AIPEU GROUP-C SECUNDERABAD DIVISION,TELANGANA CIRCLE: January 2016

Sunday, January 31, 2016

6 Signs That India's Unemployment Problem Might Actually Be Getting Worse

19,000 people applied for 114 posts as sweepers last week in Uttar Pradesh town Amroha, officials said. "Of some 6000 applications we have seen so far, many are graduates in arts and sciences, post-graduates, even engineering graduates and MBAs," Amroha municipal superintendent Faiz Alam.

“Even sweepers in our village have a good standard of living and send their children to English-medium schools," applicant Shamshad Ahmed Saifi of Makhdoompur village, a B Com final year student told the Times of India.

If Q3-Q4 2015, and January 2016 are a sign of things to come, India’s unemployment problem might get worse in the coming years.

75,000 well trained people want to be peons

The New York Times

Last year, the State Government's Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Chattisgarh, was barraged by 75,000 applicants for 30 peon jobs - for a 14,000 Rupee job that includes a task of fetching tea. It wasn’t surprising that of the 70,000 online applications and 5000 post applications, many included requisitions from qualified engineers and management graduates. According to Census 2011 data, over 20% of Indian youth (between the age bracket of 15-24) or 4.7 crore Indians are jobless.

Cash burn is making startups panic and fire startup employees

Last year, realty portal Housing.com announced plans to lay off at least 600 employees, in the wake of wannabe maverick co-founder and former CEO Rahul Yadav's dismissal. "Housing is being completely restructured and performance for each employee across departments is being (scrutinised)," said a top executive at the company, which in July fired for bad behaviour after months of chaos. "While some people have been asked to leave because businesses are being shut down, others because of under-performance and in some cases due to over-staffing," a source stated.

The going is good as long as the funds were pouring in

Fire fast is often more pragmatic option than failing fast, and India's fluid business models mean the need for constantly changing skill sets. The one-year-young Gurgaon-based hyperlocal grocery delivery service closed a Series B funding round of $36 million (around Rs 237 crore) in October this year. In 2015, PepperTap laid off some 40 employees, pegging its current headcount at a little over 2,000. Reasons for the layoffs? Poor performance coupled with a business rejig, as the startup shifted from distributed customer care call centres to a centralized one.

India is still hesitant to add women to the workplace

McKinsey

"Decreased labour force participation of women in India is a big problem. It is very important to promote their participation, their involvement in the Indian economy," the chief of International Labour Organisation research division Raymond Torres said while launching a new global unemployment report.

According to a McKinsey report, women’s equality can add another 12 trillion dollars to the global economy, and India stands to benefit quite a bit: “...the best-in-region outcome could increase annual GDP by 2025 by more than 10 percent over the business-as-usual case, with the highest relative regional boost in India and Latin America…”

India's number of job seekers is only increasing

India's unemployment rate remained at 3.5 per cent in 2014 and 2015 but will decrease slightly to 3.4 per cent in 2016 and 2017, according to the ILO findings. However, the number of people seeking jobs will increase to 17.6 million people in 2017 from 17.5 million people in both 2015 and 2016. This is not India's problem alone: "The global economy is not generating enough jobs to reverse the continuing increase in the alarmingly high unemployment situation in the world," said the ILO Director- General Guy Ryder.

The #StartUpIndia initiative doesn't necessarily mean more employment

reuters

Last week, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled incentives to boost start-up businesses. These included a tax holiday, capital gains tax exemption, a Rs 10,000 crore corpus, and and no inspections for the first 3 years of a startup's existence. It’s the exemptions from labour inspection that have scared India’s labour community.

The popular faces of #StartupIndia, brands that can afford crores in advertising spends have hired – and fired liberally.

Soon after securing Rs 177 crores in funding to help it last another 12 months, Tiny Owl fired 300 people, in spree across multiple offices was that became the topic of much drama. By November, Housing.com had also fired 600 employees, and announced 200 more layoffs after its shareholders tightened budgets. Food Tech players Zomato and Foodpanda had also fired 300 employees each. PepperTap, which closed around around Rs 237 crore in 2015 suddenly fired 40 employees, citing poor performance and a newer business model.

(With inputs from Agencies and TNN)

Source : http://www.indiatimes.com/

Postal Department Has Been Continuously Earning Higher Revenue Every Year: Lok Sabha Q&A

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO: 2965

ANSWERED ON: 16.12.2015

Revenue and Market Share of India Post

DEVENDRA (ALIAS) BHOLE SINGH SINGH

JAYADEV GALLA

KUNWAR SARVESH KUMAR

ASADUDDIN OWAISI

Will the Minister of

COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state:-

(a) whether the revenue and market share of India post has been declining;

(b) if so, the details of revenue generated separately from different segments such as parcel and speed and post expenditure incurred along with market share of India post during the last three years and the current year;

(c) whether Government proposes to introduce some scheme on Public Private Partnership (PPP) model and if so, the details thereof;

(d) whether India post is paying special focus on parcel segment and plan to establish 48 new set of parcel centres and if so, the details thereof; and

(e) the other measures taken by the Government to improve the postal delivery system of India post and increasing its revenue?

ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

(a) No Madam, the Postal Department has been continuously earning higher revenue every year and its share of revenue has been increasing year after year.

(b) Not applicable in view of reply at (a) above.

(d) & (e) Yes Madam, 48 dedicated Parcel Centres have been established in 2014-15 and another 9 have been established this year. Department is laying special emphasis on the Parcel segment through upgradation of Parcel infrastructure, improving the delivery system and revamping parcel transmission modes and routes. Some measures taken to improve quality of parcel service are as follows:-

i. The Parcel transmission & delivery network is being continuously reviewed and monitored for checking and improving efficiencies and better service quality.

ii. The Department of Posts offers end-to-end track & trace for Speed Post, Registered and other parcels through its website (www.indiapost.gov.in). This track and trace facility is available to retail as well as bulk customers for tracking the consignments on a real time basis.

iii. Department is developing its Road Transport Network for fast and secure transmission of parcels on identified routes. 11 major routes have been started this year.

iv. Department has introduced Mechanized Nodal Delivery of parcels from identified delivery centres in certain cities.

v. GPS devices have been installed in mail vans and other security measures improved.

vi. As a result of the efforts towards improving the quality of its services, the revenues of the Department have been consistently growing in the last several years.

Trend of Revenue Growth (Rs. In crore)

Trend of Revenue Growth (Rs. in crore)
Item FY 2012-13 FY 2013-14 FY 2014-15
Total Revenue 9366,60
10730.42
11635.98

(vii) Parcel revenue registered 37% growth in 2014-15. 117% growth in parcel revenue till 31st October 2015 in the current financial year.

(viii) Rs. 970 Crore Cash On Delivery collection done by Department of Posts till November 2015.

(ix) Speed Post revenue growth in the current financial year is more than 16%. CAG report laid in Parliament on 8th May 2015 highlighted that Speed Post is far better than private couriers, in terms of reach, assured delivery and delivery time.

=COPY=

Meeting of the NJCA on 08.02.2016

MEETING OF NODAL OFFICERS OF VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS ON 02-02-2016 TO IMPLEMENT THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE 7TH CPC

Saturday, January 30, 2016

Maximum of 6 tickets can be booked by an individual user in a month

Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Railways

28-January-2016 16:34 IST

Railway Ministry introduces new checks on booking of e-ticket/i-ticket through IRCTC website with a view to further prevent possible misuse

Under the new provisions a maximum of 6 tickets can be booked online by an individual user in a month on IRCTC website

This new provision will come into effect w.e.f. 15th February, 2015

The move aims to deter touts and to facilitate genuine users

In order to facilitate genuine users and prevent touting activities, various checks have already been put in place for the booking of e-ticket/i-ticket on IRCTC website including the following existing provision: –

1. Individuals are allowed only 2 tickets per user-ID in a day (for ARP booking) from 08:00 hours to 10.00 hours.
2. Individuals are allowed only 2 tickets per user-ID in a day (for Tatkal booking) from 10:00 hours to 12:00 hours.
3. Quick Book Option is disabled from 08:00 to 12:00 hours
4. All types of ticketing agents (YTSK, RTSA, IRCTC agents etc.) have been debarred from booking tickets during the first thirty minutes of opening of booking i.e. from 08:00 to 08:30 hours for general bookings, and from 10:00 to 10:30 hours and 11:00 to 11:30 hours for Tatkal booking in AC and non-AC classes respectively.
5. Booking is not allowed through e-wallet and cash cards from 08:00 to 12:00 hours.
6. There is only one booking in one user login session except for return/onward journey between 08:00 to 12:00 hours.

Press Release

Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW) – December, 2015

MONTH-YEAR	TOTAL OF 12 MONTHS	12 MONTHS AVERAGE	% INCREASE OVER 115.763	APP. DA
Jun-15	3053	254.42	138.65	119.77
Jul-15	3064	255.33	139.57	120.56
Aug-15	3075	256.25	140.49	121.36
Sep-15	3088	257.33	141.57	122.29
Oct-15	3103	258.58	142.82	123.37
Nov-15	3120	260	144.24	124.6
Dec-15	3136	261.33	145.57	125.75

source:- www.labourbureaunew.gov.in.

GOVT. OF INDIA HAS CONSTITUTED EMPOWERED COMMITTEE

Sack erring government officials who don't mend ways, PM tells secretaries

TNN | Jan 28, 2016

NEW DELHI: In a stern message to government officials refusing to mend their ways despite repeated complaints, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday asked secretaries to carry out assessment of such employees and recommend action, including dismissal and slashing their pension.
The PM also asked all central government departments, which have to extensively deal with the public, to set up a grievance-monitoring mechanism.
Thed PM's warning came as he reviewed grievances relating to the excise and customs department during his monthly interaction with central government secretaries and chief secretaries of states through Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation (PRAGATI), a web-based interface, sources said.
"Though he (the PM) specifically asked the excise and customs department to identify and take action against such officials, he said the message is for all secretaries and chief secretaries," a secretary level official told TOI.

The department of personnel and training (DoPT) rules specify the circumstances under which an a government officer can be "retired" in "public interest". Rule 56(J) of Fundamental Rules says, "Notwithstanding anything contained in this rule, the appropriate authority shall, if it is of the opinion that it is in public interest to do so, have the absolute right to retire any government servant by giving him notice of not less than three months in writing or three months' pay and allowances."
Employees attaining 55 years can be impacted under this rule.
Similarly, Rule 48 of Central Civil Services (Pension) Rule says, "At any time after a government servant has completed 30 years qualifying service, (a) he may retire from service or (b) he may be required by the appointing authority to retire in public interest, and in case of such retirement, the government servant shall be entitled to a retiring pension."

As per rules, the government can initiate disciplinary action against any employee for dereliction of duty, and his pension and other benefits can be withheld pending investigation.
In an official release, the PMO said that taking strong exception to public complaints and grievances related to the customs and excise department, the PM asked for "strict action against responsible officials. He urged all secretaries whose departments have extensive public dealing, to set up a system for top-level monitoring of grievances immediately".

Officials said though the Central Board of Excise and Customs said it had already been initiating steps to warn errant officials and installed CCTV cameras to keep tab on them, the PM observed that they must take quick action in such cases.
Sources said Modi also asked top bureaucrats to work together and resolve prickly issues quickly and get out of the "government way of doing business" by passing files from one to another.
This was Modi's ninth such interaction through PRAGATI.

Source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

LSG General line promotional orders

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Seventh Pay Commission: Railway union alleges 90% workers will suffer ‘take-home’ cuts

The recommendations of the seventh central pay commission (CPC) would reduce, rather than increase, the ‘take-home’ salary of almost 90% of Indian Railways’ workforce, the largest railway trade union has alleged. It has also threatened to go on an indefinite strike in the first week of March in response to the panel’s recommendations.

The National Federation of Indian Railwaymen (NFIR), which represents more than 90% of the railways’ workforce, has said 1.3 million railway employees are ‘seriously disturbed’ over what they call retrograde recommendations of the panel with regard to their pay structure as their take-home salary would be less than what they currently receive, particularly employees living in government accommodation.

“Those being covered against pay levels 1 to 12 of the seventh CPC Pay Matrix are approximately 90% of the workforce in the Indian Railways and these employees are seriously disappointed as their ‘take-home’ salary after 10 years waiting would be reduced ranging from Rs 2,000 to Rs 6,000 per month with effect from 1 January 2016,” NFIR said in a statement, without explaining how it arrived at the conclusion.

In a response to the “illogical” recommendations, the Union has threatened to go on indefinite strike in the first week of March after participating in a three-day Dharna at Jantar Mantar along with employees of Defence and Postal services.

“The Seventh CPC has done grave injustice to the employees in the Railways as well in the Central Government employees with regard to multiplying factor and computation of need based minimum wage,” the NFIR said, adding a comparison with earlier pay panels reveals several of the current pay commission recommendations are negative and illogical.

The recommendations are effective from the current month and would lead to total annual wage burden of Rs 28,000 crore, the government estimates.

The Union also said that the hike in wages in general will either be marginal or less than what is received now in most of the cases of employees. “Experience proved that successive Pay Commissions’ reports have resulted into pay anomalies since the age old relativities in pay scales got disturbed and those aberrations continued unresolved for decades as the authorities always prefer to procrastinate matters,” NFIR General Secretary M Raghavaiah said in a strongly-worded statement.

The trade union termed it ‘sad’ that the seventh CPC had not seriously gone into the skills requirement, nature of duties, accountability, remoteness and arduousness of over 1.3 million railway employees. It complained the Pay Commission has recommended abolition of various allowances and interest free advances in the Railways, generating serious unrest among the employees.

http://www.business-standard.com/

NJCA DHARNA, KOLKATA (WEST BENGAL)

At the call of NJCA, the State JCA, West Bengal organised a day long sit- in- demonstration at Rani Rashmoni Avenue , Kolkata against retrograde recommendations of 7th Pay Commission. Com. Shiv Gopal Mishra, Convenor , NJCA addressed the meeting. He nicely described the present position of 7th Pay commission and our task. The Central Trade union leaders, Com. Dipak Dasgupta, INTUC leader Shri Ramen Pandey and others addressed also the meeting and they have given assurance to support us in this matter. In addition to this other eminent leader of state JCA Com.Pijush Roy Com.Tapan Dasgupta Com.S.S.Roy and many others addressed the meeting.