Status of Cadre Review proposals processed in DoPT as on 31st May 2015 CLICK HERE FOR DETAILShttp://ccis.nic.in/WriteReadData/CircularPortal/D2/D02adm/3105.pdf

In bonus to workers, cap on salary set to be raised

Several lakhs of workers in the organised sector will benefit as the Narendra Modi government is set to raise the salary threshold for mandatory bonus for workers from Rs 10,000 a month at present to Rs 15,000 and the minimum bounty from an annual RS 3,500 now to Rs 4,500. The proposal, agreed to by employers’ associations at a recent meeting of an inter-ministerial group, would require Parliament’s approval as the Payments of Bonus Act, 1965, requires to be amended for this purpose.

While the minimum bonus is a legal liability on the firms concerned, whether or not they make a profits, these firms are also required to pay the workers a higher bonus if their “allocable surplus” exceeds the amount payable as minimum bonus, subject to a cap (20%) of the salaries.

If the new proposal takes affect, the maximum bonus payable by profit-making ventures would be close to Rs 11,000 as against Rs 8,400 now.

The salary ceiling for mandatory bonus eligibility was last fixed in 2007 and made effective retrospectively from April 1, 2006. While industry associations demanded exempting sick units from the requirement of paying bonus, trade unions have pitched for removal of the ceilings as “profits are not capped”, official sources said. The unions also asked for extending the benefit to workers under the Industrial Disputes Act, they added.

The revision of the bonus eligibility and the amounts is being done by factoring in the relevant price increases, the gauge used being the consumer price index-industrial workers or CPI(IW). This index stayed in the range of 6.4-12% since 2008. After hitting as high as 12% in 2010, CPI(IW) has maintained a roller-coaster ride — it eased to 8.9% in 2011 before rising to 10.9% in 2013 and dropping again to 6.4% in 2014. In the current calendar year, it has slowed almost consistently from 7.2% in January to 5.8% in April.

An estimate is two-thirds of the 6 crore organised sector workforce in the country are eligible for the mandatory bonus given their salary levels. Analysts, however, say that actual number of beneficiaries could be less as many units practically circumvent the norm.

Under Section 10 of Payments of Bonus Act, “every employer (as defined in the Act) shall be bound to pay to every employee in respect of every accounting year, a minimum bonus which shall be 8.33% of the salary or wage earned by the employee during the accounting year”. All factories and establishments employing 20 or more persons are expected to pay the bonus compulsorily, provided the worker has worked in the establishment for at least 30 days. Employees in Life Insurance Corporation, seamen, dock workers and university employees are outside the Act’s ambit.

Although the country witnessed high inflation between 2009 and 2014, the move to raise the bonus amounts comes at a time inflation has come down (consumer price inflation is now below 5%). Consumer confidence is yet to be restored to the pre-2008-09 levels, while in recent months rural income growth has slowed.

NO OBJECTION CERTIFICATE (NOC) IS NOT REQUIRED FOR GOVT EMPLOYEES TO OBTAIN PASSPORT 

Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar

            New Delhi: No Objection Certificate (NOC) is not now a mandatory requirement for government employees to get a passport.

            To streamline and check the undue delay in getting passports to the government employees, the Ministry of External Affairs has relaxed provisions for issue of passport and asked the government employees to attach the copy of prior intimation letter submitted by the government employees to their controlling authority before applied for passport.

            The Ministry of External Affairs has recently issued an Office Memorandum No.VI/401/01/05/2014 making the ‘Prior Intimation Letter’ valid proof like ‘No Objection Certificate (NOC)’ to obtain passport for government employees, public sector undertakings (PSU) employees and autonomous body employees.

            Government employees, who applies for passport with ‘Prior Intimation Letter’, they do not need to police verification.

            The above provision is applied for getting passport only not for VISA, the government employees are required to obtain ‘No Objection Certificate (NOC)’ from their departments concerned for getting VISA from foreign embassies for travelling abroad as per CCS (Conduct) Rules and the instructions have been issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) from time to time.

7th Central Pay Commission’s Final Meeting with JCM Staff Side National Council on 9th June 2015

7th Central Pay Commission’s Final Meeting with JCM Staff Side National Council on 9th June 2015

Jayant Sinha
Joint Secretary

Government of India
Seventh Central Pay Commission

D.O.No. 7CPC/158/Meetings/2015

27.05.2015

Dear Shiv Gopal Mishra

The Seventh Central Pay Commission has had wide ranging interaction with a variety of Stakeholders. It has had a series of meetings with National Council and the Constituents of the JCM from March 2015 onwards. The Commission has also sought views of Individual Ministries / Departments on the issues Posed in relation to matters that are relevant to the Ministries

The Commission has scheduled a final meeting of the National Council with the 7th Central Pay Commission at 11.00 am on 9th June 2015, in the Conference Room, 1st Floor, B-14/A. Chatrapati Shivaji Bhawan, Qutub Institutional Area, New Delhi

With Regards
Yours Sincerely
(Jayant Sinha)

Shri.Shiv Gopal Mishra
Secretary
National Council (Staff Side)
Joint Consultative Machinery for Central Government Employees
13-C, Ferozshah Road
New Delhi – 110001

source-http://confederationhq.blogspot.inhttp://confederationhq.blogspot.in//

Income Tax Return Forms ITR 1, 2 and 4S Simplified for Convenience of the Tax Payers

Income Tax Return Forms ITR 1, 2 and 4S Simplified for Convenience of the Tax Payers;

Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Finance

31-May-2015

Income Tax Return Forms ITR 1, 2 and 4S Simplified for Convenience of the Tax Payers;

A New Form ITR 2A Proposed which can be Filed by an Individual or HUF who does not have Capital Gains, Income from Business/Profession or Foreign Asset/Foreign Income; In Form ITR 2 and the New Form ITR 2A, the Main Form will not Contain more than 3 Pages, and other Information will be Captured in the Schedules which will be Required to be filled only if applicable;

As the Software for these Forms is under Preparation, they are likely to be available for e-filing by 3rd week of june 2015;Time Limit for Filing these Returns is also Proposed to be Extended up to 31.08.2015;

Only Passport Number, if available, would be required to be given in forms Itr-2 and itr-2A. Details of Foreign Trips or Expenditure thereon are not required to be Furnished

Forms ITR 1, 2 and 4S for Assessment Year 2015-16 were notified on 15th April 2015 (15.04.2015). In view of various representations, it was announced that these ITR forms will be reviewed. Having considered the responses received from various stakeholders, these forms are proposed to be simplified in the following manner for the convenience of the taxpayers:-

1) Individuals having exempt income without any ceiling (other than agricultural income exceeding Rs. 5,000) can now file Form ITR 1 (Sahaj). Similar simplification is also proposed for individuals/HUF in respect of Form ITR 4S (Sugam).

2) At present individuals/HUFs having income from more than one house property and capital gains are required to file Form ITR-2. It is, however, noticed that majority of individuals/HUFs who file Form ITR-2 do not have capital gains. With a view to provide for a simplified form for these individuals/HUFs, a new Form ITR 2A is proposed which can be filed by an individual or HUF who does not have capital gains, income from business/profession or foreign asset/foreign income.

3) In lieu of foreign travel details, it is now proposed that only Passport Number, if available, would be required to be given in Forms ITR-2 and ITR-2A. Details of foreign trips or expenditure thereon are not required to be furnished.

4) As regards bank account details in all these forms, only the IFS code, account number of all the current/savings account which are held at any time during the previous year will be required to be filled-up. The balance in accounts will not be required to be furnished. Details of dormant accounts which are not operational during the last three years are not required to be furnished.

5) An individual who is not an Indian citizen and is in India on a business, employment or student visa (expatriate), would not mandatorily be required to report the foreign assets acquired by him during the previous years in which he was non-resident if no income is derived from such assets during the relevant previous year.

6) As a measure of simplification, it has been endeavoured to ensure that in Form ITR 2 and the new Form ITR 2A, the main form will not contain more than 3 pages, and other information will be captured in the Schedules which will be required to be filled only if applicable.

As the software for these forms is under preparation, they are likely to be available for e-filing by 3rd week of June 2015. Accordingly, the time limit for filing these returns is also proposed to be extended up to 31st August, 2015 (31.08.2015). A separate notification will be issued in this regard.

SOURCE

INCLUSION OF AADHAR (UNIQUE IDENTIFICATION) NUMBER IN SERVICE BOOK OF GOVERNMENT SERVANTS.

Request for Voluntary retirement from persons suffering from disability – Dopt Orders

Request for Voluntary retirement from persons suffering from disability – Dopt Orders 

Request for Voluntary retirement from persons suffering from disability — Supreme Court Order in Bhagwan Dass & Anr Vs Punjab State Electricity Board, (2008) 1 SCC 579

G.I., Dept. of Per. & Trg., O.M.F.No.25012/1/2015-Estt (A-IV), dated 19.5.2015

Subject: Request for Voluntary retirement from persons suffering from disability — Supreme Court Order in Bhagwan Dass & Anr Vs Punjab State Electricity Board, (2008) 1 SCC 579.

The undersigned is directed say that vide Department of Personnel and Training’s OM No.18017/1/2014-Estt(L) dated the 25 th February, 2015, certain clarifications regarding treatment of leave and absence of disabled Government servants have been issued.

2. Instances have come to notice where Government servants apply for voluntary retirement under various provisions like Rules 38, Rule 48 and 48A of CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972 or Rule 56 of the Fundamental Rule on account of hardships faced by them due to a disability, as they are unaware of the protection provided by the Section 47 of the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of justifys and Full Participation) Act, 1995 (PWD Act). Section 47 of the PwD Act, 1995 is reproduced below for reference:

“Non-discrimination in Government Employment — (1) No establishment shall dispense with, or reduce in rank, an employee who acquires a disability during his service.

Provided that, if an employee, after acquiring disability is not suitable for the post he was holding, could be shifted to some other post with the same pay scale and service benefits;

Provided further that if it is not possible to adjust the employee against any post, he may be kept on a supernumerary post until a suitable post is available or he attains the age of superannuation, whichever is earlier. No promotion shall be denied to a person merely on the ground of his disability;

Provided that the appropriate Government may, having regard to the type of work carried on in any establishment, by notification and subject to such conditions, if any, as may be specified in such notification, exempt any establishment from the provisions of this section”.

3. The issue had come up in Bhagwan Dass & Anr Vs Punjab State Electricity Board (2008) 1 SCC 579, decided by the Hon’ble Supreme Court where the employee who had during his service suffered from blindness, had applied for voluntary retirement. The Hon’ble Supreme court has observed that the Petitioner was not aware of any protection that the law afforded him and apparently believed that the blindness would cause him to lose his job, which was the source of livelihood of his family. In those circumstances, it was the duty of the superior officers to explain to him the correct legal position and to tell him about his legal justifys.

4. Keeping in view the provisions of the Section 47 of the PwD Act, 1995 and the above mentioned judgement, it has been decided that whenever a Government servant seeks voluntary retirement citing medical grounds, or when the said notice has been submitted due to a disability, the administrative authorities shall examine as to whether the case is covered under Section 47 of PWD Act, 1995. In case the provisions are applicable, the Government servant shall be advised that he/she has the option of continuing in service with the same pay scale and service benefits.

5. In case a disabled Government servant reconsiders his decision and withdraws the notice for voluntary retirement, his case shall be dealt with under the provisions of the Section 47 read with the Department of Personnel and Training OM dated 25th February, 2015, mentioned above. If however, in spite of being so advised, such Government servant still wishes to take voluntary retirement, the request may be processed as per the applicable rule.

6. All the Ministries and Departments are requested to keep the above in view while processing cases of requests for Voluntary retirement from disabled Government servants.

Hindi version follows.

sd/-
(Mukesh Chaturvedi)
Director

Authority: www.persmin.gov.in