7th CPC - TERMS OF REFERENCE - SUBMITTED BY CONFEDERATION OF CENTRAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES AND WORKERS 

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Dear Comrades,

VII-CPC – Terms of reference-

The members of the National Secretariat of the Confederation available at New Delhi met on 23rd Oct. 2013 and again on 24th October, 2013 to discuss and formulate our views on the 7th CPC terms of Reference. On the basis of the discussions, we prepared a draft terms of reference and submitted it for consideration of the Staff Side. The important points we placed in our draft for the consideration of the staff side were:-

(a) The Commission to examine the present structure of pay and allowances and suggest changes.

(b) To give effect to its recommendations from 1.1.2011 i.e. wage revision must be after every five years.

(c) D.A (50%) to be merged with pay with effect from 1.1.2011.

(d) To determine Interim relief taking into account the erosion in the value of wages over the years,

(e) To include GDS within the ambit of the 7th Central Pay Commission.

(f) To revise the retirement benefits and accord pension maintaining parity in quantum in respect of past, present and future pensioners.

(g) To extend the statutory defined benefit pension to those who have entered service after 1.1.2004.

(h) To settle the anomalies raised in various fora of JCM on a priority basis and within a specified time frame.

(i) To provide cashless/hazzle free Medicare to employees and pensioners.

The Government of India had convened a meeting of the Staff side representatives on 24.10.2013 to discuss the terms of reference. The meeting took place at 3.00PM on 24th under the Chairmanship of Secretary, Personnel. Besides the points mentioned above, the staff raised many other matters connected with the setting up of the CPC. viz. the inclusion of labour Representative as a Member of the Commission; the anomalous situation brought about by the Grade pay based MACP Scheme; the requirement of a mechanism to settle the 6th CPC related anomalies; the need to allow the proposals of Cadre Review to be examined by the Government independently without referring it to CPC; to have members in the Commission who have gained expertise to impart to the Commission the nuances and functional requirements of various Departments; to relook at the new Pay Structure brought in by the 6th CPC in the light of the experience between 2008 to 2013 etc. In conclusion the staff side requested the Government to provide it with a draft terms of reference taking into account the views placed by them. It was also proposed by the Staff Side that on exchange of the draft terms of reference prepared by the Staff Side and the Official Side, a meeting with the Secretary, Personnel and Secretary, Expenditure could be arranged to iron out the differences, if any.

The Staff Side met again on 25th at its office and deliberated upon various views presented by different organisations and finalised the draft terms of reference. We shall publish the said draft terms of reference as and when the same is submitted to the Government.

It is obvious that despite the unanimous position taken by all the organisations, the Government may not necessarily agree with many of the basic issues, viz. Date of effect, merger of DA, Interim Relief, Coverage of GDS etc. We appeal to our affiliates/ State COCs to continue the campaign amongst the employees to generate necessary sanctions.

                                                                                                 With greetings,

                                                                                                                                    Yours fraternally

                                                                                                                                        (M.Krishnan)

                                                                                                  Secretary General.

INDIAN RAILWAYS' TO LAUNCH RAILWIRE RURAL BROADBAND SERVICE 
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Aiming to provide seamless state-of-the-art communication network, RailTel - the telecom arm of Indian railways - will launch Railwire, a high capacity broadband service, in rural and remote areas of the country."Railwire will be launched across the country. Our aim is to reach out to rural and remote areas of the country at affordable rate," RailTel Managing Director B K Bahuguna said.
Currently Railwire service has been launched as pilot project in limited areas of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala having over 6,000 customers.
"Railwire service has been designed to provide an open source content delivery platform for providing various services including Broadband Internet, IP telephony, e-HealthCare, e-Education, and other content driven services like gaming, video on demand services to individuals and small and medium business segment using cable operator's infrastructure," Bahuguna said.
RailTel has built nationwide optical fibre cable (OFC) based broadband and multimedia network using railway?s seamless right of way with the objective of modernising rail network

HOTA COMMITTEE REPORT ON SUBMISSION OF DRAFT -ACCEPTANCE BY GOVERNMENT

372/3/2007-AVD-111 (Vol. 10)

Government of India

Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions

Department of Personnel & Training

North Block, New Delhi

Dated: 14th October, 2013

Office Memorandum

Subject:   Recommendations of the Committee of Experts on Disciplinary & Vigilance Inquiries (Hota Committee) – Para 135 of the Committee’s Report on submission of draft charge sheet while seeking first stage advice of CVC, etc. – Acceptance by Government – reg .

The undersigned is directed to say that the Government had appointed a Committee of Experts to review the procedure for Disciplinary/Vigilance Inquiries and recommend measures for their expeditious disposal. The Committee comprised the following:

(i) Shri P.C. Hota, Former Chairman, UPSC Chairman

    (ii) Shri Arvind Varma, Former Secretary, DoPT Member

(iii) Shri P. Shankar, former CVC Member.

2. The Expert Committee has, in para 135 of its Report, made the following recommendation:-

“135.(a)We have noted that even after approval of the Disciplinary Authority to initiate a Disciplinary Inquity, a lot of time is taken by the Department/Ministry to frame the Articles of Charge against a delinquent Government Servant.

(b)  We recommend that to eliminate delays in framing the Articles of Charge, the official file submitted to the Disciplinary Authority to initiate a Departmental Inquiry must have a copy of the draft Articles of Charge along with the imputations in support and a list of witnesses and documents. Such action before approval of the Disciplinary Authority is obtained to initiate a Departmental Inquiry against a delinquent Government Servant, would ensure timely framing and service of the Articles of Charge. We also recommend that when a case is sent to the CVC for its first stage advice, the Articles of Charge, complete in all respects, must be submitted to the CVC.

3. The aforesaid recommendation of the Hota Committee was considered by a Committee of Secretaries (CoS) under the chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary. The CoS has recommended acceptance of the aforesaid recommendation. Accordingly, the above recommendation of the Hota Committee has been accepted by the Government and it has been decided that all Ministries/Departments shall henceforth ensure that whenever a disciplinary case file is submitted to the Disciplinary Authority, seeking the approval of the Disciplinary Authority for initiation ofdepartmental proceedings against a government servant, a draft of the articles of charge, complete in all respects, along with the imputations in support and the list of witnesses and documents, shall be submitted to the Disciplinary Authority for its consideration. Similarly, whenever a case is referred to the Central Vigilance Commission for its first stage advice, a draft of the articles of charge, complete in an respects, as proposed by the Ministry/Department, shall be submitted to the CVC for its consideration.

4.  The above decision of the Government is brought to the notice of all Ministries/Departments for strict compliance.

sd/-

(V.M. Rathnam)

Deputy Secretary to the Govt. of India