10% reservation bill for general category poor – Government introduces Constitution Amendment Bill in Rajya Sabha Prime Minister’s Office 10% RESERVATION BILL FOR GENERAL CATEGORY POOR IS A HISTORIC STEP AND A REFLECTION OF GOVERNMENT’S COMMITMENT FOR THE POOR, SAYS PM PM ASSURES PEOPLE OF ASSAM AND NORTH EAST THAT THEIR RIGHTS WILL BE PROTECTED GOVERNMENT’S DRIVE AGAINST CORRUPTION AND MIDDLEMEN WILL CONTINUE: PM PM DEDICATES FOUR LANE SECTION OF SOLAPUR-TULJAPUR-OSMANABAD HIGHWAY- NEW NH-52: TO THE NATION SOLAPUR-OSMANABAD VIA TULJAPUR RAIL LINE APPROVED: PM 30,000 HOUSES FOR POOR TO BE BUILT UNDER PRADHAN MANTRI AWAS YOJANA IN SOLAPUR 09 JAN 2019 The Prime Minister has said that the constitutional amendment bill providing 10% reservation for general category poor is a historic step for the uplift of the poor and a reflection of the Government’s commitment to Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas. Addressing a public rally in Solapur, Maharashtra today, he said that the passage...

TYPES OF RESERVATION QUOTAS IN INDIAN RAILWAYS MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS CATEGORIES OF RESERVATION QUOTAS IN INDIAN RAILWAYS With a view to cater to requirements of different categories of passengers served by Indian Railways, available reserved accommodation is distributed broadly under following types of reservation quotas: S.NO. QUOTA AVAILABLE FOR 1. General General Public 2. Tatkal General Public 3. Premium Tatkal General Public 4. Parliament House Hon’ble Members of Parliament (Sitting and Former) 5. Ladies Female passenger travelling alone or in a group of female passengers 6. Senior Citizen Combined quota for senior citizens, female passengers above 45 years & pregnant women 7. Foreign Tourist Foreigners 8. Defence Defence Personnel 9. Roadside General Public 10. Pooled General Public 11. Cancer Patient Cancer Patients 12. RAC(Reservation Against Cancellation) General Public 13. Physically Handicapped Divyangjan 14. Duty Pass Serving/retired Railway employ...

Central Government employees – Withdrawal of Pension Facility Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions Withdrawal of Pension Facility 03 JAN 2019 Information regarding the number of Central Government employees in the country is not maintained centrally in this Ministry. As per information provided by Department of Expenditure, the total number of Central Government civilian employees, as on 01.03.2016, was 32, 21,183 Total number of Central Government civil pensioners, as on 31.03.2018, is 37, 02,882. Central Government employees (except Armed Forces personnel) appointed on or after 01.01.2004 are covered under the National Pension System (NPS) notified vide Ministry of Finance (Department of Economic Affair’s) Notification No. 5/7/2003-ECB & PR dated 22.12.2003 and Section 20 of PFRDA Act, 2013. Such employees are, therefore, not covered by the Central Civil Services (Pension) Rule, 1972, which are allocable to Central Government civil employees appoin...

Ministry of Labour & Employment Payment to Contractual Labour through Cheque 02 JAN 2019 The Payment of Wages Act, 1936 has been amended by Payment of Wages (Amendment) Act, 2017 (effective from 28.12.2016) to enable the employers to pay wages to their employees by (a) cash or (b) cheque or (c) crediting to their bank account. The amendment in the Act also enables the appropriate Government to specify the industrial or other establishment, by notification in the Official Gazette, which shall pay to every person employed in such industrial or other establishment, the wages only by cheque or by crediting in his bank account. Provision for making of payment only by cheque or by crediting in bank account of an employee, in respect of industrial or other establishment in the Central Sphere has been notified on 26.04.2017. As per information received from the Government of Madhya Pradesh, contract labour are paid through Bank at thermal power station, Chachai in Amarkantak in th...

Ministry of Labour & Employment Scheme to partially reimburse employers for Maternity Benefits 02 JAN 2019 Government is working on an Incentive Scheme wherein seven weeks wages shall be reimbursed to employers who employ women workers and provide the maternity benefit of 26 weeks paid leave, as provided for in the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017. To enable an entity to avail of the incentive, the women employees working in their entity should be a wage earner of less than Rs.15,000/- per month and a member of Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) for at least one year and not covered by Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC). A meeting of Stakeholders’ Consultation with representatives of concerned Central Ministries, State Governments, Employers’, Employees’ etc. was held on 14.11.2018 to discuss the matter. The Scheme was supported by and large with the majority of stakeholders. The scheme is proposed to be administered after obtaining the appro...

Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports Promotion of sports among rural youth 31 DEC 2018 ‘Sports’ is a State subject and promotion of sports in the country, including promotion of Sports among rural youth is primarily the responsibility of the State Governments and the National Sports Federations (NSFs) concerned. The Central Government complements/supplements the efforts of the State Governments and the NSFs. Government is already running several schemes to increase participation of the rural youth in sports. The Khelo India Scheme implemented by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports provides for promotion of sports among entire population including rural youth. Also, the scheme has a dedicated vertical, viz., Promotion of rural and indigenous/tribal games which provides for financial assistance to NSFs / Non Government Organizations (NGOs) etc for promotion of sports in the country including rural areas. Under this vertical, various NSFs have been provided financial assis...

7th Pay Commission Fitment Factor and House Rent Allowance – No Change Therein is Envisaged 7th CPC Fitment and HRA – No Change Therein is Envisaged In written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha on 11th December 2018 , Minister of State for Finance Shri P.Radhakrishnan said no change in 7th CPC Fitment Factor and House Rent Allowance. Increase in Pay Fitment Factor and HRA “The fitment factor for the purpose of fixation of pay in the revised pay structure based on the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission is 2.57 which is uniformly applicable to all categories of employees. As the same is based on the specific and considered recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission, no change therein is envisaged. The Government vide Resolution dated 6th July, 2017 decided that HRA shall be revised to 27%, 18% and 9% of Basic Pay in X, Y and Z cities when Dearness Allowance (DA) crosses 25% and further to 30%, 20% and 10% of Basic Pay in X,Y and Z cities when DA crosses ...

Increase of fitment factor from 2.57 to 3.68 under 7th CPC – Latest official statement before PM’s Independence Day speech GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF FINANCE RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-2273 ANSWERED ON-07.08.2018 Increase of fitment factor under 7th CPC 2273 . Shri Ravi Prakash Verma Shri Neeraj Shekhar (a) whether Government is contemplating to increase fitment factor from 2.57 to 3.68 under 7th CPC to all pay levels, as demanded by employees associations; (b) if so, the details thereof and by when it would be announced; and (c) if not, the reasons for betrayal from assurances given by Home Minister and Railway Minister etc. to employees associations in 2016? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE (SHRI P. RADHAKRISHNAN) (a) to (c): The Minimum Pay of Rs. 18,000 p.m. and Fitment Factor of 2.57 are based on the specific recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission in the light of the relevant factors taken into account by it. Therefore...

Wages of daily wagers, casual workers, temporary workers, ad-hoc appointees, contractual employees etc Wages of contractual employees The Central and the State Government departments and agencies, on the basis of manpower requirement therein, engage various sets of workmen other than permanent employees viz. daily wagers, casual workers, temporary workers, ad-hoc appointees, contractual employees etc which are engaged by an establishment directly or through contractors. The wages, terms & conditions of service and the period of engagement of such workers in an establishment varies from establishment to establishment. Data in this regard is not centrally maintained. The principle of “equal pay for equal work” was examined by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the civil appeal number 213 of 2013. The issue before the Hon’ble Supreme Court was that: “…..whether temporarily engaged employees (daily-wage employees, ad- appointees, employees appointed on casual basis, contractual empl...

Loco Running Staff - Rajya Sabha Q&A GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 960 ANSWERED ON 09.02.2018 LOCO RUNNING STAFF 960. SHRI C.P. NARAYANAN: Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state: (a) the number of loco running staff in Railways at present; (b) their average work load per week; (c) the maximum hours of continuous work they have to do in a week; (d) how much increase in their emoluments have been given during the last three years; and (e) how do they compare with emoluments of other railway staff? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS (SHRI RAJEN GOHAIN) (a) to (e): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House. STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (e) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 960 BY SHRI C.P. NARAYANAN ANSWERED IN RAJYA SABHA ON 09.02.2018 REGARDING LOCO RUNNING STAFF (a) As on 01.04.2017, over Zonal Railways, total number of employed staff in loco running category is 87196. (b) & (c) As per the p...

Linking of Aadhaar with Registration of Marriage - Rajya Sabha Q&A GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT R A J Y A S A B H A UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 914 TO BE ANSWERED ON FRIDAY, THE 9TH FEBRUARY, 2018 Linking of Aadhaar with Registration of Marriage 914. SHRI HARSHVARDHAN SINGH DUNGARPUR: Will the Minister of LAW AND JUSTICE be pleased to state (a) whether Government have received any request from Law Commission for linking of Aadhaar with registration of marriages to prevent fraudulent marriages and denial of subsistence to deserted women; (b) if so, the details thereof; and (c) the action taken/to be taken by Government on their request? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR LAW AND JUSTICE AND CORPORATE AFFAIRS (SHRI P.P. CHAUDHARY) (a) to (b) The 21st Law Commission of India in its 270th Report titled "Compulsory Registration of Marriages" has observed that it would be desirable to have a centralized national portal for maintenance of records o...

Linking of ration card with Aadhaar - Rajya Sabha Q&A GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION  RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-865 ANSWERED ON 09.02.2018 Linking of ration card with Aadhaar 865 . Shri B.K. Hariprasad (a) whether Government has taken any steps to ensure that no individual is denied PDS benefits even if  he/she does not have Aadhaar or has not linked his ration card to the number; and (b) if so, the details thereof? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION (SHRI C. R. CHAUDHARY) (a) to (b): Yes, Sir. The Department of Food and Public Distribution has issued clear instructions to all States/UT Governments that no beneficiary/household shall be deleted from the list of eligible beneficiaries/households only on the ground of not possessing Aadhaar, and shall also not be denied subsidized foodgrains or cash transfer of food subsidy under NFSA due to non-availability of Aadhaar or failu...

Amendment in EPF scheme for buying homes GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-1056 ANSWERED ON-27.12.2017 Amendment in EPF scheme for buying homes 1056 . Shri R. Vaithilingam (a)whether Government will amend the Employees” Provident Fund (EPF) scheme to enable around 4 crore members of Employees” Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) to withdraw upto 90 per cent of their fund for making down payments while buying houses; (b)whether said amendment will also allow the EPFO subscribers to use their EPF accounts for paying equated monthly installments of home loans; and (c)whether under the proposed provision in the EPF scheme, the subscribers would have to form a cooperative society with at least 10 members to avail of the facility? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE (IC) FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT (SHRI SANTOSH KUMAR GANGWAR) (a) to (c): The Government vide Notification No. G.S.R.351 (E) dated 12th April, 2017 has inserted a paragraph 68BD in Employee...