National Joint Council of Action of JCM (NC) Staff Side organisations (NJCA) & General Secretary

National Federation of Indian Railwaymen
Leader Staff side NC (JCM)
3, Chelmsford Road, New Delhi - 110055
2. Shri Shiv Gopal Misra
Convenor, NJCA & General Secretary
All India Railwaymen’s Federation (AIRF) & Secretary, Staff side,
National Council (Staff Side) JCM
13- C, Ferozeshah Road, New Delhi - 110001

Dear Comrade,
As you may be aware the Govt. of India, Ministry of Finance, has given the following written reply in Parliament for a question asked to Minister of Finance, regarding our demand - "Increase in Minimum Pay and Fitment Formula".

Reply given by Minister of state for Finance:

"The minimum pay of Rs.18000/- p.m. and fitment factor of 2.57 are based on the specific recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission in the light of the relevant factors taken into account by it. Therefore, no change therein is at present under consideration".

From the above it is crystal clear that Govt. has gone back from the assurance given on 30.06.2016 by Group of Ministers including Sri Rajnath Singh, Home Minister, Shri Arun Jaitley, Finance Minister and Shri Suresh Prabhan, then Railway Minister, that Minimum Pay and Fitment formula will be increased and for that purpose a High Level Committee will be appointed to submit report within four months.

Now that Govt. has gone back from its assurance, I on behalf of Confederation of Central Govt. Employees & Workers, which is a constituent organisation of NJCA, request you revive our deferred agitational programmes immediately and for that purpose, if necessary, an urgent meeting of the NJCA may be convened.

Awaiting response,

Yours fraternally,

(M. Krishnan)

Secretary General

Mob: 0944768125

Email: mkrishnan6854@gmail.com

Source: Confederation

Grant of Tough Location Allowance to Central Govt. Employees of Darjeeling

Grant of Tough Location Allowance to Central Govt. Employees of Darjeeling

"Consider grant of any kind of Special Duty Allowance/Tough Location Allowance/High Altitude Allowance as a special case"

Ref: Confdn/Genl/2016-19

Dated : 14.03.2018

To
The Secretary
Ministry of Finance
Department of Expenditure
North Block, New Delhi - 110001

Sir,
Sub:  Grant of Tough Location Allowance to Central Govt. Employees of Darjeeling.

This is to bring to your kind notice that Hill Compensatory Allowance (HCA) was being paid till June 2017 to the employees of Darjeeling. Unfortunately HCA has been withdrawan from the month of July 2017 onwards after implementation of 7th CPC Allowance Committee report. However, the neighbouring state, Sikkim is still getting the Special Compensatory Allowance (SCA). It is worth mentioning that Darjeeling and Sikkim share same type of terrain, alongwith climatic conditions. It is further to mention here that the employees of some hill areas viz; Shimla in Himachal Pradesh, comparatively similar to Darjeeling Hills, are enjoying Tough Location Allowance (TLA). But the employees of Darjeeling are deprived of both the Tough Location Allowance (TLA) and Special Compensatory Allowance (SCA).

Darjeeling being the world famous tourist spot and the "Queen of Hills" is one of the expensive place to live in as all the basic commodities are to come from Siliguri, which is a 'Y' category city with 16% HRA. This has led the employees of Darjeeling being economically handicapped with the removal of Hill Compensatory Allowance.

In view of the above, I request you to review the orders withdrawing the Allowance already enjoyed by the employees of Darjeeling, and Consider grant of any kind of Special Duty Allowance/Tough Location Allowance/High Altitude Allowance as a special case, considering the geographical, climatical and economical hardship faced by the employees.

Awaiting response,

Yours faithfully,

(M. Krishnan)

Secretary General

& Member, Standing Committee

National Council (JCM)

Mob: 09447168125

Email: mkrishnan6854@gmail.com

Source: Confederation