Court stays PA recruitment process

Court stays PA recruitment process

The Aurangabad bench of the Bombay high court (HC) has stayed the recruitment process being conducted by the postal department. 

During the entrance examination conducted at 26 centres across the state on March 29, some visually impaired students in Osmanabad were denied entry on the grounds that they were accompanied by writers/scribe having qualification above std X. Thereafter, five visually impaired students had approached the court. 

In January this year, the postal department had invited online applications from eligible candidates for direct recruitment for the posts of postman/mail guard in postal/RMS divisions. 

The department's notification clearly provided specific reservation for visually impaired candidates. Accordingly, the eligible visually impaired candidates applied by January 24 and were provided online admit cards soon. 

Lawyer Swapnil Tawshikar, who filed a writ petition in the HC on behalf of the aggrieved party, told TOI, "In the list of instructions mentioned on the admit cards, visually impaired candidates were allowed to take assistance of scribe/writers for the said examination. However, 25 such candidates, who reached the exam centre in Osmanabad, were not allowed to appear for the examination on the ground that the writers brought by them had education qualification above matriculation." 

Vishal Lohare (24), a native of from Latur district, along with four students decided to represent the 25 candidates who were not allowed to appear for the examination. All the five candidates approached the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay HC and filed a writ petition through lawyers Tawshikar and Anant Devakate. 

Tawshikar said the HC bench comprising justices SS Shinde and PR Bora heard the matter on April 10. The lawyers told the court the guidelines issued by the central government make it clear that visually impaired people can take assistance of writers while appearing for any written examination. The guidelines further mention that there shall be no restrictions on education qualifications, marks and age of the writer.

Source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/aurangabad/Court-stays-recruitment-process/articleshow/46926465.cms

8 Small Saving Schemes to Reap Big Benefits

‘Save money and money will save you’ is the only shortcut mantra to build a strong financial future for you and your family. It’s not your salary that makes you rich, it’s your habit of saving that decides your path.

There are many options available that would help you increase your wealth. The Economic Times has collected some of the government schemes that you may find easy and safe to start with.

Let’s explore:

# Post Office Monthly Income Scheme: Post Office Monthly Income Scheme (POMIS) is one of the safest schemes to invest as it assures guaranteed return on your investment. This scheme is offered by the Indian postal service to help individuals to earn substantial returns with a short locking period.

Often urban investors are reluctant t o make investments under POMIS. The maturity period for this scheme is 5 years and it is offered with an interest rate of 8.4 percent. You can start opening your account with minimum of  1,500 to a maximum limit up to 4.5 lakh in a single account and  9 lakh in case of a joint account.

# Kisan Vikas Patra: The government of India has initiated Kisan Vikas Patra scheme for the investors who aspire to double their money. This scheme allows you to double your money in hundred months or 8 years and 4 month.

Kisan Vikas Patra can be a profitable option for people who fall in lower income status and who don’t get access to other regular financial products. It offers an attractive and secure interest rate of 8.7 percent and has a lock in period of 100 months.

# Public Provident Fund : Public Provident Fund or PPF is a long term debt scheme introduced by the Indian government. You can get tax benefits if you invest in PPF account. An investment in PPF will offer you 8.7 percent of the interest rate.

In PPF your returns are compounded. This means you can not only earn returns on the money you invested but you can even earn interest on the interest earned. This is an additional advantage of this scheme which makes its special than others.

# 10 Year National Savings Certificate: The 10 Years National Savings Certificate is a popular and a safe small savings instrument. It is issued by the post offices in India. It offers assured benefits and tax returns. 

This scheme offers a risk free saving option to the investors. The interest rate of NSC is 8.8 percent and it has a maturity period of 10 years. You can start with a minimum deposit of  100. There is no maximum limit to invest in NSC.

# Senior Citizens Savings Scheme: Senior Citizens Savings Scheme offers higher returns to the investors. The rate of interest earned in this scheme is 9.3 percent.

The scheme comes with a maturity period of five years. The most interesting thing in this scheme is the interest is paid out every quarterly during the tenure. This small saving scheme offers secure returns with an investment limit of  1,000.

# 5 Year National Savings Certificate: 5 Year National Savings Certificate offers 8.5 percent of a rate of interest to the investors. Under the Section 80 C, NSC scheme allows you to claim for tax deduction benefits up to  1.5 lakh.

With 5 years of lock in period, this scheme proves to be one of the safest and easiest investment option for the individuals who want to make benefit s within a short span of time.

# Sukanya Samridhi Yojna: The Sukanya Samridhi Yojna was initiated by the Honorable Prime Minister Narendra Modi with an aim to promote girl child education and her marriage expenses. This small deposit scheme for a girl child fetches a rate of interest of 9.2 percent till the child turns to 21 years of age.

The account can be opened at any time from the birth of the baby girl till she attains the age of 10 years. This scheme encourages parents to send their daughters to study and brighten their future.

# 5 Year Post Office Time Deposits: 5 Year Post Office Time Deposits is a scheme offered in the post offices in India. This scheme offers 8.5 percent of the rate of interest with a lock in period of five years.

An investor can open an account with a minimum investment of  200. It has no maximum limit instead investments done should be in the multiples of  200.

With all of the above saving options, the government aims to encourage people to contribute a small amount of their incomings towards savings, to make a healthy and wealthy India. Let’s come together and join hands in this endeavor to make more money for a better and secured future.

Source : http://www.siliconindia.com/ ,  BENGALURU

Cabinet Note prepared for Minimum Pension of Rs. 1,000.

The strong protest from the Central Trade Unions has compelled the government to take immediate action for the restoration of Rs. 1,000 as Minimum Pension  to those in the EPS Scheme. Many of these EPS subscribers were  getting much less than Rs.1,000 as pension. 

 

After sustained efforts of the trade unions, the government increased the minimum pension to Rs. 1,000 but for one year only, which is over by March 2015. The protest from the CTUs has some result. 

A cabinet note is being prepared for issue of orders for Rs. 1,000 as Minimum Pension in perpetuity. The orders should be issued before 30th April so that the existing pension is not reduced.

Mos(Finance) Jayant Sinha Emphasises the need for Inclusion of Pension for Every Class of the Society

Highlights the Role of Pension Funds as a Source of Long Term Funds for Infrastructure Development and the Need to have Increased Pension Flows in the Debt and Equity Markets to Reduce Volatility; Conference on National Pension System Held on the Theme of

“Nps - Expanding Horizons: The Way Forward”

The Union Minister of State (MoS) for Finance Shri Jayant Sinha has emphasised the need for inclusion of pension for every class of the society with the slogan “SABKA SATH SABKA VIKAS” and described the latest budget announcements like “Atal Pension Yojana” for economically weaker section of society and tax incentives for NPS as a historic step. He also highlighted the role of pension funds as a source of long term funds for infrastructure development and the need to have increased pension flows in the debt and equity markets to reduce volatility. The Minister of State for Finance Shri Sinha was speaking as the Chief Guest at a Conference on National Pension System (NPS) for Corporates and Points of Presence (POPs) organized here today under the theme “NPS- Expanding Horizons- The Way Forward”. The basic objective of the Conference was promotion of NPS among corporates, corporate employees and private citizens in the light of the Budget announcements.

The MoS (Finance) Shri Sinha further mentioned the need to have innovative products and services under retirement architecture which would match the risk appetite of various types of customers.

Earlier in his Opening Address, Shri Hemant Contractor, Chairman, PFRDA said that the recent budget announcements brought social security to the forefront by making available life insurance, health insurance and pension at affordable rates. He stated that both pension and insurance penetration in the country is low and better coverage is required in view of the growing population of the elderly. He said that operational issues in NPS like simplification of account opening, withdrawal, grievance management etc. have been improved. He also conveyed to the participants that PFRDA is in the process of finalising various regulations. He expressed optimism about growing the subscriber base in view of the large potential. 

Mr R V Verma, Member, PFRDA hailed the recent Budgetary announcements for providing the strategic direction for shaping the pension landscape in the country to convert the society from “pension less” to “pensioned” one and described these initiatives as next generation pension reforms apart from articulating that Union Government had undertaken first generation pension reforms, by moving from Defined Benefits (DB) Pension to Defined Contribution (DC) Pension.

As a part of the said conference, a panel discussion on the theme of ‘Budget 2015-16: Way Forward for NPS and the Indian Pension Sector’ was also held. An array of distinguished panellists from the domain of finance and investment participated in the discussion and shared their experience, insights and valuable inputs.

PFRDA had organized the Conference with the main objective of sensitizing the distributors’ community as also Corporates whose role is crucial in extending the reach and coverage of NPS in the country, both for the organized and unorganized sectors in the aftermath of recent budgetary announcements including:

(i) The limit on deduction on account of contribution by employee to NPS, which was capped at Rs. 1.00 lac last year, has been removed and now the tax deduction can be claimed up to 10% of salary subject to ceiling of Rs. 1.50 lacs.

(ii) An additional deduction for the investment up to Rs. 50,000 in NPS has been introduced under sub-section 80CCD(1B). This is over and above the limit of deduction available under sec 80CCD(1). This is an exclusive tax deduction available only for investment in NPS and not available for any other investment.

(iii) As a significant measure for promoting a unified pension system in the country, the Government has announced in the budget, the option for employees to select either EPF or NPS.

(iv) For providing pension to workers employed in unorganized sector not covered by Statutory Social Security Schemes, the “Atal Pension Yojana” (APY) has been announced for providing a defined benefit pension to the members, depending on their amount and period of contribution. This is expected to bring a lot of comfort to the weaker and disadvantaged section of the population who do not have a formal employment.

Shri R. V. Verma emphasised the good features of NPS and the scope it offers to corporates for providing old age social security that they can offer to their employees. He urged all the Indian corporates to partner with PFRDA for promoting NPS to their employees and reiterated PFRDA’s continued and committed support in this regard.

Currently, NPS has more than 87 Lakh subscribers with total Asset Under Management (AUM) of more than Rs.80,800 crores.

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