Friday, September 26, 2008

Sixth Pay Commission: Armed Forces to withhold pay panel’s report

Sixth Pay Commission: Armed Forces to withhold pay panel’s report

New Delhi, Sept 26: Clearly unhappy with the Pay Commission, the armed forces (Army, Navy, Air Force) have decided not to implement the recommendations alleging discrepancies in parity and status in comparison to their counterparts in civil services and Central police organisations, media reports said.

To express their unhappiness, personnel of the three services have decided to withhold the implementation of Sixth Pay Commission’s recommendations which were to come into effect from October 01.

“It is quite a serious matter. We can’t just accept something half-hearted like this. In fact, there were too some anomalies in the 5th Pay Commission recommendation for the Armed forces which are yet to be resolved,” said former Army Chief General VP Mallik.

The forces have now sought direct intervention of the Prime Minister to resolve the matter.

Meanwhile, the Defence Ministry has also asked the Finance Ministry to look into the matter.

The forces reportedly complained that Colonels, Lt Colonels (and their equivalent ranks in other two services) are paid Rs 10,000 less than civilian counterparts. Also, the forces are furious at the fact that Lt Generals, Admirals and Air Marshals have been kept at a lower status and pay scales than DGPs.

Review of a proposal of pay panel that reduced the pensions for jawans are also on the list.

Source: http://www.zeenews.com/

6th Pay Commission recommendations: Revised salary from Nov l Uncertainty over arrears

6th Pay Commission recommendations: Revised salary from Nov l Uncertainty over arrears

PANJIM, SEPT 25 — The Goa Cabinet today took the much-awaited decision to implement the 6th Pay Commission recommendations.
The actual payment through monthly salary under the revised pay scales will commence from November 2008.
Addressing a press conference in the city, Chief Minister Digambar Kamat said, “the Government in principle decided to implement the recommendations of the 6th Pay Commission from November 2008”.
The revised pay scales will be implemented in respect of all the Government employees and those serving in aided-institutions (teaching and non-teaching staff) with effect from January 1, 2006.
Replying to queries, Kamat couldn’t give a clear picture over payment of arrears.
Sources in the Government, however, told Herald that the arrears for the period 1-1-2006 to 31-8-2008, for employees appointed prior to August 5, 2005, will be credited to their GPF Account in three equal installments with a lock-in period of three years. In the process, this will become a loan to the State Government carrying interest applicable to GPF (presently it is 8% per annum).
There are nearly 7,000 new employees appointed on or after August 5, 2005 who are covered under the New Defined Pension Contribution Scheme and they do not have a separate GPF account, the sources said.
For them, a separate account would be opened under the Public Account to deposit their arrears in three equal installments with a lock-in period of three years.
Kamat announced that the arrears for September and October will be disbursed later after making a budgetary provision in the Supplementary Demand for the current year.
The total financial implication including the two years arrears would be around Rs 700 crore.
The additional expenditure this year itself would be around Rs 150 crore, he claimed adding the additional burden would be approximately Rs 25 crore per month.
Asked how the Government intends to pay the arrears, Kamat said that his officers are working out the modalities.
He also looked non-committal when asked whether the arrears would be credited to GPF.
To a question whether the recommendations would be accepted with effect from January 1, 2008, he said, “Let us see we are still working on it.”
Asked what he means by word “in principle approval” here, Kamat said that the recommendation has various minute things which are being studied by the Government.
“The recommendations were for Central Government employees and the State is examining whether those things can be implemented here,” he said.
When asked whether the State had the finances to pay or would go in for a loan, Kamat replied we have not decided on that as yet but ruled out taking any loans for the purpose.
“We will have to take ‘some saving’ measures by curtailing expenditures”, he maintained.
We have taken some measures in this regard like the fixation of land rates for stamp duty etc and are trying to get in some more revenue, he added.
Meanwhile, sources told Herald that modalities would be worked out for which a meeting will be held next week.
Directorate of Accounts will be asked by the Government to compile arrears for the period from 1-1-2006 to 31-10-2008 by end of the year.
Sources said the 6th Pay Commission will not be made applicable to employees governed by UGC and AICTE scales.
TA: The employees will also be entitled to traveling allowance in place of CCA (City Compensatory allowance).
PARITY: The sources said that there’s a high possibility that pay fixation for those employees who enjoy upgraded pay scales (excluded) will be done corresponding to their pre-upgraded scales. With this, the Government intends to bring parity in pay scales as it has been a long-pending demand of Goa Government Employees Association.
However, sources say, this will not be an easy task as strong lobbies are working to retain the upgrades scales.

Source: http://oheraldo.in

Sixth Pay Commission: Antony urges PM to address forces’ pay panel demands

Sixth Pay Commission: Antony urges PM to address forces’ pay panel demands

September 22, 2008

As the armed forces have refused to take their salaries recommended by the pay panel unless their “core issues” are addressed, Defence Minister A.K. Antony has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to take their demands into consideration.


Antony's letter comes after the three services' chiefs put their foot down and sought redressal of their demands pertaining to the Sixth Pay Commission.

“Antony last week strongly recommended that the prime minister and the finance minister (P. Chidambaram) consider the four issues raised by the forces,” a defence source said Monday.

The reviewed report of the Sixth Pay Commission has upgraded the civilian and paramilitary counterparts of officers of the rank of lieutenant colonel and equivalent to a higher pay band.

As a result, civilian officers who were in the lower pay bracket and were hitherto drawing lesser pay than lieutenant colonels and officers of equivalent rank would now draw a higher basic salary.

The armed forces have been contending that these “core issues” would affect the joint operations of the armed forces and paramilitary forces.

The report of the Sixth Pay Commission, headed by Justice (retd) B.N. Srikrishna, was submitted to Finance Minister Chidambaram March 24.

It led to protests from both civilian and defence personnel, following which the government appointed a committee under Cabinet Secretary K. Chandrashekhar to study the various demands for financial corrections.


Source: http://www.freshnews.in/

Sixth Pay Commission: IPS officers allege anomalies in pay-scale, meet CM

Sixth Pay Commission: IPS officers allege anomalies in pay-scale, meet CM

Shimla, September 25 Indian Police Services (IPS) officers in the Himachal cadre are upset with the “serious anomalies” that have allegedly cropped up in their new pay-scales on the basis of the Sixth Pay Commission report.
The IPS Officers’ Association today met Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and pointed out that the latest notification, issued by the government, has put the police officers at a loss.

However, as compared to them, they said the IAS officers are understood to have got two increments, resulting in anomalies in the scales.

Said S.R. Mardi, an office-bearer of the IPS Association, “We have explained the issue to the Chief Minister and asked him to take up the matter with the Central government. If the notification issued now is implemented, the IPS officers will suffer injustice.”


Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/

6th Pay Commission: Pay parity battle: Navy, Army chiefs meet cabinet secy

6th Pay Commission: Pay parity battle: Navy, Army chiefs meet cabinet secy

26 Sep 2008

NEW DELHI: The armed forces continue to wage their battle against the notification of the new pay scales. Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta and Army chief General Deepak Kapoor met cabinet secretary K M Chandrashekar on Thursday to seek urgent corrective steps to resolve their pending "core issues".

With the armed forces seething with anger at the delay in restoring their parity with their civilian and paramilitary counterparts, defence minister A K Antony was virtually forced to write to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday to seek his personal intervention in the matter.

This came after the finance ministry rejected the "core issues" raised by the armed forces, including the main one connected with Lt-Colonel rank officers, without giving any reasons. The government has so far only indicated its willingness to restore the earlier 70% "pensionary weightage" given to jawans, overruling the 50% recommended by the 6th Pay Commission.

The top military brass, in turn, is upset with "bureaucratic attempts" to drive a wedge between their officers and PBOR (personnel below officer rank). The military leadership, in fact, has sent a message down its ranks that the battle is being fought for both officers and PBOR in "a united, cohesive" manner.

While civilian government employees will get their new pay scales and 40% arrears on October 1, the armed forces are holding firm that they will continue with their old pay scales till the matter is resolved. The armed forces are particularly angry that the "extant parity" of Lt-Cols has been lowered by retaining them in Pay Band-3 (Rs 15,600-39,100), while raising similarly placed civilians and paramilitary officers to PB-4 (Rs 37,400-67,000).

The "lowering of status" of Lt-Cols and their equivalent ranks in IAF (Wing Commander) and Navy (Commander) is of major concern since these ranks constitute the bulk of the fighting force among officers. Almost 18,950 of the 54,770 officers in the 13-lakh strong armed forces, after all, are Lt-Col rank officers.

Another core issue is that all directors-general of police and their equivalents have been placed over Lt-Generals by the creation of a new "higher administrative grade-plus". The forces want all Lt-Gens to be placed in this grade.


Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

Sixth Pay Commission: Services to hold pay report till Lt Cols moved to higher band

Sixth Pay Commission: Services to hold pay report till Lt Cols moved to higher band

New Delhi, September 25 Admiral Sureesh Mehta, Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee, in consultation with the Army and Air Force Chiefs is learnt to have decided to withhold the implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission report in the armed forces until the Government agrees to the place Lieutenant Colonels and their equivalents in the higher pay band even as the Defence Ministry has again asked the Finance Ministry to reconsider this key demand. The contentious issue has now become a war of nerves between the Armed Forces and the government with only five days left to implement the pay commission report.

Government sources said that Admiral Mehta has decided not to issue “government draft letter” that is required by the Defence Ministry to implement the new pay scales and arrears on October 1. The three service chiefs apparently took this decision as the existing pay band 3, as per the Pay Commission, is unacceptable to Lt Colonels and their equivalents. Backed by their seniors, the Lt Colonels want the next pay band, which is 4, so that they at least get more salary than their counterparts in the Coast Guard. Even though the Defence Ministry has quietly reminded the services for issuing the draft letter, the service chiefs are under tremendous pressure not to yield to the government till the pay disparities are rectified.

The Defence Ministry has again requested the Finance Ministry to reconsider the armed forces demand of placing the Lt Colonels in pay band 4. But this time they have not referred to the other key demand that Lt Generals be placed in the Higher Administrative Grade plus scale so that their parity with the Director Generals of Police is maintained. Defence Minister A K Antony has already written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the Lt Colonel issue after Finance Ministry rejected the South Block request on grounds that it did not want to reopen a Pandora’s box by revisiting the Pay Commission report.


Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Sixth Pay Commission: Government gives 'in principle' nod to pay demand for jawans

Sixth Pay Commission: Government gives 'in principle' nod to pay demand for jawans

25 Sep, 2008

NEW DELHI: The government has agreed to restore 70 per cent "pensionary weightage" to jawans, even as Defence chiefs on Thursday intensified efforts to get "anomalies" in the 6th Pay Commission notification removed.

"The government has given in principle approval to reverting to the 70 per cent pensionary weightage, as demanded by the Services, overruling the 50 per cent recommended by the Central Pay Commission (CPC), providing much-needed relief just before this Diwali," top Defence Ministry sources told reporters here.

Espousing their cause, the Services chiefs today apprised Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar and officials in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) on the issues.

Earlier, jawans used to get 70 per cent of their last drawn pay as pension calculated on the basis of their 10-month average salary before retirement.

Under the CPC notification, the jawans, who form the backbone of the Armed Forces but retire at a relatively young age, are to be provided with the option of lateral entry in to the Central police forces and paramilitary and in return, they would get reduced "pensionary weightage" of 50 per cent.

In order to resolve this issue, Defence Minister A K Antony had written a strong letter to both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram, particularly batting for the jawan's pensionary benefits, reduced by the CPC.

Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/

Sixth Pay Commission's recommendations: Top babus will now fly first class

Sixth Pay Commission's recommendations: Top babus will now fly first class

NEW DELHI: First class travel on international airlines has become a reality for top officials with the government issuing

orders to substantially improve all travel rules in line with the Sixth Pay Commission's recommendations.

The high-end journeys can be undertaken by cabinet secretary and secretaries while officials a notch below can enjoy business

class and all others can travel economy class.

For domestic official tours, all officers with a grade pay of Rs 10,000 or above can travel in business class or by AC first

in trains. The entitlements of other officials have been revised from September 1 with the minimum being AC-III for those

drawing Rs 4,200 or less as grade pay. The government has taken a strong view on personal use of "mileage points" of

frequent-flier officials and ordered that these points would accrue to the department concerned for concessional travel by

others on official tours.

"Any usage of these mileage points for purposes of private travel by an officer will attract departmental action. This is to

ensure that the benefits out of official travel, which is funded by the government, should accrue to the government," the

order says. To ensure that tours are taken judiciously, the government has clarified that no additional funds would be

provided on account of revision in entitlements. The departments are expected to restrict official tours only to "absolutely

essential" requirement.

Journeys undertaken in buses and taxis, including air-conditioned ones, will be reimbursed on the basis of actual expenses

for officers in grade pay up to Rs 4,200.

Official tours in own cars or taxis can be reimbursed at the rate of Rs 16 per km. It would be Rs 8 per km for auto-rickshaws

and scooters. The highest daily expense for hotel stay would be Rs 5,000 now with additional food bills up to Rs 500. The

limit goes down as per grade pay to a minimum daily entitlement of Rs 300.

A composite transfer grant equal to one month's basic pay can be taken for change of stations beyond 20 km. The weight limit

for shifting household goods has been revised upwards.

If an officer's spouse is working, he or she can claim 50% of the transfer grant if moving between same stations within six

months but after 60 days of the spouse's transfer.


Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

Sixth Pay Commission recommendations: Antony seeks PM’s intervention

Sixth Pay Commission recommendations: Antony seeks PM’s intervention

Sandeep Dikshit

NEW DELHI: Defence Minister A. K. Antony has sought the Prime Minister’s intervention to correct the anomalies in the pay

scales of armed forces personnel, who have refused to accept the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations till the defects are

rectified.

Mr. Antony has approached Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after the Finance Ministry turned down the armed forces’ demand for a

review of the anomalies without assigning any reason, said informed sources.

The sources pointed out that the armed forces are so upset over the downgrading of certain key posts vis-À-vis their civilian

counterparts that for the first time they are not implementing the revised pay scales recommended by a pay panel.

The salaries of all armed forces personnel for this month will be as per the previous pay panel’s recommendations, they said.

Mr. Antony, the sources said, was compelled to write to the Prime Minister after his missive of September 16 to the Finance

Ministry did not elicit a satisfactory response. The Defence Minister on Tuesday said the services’ point of view was being

examined by the government.

This is not the first request to the Prime Minister from the Defence Ministry. Earlier this month, Navy Chief and Chairman of

the Chiefs of Staff Committee, Admiral Sureesh Mehta, wrote to Dr. Singh about lowering of the status of defence officers and

men. This was preceded by a letter from the Chief of the Army Staff, Gen. Deepak Kapoor, to the President and ‘Supreme

Commander of the Armed Forces,’ Pratibha Patil, raising the same issue.

The letters to the Prime Minister and the President reflect their disappointment with the bureaucratic mechanism to

satisfactorily resolve the grievances of the armed forces personnel, said another source. “We are not going to settle for

another committee comprising civilian officers. The government had set up a review committee of officers but they did not do

anything. So we thought it was better to approach the political leadership directly,” he explained.

The armed forces want the resolution of four core issues but they are specifically agitated over the lower pay and

downgrading in the warrant of precedence of Lieutenant Colonels (and equivalent), considered the backbone of the armed

forces, and Higher Administrative Grade (HAG) plus for all Lieutenant Generals (and their equivalent in the other two

services).

Source: http://www.hindu.com/

Sixth Central Pay Commission Updated Allowances

Sixth Central Pay Commission Updated Allowances

Here is an updated information on Allowances based on the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations.

The following are the different sections of Allowance which you will have to read through to find the changes based on the Central 6th CPC report. You can find this information online on the official site, portal of the Government of India at india.gov.in

Allowances Updated - source: http://india.gov.in/govt/paycommission.php#

Caretaking Allowance

Traveling Allowance Rules

Conveyance Allowance under SR 25

Recommendations Relating to LTC

Special Allowance for Child Care, Women with Disabilities and Education Allowance for Disabled Children of Government Employees

Enhancement of the Quantum of Maternity Leave and introduction of Child Care Leave in respect of Central Government Employees

Grant of increased rate of Washing Allowance to common categories of Group 'C' and 'D' Employees of various Ministries/Departments

Applicability for revised Group 'D' Pay Scales to Casual Labourers with Temporary Status

Allowances including New DA, HRA, etc.

Grant of Children Education Assistance and Reimbursement of Tuition Fee

Central Secretariat (Deputation on Tenure) Allowance and Grant of Deputation (Duty) Allowance

Training Allowance and Sumptuary Allowance

Also, available is the latest IAS (Pay) 2nd Amendment Rules, 2008
http://india.gov.in/govt/paycommission.php#

Monday, September 22, 2008

Sixth Pay Commission: Perks, Arrears, Increments & Key Points

Sixth Pay Commission: Perks, Arrears, Increments & Key Points

After the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission, here is the brief list of Perks, Arrears, Increments & Key Points of the Sixth Pay Commission, as listed in the official report of the Sixth Pay Commission. How much of these perks, arrears and Increments are you elgible to receive depends upon your Pay Band and the salary. You may also check the Online Calculators for Sixth Pay Commission Salary Calculations.

State Wise Salary Hike details are covered in the links of the article: State Wise Salary Hike Details of Sixth Pay Commission. Please refer to the article and click on your respective state wise link for news and other information.

Link To: Revised Pay Scales, New Pay Bands Finalized by the Government

Union Government notified Sixth Pay Commission Friday. Following are some key points after notification.

Government has accepted most of the points but has rejected three recommendations and has put some other contentious issues to be taken up in future.

Pay Band and Grade pay:

* Grade Pay up to PB2 recommended by 6CPC accepted as such.

* Revised Grade pay from PB3 and above. Check New pay band and Grade Pay

* The basic pay drawn as on 1.1.2006 on the existing Fifth CPC pay scales will be multiplied by a factor of 1.86 and then rounded off to next multiple of 10. This will be the pay in the revised running Pay Band. Grade Pay, as approved by the Government, corresponding to the pre-revised pay scale, will then be added to the Pay in the revised Pay Band. The total of pay in the Pay Band and grade pay will be the revised Basic Pay as on 1.1.2006.

* Rate of annual increments will be 3% and the rate of variable increment for high achievers in PB-3 will be 4%.

* There will be a uniform date of annual increment, viz. 1st July of every year. Employees completing 6 months and above in the revised pay structure as on 1st of July will be eligible to be granted the increment. The first increment after fixation of pay on 1.1.2006 in the revised pay structure will be granted on 1.7.2006 for those employees for whom the date of next increment was between 1st July, 2006 to 1st Jan 2007.

DA and other Allowances

* AICPI (IW) with base 2001 may, henceforth, be used for the purpose of calculating DA till it gets revised. The base using the 2001 series works out to be 115.76. Based on this index the revised DA as on Jan-06, July-06, Jan-07, July-07, Jan-08 and July-08 are estimated to be 0%, 3%, 6%, 9%, 12%, and 16% respectively (based on the calculation made as per index - Exact DA rates are yet to be confirmed by the Government).

* “Campus” restriction for grant of Transport Allowance will be removed. Consequently, employees living in campuses will also be eligible for Transport Allowance. Further, Transport Allowance for the employees at the lowest levels will be increased to Rs.600 (from Rs.400) in A-1/A class cities and Rs.400 (from Rs.300) in other towns.

* New TA - Employees drawing grade pay of Rs. 5400 and above will be eligible to receive TA of Rs.3200 and DA thereon (A1/A class cites) and Rs.1600 and DA thereon (other places. Similarly Employees drawing grade pay of Rs.4200 to Rs.4800 will be eligible to receive TA of Rs. Rs.1600 and DA thereon (A1/A class cites) and Rs.800 and DA thereon (other places). Employees drawing grade pay of below Rs. 4200 will be eligible to receive TA of Rs. 600 and DA thereon (A1/A class cites) and Rs.400 and DA thereon (other places).

* City Compensatory Allowance abolished.

* Employess living in X (Earlier classified as A-1), Y (Earlier classified as A, B-1 & B-2), and Z (Earlier classified as C and Unclassified) will be eligible for HRA of 30%, 20% and 10% (on Fixed Pay and Grade Pay) respectively.

* Children Education Allowance and Reimbursement of Tuition Fee are merged and reimbursement of Children Education allowance will be paid upto the maximum of Rs.1000 per child per month subject to a maximum of 2 children. Hostel subsidy will be reimbursed upto the maximum limit of Rs.3000 per month per child. The limits would be automatically raised by 25% every time the Dearness Allowance on the revised pay bands goes up by 50%.

* Cycle Allowance, Washing Allowance, Cash Handling Allowance, Special Allowance, Night Duty Allowance and Split Duty Allowance have been doubled. Similarly, rates of allowances specific to different Ministries/Departments/Organisations not covered in this Report will also be doubled. The rates of these allowances will be increased by 25% every time the Dearness Allowance payable on revised pay scales goes up by 50%.

* All provisions concerning travel under LTC are to be retained except frequency of travel in home town concession (up to three times during the first two blocks of 4 years after joining the service).

* The revised allowances, other than dearness allowance, will be effective from 1st day of September, 2008.

ACP (Assured Career Progression):

* Three upgradations will be granted under Assured Career Progression (ACP) Scheme at 10, 20 and 30 years as per the modified ACP Scheme recommended by the Commission. ACP Scheme will also be applicable to Group A employees.

* Financial upgradation through ACP will be available whenever a person has spent 10 years continuously in the same grade.

* Benefit of pay fixation available at the time of normal promotion shall be allowed at the time of financial upgradations under the scheme. Thus, an increase of 3% of pay and grade pay shall be available as financial upgradation under the scheme.

Other Points accepted by the Government:

* The Commission’s recommendation regarding payment of arrears has been modified to the extent that the arrears will be paid in cash in two instalments – first instalment of 40% during the current financial year (2008-09) and the remaining 60% in the next financial year (2009-10).

* The Government has approved setting up of Anomalies Committees to examine individual, post-specific and cadre-specific anomalies. The Anomalies Committees should endeavour to complete their work in one year.

Recommendations not accepted by the Government in Sixth Pay Commission:

* Liberal ‘severance package’ for those employees who want to leave service without pension with more than 15, but less than 20 years of service.

* Recommendation relating to Holiday Policy that there should only be three closed holidays for Government employees.

* Flexi-hours for women employees and flexi-weeks for employees with disabilities.

Recommendations of Sixth CPC which will be examined separately :

* Recommendation related to Bonus and Over Time Allowance.

* Recommendation related to General Provident Fund for Central Government employees and Central Government Employees Group Insurance Scheme.

* Introduction of Health Insurance Scheme for Central Government employees and pensioners.


Source: http://www.khabrein.info/

Sixth Pay Commission: States ask Centre to bear 50 pc burden of sixth pay revision

Sixth Pay Commission: States ask Centre to bear 50 pc burden of sixth pay revision


New Delhi, Sep 21 (PTI) Not keen on again bearing a financial stress that fell on them after implementation of the Fifth Pay Commission, state governments want the Centre to share half the burden of pay revision of their employees, in case they go for the next salary hike.
"The states would never forget the effect of the Centre's decision on recommendations of the Fifth Central Pay Commission regarding pay revision on states' finances through consequences of pay revision at the states levels. This had resulted in a financial crisis for the states," VAT panel said in its presentation to the 13th Finance Commission.

The Empowered Committee of state finance ministers on VAT said that during that time, the Centre had agreed to bear half of the burden of the states but did not actually provide the assistance.

The VAT panel said the Sixth Pay Commission will "consequently cause the states to take certain decisions for the pay structure of their employees and others with serious financial implications".

When the Centre announcing the pay revision, it is a general practice for states to go for pay revision of its employees.

Due to the Sixth Pay revision, the Centre will bear an additional burden of Rs 15,700 crore on the central budget and Rs 6,400 crore on the railway budget. PTI


Source: http://www.ptinews.com

Sixth pay commission: Hike in pay scale, BMC employees to get richer

Sixth pay commission: Hike in pay scale, BMC employees to get richer

Mumbai, September 20 Employees of the richest municipal corporation in the country will be richer in the coming months with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) planning to spend Rs 1000 crore on its employees. BMC— with an annual budget of Rs 16,000 crore—will make reforms in the pay scales of the employees.
Although the one lakh strong workforce of BMC does not come under the central or state government’s pay commission, the civic administration will be making reforms in the pay scale. After a series of discussions and meetings with the employees’ union, the civic body has decided to increase the pay scale applicable from April1, 2005.

Additional Municipal Commissioner Mahadeo Sangle said that each of the civic employees- from labourer to high ranking official- will be applicable for the reformed pay scale. “The rise will be from 20 per cent to 48 per cent and will be applicable from April 2005 as against the center’s sixth pay commission of January 2006,” he said. The higher salary will burden the civic body by Rs 1000 crore. “But we are ready to spend that much on our employees. Revenue from octroi will be used and adjusted to pay for the salaries,” Sangle added.

Although the reforms are yet to get the final approval, the civic administration has also proposed hike in house rent by 30 per cent. “Not everyone has a house in the city or get the provision of civic quarters. In such case we have doubled the house rent from 15 per cent to 30 per cent as the property rates in the city are also sky-rocketing,” Sangle said. The meetings with union will begin from September 22 and the reforms will be finalised in the coming days.


Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/

Sixth Pay Commission: Uttar Pradesh's new taxes only for rich: Official

Sixth Pay Commission: Uttar Pradesh's new taxes only for rich: Official

20 Sep, 2008

LUCKNOW: A day after Uttar Pradesh hiked levies on laptops, mobile phones and airconditioners - among nearly 100 items - a top official on Saturday described it as a move to mobilise additional resources by "taxing the affluent".

Each of the items for which value added tax (VAT) has been hiked or an entry tax has been reintroduced are usually used by the rich, according to V S Pandey, principal secretary to Chief Minister Mayawati.

"A lot of care has been taken at the highest level to ensure that no item used by ordinary people is subjected to additional taxation," Pandey told.

According to him, "The additional tax on select items would mop up additional annual revenues of Rs 1,200 crores (Rs 12 bn)."

He said: "The state requires nearly Rs 5,000 crores (Rs 50 bn) to meet the burden on account of implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission report, so additional resources need to be mobilised."

The state government Friday night raised the VAT on various items. Entry tax that had been done away with by the previous government has also been reintroduced. While the entry tax varies between two and four percent, the hike in VAT ranges between 12 and 21 per cent as against the existing flat four percent.

Interestingly, the only item for which VAT has been reduced is 'bhang' - a popular intoxicant in semiurban and rural areas. The VAT on bhang has been reduced from 32 per cent to 12.5 per cent.

While cycle tyres have been exempted from the hike, all other tyres have been subjected to an entry tax.

Computers are going to cost more, with VAT going up from four percent to 12.5 per cent. Other items in the list include telephones, CDs, DVDs, wireless equipment and several other electronic gadgets.

The cost of machinery, tools, dyes as well as coffee powder, green tea, cocoa powder will also go up, with an identical rise in VAT from four percent to 12.25 per cent.

Turbine fuel and CNG have been subjected to the steepest hike - from one percent to 21 per cent.


Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/

6th Pay Commission: Cabinet to decide on pay hike on September 23

Cabinet to decide on pay hike on September 23

20 Sep 2008

PANAJI: The state government is likely to implement the 6th Pay Commission's recommendations with effect from November 2008. The state cabinet will formally decide on the issue when it meets on September 23.

The finance secretary Udipta Ray, along with joint secretary Suresh Shanbogue gave a presentation to the cabinet about the implications of the 6th Pay Commission for Goa on Thursday.

Sources in the finance department said that the 46,000 strong government workforce will get hiked salaries from the month of November, which will be paid on November 30.

The average jump in salary for any government servant ranges from 30 to 35 per cent. This includes house rent allowance (HRA) which has gone up by around 15 to 20%.

The city compensatory allowance (CCA) has been abolished and travelling allowance (TA) put in its place. As the dearness allowance increases , so does the travelling allowance, sources said.

The annual increment will be 3% of basic pay, and the date of increments is uniformly set for July 1 every year to all employees. Full pension will be given after completion of 20 years, that is, 50% of last 10 months average emoluments, sources said.

Implementing the 6th Pay Commission recommendations will entail an additional burden of around Rs 25 crore per month on the government .

The overall liability on the government in terms of salaries and arrears for the period from January 1, 2006, to August 31, 2008, is around Rs 800 crore.

While these are some of the salient features of the 6th Pay Commission recommendations to be implemented in Goa, government employees are eagerly waiting for the cabinet to give its formal nod to the recommendations during its meeting on September 2.


Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Sixth Pay Commission: States demand share of taxes

Sixth Pay Commission: States demand share of taxes

Agartala, Sept. 19: The northeastern states, including Sikkim, have demanded 10 per cent of the total devolution of funds from taxes from the Centre, while supporting the demand for 50 per cent of the devolution to all states.

The demand was raised at a meeting of the newly constituted 13th Finance Commission, headed by economist and tax specialist B.K. Kelkar in New Delhi on September 16.

Though the 13th Finance Commission gave no assurance, the members of the commission as well as the chairman indicated that the matter would be considered seriously.

“The 12th Finance Commission had recommended devolution of 30 per cent of the tax-based income to states but this has proved to be inadequate, so we demanded 50 per cent devolution from the 13th Finance Commission,” said Tripura finance minister Badal Chowdhury.

The minister said going by the recommendations of the 12th Finance Commission, except Assam, the remaining seven northeastern states, including Sikkim, received less than one per cent each.

“In case our demand is accepted, 10 per cent of the funds on the head of devolution of taxes will be earmarked for the Northeast and that will take care of the gap in non-plan funds,” Chowdhury said.

“The implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission by the Centre has brought tremendous pressure on the states, and the Centre must help by bearing at least 50 per cent of the additional liability,” the minister added.

On behalf of the eight northeastern states, which belong to the special category, the demand has been raised for the Centre to bear the full liability on the implementation of the recommendations of the Pay Commission.

“We have requested the Finance Commission to look into the matter and make later adjustments with the non-plan gap grants,” said Tripura finance minister.

The minister said the issue of the Centre not sharing the collections of surcharges and cess with the states also figured in the discussion.

At the meeting , the issue of Centre-sponsored schemes was primarily discussed.“Most of the centrally sponsored schemes are based on subjects which fall under the jurisdiction of the states. The Centre should share more funds,” Chowdhury said.

“We have been told the Finance Commission will start visiting states from November this year and is expected in the Northeast by March next year,” Badal said.


Source: http://www.telegraphindia.com

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Sixth Pay Commission: Entry tax levied, VAT leaps from 4% to 21%

Express News Service
Sep 20, 2008

Lucknow, September 19 Tea, mobile phones, television, laptops, electrical goods, steel, iron and their products, arms and ammunition and several other products are soon going to cost more in the state.
This after the state cabinet decided to impose an entry tax and increase VAT on these items on Friday.

While the rate of entry tax will vary from 2 to 3 per cent, the rate of VAT ranges from 12.5 to 21 per cent on different items from the present 4 per cent.

The new taxes will fetch an additional Rs 100 crore to the state exchequer per month. The cabinet, however, decided to reduce VAT on bhang from 32.5 per cent to 12.5 per cent.

Entry tax was first introduced in the state in the Kalyan Singh government in October 1999, with the aim to mobilise additional resources to meet the burden of the implementation of the Fifth Pay Commission report. The present BSP government, too, is under intense pressure to garner fresh resources to implement the Sixth Pay Commission’ report and pay the arrears by the end of the current fiscal.

Entry tax at the rate of one per cent is being imposed on iron and steel and all categories of motor vehicles and chassis, except tractor. The entry tax at the rate of two per cent will be imposed on aluminum and its products, barring utensils; all kinds of cables, laptops, televisions, tyre and tubes, except cycle tyres and tubes and tyres used in animal driven carts, and marble stones and tiles. As for cellphones and their batteries, an entry tax of three per cent has been levied, while five per cent on refrigerators, air-conditioners and air-conditioning plants.

The VAT on medicated soaps, massage creams, eye gels, sugar pills for medicinal use in homoeopathy, medical equipments, nut bolts, and screw fasteners has been increased to 12.5 per cent from the present 4 per cent.

The VAT on betelnut, meethi supari, machinery, tools, moulds, dyes, coffee, beans and seeds, cocoa powder, green tea leaf has been hiked to 12.5 per cent from 4 per cent.

VAT on computers, telephones and its parts, cellphones, satellite phones, DVD, CDs, teleprinters, wireless equipment, molasses, pipes of all varieties, including GI, CI and PVC, and several other electronic and electrical goods has also been increased to 12.5 per cent from 4 per cent.

The maximum leap was taken on turbine fuel, CNG and naphtha, which witnessed an increase from one per cent to 21 per cent.

For curbing fake drugs and adulteration in food products, the Cabinet approved a proposal for creating a food and drugs administration directorate in the state.

The cabinet also approved a proposal for the sale of 81 acres of land of the Irrigation Department to the Dadri power plant of the NTPC in Ghaziabad district for the construction of a reservoir. On the pattern adopted by the Centre for the implementation of the new contributory pension scheme, the cabinet gave its nod to the appointment of a Central Record Keeping Agency (CRA), a trustee bank and the fund managers. National Securities Depository Ltd was appointed as the CRA, Bank of India as the trustee bank and SBI, UTI and LIC as the fund managers.

A policy for the development of micro hydel projects was also approved.

Source: http://www.expressindia.com

Sixth Pay Commission: NE demands 10% of total share of taxes

19 Sep, 2008, 2007 hrs IST, PTI

AGARTALA: North-eastern states together have demanded 10 per cent of the total share of taxes from the 13th Finance Commission, Tripura Finance Minister Badal Chowdhury said on Friday.

He said the finance ministers of the north-eastern states, along with the finance ministers of other states, met 13th Finance Commission Chairman Vijay Kelkar in Delhi on September 16 last and demanded 50 per cent of the total share of taxes instead of the present 30.5%.

Besides, the seven north-eastern states have also demanded 10 per cent of the total share of taxes in view of the region's backwardness.

After the Centre announced the implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission report, all the states have also set up pay commissions or pay review committees and demanded that the Centre share 50 per cent of the burden to pay new pay scale to the government employees, Chowdhury said.

"We (Northeast) have demanded the total money required to implement the pay commissions for the respective states of the region considering the status of the north-eastern states as special category states," he said.


Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Sixth Pay Commission: DRDO seeks foreign help in attracting, retaining talent

Sixth Pay Commission: DRDO seeks foreign help in attracting, retaining talent

Bleeding from an exodus of talent, India's premier military research body Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is seeking tips from other countries in attracting and retaining the best scientific brains.


“We have organised an international workshop on 'Future roadmap for Science and Technology Network', where experts from the US, Britain, Australia, Germany and Israel will deliberate upon the issue,” said Arun Kumar, director of the DRDO's Recruitment and Assessment Centre.

"Our main objective is to gain from their experience in highly specialised areas like scientists' recruitment and retention," Kumar added.

Former president A.P.J. Kalam, who once headed DRDO, will inaugurate the four-day workshop that will also see participation by scientists and other stakeholders from the public and private sectors, as also the government.

DRDO, which celebrates its golden jubilee this year, loses a scientist every second day to a plum post in the private sector. According to the defence ministry, 1,107 scientists - mostly young entrants - have resigned from DRDO between 2003 and 2007.

DRDO has a strength of 7,000 scientists, and the attrition rate is about 6.3 percent. The DRDO anually recruits 900 scientists. The private sector has been lapping up the young scientists, who get a comparatively lesser packages in the DRDO.

Created in 1958 to be the country's premier organisation in defence research and to enhance the country's self-reliance in military requirements, the DRDO today is reeling under a major manpower crunch. It is able to fill up only 60-70 percent of the vacancies for scientists that arise in the organisation.

DRDO scientists are in great demand in the private sector as they have considerable expertise in areas like aeronautics, armaments, combat vehicles, electronics, instrumentation engineering systems, missiles, naval systems, advance computing, simulation and life sciences.

It is not only the pay package that is affecting the morale of the scientists but also the lack of facilities, bureaucratic red tape and the slow and frustrating pace of research.

DRDO had sent a comprehensive proposal to the Sixth Pay Commission on incentives for scientists, including reimbursement of telephone and Internet expenses, entitling all scientists to air travel on official duty - perks that most private sector executives take for granted.

However, the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission have not gone down well with DRDO scientists.


Source: http://www.freshnews.in/

6th Pay Commission: Government clears doubt on tax on pay arrears

6th Pay Commission: Government clears doubt on tax on pay arrears

17 Sep, 2008, 0108 hrs IST, ET Bureau

NEW DELHI: The lack of clarity over taxation of arrears that government employees will receive following the implementation of the 6th Pay Commission recommendations has finally cleared. The tax on first installment will be deducted in the current fiscal and that on the second installment will be deducted next year when they receive the actual payment.

Confusion had arisen about the tax treatment of the pay arrears that central government employees are about to get as part of their latest wage revision. According to finance ministry sources, only the first installment of the arrears would be taxed this fiscal. The taxation, they would be akin to the tax treatment in 1997 when the fifth pay commission recommendation was implemented wherein the tax was deducted at the time of payment.

If the tax is deducted, employees who do not fall in the slab of 30% rate of income tax, would have to bear a surcharge, as their total income, including both installments would have been higher. As per the current income tax slab, income over Rs 2,50,000 attracts a tax rate of 30% and income above Rs 10,00,000 attracts a rate of 30% as also 10% surcharge.

The government had last month announced an average increase of 21% in the wages of its employees. It had decided to pay 40% arrears of their increased salaries this year and the rest next year to reduce the burden on the exchequer.


Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com

Sixth Pay Commission: Sixth Pay to be implemented in toto

Sixth Pay Commission: Sixth Pay to be implemented in toto

Bhopal, Sept 16: Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has announced here on Tuesday that the recommendations of Sixth Pay Commission would be implemented in toto in the state. Talking at the felicitation programme at the garden in front of the State Secretariat, he said that the state government is playing a big role for the development of the state and welfare of the people. The government will make them happy, and not frustrated, he said.

Chouhan said that Madhya Pradesh is rich in minerals and other resources. To make the state as one of the most progressed in the country the officers and employees have a great role to play. He has given oath to the assembled officers and employees to co-operate with the government for making it as one of the most progressed state.

The programme was organised on the 'Engineers Day'. On this occasion the chief minister announced that from next year onwards the state government would honour the engineer who does good work. Water Resources Minister Anoop Mishra who was special guest on the occasion said that Shivraj Singh Chouhan is the first chief minister to whom 15 lakh employees and officers trusts.

Convenor of the programme and organiser of the officers-employees joint action committee Shiv Singh Tomar stated that with the employee-friendly decisions the trust of the employees and officers in the chief minister has doubled.

Madhya Pradesh Diploma Engineers Association President Rajendra Singh Bhadoria in his welcome address has termed the decision of the chief minister as 'historic' and commended the chief minister for his generous attitude. State Employees Federation General Secretary Gyanprakash Tiwari also spoke on the occasion.

On this occasion the chief minister honoured as best regional unit of Diploma Engineers Association's Ujjain unit president Suresh Dwivedi, as best district unit (Damoh Unit)president KG Parashar and Association's office secretary DK Malviya for his special contribution. They have been given certificates.

At the outset the chief minister and other guests began the programme by lighting the traditional lamp. Rajendra Bhadoria, Shiv Singh Tomar and Gyanprakash Tiwari welcomed the chief minister with flower garlands. Statue of Swami Vivekanand was given to Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Anoop Mishra as memento.

The programme, organised on the birth anniversary of Padmashri Vishweshwarayya, office bearers of different employees organisations including Dr RK Chourasia, Ajay Shrivastava Neelu, Dr RL Singh, RP Upadhyaya, Ramnath Solanki, Narendra Khare, Rajendra Parashar, OP Gour, Dinesh Sharma, Sanjay Rathore, Satmani Sharma, Mohd Salim Qureshi, Rajkumar Patel, Kamal Gour, Sunil Saxena, RK Tiwsari, Arun Verma, Prakash Chandwani, RC Gupta, Dr DK Rai, Dr Nilesh Desai, Ajit Rai, Ashok Tyagi, Azim Khan, Brajendra Sharma, RS Kushwaha, Rakesh ?Walia, Rajesh Shrivastava, SK Maske, KSS Bais, PS Parihar, Sanjay Awasthi, Arun Dwivedi, Rajendra Shukla, Hemant Bahadur Singh Parihar, Chandrashekhar Vyas, Mohd Yunus Khan, GS Solanki, Baldev Chouragarhe, Surendra Kourav, Shailendra Sharma, BS Solanki, Shivpal Singh, Raman Bhatnagar, Devendra Bhadoria, JP Patel, S Karanjgaonkar, RK Vyas, RB Singh, Brajendra Sharma and Kailash Chandra Parashar have welcomed. Employees welfare council president Arvind Shrivastava and officers and employees in large number were present on the occasion.


Source: http://www.centralchronicle.com/20080917/1709021.htm

Sixth Pay Commission: States want Centre to bear 50 pc burden of pay revision

Sixth Pay Commission: States want Centre to bear 50 pc burden of pay revision

New Delhi, Sep 16 (PTI) The VAT panel wants the Union Government to bear at least half of the financial burden that the states will have to bear following the implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations.
"At least 50 per cent of the additional financial burden of the states as a result of the Centre's decision on the Sixth Central Pay Commission should be shared by the Central Government," Chairman of Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers on VAT Asim Dasgupta told reporters here today.

The pay panel's recommendation on pay revision of the Central Government employees is to be implemented from the current month itself.

Many states like Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Chhattisgarh and Tamil Nadu have also decided to go for pay revision of their employees.

However, in case of special category and north-eastern states, the VAT panel asked the Centre to bear the entire additional burden of the pay revision.

Dasgupta said another option was that financial burden was fully accommodated by the Thirteenth Finance Commission, while assessing expenditure needs of the states.

He stressed the Commission should work on modalities, which would provide a more justified relief to the states.

Referring to the royalty on coal and other minerals, the VAT panel asked the Thirteenth Pay Commission to revise it frequently and wanted that the states were not denied their legitimate share on royalties on oil and power. PTI


Source: http://www.ptinews.com/

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Sixth Pay Commission: Women in govt service to get 3 yrs' child care leave

Sixth Pay Commission: Women in govt service to get 3 yrs' child care leave

16 Sep 2008, 0826 hrs IST, Ashish Sinha,TNN

NEW DELHI: This is one rule that could turn women in India Inc green with envy. The Centre has not only increased maternity leave for its employees to six months but has also cleared paid leave for two years to take care of children.

The order, effective from September 1, increases maternity leave of women employees from 135 days to a cool 180 days for each of their two children. From now on, women employees can take paid leave up to two years (730 days) during their career for "taking care" of their two children without affecting their seniority.

Even if a woman has only one child, she can take the two-year leave. Termed "child care leave", this will be besides the maternity break they are entitled to. The new rules came into force on September 1.

Adding to the bonanza, a woman employee can avail of child care leave in any combination till her two children are 18 years of age. In line with the Sixth Pay Commission proposals, the new leave regime for women means that during their stint with the government, they can avail paid leave of as much as three years, provided they do it only for two children.

The child care leave can be taken for any of reason, including "rearing" or "to look after any of their needs like examination, sickness etc". Women in the private sector are often hard-pressed for such leave beyond the maternity break (rarely beyond 90 days), besides the regular quota of earned, casual and medical leave.

"The new rule has come as a godsend. I can now devote time to my son when he needs it the most. The best part is I can take this leave till he is 18," said a director-level IAS officer. Contrast it with what a senior corporate executive said: "I attended office up to two days before my child was born. I had to save as much of my 90-day maternity leave so that I could devote time to my child later. The entire period is over now and I am back to work. I now leave my baby at my mother's house and come to office."

The government has notified that child care leave can also be availed in continuation of the six-month maternity break. It means that a woman employee deciding to have only one child can continue on paid leave for two-and-a-half years at a stretch.

Of course, she has the option of saving some of it for exigencies and, above all, she continues to enjoy her share of the regular leaves. The new regime will definitely make government jobs much more attractive not only for women but also for men as the couple would be assured that at least the mother would be with the child when needed. Semi-government establishments — like PSUs, banks, insurance companies — should be expected to adopt the new women-friendly system sooner or later.


Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

Sixth pay commission: UGC pay panel delay likely to hit UPA’s election plans

Sixth pay commission: UGC pay panel delay likely to hit UPA’s election plans

16 Sep, 2008, 0244 hrs IST, ET Bureau

NEW DELHI: Much to the chagrin of the UPA government, the University Grants Commission’s pay review committee is unable to “estimate” how much more time it will require to finalise its recommendations. The committee headed by Professor G K Chadha was supposed to submit its report on September 5.

The HRD ministry has given it a month’s extension, but professor Chadha is unwilling to commit himself to a public deadline. The UPA government would like to wrap up the pay review before elections are announced.

College and university teachers are an important electoral constituency and the government would rather give them the expected pay hike in time so that it can reap electoral dividends.

However, the Chadha Committee does promise “radical” changes which will help the Indian higher education sector meet the socio-economic and cultural challenges in the era of globalisation, even as Professor Chadha is unwilling to commit a deadline.

He says that the committee will take “no longer than is necessary”. One of the reasons, the chairman has cited for the delay is that the committee is yet to reach at a consensus on three or four issues.

These include changes in the “layers” of the faculty at the college and university levels — the choice is to continue with the current gradation from lecturer to reader to professor or to introduce new levels. Professor Chadha said that should changes be introduced, suitable time scales will also have to be introduced.

Other unresolved issues include whether the UGC pay committee should replicate the central pay commission’s system for grade pay and pay bands, and the manner in which to resolve the anomalies of the previous committee’s — the Rastogi Committee — recommendations.

Another area that the committee members feel needs more attention is the manner in which stagnation of college and university professors can be addressed. At present, it seen that often college professors achieve the top of their scale and then continue to remain there without any possibilities of advancement.

Former IISc director Professor G Padmanaban, who is member of the committee, said that there was a strong view within the panel that no teacher should suffer from stagnation.

Now, the committee needs to work out a way to compensate these members of the teaching community, and to do so they will need to find parallels within the sixth pay commission’s recommendation.

In light of the vast higher education expansion plans of the government, the committee has suggested a uniform retirement age of 65 years across the country. At present, there is a “great discrepancy” in the retirement age that ranges for 55 to 65 years.

“We are in a situation when availability of teaching faculty is critical to the government’s plans. This issue can be addressed to some measure through a retirement age that is uniformly set across the entire higher education system,” Professor Chadha said.

Professor Chadha said that at the entry level the higher education sector is competing with the corporate sector and civil services for the best minds. “We need to offer an attractive package. While we can’t compete with the corporate sector it should be such that 10 years down the road, the academic has no regrets.”

Stating that the choice was clear, Professor Chadha said, “We can’t give the red carpet welcome but we can provide a decent living condition”. The effort to attract the best minds to join the academic circuit will include “unprecedented financial support” and improved research facilities.


Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/

Sixth Pay Commission: Private school teachers want sixth pay panel scales

Sixth Pay Commission: Private school teachers want sixth pay panel scales

Puducherry, Sept 15: The Confederation of Associations of Staff of Private schools in Union Territory of Puducherry today

asked the administration to ensure that the pay scales were revised for the staff in the private schools in accordance with

the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission.

A release from the confederation said its general body meeting held here today urged that all teachers and employees in

government aided schools in the Union Territory should also be extended the benefit of increase in wages and allowances as

had been implemented for the government employees as per the pay commission’s recommendations.

The administration should also bring in a legislation to guarantee job security for the teachers in private schools and also

to tone up their service conditions.

All vacant posts of teachers in aided schools should be filled without delay and its charter of demands already presented to

the government should be conceded.

Bureau Report


Source: http://www.zeenews.com/articles.asp?aid=469372&sid=REG

Monday, September 15, 2008

Professors, lecturers get hefty pay hike after 6th Pay Commission

Professors, lecturers get hefty pay hike after 6th Pay Commission

By Khabrein.Info Correspondent,

New Delhi, Sept 15, 2008: Professors and lecturers are all set to get hefty pay hike. Following the 6th Pay Commission implementation there was some disappointment among university and colleges teachers over the delay in implementation of the pay panel recommendation, but finally they too are set for substantial salary hikes.

If everything goes well university teachers will get approximately 30 percent pay hikes on the lines of the Sixth Pay Panel recommendations.

University grants commission had set up a committee under a former vice chancellor of prestigious JNU to recommend the pay revision needed in teaching fraternity in the universities.

The GK Chadha committee was under fire recently for not being able to submit its report on time, the same day when Sixth Pay Commission presented its report.

But Chadha committee has some good news for teachers besides pay raise. It has reportedly favoured raising of retirement age to 65, flexibility to accommodate talent through incentives, grant for working in remote and inaccessible areas and also emphasis on research.

Chadha while making the announcement said, “We will ask all states to invoke a uniform policy on the age of retirement and re-employment of teachers. The uniformity is essential to rid India’s higher education sector of inter-regional disparities”.

Chadha went on to add, “We will focus at the entry level, on those just completing their academics and contemplating a life of teaching. We want to lure them into the profession.”

He added, “We cannot offer the red-carpet treatment that the corporate sector can, but we plan to offer them better research facilities to keep them (faculty) in our universities.”

Regarding other benefits, the committee favoured extending medical and general group insurance to university and college teachers. Mr Chadha said the committee will suggest that the Centre and the states should sit together to finalise the modalities for implementation of the revised pay with effect from first January 2006.

"There should not be inter-institutional and inter-university deviations while implementing the revised pay," he said. The committee is also considering how to create new categories of teaching position and devise ways to give a better pay to contract and guest teachers.

The Chadha committee was given the following task:

review implementation of the previous decision of the government/UGC under scheme of revision of pay scales approved for university and college teachers, librarians, physical education personnel and other academic staff.

To evaluate extent to which earlier recommendations in relation to qualifications, service conditions and pay-scales have been implemented.

To examine the present structure of emoluments and conditions of service... and suggest revision in the structure, taking into account the minimum qualifications, career advancement opportunities and total packet of benefits available to them (such as superannuation benefits, medical, housing facilities, etc).

To examine cases of anomalies in the pay structure or career advancement opportunities for academic staff after the last pay revision and suggest remedial measures.

To initiate necessary studies and analysis in regard to the terms of reference, keeping in mind demands and requirements of universities and higher education institutions.


Source: http://www.khabrein.info/

Sixth Pay Commission: Remove pay anomalies, demand coop officers

Sixth Pay Commission: Remove pay anomalies, demand coop officers

15 Sep 2008 11:14:00 AM ISTBHUBANESWAR: The Orissa Cooperative Non-gazetted Officers Association has stepped up its demand for removal of pay anomalies in the pay-scale of inspector and sub-assistant registrar of cooperative societies before implementing the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission.


Addressing mediapersons here today, association president S.Khan rued that while the scale of pay for sub-inspector of police (SI) and supply inspector was fixed at Rs 5,000-8,000, the inspector of cooperative societies being in the same grade, got the basic pay at Rs 4,750-7,500.

Similarly, the association has demanded fixation of basic pay of sub-assistant registrar of cooperative societies at Rs 5,900-9,700 as granted to the inspector of police. The existing basic pay of the sub-assistant registrar is Rs 5,500-9,000.

Protesting the anomaly, the association had submitted a memorandum to the pay anomaly committee for removal of the disparities. However, this anomaly has not been corrected while the Government has already set up another Fitment Committee to study the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission.

A delegation of the association recently met Cooperation Secretary U.P. Singh and submitted a memorandum with four-point charter of demands. They requested Singh to take up the issue with the Government for removal of the pay anomaly before the Fitment Committee submitted its report.

Khan further informed that 254 posts of inspector of cooperative societies and 110 posts of sub-assistant registrar are lying vacant.

If the vacancies in sub-assistant registrar post were filled up through promotion, the effective vacancies in the post of cooperative inspector will be 364, he added.

He urged the Government to fill up the vacant posts without delay.


Source: http://www.expressbuzz.com/

Sixth Pay Commission: Now no girl wants to marry a fighter pilot thanks to low pay, laments Marshal Arjan Singh

Sixth Pay Commission: Now no girl wants to marry a fighter pilot thanks to low pay, laments Marshal Arjan Singh

September 15th, 2008 - 12:36 pm ICT by IANS -

New Delhi, Sep 15 (IANS) Earlier every girl wanted to marry a fighter pilot but now nobody wants to, thanks to the pathetic pay package and lack of respect for the armed forces and their service conditions, laments Marshal of the Air Force Arjan Singh.Talking about the defence forces being shortchanged in the Sixth Pay Commission, Singh said that the morale of the force has to be maintained.

“Bureaucrats work close to ministers and hence are able to influence them. The people in the armed forces are suffering vis-à-vis the bureaucrats. Lowering their pay and rank will affect their morale,” Singh told IANS here.

Singh, one of the first air force pilots of independent India, is the only IAF chief to be given the rank of Marshal of the Air Force.

He termed the government apathy towards the armed forces as the reason behind the shortage of officers.

“The attraction towards the armed forces went down and the government did not do anything to change it. Ours is a voluntary service; so improvement of conditions for the armed forces without lowering of (recruitment) standards is a must,” Singh added.

Singh was commenting on the resentment among the armed forces personnel who felt shortchanged by the Sixth Pay Commission’s recommendations.

Singh, the only IAF chief to have led the air force successfully to war, also felt that dilution of parity of the armed forces officers with respect to their civil and paramilitary counterparts does not augur well.

“The standard of armed forces should not come down. The IAF is still better off but army has to work close with civil administration and it is going to be different now,” Singh added.

The reviewed report of the Sixth Pay Commission has upgraded the civilian and paramilitary counterparts of officers of the rank of lieutenant colonel and equivalent to the higher pay band.

Due to this, civilian officers who were in the lower pay bracket and were hitherto drawing less pay than lieutenant colonels and officers of equivalent rank would now draw a higher basic salary.

Following the revised report, even a short service commissioned officer in the paramilitary forces will get a higher pay than most permanent commissioned officers in the armed forces.

This has received sharp reactions from within the rank and file of the armed forces.


Source: http://www.thaindian.com/

Sixth Pay Commission : Big raise on cards for university teachers

Sixth Pay Commission : Big raise on cards for university teachers

New Delhi, Sept. 14: A University Grants Commission pay panel has promised that the average raise for university teachers will be higher than what corresponding government officials are to receive under the Sixth Pay Commission.

The committee, headed by former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) vice-chancellor G.K. Chadha, is also set to recommend a uniform retirement age. The age is 65 in central universities but, as Chadha pointed out, it varies from 55 to 70 in educational institutions under states.

“We will ask all states to invoke a uniform policy on the age of retirement and re-employment of teachers. The uniformity is essential to rid India’s higher education sector of inter-regional disparities,” Chadha said today.

The committee has been criticised by teachers’ bodies for failing to submit its report by the September 6 deadline.

The panel was set up along with the Sixth Pay Commission and both reports were to be implemented together. The Centre finalised the findings of the pay commission and notified the recommendations last month. Government staff were granted hikes ranging from 12 to 21 per cent a year.

The Chadha panel asked for more time and was granted a month’s extension. The committee, Chadha said, had arrived at a consensus on “most issues” and would start writing the report next week.

If the government accepts the hike suggested by the UGC committee, it will be effective from January 1, 2006, the date from which the central officials’ pay has been revised.

Chadha said the committee had outlined several proposals to help retain top-quality teachers in academics. “We will focus at the entry level, on those just completing their academics and contemplating a life of teaching. We want to lure them into the profession.”

“We cannot offer the red-carpet treatment that the corporate sector can, but we plan to offer them better research facilities to keep them (faculty) in our universities.”

The Chadha committee also suggested an annual appraisal of teachers and more flexible growth opportunities.

Higher education faces a massive teacher crunch, with dozens of vacancies to be filled, many of them at premier institutions like the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs).

The UGC panel is also set to recommend a “carrot-and-stick” policy for states. The Centre contributes 80 per cent of the money for paying university teachers and its share is independent of the extent to which states have implemented the recommendations of the previous pay panel.

“The central assistance should continue, but only for those states willing to adopt all recommendations accepted by the Centre,” Chadha said.


Source: http://www.telegraphindia.com

Excise, Customs employees protest anomalies in the 6th Pay Commission

Excise, Customs employees protest anomalies in the 6th Pay Commission

By Khabrein.Info Correspondent,

New Delhi, Sept 14, 2008: After armed forces and Indian revenue services it is the turn of Excise, Customs employees to protest against anomalies in the 6th Pay Commission. They say that they have been discriminated against when it came to pay scale and pay band.

Indian armed forces have been up in arms against the Sixth Pay Commission ever since it made its recommendations known.

The three arms of defence forces say that they have been discriminated against when compared to their civilian counterparts.

The armed forces have refused to implement the pay panel recommendations till the time anomalies are taken care of.

Later Indian revenue services officials too raised the issue of anomalies and now it is the turn of the Excise and Customs department.

In a statement Delhi branch of All India Association of Central Excise Gazetted Executive Officers said, “The reason behind it (the protest) is the apathetic and indifferent attitude of the authorities concerned in matters of promotion, pay scale, working condition, staff position etc”.

The Delhi chapter of All India Association of Central Excise Gazetted Executive Officers has alleged that compared to employees in other cadres, the promotional opportunities are far less for inspectors and superintendents engaged in collection of indirect taxes like Central Excise, Customs, Service Tax, Inland Air Travel Tax and Foreign Travel Tax.

It said that the income tax inspectors, officers, examiners and appraisers have better promotional opportunities, while the Central Excise superintendents retires as superintendents, despite being recruited through the same competitive examinations, the statement said.


Source: Khabrein.Info

Income Tax Relief on 6th Pay Commission Arrears

Every government employee finds himself in dilemma to be happy or not. Sixth pay Commission stand implemented and they are thought to be richer by 21%. But what is not announced is that a big chunk of what employees will get will be taken back in terms of Income Tax.

Even the group C employees are bracketed in 30% slab due to arrears. What is more objectionable is the fact that while they will get only 40% of the due arrears in this financial year but they will have to pay tax on whole arrear rather then a part thereof. To do so, Income Tax Department is taking refuge in an earlier SC directive that empowers the govt to levy tax on due hike rather than actual payment.

What this whole jargon implies to common employees is that they actually end up getting their arrears minus 30% of the total due arrears.

Now there is news as that employees may get option to stagger their arrear income into last three years instead of considering it income of one year only, it will help some to get the lower tax slab rather then higher one. General feeling though is that government is giving by one hand and taking back by other.


Source: http://www.khabrein.info

Friday, September 12, 2008

6th Pay Commission: Euphoria may not last long

6th Pay Commission: Euphoria may not last long

The govt employees euphoria may not last long in case the provisions of income tax are not amended in relation to 6th Pay Commission recommendations.

As all know that 40% arrears will be paid this year and balance will be paid in next financial year. However income tax law states that the tax will be deducted for full 100% of the arrears in the same year in which the same has been announced. So dear Finance Minister please make amendment to IT rule by a circular so that the amount of income tax is deducted as per the arrears given in the concerned year.

Even transport allowance exemption is only upto Rs 800 and thus if you get rs 1600 than you are bound to pay additional income tax. So here also I will request FM of India to undertake the amendment to the income tax.

Thus do not be ready with your shopping bags till the time the amendment is not made in the deduction of income tax.

For e.g. if amendment is not made and an individual gets Rs 1 lakh as arrears in total and thus gets Rs 40,000 in this year than his tax liability stands close to Rs 34000. Hence this individual will be only left to make the sun shine with bare Rs 6000.


Source: http://www.khabrein.info/

Sixth Pay Commission: President's salary hiked to Rs 1.5 lakh

Sixth Pay Commission: President's salary hiked to Rs 1.5 lakh

Thursday, September 11, 2008, (New Delhi)

After giving the babus a steep pay hike, on Thursday the government decided to hike the salaries of the President of India, Vice President and Governors by 300 per cent.

As a result:


President's salary has been increased to Rs 1.5 lakh per month.


Vice-President's salary to Rs 1.25 lakh per month.


Governor's salary increased to Rs 1 lakh 10 thousand per month.

The salaries of constitutional heads had to be revised after the government accepted the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission. The salary for the Cabinet Secretary, the highest post in the Indian bureaucracy, was fixed at 90,000 rupees, far more than what the President got.


Despite a massive hike, the President's salary is no where near what the India Inc bosses earn. That is, of course, if you exclude the perk of staying in the palatial Rashtrapati Bhavan.


Source: http://www.ndtv.com/

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Madhya Pradesh employees get salary hikes

Madhya Pradesh employees get salary hikes

Bhopal, Sep 9 (IANS) The Madhya Pradesh government Tuesday decided to grant benefits of the Sixth Pay Commission to its more than 450,000 employees from September, an official statement said.

The decision to hike the pay of state government employees was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan late Tuesday evening, the statement said.

The cabinet decided that 20 percent interim relief would be given to the employees from this month.

The implementation of the pay commission recommendations will benefit more than 450,000 state employees who would, on an average, see a hike of roughly 30 percent. Pensioners would also come under its purview, said the statement.

Various state employees’ unions have been demanding implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations ever since the central government approved the new pay scales Aug 14 for its five million employees.


Source: http://www.sindhtoday.net/south-asia/19324.htm

Income Tax officials complain of anomalies in 6th Pay Commission

Income Tax officials complain of anomalies in 6th Pay Commission

By Khabrein.Info Correspondent,

New Delhi, September 8, 2008: After armed forces it is the turn of Income Tax officials to complain of anomalies in the 6th Pay Commission.

They have complained that anomalies in the sixth pay commission have left them feeling neglected.

Earlier Indian armed forces had complained regarding the anomalies in the sixth pay commission against armed forces officials. The issue was taken to the highest level by Navy Chief when in an unprecedented move when he spoke to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on the issue.

He sought that the anomalies against armed officials be eliminated as it will deter young people to join the armed forces as officers.

The armed forces chiefs are worried that he anomalies in the pay structure of armed forces officials viz a viz civilian officials can deter many bright young men from joining the armed forces in the future.

Even now there is a big gap of officials in the armed forces and the gap is increasing. The sort of talent that the army requires at officers level can easily get several time higher pay package than they actually get in the armed forces in India.

On Friday Navy Chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta met Dr Manmohan Singh over perceived discrimination against the armed forces. It is unprecedented for the Indian military to take its campaign for better pay to the level of the Prime Minister.

In the eye of the storm brewing in the army on the issue of revision, the Finance Ministry had on Wednesday virtually rejected military's pay demands, and the three services chiefs had on Thursday said that issues raised by them should be addressed by the country's political leadership instead of the Anomalies Committee.

Now Income Tax officials too have criticized the 6th Pay Commission recommendations calling it discriminatory.

A memorandum submitted by the Indian Revenue Service Association says, “We are shocked at the decision of the government to ignore recommendations of the Pay Commission to upgrade the pay scale of members of CBDT to Rs 80,000 (fixed), even though the pay scales of Directors General of Police and Principal Chief Conservators of Forests have been upgraded without any recommendation”.


Source: http://www.khabrein.info/

Group D employees’ earning from 6th Pay Commission to be tax exempt

Group D employees’ earning from 6th Pay Commission to be tax exempt

Khabrein.Info News Desk,

New Delhi, Sept 7, 2008: There is good news for group D employees. Their earning from 6th Pay Commission arrears may be tax exempt.

This may be the biggest news for the central government’s group D employees as it will give them substantial savings that they could not have managed from anything else.

There were already fears that the government may tax their earnings from sixth pay commission arrears 100 percent from the 40 percent arrears they were being paid this year.

This could have left many central government employees without much cash from the arrears they were being paid.

Though the government later denied but the fear is still looming as no clear instructions have been issued in this regard.

The government has given hefty rise to central government employees, around 25 percent and the lowest government employee will be taking away at least more than Rs 10000 as monthly salary.

The good news here is limited to only group D employees. High ranking officials would not get as much benefit as their Group 'D' counterparts get as they already are in a larger tax bracket and may also be required to pay a "surcharge" on their salaries.

The government had divided arrears in two installments with central government employees getting 40 percent amount of the arrears this year and the rest 60 percent next year.


Sources in the finance ministry say that the ministry may not deviate from the general practice where tax is charged only on an income from that year and not what he would get next year.

Government instructions issued on August 30, 2008, regarding fixation of pay and payment arrears consequent to implementation of the Sixth Central Pay Commission recommendations clearly states that in authorising the arrears income tax as due may also be deducted and credited to the government. The arrears with effect from January 2006 would cost Rs 29,373 crore. Of the arrears, 40 per cent would be paid during the current year to the 50 lakh employees of the central government.

Had the government decided to go this way it would have wiped out almost the entire amount of 40% arrears to be paid to central government employees this year. Senior bureaucrats will suffer the most as their tax would be topped with a surcharge of 10%, applicable on an income of Rs 10 lakh and above.

The financial implication of Pay Commission on the General Budget would be Rs 15,717 crore and Rs 6414 crore on Railway Budget in 2008-09. The government’s present salary bill is over Rs 70,000 crore and the pension bill is over Rs 30,000 crore.


Source: http://www.khabrein.info/

MP govt to implement Sixth Pay Commission from Sept 1

MP govt to implement Sixth Pay Commission from Sept 1

Omkareshwar (MP), Sept 07: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan here Sunday announced that the state government employees will get 'enhanced salary' as per the recommendations of Sixth Pay Commission from September 1.

"The state government employees will get the enhanced salary on October 1 (for the month of September), as per the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission," Chouhan told reporters after performing puja at the Omkareshwar temple, one of the 12 Jyotirlings in the country.

Chouhan was in the town as part of his ongoing 'Janahirwad Yatra' in the state.

Referring to the poll issues in the coming assembly elections, he said the ruling party will seek people's decisive mandate on the twin issues of "development and people's welfare".

He highlighted his government's achievement's in the last four and a half years and claimed that what his party's government has done for the people during the period, Congress was unable to do the same in the last 50 years of its rule.

Regarding India's achievement in negotiating the nuclear deal with the Nuclear Supply Group (NSG) he said that the country has the right to conduct nuclear tests and that nobody would be able to take away from it.

To a question, he said that laws are there because of people and not vice-versa, therefore any law which obstructs the development of the people will be changed and added that his government has changes several such laws during its tenure.

Bureau Report


Source: http://www.zeenews.com/articles.asp?aid=467401&sid=REG

Sixth Pay Commission recommendations: Group 'D' staff out of tax limit after salary arrears: Experts

Sixth Pay Commission recommendations: Group 'D' staff out of tax limit after salary arrears: Experts

7 Sep, 2008, 1454 hrs IST, PTI

NEW DELHI: Group 'D' employees of the central government, including peons and drivers, can heave a sigh of relief as they are likely to get their 40 per cent salary arrears in full without any income tax deduction on implementation of Sixth Pay Commission recommendations.

While the Group 'D' government employees will not have to pay tax on arrears, those belonging to higher levels can also claim marginal benefit by filing Form 10E of the Income Tax Returns, said a senior official of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).

Among the Group 'D' employees, drivers receive highest salary because of over-time allowance, the tax official said, adding, "even they will fall short of the taxing limit by a whisker."

High ranking officials would not get as much benefit as their Group 'D' counterparts get as they already are in a larger tax bracket and may also be required to pay a "surcharge" on their salaries, Chartered Accountant Subhash Lakhotia said.

The government while approving the pay commission's recommendations said 40 per cent of the arrears would be paid in the current year, while the remaining 60 per cent would be disbursed in the next financial year. The arrears are with effect from January 2006.

On income tax liability on salary arrears, the official said, government employees would be required to pay taxes only on arrears which they would receive during the current year along with the benefits entitled under Section 89 and Rule 21 AA of the Income-Tax Act.

Lakhotia said senior officials "will only get a marginal benefit after filing Form 10E as the income-tax exemption limit for current year has increased."

The basic idea of Section 89, explained another Chartered Accountant Singhai Sanjay Jain, "is to give relief from income-tax to a person who receives arrears of salary in a particular year. When any person receives a salary in arrears or in advance or receives profit in lieu of salary, he can claim relief for payment of tax on such salary under section 89(1)".

The arrears would cost the government exchequer Rs 29,373 crore. Of the arrears, 40 per cent would be paid during the current year to the 50 lakh employees of the central government.


Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com

Sixth Pay Commission: IT officials appeal to Manmohan on pay anomalies

Sixth Pay Commission: IT officials appeal to Manmohan on pay anomalies

New Delhi (PTI): Unhappy with modified Sixth Pay Commission award, taxmen have pointed out discrepancies in the revised pay scale and have sought Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's intervention in the matter.

Pointing out the discrepancies in the revised pay scale, income tax officials said when compared with their counterparts in some other departments, it amounted to virtually "lowering of status" of senior revenue officials.

"We are shocked at the decision of the government to ignore recommendations of the Pay Commission to upgrade the pay scale of members of CBDT to Rs 80,000 (fixed), even though the pay scales of Directors General of Police and Principal Chief Conservators of Forests have been upgraded without any recommendation," said a memorandum submitted by the Indian Revenue Service Association.

Source: http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/002200809071306.htm

Why the disparity in pension under Sixth Pay Commission?

Why the disparity in pension under Sixth Pay Commission?

By S. Sam Daniel

Why the disparity in pension under Sixth Pay Commission with effect from 1-1-2006 and denial of natural justice to the post 1-1-1996 and pre 1-1-2006 pensioners?
1. Parity in pension of the pre and post 1-1-1996 retirees and natural justice to the pre and post 1-1-1986 pensioners by the v central pay Commission and the then central government! The main demand of the Past Pensioners [Retired before 1-1-1986] was for full parity in pension to those who retired during the period from 1.1.1986 onwards. The V CPC in Para 137.13 (PP 1830) had observed as under:-

"While it is desirable to grant complete parity in pension to all Past Pensioners irrespective of the date of their retirement, this may not be feasible straightaway as the financial implications would be considerable. The process of bridging the gap in pension of Past Pensioners (Pre 1986 Pensioners) has already been set in motion by the Fourth CPC when past Pensioners were granted additional relief in addition to consolidation of their pension. This process of attainment of- reasonable parity needs to be commuted so as to achieve complete parity over a period of time."

In Paras 137.13 and .14 of their Report the V CPC stated that as follow-up of our basic objective of parity, we would recommend that pension of all the Pre 1986 Retirees may be updated by notional fixation of their pay as on 1.1.86 by adopting the same formula as for the serving Employees. This step would bring all the Past Pensioners to a common platform or on the IV CPC pay scales as on 1.1.86.

Thereafter, all these Pre 1986 Pensioners can be treated alike in regard to consolidation of their pension as on 1.1.96 by allowing the same fitment weightage as may be allowed to the serving Employees. The Recommendation of the V Central Pay Commission in making Parity in Pension of Pre and Post 1-1-1996 Retirees and Revising the pension of Pre and Post 1-1-1986 Retirees suitably was accepted and implemented by the then Central Government with effect from 1-1-1996. Had not both the V Central Pay Commission and the then Central Government had done JUSTICE to the Pre and Post 1-1-1986 Pensioners!

2. DISPARITY IN PENSION BETWEEN THE PRE AND POST 1-1-2006 RETIREES AND INJUSTICE TO THE PRE 1-1-2006 PENSIONERS BY THE VI CENTRAL PAY COMMISSION!


The Disparity in Pension between the Pre and Post 1-1-2006 Retirees and the injustice done by the VI Central Pay Commission and the Central Government to the Post 1-1-1996 and Pre 1-1-2006 Pensioners can be clearly understood by the following facts.

A. Fixation of Revised Pay and Pension in respect of Four Post 1-1-2006 Retirees is given below as per OM FN01/1/2008-IC dt.30-8-2008 and OM FN038/37/08P&PW[A] dt.2-9-2008 of Ministry of Finance,Govt of India.

a.Pre Revised Scale:5500-175-9000 [S10]
Corresponding Revised Scale:9300-34800+Grade Pay Rs4200 [PB2]

i.Basic Pay:Rs 5500.
Revised Pay: Rs 14430 [10230+4200]
Pension:Rs 7215[50% of Pay]
ii.Basic Pay:Rs.6550.
Revised Pay:Rs16390[12190+4200]
Pension:Rs 8195[50%of Pay].

b.Pre Revised Scale:10000-325-15200 [S19]
Corresponding Revised Scale:15600-39100+
Grade Pay Rs 6600[PB3]
i.Basic Pay:Rs 10000.
Revised Pay:Rs25200 [18600+6600]
Pension:Rs12600[50% of Pay]
ii.Basic Pay:Rs.11950.
Revised Pay:28830 [22230+6600]
Pension;Rs14415 [50% of Pay]

B.Fixation of Revised Pension of Pre 1-1-2006 Retirees by the VI Central Pay Commission as per Memorahdum FNO 38/37/08-P&PW [A] dt 1-9-2008 of the Ministry of Finance,Government of India


The formula fixed by the VI Pay Commission for arriving at the Revised Pension is as follows.

Basic Pay without DP x1.86+40% of the Basic Pay.The Condition is that the Revised Pension should not be less than 50% of the minimum of the Corresponding Revised Scale+Grade Pay.

This Formula could be applied only to Pre 1-1-1996 Retirees.But the Condition that the Revised Pension should not be less than 50% of the minimum of the Revised Pay and Grade Pay cannot be applied to them since they are not covered by the Pay Scales effective from 1-1-1996. So,the Pay Commission has really intended to apply this formula only to Employees retired from 2-1-1996 to 31-12-2005.

According to the Pay Commission, we are to find out the Corresponding Pay in the Revised Scale by adding the Grade Pay.After finding out the Corresponding Pay,we have to work out 50% of the Revised Pay which will be the Revised Pension effective from 1-1-2006. But the Condition has been wronly worded as 'The Revised Pension shoud not be less than 50% of the minimum of the Revised Scale+Grade Pay instead of 'The Revised Pension should not be less than 50% of the Revised Pay + Grade Pay' So,the Condition has to be modified suitably.

Here, two illustrations are given in respect of Revision of Pension of Four Pre 1-1-2006 Retirees.

1.Basic Pay: Rs 5500.
Pension:Rs. 6215 [2750 [50% of Basic Pay]x1.86+40% of Rs2750]
2.Basic Pay:Rs 6550.
Pension:Rs.7403 [3275[50% of Basic Pay]x1.86+40% of Rs3275]
3.Basic Pay: Rs 10000.
Pension:Rs11300 [5000 [50%of Basic Pay[x1.86+40% of Rs5000]
4.Basic Pay Rs 11950.
Pension:Rs13505.[5975 [50%of Basic Pay]x1.86+40% of Rs 5975]

According to the formula of the Pay Commission, a Pensioner drawing a Basic Pay of Rs 6550 in the Scale of Rs 5500-175-9000[S10] will get only 50% of the minimum of the Revised Scale[Rs 9300-34800-PB 2]+Grade Pay of Rs4200 viz,Rs 7215 and not Rs 8195[Revised for Post 1-1-2006 Pensioner] as Pension!

Similarly,a Pensioner drawing a Basic Pay of Rs 11950 in the Scale of Rs.10000-325-15200 [S19] will get only 50% of the minimum of theRevised Scale [Rs 15600-39100-PB 3]+Grade Pay of Rs 6600 viz,Rs 12600 and not 14415 [Revised for Post 1-1-2006 Pensioner]as Pension! Why the Pay Commission and the Central Govt have done injustice by applying double standards to the Pre and Post 1-1-2006 Pensioners who belong to the very same Pay Band?

Will not the following variations affect the Pre 1-1-2006 Pensioners permanently?

Basic Pay Rs.5500: Post 1-1-2006 Pensioner will get Rs1000 more per month besides DA!
Basic Pay Rs 6550:Post 1-1-2006 Pensioner will get Rs 792 more per month besides DA!
Basic Pay Rs 10000: Post 1-1-2006 Pensioner will get Rs 1300 more besides DA!
Basic Pay Rs 11950: Post 1-1-2006 Pensioner will get Rs 910 more besides DA!

CONCLUSION

Is this wide variation between the pensions in the cases of Pre and Post 1-1-2006 Retirees with effect from 1-1-2006 even though they belong to the same Pay Band not against Natural Justice?

Will the Central Government immediately look into this Disparity, do JUSTICE to the Pensioners who retired from 2-1-1996 to 31-12-2005 and issue orders bringing PARITY in Pension of both the Pre and Post 1-1-2006 Pensioners as they belong to the same Pay Band?


Source: http://www.khabrein.info/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=16487&Itemid=59&limit=1&limitstart=2

Orissa constitutes panel to study Sixth Pay Commission report

Orissa constitutes panel to study Sixth Pay Commission report

Last updated: 09/08/2008 02:04:01

Bhubaneswar (Orissa) :The Orissa Government has constituted a six-member fitment committee to study recommendations made by the Sixth Pay Commission before implementing it in to the state, official sources said on Sunday.

The committee is to be headed by Additional Chief Secretary cum-Development Commissioner R N Bahidar, who has been asked to submit its report within three months.

The other members of the committee are Home Secretary T. K Mishra, Agriculture Secretary U.P Singh, Water Resource Secretary Arabinda Behera, Additional Finance Secretary K.C Mishra and Finance Department Special Secretary D P Das.

Meanwhile the Sixth Pay Commission report came in to existence in the month of August and it was implemented by the Union govt. too.

Tamilnadu is the first state authority to implement it as it is prepared by the center and after that, the U.P, Himachal Pradesh and other states are implement it.

Though government employees have welcomed the state government's move to form a committee to study the recommendations, but they have rejected the time limit three month period for preparation of the final report.

The state has to take an additional burden of Rs 1,400 crore per annum after implementation of the recommendations of the Pay Commission, sources said, adding that an amount of Rs 2,100 crore would be required if the pay fixation was made effective from January 1, 2006.


Source: http://www.odishatoday.com/orissa/Orissa_constitutes_panel_070908-67844767889.html

6th Pay Commission: When university teachers will get pay hike

6th Pay Commission: When university teachers will get pay hike

By Khabrein.Info News Desk,

New Delhi, Sept. 7, 2008: To most of the university teachers the question haunting them is that when they will get pay hike on the lines of 6th Pay Commission recommendations. Though central government employees are set to get their hiked salary from this month the university teachers may well have to wait a bit longer.

University teachers were hoping that they too would get similar hikes as recommended by the sixth pay commission. Around 5.5 million central government employees have got around 25 percent pay hikes besides hefty increment in allowance and other facilities.

Several state governments including Uttar Hradesh, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Uttrakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh have announced to form committees to implement the sixth commission recommendations in their respective state.

The UGC Pay panel review committee headed by GK Chadha has said that the committee has not completed its study. The message was recently conveyed to the HRD minister Arjun Singh who grudgingly approved an extension in the committee’s tenure.

The committee has been asked to

review implementation of the previous decision of the government/UGC under scheme of revision of pay scales approved for university and college teachers, librarians, physical education personnel and other academic staff.

To evaluate extent to which earlier recommendations in relation to qualifications, service conditions and pay-scales have been implemented.

Toexamine the present structure of emoluments and conditions of service... and suggest revision in the structure, taking into account the minimum qualifications, career advancement opportunities and total packet of benefits available to them (such as superannuation benefits, medical, housing facilities, etc).

To examine cases of anomalies in the pay structure or career advancement opportunities for academic staff after the last pay revision and suggest remedial measures.

To initiate necessary studies and analysis in regard to the terms of reference, keeping in mind demands and requirements of universities and higher education institutions.

It is being said that the UGC Pay review panel committee wants to submit the entire report “in one go”.

The government in the meantime seems anxious to ward off any bad affects of the delay in committee’s report on its poll prospects in general elections next year. The government had expected Chaddha committee report to coincide with the notification of the Sixth Pay Commission, the sources said. Sixth Pay commission recommendations are not valid for university teachers as well as premier learning centers like Indian Institutes of Technology and Indian Institutes of management.

In the meantime various teachers' bodies have been critical of the Chadha committee for "delaying" its report submission on pay revision. They have raised objections to the "poor package" they are getting and cited this as a reason for the "high attrition" rate in the sector.

According to a report submitted by the government in Parliament, about 21 per cent of teaching posts are lying vacant in central universities. There are more vacancies in state-run universities than their central counterparts.


Source: http://www.khabrein.info/
E-mail us at: sixthpaycommissionnews2008@gmail.com