7TH PAY COMMISSION REPORT OBSERVES THAT EXCEPT FOR OPERATIONAL AND INDUSTRIAL EMPLOYEES, OTA IS TO BE ABOLISHED

The 7th Pay Commission has recommended that overtime allowance, except for operational staff and industrial employees governed by statutory provisions, should be abolished, after data showed that the expenditure under the head for the Railways and Defence ministries more than doubled in seven years ending 2012-13. 

A committee of secretaries headed by Cabinet Secretary P. K. Sinha is reviewing the Commission’s recommendations. Overall, the overtime paid by the Government increased from Rs.797 crore to Rs.1,629 crore in the period, prompting the Commission to observe that government offices need to increase productivity and efficiency; and recommend “stricter” control on the Centre’s expenditure under the head. 

Overtime Allowance paid to Employees in 2012-13 

Railways	791.65 crores
Civilian Defence	732.73 crores
Total Overtime Paid	1629 crores

It could be seen that out of total overtime allowance of Rs. 1629 Crores paid by the Central government during the year 2012-13, Employees attached to Railways and Defence (civilian employees) Ministries alone have been Rs. 1525 crores, which is more than 90% of total OTA paid by Govt. 

“Government employees, like every one else, should be paid for results, not to spend time in the office…but overtime is mandated by law in organisations like railways and in such cases payments must be realistic and not frozen in time and hence the recommendation to increase them by 50 per cent,” economist and Seventh Pay Commission Member Rathin Roy told The Hindu . 

While the Ministry of Defence has achieved some success in controlling payment of the allowance, the efforts of the Railways Ministry have not borne fruit as yet. As a percentage of pay, overtime allowance is declining in the Ministry of Defence but is on the rise in the Ministry of Railways. The allowance decreased to 6.54 per cent of pay in 2012-13 from nearly 8 per cent in 2006-07 in the Ministry of Defence. It increased to 2.58 per cent in the Ministry of Railways in 2012-13 from 2.09 per cent in 2006-07. 

Overtime paid to employees in the Railways is rising faster than even their pay. The compounded annual growth rate of 17.2 per cent for overtime in the ministry exceeds that of pay which is 13.2 per cent. If the government decides to continue with the allowance for those categories of staff for which it is not a statutory requirement, then it should be increased by 50 per cent, the panel recommended. 

In the Ministry of Railways, overtime paid to employees is rising faster than even their pay 

Source: The Hindu

7TH CPC – NFIR ULTIMATUM TO JAITELY – IF GRIEVANCE NOT MET – TRAINS WILL BE OFF THE TRACK FROM 11 JULY

Railways minister Suresh Prabhu has requested Union finance minister Arun Jaitley for a financial assistance of about Rs 32,000 crore to absorb impact of 7th Pay Commission recommendations.

“I would therefore earnestly request you to help the ministry of Railways and hand-hold it for implementation of 7th CPC recommendations,” Prabhu said in a letter addressed recently to Jaitley. “This may be done either through compensation of loss for coaching services (Rs 31,727 crore in 2013-14) or directly by virtue of a revenue grant matching the amount of the 7th CPC’s liability placed upon the Railways for the next three to four years.”

Western railways employees union General Secretary Mr. Mahurkar said in a press conference in Nagad, if the recommendations of the railway minister Mr. Prabhu are not met or not accepted, the rails will come to a crashing halt on July 11.

He added that about 1.5 lakhs of RPF jobs are vacant.

He further reiterated, the security forces of railways work 24 hours, they should be paid accordingly, based on their commitment, which is not happening, he said.

Railway Minister Mr. Prabhu has conveyed the grievances of railway staff to the finance minister Mr. Jitley, however it looks like he is in no mood to listen the plight of the railway staffs. so the employees are forced to take further devastative action, he added.

In the 6th CPC the increase in the wages was 54% but the 7th pay commission has recommended only 14.3% increase. Its a crime against employees, he added.

Mahurkar also objected to the implementation of new pension scheme for the employees from April 1 2014.

He added, on 9th June we will issue a notice for strike, if our demands are not met, from 11th July the railway employees will go on indefinite strike.

Source: Dainik Bhaskar

Shocking! 7th Pay Commission recommends abolition of overtime for government employees

New Delhi: The speculations and frenzy around 7th Pay Commission is refusing to come down, with reports pouring in the media every other day about newer angles to it.

Fresh in the buzz is that the 7th Pay Commission has recommended that over time, the time spent beyond stipulated work hours, be abolished for government employees, as per a report in the Hindu.

The Pay Panel's recommendation is grounded by the fact that overtime allowance has increased from Rs.797 crore to Rs.1,629 crore between 2012-13.

The Panel has also observed that the main focus should be on improving the “productivity and efficiency” thereby applying “stricter” control on the Centre’s expenditure under the head, the Hindu report further said.

The government has earlier stated that implementation of new pay scales recommended by the 7th Pay Commission is estimated to put an additional burden of Rs 1.02 lakh crore, or 0.7 percent of GDP, on the exchequer in 2016-17.

Meanwhile, a secretaries group, which was formed to study the recommendation of 7th Pay Commission is ready with its review. But it will submit its report once the elections get over.

The government had set up a high-powered panel headed by Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha to process the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission which will have bearing on the remuneration of 47 lakh central government employees and 52 lakh pensioners.

Soucre : http://zeenews.india.com/

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