Friday 27 February 2015
Thursday 26 February 2015
Wednesday 25 February 2015
Tuesday 24 February 2015
Lokayuktas Act 2013 – All Departments to start preparatory steps for filing of returns
DoPT issues fresh instructions to all Ministries on Declaration of Assets and Liabilities by CG Employees under Lokpal and
F. No. 11013/3/2014-Estt.(A)
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions
Department of Personnel & Training
Establishment Division
North Block, New Delhi — 110001
Dated February 17, 2015
OFFICE MEMORANDUM
Subject: Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1964 and The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013 — Submission of declaration of assets and liabilities by the public servants for each year — regarding
The undersigned is directed to refer to this Department’ OM of even no. dated /16.01.2015 clarifying the provisions relating to submission of declaration of assets and liabilities by the public servants. As per this clarification, all Government Servants have been advised that:
(i) The annual Immovable Property Return (IPR), as on 31.12.2014, under the existing CCS(Conduct) Rules, 1964 is required to be filed on or before 31.01.2015;
(ii) The first return under the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013 (as on 01.08.2014) should be filed on or before 30.04.2015; and
(iii) The next annual return under the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013, for the year ending 31.03.2015, should be filed on or before 31.07.2015.
2. The Secretaries of all Ministries/ Departments have also been requested that all concerned may be suitably advised to file the IPRs and the return under the Lokpal Act as per the dates indicated above. A compliance report in respect of the IPRs filed by Group ‘A’ Officers of the Central Civil Services, as on 31.01.2015, has also been requested by 30.04.2015. It has also been requested that similar action may be taken by the authorities controlling services not covered by the Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1964.
3. In this regard it has been directed that all preparatory steps for the purpose of filing returns under the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013, be put in place. An online system for filling the annual declarations of assets and liabilities by the public servants, as in PRISM (Property Related Information System) for IAS officers developed by NIC, may be adopted.
4. The Cadre Controlling Authorities are accordingly requested to please take immediate steps for putting in place all preparatory steps.
5. Hindi version will follow.
sd/-
(Mamta Kundra)
Joint Secretary (Establishment)
Budget 2015 expectations on Income Tax Front – Assocham Survey report
A survey carried out by industry body Assocham has found that a majority of salaried employees want Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to increase the income tax exemption in the forthcoming Budget.
A hike in income tax exemption from Rs. 2.5 lakh to Rs. 3 lakh will lead to savings of up to Rs. 5,000 for those who fall in the Rs. 2.5 lakh to Rs. 5 lakh tax bracket. Those in the Rs. 5 lakh to Rs. 10 lakh tax bracket will save up to Rs. 10,000, while those in the highest tax bracket can save up to Rs. 15,000.
Any increase in exemption in income tax would leave more money in the hands of people and will increase their purchasing power, Assocham said. If Mr Jaitley hikes income tax exemption limit, it will be for the second time in two years that salaried employees will get a relief on taxes.
The other big expectation is about exemption on housing loans. 78 per cent of those surveyed want interest exemption on home loans to go up to Rs. 5 lakh from Rs. 2 lakh. Property prices in the country have gone up sharply over the years and many individuals have to pay large amounts as interest for home loans. Exemption on interest on home loan was hiked by Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 2 lakh in the previous Budget.
A large number of respondents in the survey also voted for hiking exemption limit under section 80C of the Income Tax Act; the section makes investments worth Rs. 1.5 lakh on saving instruments such as fixed deposits, national saving certificates and public provident funds exempt from taxes. “Hike in exemption limits will boost the savings rate in the Indian economy to 35 per cent of GDP from below 30 per cent currently,” said Assocham secretary general D S Rawat.
88 per cent of respondents want the government to reduce the record-high duty on gold import. Import duty on gold was hiked to 10 per cent in 2013 when the economy was struggling with a high current account deficit and volatile rupee. Nearly 82 per cent of the salaried class expects a separate deduction of Rs. 50,000 for the payment towards annuity or pension plans. Deduction of the amount paid towards annuity plans u/s 80CCC and NPS u/s 80CCD come under the threshold limit of section 80C currently.
Around 55 per cent of the survey respondents were between 25 and 29 year-old; 26 per cent fell between 30 and 39 years; 16 per cent were between 40 and 49 years. The survey was carried out among employees from 18 broad sectors, with maximum share contributed by employees from IT/ITes sector (17 per cent). It was conducted across Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Pune, Chandigarh, Dehradun, etc. About 500 salaried employees from the different sectors were covered by the survey from each city on an average.
Source: NDTV
Thursday 19 February 2015
Employee can’t be kept under suspension for over 3 Months: Hon’ble Supreme Court
Hon'ble Supreme Court has prescribed that a government employee cannot be kept under suspension for over 90 days in the absence of a charge sheet against him as such persons “suffer the ignominy of insinuations, the scorn of society and the derision of their Department”. Observing that “protracted period of suspension of delinquent government employee has become a norm”, a bench of Justices Vikramajit Sen and C Nagappan said suspension, specially preceding formulation of charges, was essentially transitory or temporary in nature and must be of short duration.
“If it is for an indeterminate period or if its renewal is not based on sound reasoning contemporaneously available on the record, this would render it punitive in nature,” it said. Dwelling on the issue, the bench observed that “the suspended person suffering the ignominy of insinuations, the scorn of society and the derision of his Department, has to endure this excruciation even before he is formally charged with some misdemeanour, indiscretion or offence.
“His torment is his knowledge that if and when charged, it will inexorably take an inordinate time for the inquisition or inquiry to come to its culmination, that is to determine his innocence or iniquity.
“Much too often this has now become an accompaniment to retirement. Indubitably the sophist will nimbly counter that our Constitution does not explicitly guarantee either the right to a speedy trial even to the incarcerated, or assume the presumption of innocence to the accused,” the bench said.
Accordingly, it directed that “the currency of a suspension order should not extend beyond three months if within this period the Memorandum of Charges/ Charge sheet is not served on delinquent officer/employee; if Memorandum of Charges/Charge sheet is served a reasoned order must be passed for the extension of the suspension.” The apex court’s judgement came on a petition by defence estate officer Ajay Kumar Choudhary, who was suspended in 2011 for allegedly issuing wrong no-objection certificates for the use of approximately four acres of land in Kashmir.
Based on the findings given in the verdict, it said the officer can challenge his continued suspension.
“So far as the facts of the present case are concerned, the Appellant has now been served with a Charge sheet and therefore, these directions may not be relevant to him any longer. “However, if the Appellant is so advised he may challenge his continued suspension in any manner known to law, and this action of the Respondents will be subject to judicial review,” the bench said.
PTI
One Rank One Pension – OROP is getting final Shape – Large provision to be made in the Budget 2015
Achchey Din seems likely to dawn on the armed forces, or ex-personnel in particular. The government is giving final shape to their long standing demand of adopting One-Rank One-Pension (OROP).
Bureaucrats are currently burning midnight oil to pore over the fine print of at least four options to implement the OROP scheme. A source in government, aware of the developments, says a decision is expected soon and a large provision in the Budget, or soon after.
“We are very hopeful that the long overdue injustice to the armed forces will be reversed in this budget,” says Maj Gen Satbir Singh (Retd) who leads the IESM or Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement, which lobbied intensely for OROP since 2008. “Both UPA and NDA have agreed to our OROP so we see no reason that it will be held back now,” he says.
For 40 years the retirees, now numbering three million, have been bristling under what they perceive as “neglect and humiliation” by political parties and successive governments. Its extreme manifestation, from their perspective, was the denial of OROP. Lack of empirical data on the cost of this pension, plus political reluctance of the parties fuelled much of the denial and delay. The former military staff launched public agitations to make their case, often embarrassing the government.
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