Change in Holiday from 6-3-15 to 21-03-2015 for Telugu New year's Day UGADI - AP Circle

Change in Holiday from 6-3-15 to 21-03-2015 for Telugu New year's Day UGADI - AP Circle

Central Government staff demand early implementation of wage revision

 

Employees of Central government organisations staging a protest near the Collectorate in the city on Monday.— Photo: G. Moorthy

Members of the Joint Council of Action South Zone which represents employees from the Railway, Defence, Postal and other Central Government departments organised a protest meeting near the Collectorate premises here on Monday.

 

More than 300 members of various associations, including Southern Railway Mazdoor Union (SRMU), All India Defence Employees’ Federation (AIDEF) and National Federation of Postal Employees (NFPE), participated in the protest meeting. Zonal president Raja Sridhar and divisional secretary J.M. Rafiq addressed the meeting.

 

The members also submitted a petition at the Collectorate along with a copy of the demands adopted by the National Convention of the Central Government Employees in December 2014.

 

In their 37-point charter of demands, the employees asked for the implementation of wage revision for Central government employees, which should be done once in every five years.

 

‘No privatisation’

 

They also demanded that no privatisation or Foreign Direct INVESTMENT should be allowed in railways and defence establishments, and opposed corporatisation of postal services.

 

Among other things, they also opposed outsourcing and privatisation of governmental functions and asked the government to withdraw the proposed move to close down printing presses.

 

Stating that many residential quarters needed renovation, the employees urged the Central government to carry out repairs, not to compel staff to stay in inhabitable quarters, and pay house rent allowance.

Government dept. unions demand wage revision

The Joint Council of Action (JCA), South Zone, representing unions of Railways, Defence, Postal and other Central government departments organised a demonstration near the Chennai Collectorate stressing various demands including wage revision and prevention of privatisation. They submitted a memorandum containing over 37 demands to the Collector after the demonstration.

 

More than 1,000 members of various unions including the Southern Railway Mazdoor Union (SRMU), All India Defence Employees Federation (AIDEF) and National Federation of Postal Employees (NFPE) took part in the two-hour long demonstration that started at noon.

Among the various demands were: to effect the Central Government Wage Revision for employees from January 1, 2014; ensure wage revision for employees once in five years; ban privatisation, public private partnerships or foreign direct INVESTMENTS in railways and defence establishments and give up corporatisation of postal services.

 

They also wanted the government to avoid outsourcing of government activities and withdraw the move to close down the printing presses, publication forms store, stationery departments and medical stores depots. The Unions also wanted the government to improve the condition of railway hospitals. 

 

N. Kanniah, general secretary, SRMU and the convener of JCA, South Zone mentioned that this was the first time the ‘defence’ unions were taking part in a protest in association with other Central government Unions. 

 

C. Srikumar, general secretary, AIDEF, said only the Railways offers 100 percent appointment on compassionate grounds — the other Central government departments offer only 5 percent.

 

“Due to this, hardly one or two candidate obtain jobs under this category every year. We want the government to remove this slab,” he added.

After 14th Finance Commission, 7th pay panel's report looms

FINANCE minister Arun Jaitley at a press conference after the 14th FINANCE Commission report. The Seventh Pay Commission will submit its report by October 2015. Photo: AP  

New Delhi: After the recommendations of the Fourteenth FINANCE Commission (FFC) forced the government to reduce its plan expenditure in the 2015-16 budget, the Union FINANCE ministry fears its revenues will remain constrained in 2016-17 as well since it has to absorb the recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission (SPC) in that year. 

The SPC will submit its report by October 2015.  

“The 7th Pay Commission impact may have to be absorbed in 2016-17. The phase of consolidation, extended by one year, will also be spanning out in this period. Thus, in the medium-term framework, the fiscal position will continue to be stressed,” the FINANCE ministry said in the macroeconomic framework statement laid before Parliament along with the budget on Saturday.  

The Union Budget reduced the plan expenditure for the first time in many years by Rs.2,657 crore to Rs.4.7 trillion in 2015-16 from the revised estimate of 2014-15, as the centre shared an additional Rs.1.86 trillion with states. The FINANCE Commission has raised the untied share of states in net central taxes to 42% from 32%. 

The tight fiscal situation forced the government to revise its fiscal consolidation road map and set a less ambitious fiscal deficit target of 3.9% of the gross domestic product (GDP) for 2015-16 against the earlier target of 3.6% set in last year’s budget.  

The fiscal deficit of 4.1% for 2014-15 was also achieved through a sharp reduction in plan expenditure up to Rs.1.1 trillion. Finance minister Arun Jaitley in his budget speech said he had deferred the 3% fiscal deficit target to fiscal 2017-18 from 2016-17. 

The government appointed the Seventh Pay Commission on 28 February 2014 under chairman justiceAshok Kumar Mathur with a timeline of 18 months to make its recommendations. Though the deadline for submitting the report ends in August this year, the SPC is likely to seek extension till October.

The Sixth Pay Commission which was constituted in October 2006 had submitted its report in March 2008.

As a result of the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission, pay and allowances of the Union government employees more than doubled between 2007-08 and 2011-12—from Rs.74,647 crore to Rs.166,792 crore, according to the Fourteenth FINANCE Commission estimates. 

“As a ratio of GDP, it jumped from a little over 0.9% in 2007-08 to 1.2% in 2008-09 and about 1.4% in 2009-10 on account of both pay revision and payment of arrears. However, it moderated to little over 1% in 2012-13,” the FINANCE Commission said.  

The recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission were implemented by states with a delay mainly between 2009-10 and 2011-12, with “significant expenditure outgo” in arrears on both pay and pension counts, the FFC said. 

The FFC said that while the FINANCE ministry projects an increase in pension payments by 8.7% in 2015-16, a 30% increase is expected in 2016-17 on account of the impact of the Seventh Pay Commission, followed by an annual growth rate of 8% in subsequent years.  

However, it maintained that given the variations across states and the lack of knowledge about the probable design and quantum of award of the Seventh Pay Commission, it is neither feasible, nor practicable, to arrive at any reasonable forecast of the impact of the pay revision on the Union government or the states. “Further, any attempt to fix a number in this regard, within the ambit of our recommendations, carries the unavoidable risk of raising undue expectations,” added the FINANCECommission. 

A senior Pay Commission official, speaking under condition of anonymity, said its recommendations will surely have significant impact on the revenues of the central government. “The 14th FINANCECommission was at a disadvantage since it did not have the benefit of the recommendations of the Pay Commission unlike its predecessors,” he added. 

N.R. Bhanumurthy, professor at the National Institute of Public FINANCE and Policy, said the FFC has tried to factor in the impact of the recommendations of the SPC on the central government expenses. “The FFC report shows the capital outlay of the central government will dip in 2016-17 to 1.4% of GDP from 1.64% a year ago due to the implementation of the Pay Commission recommendation before it starts rising to 2.9% of GDP by 2019-20,” he added. 

The FFC said that all states had asked it to provide a cushion for the pay revision likely during the award period. The FFC advocated for a consultative mechanism between the centre and states, through a forum such as the Inter-State Council, to evolve a national policy for salaries and emoluments. 

The FFC also recommended that pay commissions be designated as Pay and Productivity Commissions, with a clear mandate to recommend measures to improve productivity of employees, in conjunction with pay revisions. “We recommend the linking of pay with productivity, with a simultaneous focus on technology, skills and incentives. We urge that, in future, additional remuneration be linked to increase in productivity,” it said.  

The Pay Commission official quoted earlier said it has been mandated to recommend incentive schemes to reward excellence in productivity, performance and integrity, which it will do. “Though previous Pay Commissions have talked about linking pay with productivity, the earlier governments have not accepted such recommendations. Since this government has shown strong political will, we hope they will accept our recommendations,” he added.

Source : http://www.livemint.com/

PJCA DHARNA ON 02.03.2015 IN FRONT OF MEGHDOOT BHAWAN, CIRCLE OFFICE, NEW DELHI