Revision as of 11:09, 28 December 2020

Child-care leave

Single, male employees eligible for 730 days

Bharti Jain, December 28, 2018: The Times of India

Male personnel in the central government who are single parents to dependant children can now avail of child care leave (CCL) of a total 730 days during their entire period of service, a provision that till now applied only to women employees.

Women government servants were entitled to CCL in three spells in a year that could be availed for up to two children. A ‘single’ male government employee has been defined as “an unmarried or widower or divorcee government servant”. Though the number of eligible single male parents is likely to be limited, the move signals a shift from considering women as the principal care-givers for children.

Interestingly, the DoPT order has introduced a cut in salary drawn for the latter half of the 730-day period. While the earlier rule required the beneficiary to be paid leave salary equal to the pay drawn immediately before proceeding on leave, the amended rule entitles such a beneficiary to 100% salary for the first 365 days and 80% for the next 365.

‘Onus of raising kids on male staffer if single’

Apart from CCL, women can avail paid maternity leave of 180 days and male parents can claim 15 days. Earlier, the government had increased the maternity leave for workers in the organised sector to 26 weeks. In an order notified earlier this month, the department of personnel and training (DoPT) also allowed a concession to women government employees who are single parents.

The DoPT order said: “A female government servant and single male government servant may be granted child care leave by an authority competent to grant leave for a maximum period of 730 days during entire service for taking care of two eldest surviving children, whether for rearing or for looking after any of their needs, such as education, sickness and the like.”

The decision to extend benefit of leave to single male parents is in line with recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission. In its report, the pay panel had said: “The commission notes that in the event a male employee is single, the onus of rearing the children falls on his shoulders.” On the salary cut for the latter half of the 730-day period, the Seventh Pay Commission argued that CCL should not be seen as a benefit to be availed simply because it existed.

Compassionate Appointments

Married daughters eligible

Vasanth Kumar, December 17, 2020: The Times of India

The Karnataka HC has ruled that married daughters, too, are entitled to seek employment on compassionate grounds as they don’t cease to be part of the family after they enter wedlock.

“Half the world, and not even half a chance,” the court said on Tuesday about the plight of Bhuvaneswari V Puranik from Bengaluru, whose representation for a job on compassionate grounds was rejected because she is married. Her brother, working in a private company, chose not to seek a government job. The court also directed the government to consider the petitioner’s appeal for a job in one of its departments.

The petitioner’s father Ashok Adiveppa Madivalar, who worked as a secretary in the office of Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee at Kuduchi in Belagavi, died in 2016 while in service. His daughter’s application for a job on compassionate grounds in 2017 was rejected by the joint director (administration), department of agriculture marketing. Bhuvaneswari challenged the order in HC, contending it was discriminatory.

The court said married daughters’ exclusion from the ambit of expression ‘family’ under the Karnataka Civil Services (Appointment on Compassionate Grounds) Rules, 1996, was illegal, discriminatory and unconstitutional, and struck down the rules which said only an unmarried daughter is considered a member of the family.

Stating that “the nature bestows so much on women (and) the law cannot bestow too little”, Justice M Nagaprasanna said the rules seek to create discrimination on the basis of gender.

“If the marital status of a son does not make any difference in law to his entitlement for seeking appointment on compassionate grounds, the marital status of a daughter (too) should make no difference,” it said.

Spouse appointed on compassionate grounds can remarry

Rajesh Kumar Pandey, December 22, 2020: The Times of India

The Allahabad high court has recently held that a husband’s appointment on compassionate ground will not take away his fundamental right to remarry, reports Rajesh Kumar Pandey. Dismissing a writ petition filed by one Mohammad Haidar from Amroha, Justice Pankaj Mithal said, “The rules nowhere stipulate that any permission is required by a person employed on a compassionate basis for remarriage. It only provides that the person employed on a compassionate basis shall maintain other members of the family of the deceased government servant. It also provides that in case he neglects or refuses to maintain them, his services may be terminated. This does not mean that there is any rider on the right of the employee to remarry,” Justice Mithal said.

It has been observed in a January 21, 2020 order that the right to marry with a person of choice is an integral part of Article 21 of the Constitution of India. Merely because the petitioner has been appointed on compassionate basis, he cannot be forced to sacrifice his/her fundamental right of remarriage after the death of the earlier spouse. A person would not earn any disqualification on this score and warrant any disciplinary proceedings. In this case, the petitioner, Mohammad Haider, was appointed on the compassionate basis after the death of his wife. Thereafter, he wanted to marry the younger sister of his wife. Therefore, he sought permission from Basic Shiksha Adhikari where he is employed to get remarried. When he didn’t get any response, he moved the high court for relief.

Rejecting the petitioner’s plea, however, the court said that no permission was required for remarriage.

Evaluation system, MSF/ 360-degree

2020: HC upholds MSF

Abhinav Garg, March 8, 2020: The Times of India

The Narendra Modi government’s 360-degree evaluation system for senior bureaucrats has got a boost, with the Delhi high court refusing to strike it down in a recent case.

The HC also dismissed in end-February a review plea moved by the officer urging it to reconsider the decision, saying “no grounds are made out for review”.

Introduced in 2015, the 360-degree appraisal system made vetting of eligible bureaucrats to highest echelons of office much more stringent. However, it has also drawn criticism from several quarters for being opaque and non-transparent, unlike the Annual Confidential Reports (ACRs).

While dealing with a plea, the HC backed the government’s new system, which is also known as Multi-Source Feedback Guidelines (MSF).

A bench of Justice S Muralidhar and Justice Talwant Singh studied the MSF guidelines and minutes of each of the meetings of the Committee of Secretaries constituted for deciding empanelment of additional secretaries, before rejecting the plea of a senior IAS officer who challenged the MSF, which overlooked him for empanelment thrice, and sought a copy of his appraisal.

The HC agreed with the stand of the Centre through additional solicitor general Sanjay Jain and standing counsel Gaurang Kant, noting: “MSF Guidelines were not intended to be ‘issued’, i.e. placed in the public domain. They were to serve as internal guidelines for the Committee of Secretaries/ Empanelment Committee when it undertook the task of deciding to empanel Additional Secretaries.”

In his plea, the senior IAS officer claimed the MSF norms were never issued or made public and attacked the decision as arbitrary.

Lateral entry

2019: 9 professionals selected as joint secys

9 professionals selected as joint secys in biggest lateral induction into govt service, April 13, 2019: The Times of India

Will Join Their Departments On Contract Basis

The government selected nine professionals, largely from the private sector, as joint secretaries in various departments, signalling a major shift in the entry of professionals in shaping policies.

This is perhaps the first time that a large of group of experts with domain knowledge will enter the government through the lateral-entry process. So far, the joint secretary-level officers are largely drawn from the pool of people who clear the civil services examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). To ensure the same standards, the entire process of the selection of these experts was conducted by the UPSC.

Earlier, some experts had joined the government through the lateral-entry route in ministries such as finance, power and sanitation. The list of professionals included those like Manmohan Singh, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Bimal Jalan, Vijay Kelkar (former petroleum and finance secretary), R V Shahi (former power secretary), apart from Parameswaran Iyer, who is currently sanitation secretary, and Rajesh Kotecha, who heads the Ayush ministry The UPSC on Friday released the list of experts who will join departments such as agriculture, civil aviation, finance, transport and shipping. They will join their respective departments on a “contract basis”.

According to sources, Amber Dubey, working as a partner with consultancy firm KPMG as head of aerospace and defence, has been recommended for appointment in the civil aviation ministry. Dubey is an alumnus of IIT Bombay and IIM Ahmedabad and has over 26 years of experience.

Officials said Kakoli Ghosh, who is working with a multilateral farm sector-focused agency, has been selected to join the agriculture ministry; Sujit Kumar Bajpayee, who is working with state-run NHPC, has been recommended for appointment as joint secretary in the environment ministry. Dinesh Dayanand Jagdale, who is the CEO of Panama Renewable Energy Group, will join the new and renewable energy ministry.

Saurabh Mishra will be a joint secretary in the financial services department while Rajeev Saksena will join the economic affairs department. Arun Goel has been selected for the commerce ministry while Suman Prasad Singh will join the road transport ministry. Bhushan Kumar has been selected for the shipping ministry.

“This is a huge change. Perhaps for the first time, so many private sector specialists are being inducted. The entire process has been done through UPSC which is good,” said a senior gover nment official.

He said the selected candidates would be governed by central government administrative rules and will enjoy the pay and perks of a joint secretary. Government thinktank Niti Aayog has experimented with the concept and has hired several private sector experts through the lateral-entry process which had triggered a controversy but the thinktank had backed the move. In its report Strategy for India @75, Niti Aayog had recommended encouraging lateral entry at the highest levels of the government to usher in much-needed expertise.

Medical facilities

CGHS cover even at hospitals not on govt list: SC/ 2018

AmitAnand Choudhary, April 14, 2018: The Times of India

In a relief to over 44 lakh current and retired government employees and their families covered under the Central Government Health Scheme, the Supreme Court said that reimbursement cannot be denied to them even if they received treatment in a hospital not empanelled under the plan. The SC bench said “no fetters” could be placed on the rights of a government employee during his lifetime to get the best medical treatment and it was wrong to reimburse bills on the basis of rates fixed under CGHS in case the employee got treatment from a hospital which is not empanelled.

“The right to medical claim cannot be denied merely because the name of the hospital is not included in the government order,” the bench said.

Apex court slams ‘inhuman’ govt decision

“The real test must be the factum of treatment. Before any medical claim is honoured, the authorities are bound to ensure as to whether the claimant had actually taken treatment. Once it is established, the claim cannot be denied on technical grounds,” the bench said.

The court passed the order on a PIL filed by former Indian Revenue Service officer and advocate Shiva Kant Jha who was treated for a heart ailment at Fortis Escorts Hospital in Delhi and Jaslok Hospital in Mumbai in 2003. The total expenditure in the treatment was around Rs 13.8 lakh. The government initially refused to reimburse the bill on the ground that the hospitals were not empanelled and there was no need to implant CRT-D device.

After repeated representations made to the government, an amount of Rs 5.84 lakh was reimbursed to Jha on the basis of rates fixed under CGHS. He thereafter approached the Supreme Court for reimbursement of the rest of the amount. Opposing his plea, the Centre said reimbursement must be done on the basis of fixed rates since private hospitals, not empanelled under the scheme, charge high amounts for treatment. The bench slammed the Centre for taking an “inhuman approach” by denying the benefits and directed reimbursement of the rest of the amount within a month.

Salaries

How government salaries are determined

The Times of India, Nov 23 2015

Equity important basis in fixing pay of govt staff

What is a pay commission?

From time to time, the Centre appoints pay commissions for examining various aspects of the compensation package of central government employees and recommend appropriate pay revisions. So far, seven central pay commissions have been appointed. The first was constituted in 1946, followed by commissions appointed in 1957, 1970, 1983, 1994, 2006 and 2014. These commissions are the successors of Royal commissions set up during the British raj. The gap between two pay commissions has been about a dozen years, but the last pay commission was appointed within a space of eight years.

What factors are examined in fixing salaries of government employees?

The seventh pay commission report states that the salaries of government employees should be enough to motivate them to work as well as retain them in government service as the recruitment and training process of new employees is an expensive affair. Another important basis, is equity or equal pay for equal work.

How is the minimum salary fixed?

The estimation of minimum pay in government is the first step towards building a new pay structure. It is fixed by considering the recommendations of the 15th Labour Conference held in 1957. The need-based wages are fixed to cover all the needs of a worker's family.One key measure is food requirements as specified by the recommendations of Dr Wallace Akroyd's formula providing a minimum of 2,700 calories and a specified quanitity of protein, fat and so on. The normative family is taken to consist of a spouse and two children below the age of 14. With the husband assigned one unit, wife 0.8 units and the two children 0.6 units each, the minimum wage needs to be enough to provide for three consumption units. It also keeps in mind the 1991 judgment of the Supreme Court asking for providing for education, medical expenses, recreation, festivals and ceremonies. Based on these criteria, the minimum wage fixed by the seventh pay commission is Rs 18,000.

How are higher level salaries fixed?

The pay matrix has two dimensions hor izontal and vertical.

There are 18 horizon tal levels for starting points in various government jobs and then there are verti cal ranges of pay progression for each of these levels.An employee joins at a particular level and progresses within the level as per the vertical range. The movement is usually on an annual basis, based on annual increments till the time of their next promotion. Different compensations are fixed for all these stages. In the first pay commission, there was a huge difference between the highest and the lowest paid government employees. For instance in 1948, the salary of the highest paid government official was Rs 2,000 which was 37 times higher than the Rs 55 paid to the lowest earning employee. The ratio was progressively reduced to reach 10.2 times by the fifth pay commission. In the seventh pay commission stands at 13.9.