Teachers Not to be Deployed for Non Educational Purposes

Teachers Not to be Deployed for Non Educational Purposes Says National Knowledge Commission

The Minister of State for Human Resource Development, Dr. Shashi Tharoor has said that no teacher shall be deployed for non-educational purposes other than the population census, disaster relief duties or duties relating to elections to the local authority or the State Legislatures or Parliament, as per the Right to Education Act (RTE), 2009.
He said that the National Knowledge Commission has also recommended that the imposition of a wide range of non-teaching duties, such as that of manning poll booths and collecting data for surveys etc., cuts into the available teaching time and also undermines the professional status of teachers. He added that these activities should be shared out among a wider range of public employees or even those hired specifically for the purpose, and the burden of such work on teachers must be reduced.
This information was given by Minister of State, HRD, Dr. Shashi Tharoor in a written reply in Lok Sabha.
Source : Press Information Bureau

Note: Read the above carefully and see whether the Additional duties imposed on Navodaya Teachers is Justifiable or Not The minister clearly stated that imposition of a wide range of non-teaching duties cuts into the available teaching time and also undermines the professional status of teachers .Is this statement not applicable to Navodaya Teachers who are assigned with a lot of non teaching duties from morning to midnight and giving little time for their professional development.Dear friends please comment.

Transport Allowance to Orthopaedically handicapped CG Employees

No. 21-1/2011-E.II(B)

Government of India

Ministry of Finance

Department of Expenditure

North Block, New Delhi

Dated: 5th August, 2013.

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Subject: Grant of Transport Allowance to Orthopaedically handicapped Central Government employees.
The undersigned is directed to refer to this Ministry’s Office Memorandum No. 19029/1/78-E.IV(B) dated 3rd December, 1979, as amended from time to time and to say that the Criteria for orthopaedically handicapped employees to draw Transport Allowance at double the normal rates has been reviewed in consultation with the Ministry of Health & family welfare. It has been decided that in partial modification of para 1 of Office Memorandum dated 3rd December, 1979 referred above, Double Transport Allowance shall be allowed to an orthopedically Handicapped Government employee if he or she has a minimum of 40% permanent partial disability of either one or both upper limits or one or both lower limbs OR 50% permanent partial disability of one or both upper limbs and one or both lower limbs combines. The other conditions of O.M. dated 3rd December, 1979 for granting Double Transport Allowance to orthopaedically handicapped Central Government employees shall remain unchanged.

(K.R. Sharma)

Under Secretary to the Government of India

Travelling Allowance applicable to Central Government Employees- A re-visit

Travel entitlements based on grade pay for reimbursing actual cost of journey performed by Central Government Employees by Air and Rail are as follows

Journey by Rail / Air

1. Class of accommodation according to grade pay:

From 01.09.2008, Central Government Servants are entitled for accommodation as follows.

Grade Pay	Travel Entitlement
Officers drawing grade pay of Rs.10,000 and above and those in pay scale of HAG + and above	Business / Club Class by air / AC First class by train
Officers drawing grade pay of Rs.7,600 and Rs.8,900	Economy Class by air / AC First class by train
Officers drawing grade pay of Rs.5,400 and Rs.6,600	Economy Class by air / AC II Tier class by train
Officers drawing grade pay of Rs.4,200, Rs.4,600 and Rs.8,900	AC II Tier class by train
Officers drawing grade pay below Rs.4,200	First class / AC III Tier / AC Chair car by train

Officers drawing Grade Pay of Rs.7600 and above are entitled to travel on tour by Executive Class in Shatabti Trains / AC first class in Rajdhani Train.
B. International Travel Entitlement:

(i) Cabinet Secretary/Secretary to G.O.I. and Equivalent	First Class.
(ii) Officers drawing grade pay of Rs. 10,000 and above and those in pay scale of HAG+	Business/Club Class.
(iii) Others	Economy Class.

C. Entitlement for journeys by Sea or by River Steamer (SR. 40):

Grade Pay (1)	Entitlement (2)
Officers drawing grade pay of Rs. 5400/- and above and those in pay scales of HAG+ and above	Highest Class.
Officers drawing grade pay of Rs. 4200, Rs. 4600 and Rs. 4800	If there be two classes only on the steamer, the lower class.
Officers drawing grade pay of Rs. 2400 and Rs. 2800	If there be two classes only on the steamer, the lower class. If there be three classes, the middle or the second class. If there be four classes, the third class.
Officers drawing grade pay less than Rs. 2400	The lowest class.

(ii) Accommodation entitlements for travel between the mainland and the A&N Group of Islands and Lakshadweep Group of Island by ships operated by the Shipping Corporation of India Limited will be as follows:

Grade Pay (1)	Entitlement (2)
Officers drawing grade pay of Rs. 5400 and above and those in pay scales of HAG+ and above	Deluxe Class.
Officers drawing grade pay of Rs 4200, Rs.4600 and Rs 4800	First/’A’ Cabin class.
Officers drawing grade pay of Rs 2400 and Rs. 2800	Second/’B’ Cabin Class.
Officers drawing grade pay less than Rs. 2400	Bunk Class.

D. Mileage Allowance for Journeys by Road:
Mileage allowance is a reimbursement of cost spent by a Government Employee for travelling from one place to another place for performing government duty. It is a part of Travelling Allowance applicable to Central Government Employees under TA Rules.
In supersession of S.R.46 and the Government of India’s order thereunder, the grade pay ranges for travel by public/bus/auto/rickshaw/scooter/motor cycle, full taxi/taxi/own car is revised as indicated below:

Grade Pay (1)	Entitlement (2)
(i) Officers drawing grade pay of Rs 10,000 and above and those in pay scales of HAG+ and above.	Actual fare by any type of public bus including air-conditioned bus; OR At prescribed rates of AC Taxi when the journey is actually performed by AC Taxi; OR At prescribed rates for auto rickshaw for journeys by auto rickshaw, own scooter, motor cycle, moped etc.
(ii) Officers drawing grade pay of Rs. 5400, Rs. 6600, Rs. 7600, Rs. 8700 and Rs. 8900	Same as at (i) above with the exception that journeys by AC taxi will not be permissible
(iii) Officers drawing grade pay of Rs. 4200, Rs. 4600 and Rs. 4800	Same as at (ii) above.
(iv) Officers drawing grade pay of Rs 2400 and above but less than Rs. 4200.	Actual fare by any type of public bus other than air-conditioned bus; OR At prescribed rates for auto rickshaw for journeys by auto rickshaw/own scooter/motorcycle/moped etc.
(v) Officers drawing grade pay below Rs. 2400.	Actual tare by ordinary public bus only; OR At prescribed rates for auto rickshaw/own scooter/motorcycle/ moped etc.

(b) Mileage allowance for road journeys shall be regulated at the following rates in places where no specific rates have been prescribed either by the Director of Transport of the concerned State or of the neighbouring States:
(i) For journeys performed in own car/taxi: Rs. 16 per km. (This amount is revised to Rs.20 after DA crossed 50%)
(ii) For journeys performed by auto rickshaw own scooter, etc.: Rs. 8 per km. (This amount is revised to Rs.10 after DA crossed 50%)
(c) The rate of Mileage Allowance for journeys on bicycle on tour and transfer, is Rs 1.20 per kilometer. (This amount is revised to Rs.1.50 after DA crossed 50%)

The following charges are reimbursable while performing journey on Rail.

1. Reservation charges
2. Sleeper Charges
3. Telegram Charges
4. Cancellation and reservation Charges while journey cancelled for official work.
5. Special supplementary charges levied by the Railways for travel by Super Fast Express Trains.
6. Tatkal Charges if official jouney is undertaken in emergency.
7. Education cess and Service Tax applicable for train fare.

The following charges are reimbursable when official jouney is perfomed in a Bus.

1. Reimbursement of Sleeper charges in bus if any.
2. Cancellation charges when ticket is cancelled due to official work
3. Reservation Charges

The following charges are reimbursable when official journey is performed by Air:

1. Passenger Service fee.
2. Booking charges
3. Cancellation charges when ticket is cancelled due to official work

Pension is the part of right to life: Bombay HC

Pensioners now have a reason to smile. In a landmark judgment, the Bombay high court has held that pension is a vital aspect of social security and that the right to receive it constitutes a right to life under the constitution. Moreover, it held that pension must be paid regularly in the first week of the month.
The judgment was passed in a case where the Solapur civic body had challenged a direction of an industrial court which had labelled its action of delaying pension payments inordinately each month as an unfair labour practice and directed it to credit the monthly pension by the first day of each following month.
The civic body explained that it was in financial difficulties and said it could pay by the 15th and not the first. The civic body argued that the Maharashtra Civil Services (Pension) Rules does not mandate payment by the first of each following month. Justice D Y Chandrachud said, “Deprive a pensioner of the payment and you deprive him or her of the right to life. Delayed pensionary payments place a pensioner in a position of uncertainty and dependence which impinges on the quality of life under Article 21, and the right to dignified existence of the aged,’’

Pension is a family right as well, contends Rathore

HANDIGARH: Disgraced former Haryana DGP, S P S Rathore wants pension for his family. According to Rathore, "Pension is a right, which devolves on the officer's family also and during his lifetime, it is necessary for his sustenance; thereafter it is to be enjoyed by his dependents, specifically his unmarried daughter and wife." These submissions were made by Rathore before the Punjab and Haryana high court in response to a petition filed by ministry of home affairs (MHA) against the restoration of his pension.
In his petition filed on May 2 before the high court, MHA had pleaded that Rathore has been convicted and sentenced by the trial court for molestation and his sentence has also been upheld by the high court, thus he deserved to be punished by withholding the pension benefits. Thereafter, HC had asked Rathore to file his response in the matter.

Pension for the Elderly: It’s no Charity, but a Human Right

Rajindar Sachar

It is a truism, though painful, that the Central Government’s priorities in fiscal matters are determined by the perceived sensitivities of the foreign and Indian corporate sector and the richer class rather than the urgent and humanitarian considerations for the poor and old citizens of India. How I wish that instead the government was to show urgent attention to the plight of about 10 crore elderly people (eight per cent of the Indian population, with one-sixth of them living without any family support)! No doubt, under the Central Government’s pension scheme, persons above the age of 60 get a pension of Rs 200 and those above 80 years Rs 500 per month, but this is applicable to those below the poverty line. The uncertainly is increased by the ever-fluctuating determination by the government of what should be the poverty level: pensions vary in different States—Delhi paying a maximum of Rs 1000 per month while others like Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, etc. only Rs 200 per month.
Of the total elderly population, only 1.97 crore are beneficiaries of IGNOAPS, which means that only about one in every five persons over 60 years receives old-age pension.
Employment-linked pensions are restricted to the elderly in the organised sector or to those who are among the rich and upper middle class categories. But the groups that are most in need of old age pension are largely in the unorganised sector. Between the years 2000 and 2010, the organised sector added less than 0.3 per cent workers annually to the workforce while the GDP of the country more than doubled with  an annual rate of  more than 7.55  per cent.  It is clear that much of the contribution to this growth came from the workers in the unorganised sector. But unlike the organised sector, workers in the unorganised sector do arduous manual labour often in the most difficult physical circumstances and without adequate nutrition and rest. Forcing them then to work beyond the age of 55, in order to survive, amounts to a form of punishment. The demand for old-age pension is thus not a demand for charity but a demand for recognition of their contribution to the economy, and the need-based constitutional principles which are to be applied. As Chief Justice of India S.H. Kapadia has expounded in the Human Rights Year Book 2011,
What is the need-based approach? Supposing there is no statute but the right to life is involved, is it open to the defence to say tight resource, financial crunch? The answer is ‘no’ because the right to life is there in Article 21 of the Constitution and the defence cannot toll the bell of tight resource. Take the case of food security. Two out of five people are below the poverty line, and if pension is to be paid to them, the government cannot say I have no money. Now this is what I mean by revisiting welfare rights. And that is where if enforceability is there the rule of law will prevail.
The insensitive and negative approach of various State governments and the Central Government to the plight of five crore people in the unorganised sector in the construction industry would show the government’s anti-poor face, especially in the way they have dealt with the report of the Justice V. R. Krishna Iyer Committee given decades back.
One of the key recommendations (which on paper has even been accepted by the Government of India though it has persistently refused to enforce it) is the manner in which the scheme of contribution by the employer along with a contribution by the employee is to operate.
Now as the construction industry worker is a migrant and has necessarily to be on the move for finding employment, it was accepted by the government that the contribution  of  the  employer and employee will be deposited in a computerised bank account with a specific identity number for each individual workman. This was so decided because construction labour being migratory, if a new account was to be opened every time with separate employers, his past accumulation was in danger of becoming unrecoverable. So, the way suggested was that each employer will deposit his contribution in a fixed numbered identity account given to the employee, and this will be honoured by all banks anywhere in the country. But this not having been done, the result is that a sum of at least Rs 5000 crores of the Employees Provident Fund is lying in banks but has not been disbursed to the workers because the government has not yet allotted them their identity account numbers. The result is that lakhs of workers are continuing to be near the starvation line.
♦
Another callous indifference of the government is shown by the fact that though all government contracts provide for the contractor to make temporary but proper accommodation for the construction labour at the site, it is common knowledge that contractors mixed up with dishonest inspectors do nothing of the kind—forcing female workers to use open toilets and leaving children to the vagaries of weather with no shelters built. A simple solution is for the government itself to provide these facilities and adjust funds at present being given to the contractors. In spite of protests by workers, nothing has moved—probably, the contractor-inspector nexus is all too powerful.
The Central Government has unapologetically announced many concessions for the corporate sector and the rich with the shameful claim that prosperity so generated will move down and improve the condition of the poor. This is a false claim as given in a warning by the Noble Laureate, Joseph Stiglitz, “The theory of trickle-down economics is a lie.”
According to the ILO’s 2010-11 World Social Security Report, the ILO’s new recommendations on social protection set nationally defined guarantees aimed at universal access to minimum income security, especially during old age, and that such guarantees are a human right and an ethical imperative of governments. How can the Central Government remain silent?
Governments cannot negate the claim for pensions for the old by pleading that development has to take precedence over poverty reduction. This is a specious argument that shows that poverty is a long-term problem and that current deficits represent a short-term emergency, that poverty can wait but deficits cannot. This is muddle-headed thinking. To reduce and eliminate massive absolute poverty lies at the very core of development itself. It is critical to the survival of any democratic and decent society.
The author is a former Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court.

What to do Navodayans after 60 ?