Enhancement of limit of verification of withdrawal at Single Handed Post Office and BOs

Directorate vide SB order No. 2/2013 dated 26/2/2013 has enhanced the limit of verification of savings Bank withdrawals at Single Handed Post Office and BOs from Rs. 5000/- to Rs. 10000/- w. e.e f. 1/3/2013.

Click here to view SB Order no 2/2013 

No of chances to be availed for appearing Inspector Posts Examination by APS Candidates

...

Transfers & Postings in JAG Cadre of IPoS Group A

The following transfer and posting order of the JAG Officers of the Indian Postal Service Group-A has been issued vide Directorate Memo No.2-8/2013-SPG dated 21^st February, 2013.

Sl. No.	Name of the Officer	Presently Posted	Posting on Transfer
1	Sh. Pranav Kumar (IPoS-1995)	Director New Delhi GPO, Delhi Circle	Director (Mails& SP), Delhi Circle
2	Sh. A.K. Sing(IPoS-1989)	DPS, North Region, Muzaffarpur, Bihar Circle	Director (BD & Mktg), Odisha Circle
3	Sh. Pranoy Sharma (IPoS-1998)	OSD to Secretary (Posts)	AGM (BP), BD & M Directorate, New Delhi
4	Sh. Pawan Ku. Sing (IPoS-2000)	Director (BD, Tech & Mktg), Odisha Circle	DPS (HQ), Odisha Circle
5	Sh. Aman Sharma (IPoS-2002)	Director (Mails& SP), Delhi Circle	OSD to Secretary (Posts)

Allotment of IP (DR) candidates to Regions

Sri K.Panchajanya Reddy who was qualified in Combined main (GL) Examination 2011"Scheme A" and approved for appointment as Inspector Posts and alloted for AP Circle under DR Quota is now allotted to Vijayawada Region vide C.O Hyd memo no ST/2-1/2012 dated 22.02.2013.

EPF Rates revised

Retirement fund body EPFO today decided to pay 8.5 per cent interest rate to its over five crore subscribers on their PF deposits for 2012-13, higher than 8.25 per cent provided in the previous fiscal.

The decision was taken at the meeting of the Central Board of Trustees (CBT), the highest decision making body of the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). The meeting was chaired by the labour minister.

 "A decision has been taken to pay 8.5 per cent interest on PF deposits, but we have expressed our reservations as we wanted higher interest rate," said D L Sachdev, Secretary All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) after the CBT meeting.

  The notification on interest rate is issued by the government after concurrence with the finance ministry.

Payment of Incentive to SDI/ASP Sub Divisions for verification of RPLI Proposals

Click here to view Postal Directorate letter no 26-02/2009-LI dated 16.01.2013 on the above subject matter.

Post Bank of India ... Coming Soon

The postal department plans to enter the banking business with the Reserve Bank of India deciding to grant new bank licences to entities with credible track-record.

Consultant appointed :
Sources said the Department of Posts, which has a strong foot print in rural areas, has appointed Ernst and Young (E&Y) as the consultant for the proposed ‘Post Bank’

“Ernst and Young is expected to submit a detailed project report by April, after which all the necessary measures will be taken up to apply for banking licence,” a source at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology told PTI.

The sources added that the Department of Post (DoP) might need Cabinet approval for setting up Post Bank of India.

Of the 1.55 lakh post offices in the country, around 24,000 district offices may be ready to offer banking services in the next two years.

The DoP is in process of setting up 1,000 ATMs.

“Post Bank shall not only take care of the banking needs of the rural poor but shall also converge with micro-insurance and micro-remittance services of the DoP,” the source said.

As per data shared with Parliament, there were over 26 crore operational small savings accounts in post offices as on March 31, 2012, having deposits worth Rs.1.9 lakh crore.

Courtesy – The Hindu, 23rd Feb, 2013

FAQs on New Pension Scheme

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1.            Whether a retiring Government servant is entitled for leave encashment after retirement under the NPS?

 Answer : The benefit of encashment of leave salary is not a part of the retirement benefits admissible under Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 1972. It is payable in terms of CCS (Leave) Rules which will continue to be applicable to the government servants who join the government service on after 1-1-2004. Therefore, the benefit of encashment of leave salary payable to the governments/to their families on account of retirement/death will be admissible.

2.            Why is it mandatory to use 40% of pension wealth to purchase the annuity at the time of the exit (i.e. after the age of 60 years) from NPS?

 Answer :  This provision has been made in the New Pension Scheme with an intention that the retired government servants should get regular monthly income during their retired life.

3.            Whether any minimum age or minimum service is required to quit from Tier-I?

Answer :  Exit from Tier-I can only take place when an individual leaves Government service.

4.            Whether Dearness Pay is counted as basic pay for recovery of 10% for Tier-I?

 Answer :  As per the New Pension Scheme, the total Dearness Allowance is to be taken into account for working out the contributions to Tier-I. Subsequently, a part of the “Dearness Allowance” has been treated as Dearness Pay. Therefore, this should also be reckoned for the purpose of contributions.

5.            Whether contribution towards Tier-I from arrears of DA is to be deducted?

 Answer :  Yes. Since the contribution is to be worked out at 10% of (Pay+ DP+DA), it needs to be revised whenever there is any change in these elements

6.            Who will calculate the interest PAO or CPAO?

 Answer :  The PAO should calculate the interest.

7.            What happens if an employee gets transferred during the month? Which office will make deduction of Contribution?

 Answer :  As in the case of other recoveries, the recovery of contributions towards New Pension Scheme for the full month (both individual and government) will be made by the office who will draw salary for the maximum period.

8.            Whether NPA payable to medical officers will count towards ‘Pay’ for the purpose of working out contributions to NPS?

 Answer :  Yes. Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has clarified vide their O.M. no. A45012/11/97-CHS.V dated 7-4-98 that the Non-Practising Allowance shall count as ‘pay’ for all service benefits. Therefore, this will be taken into account for working out the contribution towards the New Pension Scheme.

9.            Whether a government servant who was already in service prior to 1.1.2004, if appointed in a different post under the Government of India, will be governed by the CCS (Pension) Rules or NPS?

 Answer :   In cases where Government servants apply for posts in the same or other departments and on selection they are asked to render technical resignation, the past services are counted towards pension under CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972. Since the Government servant had originally joined government service prior to 1-1-2004, he should be covered under the CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972.

Schedue for Inspector Posts Induction Training

Directorate vide letter No. 1-39/2009-Trg. dated 18.02.2013 has issued the following schedule to all PTCs for imparting Induction Training to the 189 departmental Inspector Posts candidates declared successful in the IP Examination held on 13th and 14th October 2012. Besides, the backlog of 2011 will also be covered. The Induction Training will be commenced in multiple batches at PTCs. 

Name of the circle	Name of Training Centre	No. of IP candidates	Tentative dates
AP, Assam, Karnataka, Kerala, NE Orissa, TN	PTC Mysore	64 (including 4 of IP Exam 2011)	04/03/2013
Delhi, Haryana, HP J&K, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and UP	PTC Saharanpur	93 (including 31 of IP Exam of 2011)	04/03/2013
Bihar & West Bengal	PTC Vadodara	32 (including 23 of IP Exam 2011)	25/03/2013

Grant of Honorarium to Observers appointed for Limited Deptl Competitive Examinations

Postal Directorate, vide order no A.34020/17/2008 - DE dated 13.02.2013, has prescribed the following rates of Honorarium for performing the duties of Observers for conducting LDCE by approved outsourced Agency.

Sl No	Category of Officers	Rate of Honorarium
1	Junior Administrative Cadre	Rs 600/- per session and Rs 800/- per day.
2	STS/JTS  and Other officers	Rs 400/- per session and Rs 600/- per day.

Deputations in the cadre of JAG of IPoS Group A

The services of Smt Sumitha Ayodhya (IPoS 2002), Director of Postal Services, Chennai City Region are placed at the disposal of Governement of Andhra Pradesh for a period of two years vide Postal Directorate memo no 14-3/20/2-SPG dated 13.02.2013.

Withholding of 10 Percent Gratuity From The Retiring Government Servants - Clarification

Click here to view Department of Pension and Pensioners Welfare OM NO.20/16/1998-P&PW(F) dated 19th February, 2013 on the above subject matter.

Two days Nationwide Strike on 20 th & 21 st Feb 2012

The trade unions in banking, insurance, public sector undertakings, transporters and unorganised sectors have called for a two-day nationwide strike on Wednesday and Thursday. They would be protesting against government’s alleged inaction on price rise, privatisation, outsourcing, violation of labour laws and various other issues.

Postal JCA is also participating in the strike.

Hon'ble Prime Minister's Appeal to Central Trade Unions to withdraw proposed Strike on 20th & 21 st Feb 2013

I appeal to the Central Trade Unions to withdraw their call for a countrywide General Strike on 20 and 21 February, 2013. Such a strike would lead to avoidable loss to our economy and inconvenience to the public through disruption of services. While some of the issues raised by the Trade Unions are already being acted upon and others are at various stages of consideration, I have requested my senior Cabinet colleagues Shri A K Antony, Shri Sharad Pawar, Shri P Chidambaram and Shri Mallikarjun Kharge to together hold discussions with the leaders of the Trade Unions. I am confident that these discussions would result in a course of action that is acceptable both to the Trade Unions and the Government.

Fiiling up of vacancies in CEPT Mysore

Click here to view the notification issued on the above subject matter.

Proforma promotion in the Senior Administrative Grade of Indian Postal Service, Group A

Click here to view the Directorate orders on the above subject matter.

House Building Advance to Central Govt Employees - Revision of Interest Rates

No.1-17011/2(6)/2013-H.III

Ministry of Urban Development

(Housing-III Section)

*******

 Nirman Bhawan, New Delhi.

 Dated:- the 17th January, 2013

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

 Subject:- Rates of interest on advances and loans to Govt. employees, for construction/purchase of houses/flats.

 The undersigned is directed to enclose herewith a copy of Ministry of Finance, Deptt. of Expenditure's O.M. No. 5(3)-B(PD)/2012 dated the 3rd January 2013 intimating the rates of interest on advances and loans given to Government employees for construction/purchase of houses/flats during 2012-13 i.e. 1st April, 2012 to 31St March, 2013 and until further orders, for information and compliance.

 Sd/-

 (S.K.Ram)

 Dy. Financial Adviser

No.5(3)-B(PD)/2012

Government of India

Ministry of Finance

Department of Economic Affairs

(Budget Division)

 Room No. 263-B, North Block,

 New Delhi dated the 3rd January, 2013.

Office Memorandum

        The undersigned is directed to state that the rates of interest on advances and loans given to Government employees for construction/purchase of houses/flats during 2012-13 i.e. 1st April, 2012 to 31st March, 2013 and until further orders will be as under:-

Slab                                       Interest Rate  percent per annum

 Advance upto Rs. 50,000/-        6.00

 Advance uto Rs. 1,50,000/-       7.50

 Advance upto  Rs. 500,000/-      9.00

 Advance upto  Rs. 7,50,000/-     9.50

          Ministry of Urban Development is requested to issue separate O.M. at their level on the above issue.

 This issues with the approval of hon'ble Finance Minister.

 Sd/-

 (A.K. Bhatnagar)

 Under Secretary (Budget)

Revision of Pension of pre-2006 Pensioners

Click here to view the memo dated 13/2/2013 issued by Department of Pension and Pensioners' Welfare on the above subject matter.

Senior Postmaster Examination - An update

It is confirmed from 'DE' Division of Postal Directorate that, in all 6 CAT cases are pending at various benches (2-Andhra Pradesh, 2-Odisha, 1- each at Punjab and Haryana Circle) on Senior Postmaster Examination. In view these CAT cases, this examination will not be held as per tentative programme circulated by Directorate. 

Source : postal inspector.blogspot.in

Master Circular on Product design and Exit from National Pension System (NPS)

Click here to view the details on the above subject matter.

US Postal Service to cut Saturday mail, trim costs

WASHINGTON: The financially struggling US Postal Service said Wednesday it will stop delivering mail on Saturdays but continue to deliver packages six days a week under a plan aimed at saving about $2 billion a year.

The change continues the shrinking of what used to be one of the country's most visible and powerful agencies, one that put the presence of the federal government in some of the smallest towns across the US The postmaster general had such powers of job-placing patronage that the position _ once part of the president's Cabinet _ was a coveted one.

But the Internet and package delivery companies such as FedEx and UPS have weakened the agency.

"Mail Network Optimization Project (MNOP)" selected for National E-Governance Award 2012-13

Mail Network Optimization Project (MNOP)" has been selected for National E-Governance Award 2012-13 under the category "Outstanding performance in citizen-centric service delivery" by Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievance, Government of India.

 

National E-Governance Awards are given every year to "recognize and promote excellence in implementation of e-governance initiatives" by Government of India. The Department of Posts had applied for the awards sometime back, and after several rounds of scrutiny, MNOP has been selected for this prestigious award.

 

The awards would be given on 11th February, 2013 during 16th National E-Governance Conference at Jaipur (Rajasthan). Details of projects selected for awards may be seen in the attached file.

Transfer and posting of Senior Administrative Grade (SAG) officer of the Indian Postal Service, Group A

Click here to view the Directorate orders on the above subject matter.

Present Status of issues relating to IP/ASP & Gr B cadre

General Secretary and President of IP/ASP Association along with Sri Ajith Kumar ASP (PMU) & other ASPs visited Postal Directorate from 6^th February 2013 to 8^th February 2013 and met with Secretary (Posts) and other Senior Officers. During these informal meetings, following pending issues were discussed in detail and present status is noted against each. 

Sl. No.	Issues discussed	Present status
1	Regarding issuance of repatriation orders in PS Gr. B cadre	The requests of the PS Gr. B officers who have completed one year service in other circle will be repatriated to their home circle first on the basis of availability of vacancies. It was informed that promotion orders issued under Directorate memo No. 9-23/2012-SPG dated 28/12/2012 will be implemented first. Near about 60 representations have been received at Directorate for change of circle, retention in the parent circle on health ground etc.
2	Supply of Laptop to all IPs/ASPs	It was informed that, this issue may be taken up at circle level for purchasing laptops from ‘OE’ fund. In case of any difficulty faced at circle level may be pointed out to Directorate.
3	Verification of SB withdrawals exceeding Rs.5000/-	It was informed that on introduction of CBS, the present provision of verification of SB withdrawals through SDI (P)/ASP or PRI (P) will be discontinued. Even though on our request Directorate is considering the proposal to enhance the limit soon.
4	Quota of General Line in PS Gr. B Examination	This will be settled at the time of framing new RRs of PS Gr. B cadre. It was decided by Directorate that only 3% quota will be given to General Line.
5	Inter-Circle transfer of Inspector Posts under Rule 38 of P&T Manual  Vol. IV.	This issue was discussed in depth. Few individual genuine cases brought to the notice of Hon’ble Secretary (Posts) and it was informed to us that HOC may consider the cases on merit as per instructions issued and in case of any difficulty the same may be pointed out to Directorate.
6	Issue of combined All India Seniority List of Inspector Posts from the year 1999	Combined All India Seniority List up to 2001 is ready and will be circulated in near future. Remaining seniority lists will also be compiled and issued in phased manner.
7	Result of PS Gr. B Examination 2012	It has been decided by Directorate that the result will be recast due to some errors in the answer keys of both question papers. Some more IPs / ASPs are likely to be declared successful after recasting. One ASP from Rajasthan circle has already filed CAT case under OA No. 487/2012.
8	DPC for JTS Gr. A cadre	It was agreed that DPC is delayed. File has already been sent to UPSC for deciding the date for holding of DPC.