Central Government Employees Group Insurance Scheme 1980 - Tables of Benefits for the savings fund for the period from 01.07.2017 to 30.09.2017

Daily Allowance (Para 8.15.15): Report of the Committee on Allowances

Existing Provisions: Daily Allowance is meant to cover living expenses when employees travel out of their headquarters and is in the form of reimbursement as under (only travelling Taxi Charges):

Recommendations of 7th CPC: Recommendations provide for changes in the reimbursement procedure. The Commission considered the present model followed in Railways and in other ministries and proposed to adopt the best from both of them so that the administration of the allowance can be simplified. Accordingly, following has been recommended (only Taxi Charges):

a.Reimbursement of travelling charges

All the above provisions will apply to Railway personnel also.

Demand:

M/o Railways: With the approval of the Cabinet, the Ministry of Railways has not adopted the different components of Daily Allowance post 6th CPC. It has also been mentioned by the 7th CPC that the present expenditure on TA / DA by Railways is around ₹1450 crore per year. If 7 th CPC formulation is adopted, the additional financial implication would be enormous (two to two and half times the present expenditure). Hence, DA / TA Rules for Railways may continue to be distinct from those for others, as at present.

Ministry of Railways has an extensive network of Rest Houses and related infrastructure. The request of the Railways to have a distinct set of TA/ DA rules for them will ensure an effective utilisation of their infrastructure and resources. The Committee is of the view that the different system adopted by Indian Railways in the 6th CPC regime, may be continued with revised rates to be decided in consultation with Ministry of Finance. The recommendation of the 7th CPC that the provisions of Daily Allowance will also apply to Railway personnel may, therefore, not be accepted.

On reimbursement of travelling charges, the Committee is of the view that restriction of 50 kms, at times, can be a bottleneck in planning engagements while on tour. Also, it is difficult to book non – AC taxis as most taxis now have AC. In fact, car manufacturers no longer sell non – AC variants of their various car models in the Indian market. Therefore, the recommendations of the 7th CPC on reimbursement of travelling charges may be accepted with the following modifications:

Report of the Committee:Fixed Medical Allowance (FMA)5.5.3(Para 8.17.52)

5.5.3 Fixed Medical Allowance (FMA) (Para 8.17.52)

Existing Provisions: Fixed Medical Allowance is granted to pensioners for meeting expenditure on day to day medical expenses that do not require hospitalization, at present payable at the rate of ₹500 pm.

Recommendations of 7th CPC: The 7th CPC has mentioned that this allowance was enhanced from ₹300 pm to ₹500 pm from 19.11.2014. As such, further enhancement of this allowance was not recommended.

Demands:

I. National Council (Staff Side), JCM: The rate of the allowance may be raised to ₹2000/- per month as most of the retired personnel suffer from diseases and are required to spend a sizeable amount of their income on medicines.

II. D/o Posts: Rates to be revised to ₹2000 per month.

III. Ministry of Defence: The rate of this allowance may be revised to ₹2000 per month.

Analysis and Recommendations of the Committee:

The Committee observes that Fixed Medical Allowance is granted to a pensioner to meet medical expenses for self and spouse. It is extended to only those pensioners who are not covered under CGHS or equivalent schemes. As compared to pensioners covered under CGHS / equivalent, pensioners getting FMA do not have the facility of in-hospital treatment. FMA was introduced at the rate of ₹100 per month in 1997. It was subsequently revised to ₹300 pm in 2008 and again to ₹500 pm in the year 2014. The present rate of ₹500 per month seems to be inadequate considering the increased cost of medicine and medical supplies. Therefore, the Committee recommends that the rate of FMA be increased to ₹ 1000 per month from the existing rate of ₹ 500 per month.

The additional financial implications on account of the changes proposed by the Committee is estimated to be around ₹300 crore per annum and will benefit more than 5 lakh pensioners.

The Committee also recommends that appropriate checks such as Aadhar seeding of CGHS cards are put in place to ensure that FMA is paid to only those pensioners who are not covered by CGHS/ ECHS or any other health scheme of the Government.

Authority: www.doe.gov.in

 Report Copy

Notification of Employees Charter for ensuring time bound redressal of railways employees’ issues 

Committee constituted to restructure Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) to fast track redevelopment of stations and monetization of vacant railway land parcels

Five member committee of senior officials of Railways to improve safety of staff and workers working on railway worksites mainly tracks

Report of Mumbai suburban audit covering each suburban station received. Key recommendations include Provision of new FOBs and Widening/replacement of existing FOBs, escalators, CCTVs, additional entry/exit points of landings etc. Zonal railways preparing action plans

Posts of Additional Divisional Railway Managers being increased in all the railway division offices for improving operational efficiency.

Empowerment of GMs, DRMs and field officials of Indian Railways on the basis of directions by Hon’ble Minister of Railways, Shri Piyush Goyal while reviewing unfortunate incident at Elphinstone Station on 29.09.2017. Will lead to fast track decision making, execution and the overall working of Railways. A step towards steady and systematic transformation of Railways.

Minister of Railways and Coal Shri Piyush Goyal addressed a Press Conference here today. He gave details of various decisions and initiatives taken by Indian Railways in the recent past. The brief description of these are listed below:-

Employees Charter:- An employees’ charter is being notified today for ensuring time bound redressal of railways employees’ issues related to dues, entitlements and grievances. In phase 2, a charter of Rail users will be finalized and notified in the next one month.

Fast Tracking Station Redevelopment Program:- A high powered committee headed by the Secretary Railway Board has been constituted to restructure Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) as well as related processes with a view to fast track redevelopment of stations and monetization of vacant railway land parcels. The committee’s report is expected by next week and shall be implemented quickly thereafter.

Safety at Railway Worksites

With a  view to ensure better safety to staff and workers working on railway worksites mainly tracks, Ministry of Railways has notified a Five Member Committee of senior officials of Railway Board to suggest measures for making substantial improvement in worksites safety over all Indian Railways network. The Committee among other things will come out with clear recommendations to prevent/reduce such incidents.  The recommendations will be in two phases i.e. short term implementable within three months and long term implementable within one year. The Committee would submit its report by the 2nd week of December, 2017.

Mumbai suburban audit reports

Following the unfortunate tragedy at Elphinstone Road on 29.09.2017, as per the directions of Minister of Railways, a detailed survey of each suburban station by Multidisciplinary Audit Teams to access the adequacy of present infrastructure in context of passenger flow and dispersal and accordingly to lay out a road map for improvements of the same has been carried out on CR as well as WR.

The gist of the recommendations/actionable points include Provision of new FOBs and Widening/replacement of existing FOBs, Provision of Escalators in a large number, Provision of additional entry/exit at the stations, Provision of subways at required locations, Removals of hawkers from FOB or entry/exit points of landings, Requirement of deployment of TC/RFP staff for crowd control measures, Augmentation of CCTV cameras.

Based on above recommendation, detailed action plan is under preparation by Zonal Railways.

Increasing the posts of Additional Divisional Railway Managers

With a view to improve supervision, Ministry of Railways has decided to increase number of posts of Additional Divisional Railway Managers (ADRMs) in all the railway division offices. In most of the cases, the post will increase from existing 01 post to 02 posts. In important divisions like Delhi, the number of posts of ADRMs will increase to 03 posts in place of existing 02. In case of two divisions in Mumbai, in Western & Central Railways, the number of ADRM posts will increase to 04 from the existing 02 post- one post of ADRM in each of the two Mumbai Divisions will be exclusively for handling suburban services.

Empowerment of GMs, DRMs and field officials of Indian Railways –(A step towards steady and systematic transformation of Railways)

Empowerment of frontline officials through enhanced delegation of powers:-

In order to improve the functioning of Railways, substantial financial and administrative powers covering a wide spectrum of working have been delegated by the Indian Railways to General Managers (GM),Divisional Railway Managers (DRM) and field officials. Hon’ble Minister of Railways, Shri Piyush Goyal, while reviewing the unfortunate incident at Elphinstone Station Mumbai Suburban Railway on 29.09.2017 had directed Railway Board to empower the GMs, DRMs and field units, so as to fast track decision making, execution and the overall working of Railways. This mammoth exercise has been completed in a record time in consultation with stakeholders including GMs, DRMs and other railway officials and staff.

Comprehensive delegation based on 10 Principles for Steady and Systematic Transformation:-

Hon’ble Minister had outlined 10 principles on the basis of which, transformation in governance can be achieved. These are being applied to working of Government and have been the guiding force for the delegation of powers as well. These include Decisive Leadership, Outcome Oriented Action, Root Cause Analysis, Prioritization of Issues, Time Bound Execution, Innovative Financing, Technology Focus,Accountability and Close Monitoring, Partnership with Stakeholders, and Rule of Law and transparency. The delegation is comprehensive,and covers commercial, engineering works, track maintenance, mechanical, financial, establishment, procurement and medical matters,and will improve safety, speed and service of Railways.

IMPACT OF ENHANCED DELEGATION AND EMPOWERMENT

i.) Improved Safety

GMs have been given full powers to sanction out of turn safety related works without any ceiling, within the financial limit set out by Ministry of Finance. DRMs /Chief Workshop Managers (CWMs) have been given powers to re-engage retired railway employees up to 62 years of age against vacancies. This will take care of safety and maintenance related works wherever there are vacancies. Enhanced powers for repairs of Track Machines have also been given to the field officers for faster track safety work. Further, procedures have been substantially simplified for procurement of material like spare parts for locomotives, coaches etc.

ii.) Faster access to work/breakdown sites

Junior field officers and supervisor in charges have been provided multi-utility vehicles, and may hire vehicles up to Rs 5,000/- per case for rushing to breakdown sites without loss of time; this will lead to faster restoration of train services and improve punctuality/safety of trains.

iii.) Improve stations and passenger interfaces

Power of DRMs to sanction amenities and works (like waiting halls, platform shelter, lifts/escalators, digital chart displays, illumination, train/coach indication board) has been increased from Rs 1 cr to Rs 2.5 cr per case.

Powers have been given to DRMs for repair of computers, printers and other equipment for Unreserved Ticketing System (UTS)/Passenger Reservation System (PRS), up to Rs 50 lakhs per case, to reduce passenger inconvenience in case of a break down. Further, they have been fully empowered for hiring of space for opening of UTS/PRS at non-rail head terminals. This will hugely benefit passengers in remote areas for booking tickets.

Station Directors in large Stations have been now given the powers of the Branch Officers in the divisions to enable them to take decisions for smooth operations. Instructions have also been issued to post young and dynamic officers as Station Directors at 75 important stations.

iv.) Ease of procurement by user departments

Departments have been empowered for procurement through Government E-Marketplace (GeM) directly up to Rs 25,000/- per case with a ceiling of Rs 10 lakh per department in the zone.

v.) Innovative financing & efficient execution of projects

DRMs have been given full powers to undertake projects on Build Own Operate Transfer (BOOT) basis like setting up of laundry for linen cleaning, which will reduce set up time of essential amenities.

vi.) Improved upkeep of equipment

Divisional officers have now been empowered to enter into Annual Maintenance Contract (AMC) of critical equipment with OEMs to ensure uninterrupted service.

vii.) Swachh Bharat: Improve cleanliness and hygiene at stations and in trains

DRMs have been empowered to enter into service contracts like cleaning of stations and trains upto Rs 100 cr from earlier Rs 20 cr. They will be able to enter into long term contracts, which would attract participation of quality vendors.To ensure important services are not discontinued in case of contract failures, they can engage a new approved vendor following a quotation process.

Full powers have been given to DRMs to sanction environment related works like solar panels, rainwater harvesting, rainy wells, water recycling.

viii.) Enhanced revenue earning

DRMs have been given full powers to enter into earning contracts like leasing of parcel space, brake van, parking, publicity etc. which, will improve earnings for Railways. They will also have land licensing powers to help in early commissioning of private sidings.

ix.) Improved Security

GMs can now sanction 2 wheelers for all RPF chowki in-charges to improve their mobility and response for better safety and security.

x.) Move towards Digital India

GMs have been given powers for software development up to Rs 2.5 cr per case and DRMs up to Rs 10 lakh per case.This will improve technology adoption at the operational level while enhancing efficiency.

xi.) Enhanced training & capacity building of staff

Substantial powers have been given to DRMs for training of staff in new technologies which, will improve efficiency and productivity of staff. Power has been quadrupled to Rs 40,000 per trainee per course from Rs 10,000 earlier.

xii.) Way Forward - Model Schedule of Powers for Zonal Railways

A model Schedule of Power (SOP) covering the best practices of all zonal railways is also under preparation and would be released shortly. The model SOP would serve as a guiding document and minimum benchmark for delegations of powers by GMs to DRMs and field units. However, this would not restrict GMs from further delegating powers and in fact, would encourage them to adapt as per local requirements.

Source: PIB

DoT further simplifies the process for linking of Aadhaar with mobile number 

- Introduces new OTP based option for consumer ease with two other convenient options 

- Industry welcomes the move and pledges support to the government 

 In a bid to expedite compliance of telecom service providers with the Hon. Supreme Court's order dated 6th February regarding linking of Aadhaar card with mobile number and reverification process of mobile users, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) issued a comprehensive instruction on Wednesday.

 As per the new rules, the DoT has introduced three new methods to link the registered mobile number with Aadhaar i.e. OTP (One Time Password) based, App based and the IVRS facility. These new methods will help subscribers to get their mobile number linked to Aadhaar without visiting the stores of the telcos. For the ease of senior citizens and the people with disability and chronic illness, DoT has also recommended for the re-verification at subscribers’ doorstep. According to the new guidelines, the telecom operators should provide an online mechanism for people to request such service and based on availability schedule the visit and complete the process.

 Speaking on the development, Shri Manoj Sinha, Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Communications, said “The Aadhaar number system was designed to allow all residents of the country access to critical government services and important information that they may need from time to time. Mobile penetration is increasing rapidly in the country and the subscribers need to be provided with the ease of linking of the Aadhaar number with the mobile number. It is the government’s endeavour to improve convenience and reduce time and energy spent by consumers to accessing government information and services that is their right to access.”

 Representative of COAI stated, “The latest clarifications from the DoT are aligned with what the industry, and the subscribers need at this time. While, it will take a little time to implement the directions, we are working closely with the government to improve and enhance the convenience of our consumers for undertaking Aadhaar based e-KYC linking of their mobile number. We are implementing all the necessary processes so as to be able to use the additional methods prescribed including OTP, App based and the IVRS facility. We expect it to get much faster and easier for individual mobile subscribers to comply with the e-KYC norms using their Aadhaar Registered Mobile Number (ARMN).” 

In a circular in August, DoT had given instructions to the telecom service providers to provide iris or fingerprint based authentication of Aadhaar. The new regulations have specified that the telecom service providers must deploy iris readers for this purpose within a reasonable geographical area.  

Further, in keeping with privacy rules, the DoT has mandated that telecom service providers’ agent should not have access to the subscribers’ e-KYC data and only the name and address of the subscribers should be visible. Subscribers can verify or re-verify their mobile numbers from anywhere in the country irrespective of which service area their mobile connection belongs to.

Source: PIB