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Sunday 10 November 2019


COURTESY MEETING WITH SECRETARY (P) & DG (P)
         
Secretary General NFPE & General Secretary AIPE Union Group-C , Com. Giri Raj Singh , President NFPE & General Secretary AIRMS&MMS Employees  Union Group-C  and Com. D.B. Mohanty, General Secretary AIPE Union Postmen & MTS (P-4), met with Shri P.K. Bisoi, Secretary(Post) and Shri Salim Haque, Director General (Post) on            1st November,2019 and conveyed Greetings and Best Wishes on behalf of NFPE on their assumption of Charge as Secretary (Post) and Director General (Post) respectively.

We as NFPE hope that the Department of Post will march forward on the path of progress and relations between Administration and Union will be strengthened further under the able leadership of Shri P.K. Bisoi, Secretary (P) and Shri Salim Haque, Director General (Post)
NOTICE FEDERAL COUNCIL NFPE

          National Federation of Postal Employees
1st Floor North Avenue Post Office Building, New Delhi-110 001
Phone: 011.23092771                                         e-mail: nfpehq@gmail.com
       Mob: 9718686800/9319917295            website: http://www.nfpe.blogspot.com

No. PF-1(a)/2019                                                                          Dated: 20th July, 2019
NOTICE

            It is hereby notified under article 10 of Constitution of NFPE that the 11th Federal Council Session of National Federation of Postal Employees will be held at “MANAV SEWA SANGH, VRINDABAN, MATHURA (UP) from 25.11.2019 to 27.11.2019.

            The following shall be the Agenda of the Federal Council:
AGENDA

1.         Confirmation of the proceedings of Xth Federal Council held at Guwahati from 07.09.2016 to 09.09.2016.

2.    (a)   Consideration  and adoption of the Triennial Report on activities  of NFPE.
       (b). Approval of Audited Accounts for the year 2016-17, 2017-18 & 2018-2019
       (c)  Budget estimates for next three years.

3.         Organizational Review.

(i) (a)   Role of NFPE during last 3 years in building united movement of Postal Employees and Central Government Employees.
    (b)   Organizational position at All India / Circle/Divisional level.
    (c) Declaration of result of Membership Verification & GDS Membership Verification.
(ii)        Review of settlement of Strike Charter of Demands on 8-9 January-2019.
(iii)       Functioning of Postal JCA (NFPE/FNPO).
(iv)       Functioning of affiliated Unions/Associations including GDS, Casual Labourers & Pensioners.
(v)        Functioning of Departmental Council/RJCMs & holding of Periodical Meetings.
           (vi)        Right to Strike and Victimization of Trade Union Activists Office 
            Bearers by administration..

4.         Common demands of CGEs.(Central Government Employees).

(i)         Review of Report of 7th CPC & various Committees particularly Committee on Minimum Wage.
            (ii)        Downsizing, Outsourcing, Contractrization and Privatisation.
            (iii)       Restriction on compassionate appointments.
            (iv)       Ban on creation of Posts and filling up of vacant posts and amendment in recruitment Rules for various categories..
            (v)        New Pension Scheme.
            (vi)       MACP related issues.
           (vii)       Proposed Medical insurance scheme and our stand thereof./ CGHS  related issues
            (viii)     Revision of Bonus Ceiling / OTA/OSA rates and implementation of  Arbitration      awards.
            (ix)       Five Promotions

5.         Policy Offensives against Postal Services and Staff.

(i)       Task Force Committee Report.
(ii)       India Post Payment Bank.      
(iii)     Out sourcing and Downsizing of Postal Services.

6.         Sectional problems.
(a)  Cadre re-structuring in all sections of Department of Posts.
            (b) CBS /CSI , CIS,RICT,MNOP & PNOP..
7.         Implementation of Shri Kamlesh Chandra Committee report for GDS.
8.         Financial Review.

9.         Postal Crusader and other publications.
10.       Amendments to the Constitution.
11.       Policy and programmes Resolutions and other resolutions.
12.       Election of Office Bearers.
13.      Appointment of Auditor.
14.       Venue of next Federal Council.
15.       Any other item with the permission of Chair.

     Vote of Thanks                                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                 (R.N. Parashar)
                                                                                               Secretary General
Copy to:
1.         The Secretary/DG Department of Posts , Dak Bhawan, New Delhi-110001 with the request to issue instructions for  grant of Special Casual Leave to the Federal Councillors and All India Office Bearers of NFPE and General Secretaries.
2.         All Chief Post Master Generals for information and action for grant of Special Casual Leave to the Federal Councillors and All India Office Bearers of NFPE and General Secretaries .
3.         All Office Bearers of NFPE.
4.         All General Secretaries of Affiliated union. / Associations.

Note:   Amendments to the Constitution if any should be sent to Secretary General NFPE at least 30 days before the Federal Council i.e. before 24th October-2019 as per constitutional provisions.                                                                                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                              (R.N. Parashar)
                                                                                                            Secretary General


Tuesday 9 July 2019

Labour Reforms Bill -- PIB (08-07-19)

Ministry of Labour & Employment08-July, 2019 14:22 IST
Labour Reforms Bill 
            The Ministry has taken steps for drafting four Labour Codes on Wages; Industrial Relations; Social Security; and Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions respectively, by simplifying, amalgamating and rationalizing the relevant provisions of the existing Central Labour Laws.  The 4 Labour Codes contain provisions relating to wage, social security, safety, health and grievance redressal mechanism for workers. These initiatives are expected to provide wage security, social security, occupational safety and decent working conditions to the workers. However, there is no proposal at present to dismantle and merge of Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC), Employees Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) with other central schemes and privatization of social security fund.

       The process of Legislative reforms on Labour includes consultation with stakeholders including Central Trade Unions, Employers’ Associations and State Governments in the form of tripartite consultation. Besides, the draft Labour Codes were also placed on website of the Ministry, seeking comments/suggestions from all stakeholders including general public. The draft legislations are finalised after considering comments/suggestions received from various stakeholders.

         The proposed labour reforms initiatives will reduce the complexity in compliance due to multiplicity of labour laws and facilitate setting up of enterprises and thus creating the environment for development of business and industry in the country and generating employment opportunities without diluting basic aspects of safety, security and health of workers.

          This information was provided by Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar, Union Minister of State (I/C) for Labour and Employment in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

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RCJ/SKP/IA

(Release ID :191328)
ILO JOINS HANDS WITH MODI GOVT TO REDUCE MINIMUM WAGE OF WORKERS   :  J S Majumdar

IN the ongoing world economic crisis situation, there is a rightward political shift worldwide. This is resulting in the pursuit of an aggressive neoliberal economic agenda in favour of the corporates and against all sections of the working people. It is leading to cuts in wages, social security, subsidies, employment, rights, and increase in taxation -- as designed by the international finance capital -- combined with a country-specific divisive agenda. The reflection of this trend is seen in the rise of Trump in USA, his replicas in other countries and in the rise and consolidation of the Modi-led regime representing the communal and corporate forces in India.

In this background, it is not surprising that UN agencies such as the International Labour Organisation (ILO) too are not untouched by it. Two recent examples, both on minimum wages of workers, establish this fact. First, ILO, completely bypassing labourers, joined hands with the Modi government to prepare a report to give legitimacy to cut in the workers’ minimum wages in India. Second, ILO constituted an enquiry committee and condemned the Maduro government for increasing workers’ minimum wages in Venezuela. It condemned the government of Venezuela for “ignoring the Chambers of Commerce and tripartite mechanism” on raising workers’ minimum wage. But it conveniently ignored trade unions in India and the tripartite mechanism while sitting in the Modi government’s committee and fixing minimum wage.

ILO’S DIRECT ROLE IN REDUCING  MINIMUM WAGES IN INDIA

The ILO did not stop there. In Delhi, it called a special meeting with central trade unions for “an informal exchange of views” on the government of India ‘Report of the Expert Committee for Determining the Methodology for Fixing the National Minimum Wage’. The government used an “innovative methodology to estimate a needs-based minimum wage”. This meeting was attended by seven central trade unions -- INTUC, BMS, HMS, AITUC, CITU, AIUTUC and NFITU. CITU was represented by its national secretariat member Karumalaiyan and its Delhi state general secretary Anurag Saxena.

In the meeting, ILO officials took great pains to explain in details the “merits” of the Modi government’s report and the “innovative methodology” adopted by it. Unfortunately for the ILO, however, all seven central trade unions, including the RSS-affiliated BMS, unanimously rejected it. Karumalaiyan questioned the very basis of ILO’s participation in the ‘expert committee’ and the need for a new methodology when Indian Labour Conferences (ILCs), all tripartite bodies and the Supreme Court, have upheld the existing methodology. Saxena questioned the timing of the report as the Delhi government’s notification on minimum wage, based on the current methodology of calculation, is pending before the Supreme Court. The AITUC representative pointed out that ILO officials themselves violated ILO Convention 131 on fixation of minimum wage and having gone beyond their terms of reference. BMS representatives highlighted various fallacies in the methodology itself.

The development comes at a time when ILO is celebrating the centenary of its formation. It was formed within two years of the Great October Revolution by the working class and establishment of the first socialist state.

The meeting was followed by the union finance minister’s pre-budget meeting with trade unions with the theme of ‘ensuring minimum wages for all workforce’. Obviously, it was for clearing ground to enforce the reduction in minimum wages as a big boost for the defaulting corporates.

DECEPTION ROUTE TO CUT MINIMUM WAGE

The expert committee report, published on February 14, is a big fraud being played on the vast marginalised sections of workers. Like using new EPF accounts for projection of higher rate of “formal employment”, new GDP series to project higher economic growth and fudging facts with other manufactured data, the Modi government adopted the deception route to cut workers minimum wage to favour the corporates. It is trying to do this through this “innovative methodology” replacing the existing one under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 which evolved over a period of 40 years.

CURRENT METHODOLOGY

Under directive principles of the constitution of India and on the basis of Fair Wages Committee recommendations, the tripartite 15th Indian Labour Conference (ILC) in 1957 decided on the current methodology of calculation having - (i) workers family of three members consumption unit; (ii) 2,700 calories per unit in balanced food as per Dr Aykroyd formula; (iii) 72 yards of cloth per family per annum; (iv) house rent as charged by the government for low income group housing; and (v) additional 20 per cent of (ii)+(iii)+(iv) for fuel, lighting and other miscellaneous expenses.

The Supreme Court of India has approved this current methodology in their judgement in the Raptakos Brett case in 1992, but by adding one more criterion as (vi) Additional 25 per cent to the total of (ii)+(iii)+(iv)+(v) for children’s education, medical treatment, recreation, festivals and ceremonies. Thus, the total of (ii)+(iii)+(iv)+(v)+(vi) becomes the minimum wage.

NEW INNOVATIVE METHODOLOGY

No doubt, the expert committee report’s methodology of calculation is innovative, but only for the purpose of cutting workers minimum wage. For fudging facts, the expert committee calculated workers family consumption unit as 3.6 instead of 3. Yet, a worker’s total minimum wage, at current price level, comes to Rs 8,892 – Rs 11,622 per month with regional variations, as against Rs 18,000 per month in January, 2016 price level calculated by the Seventh Central Pay Commission (CPC) using the current methodology. The Modi government at the centre and most of the state governments have already accepted and implemented the recommendations of the Seventh CPC. The central trade unions and federations made it as one of the major demands for implementation in all sectors – public and private – across the country and resorted to countrywide strikes for it.

What were the innovative methods which the expert committee used to cut workers minimum wages by about half? (i) First, by reducing per day per consumption unit calorie intake from 2700 to 2400; (ii) Second, by taking very low prices of food items; (iii) Third, by removing 20 per cent of total wage for fuel, light and on miscellaneous expenses and 25 per cent of the total as per Supreme Court judgement, and (iv) Fourth, by replacing all non-food expenditures, including house rent, with two broad categories -- essential non-food items and non-food items.

Publication and timing of the expert committee report has to be seen in the background of employers’ organisations challenging in the Delhi High Court the minimum wage notification, dated March 3, 2017, by the Delhi government. The High Court scrapped the notification, following which the Delhi government has moved the Supreme Court. The CITU Delhi state committee is an intervener party in the matter.

In its interim order of October 31, 2018, the Supreme Court turned down the Delhi High Court judgement, restored the minimum wages notification temporarily and ordered implementation of the notified minimum wages effective from November 1, 2018 till disposal of the case.

It also ordered the Delhi government to constitute a Minimum Wage Advisory Board strictly under the provision of the Act and on its advice, prepare a fresh draft of minimum wages notification and place the same before the Supreme Court for scrutiny and approval. The notified minimum wage for an unskilled worker in Delhi, calculated on the basis of current methodology is Rs 14,000 per month at January 2017 price level as against the expert committee’s Rs 11,622 at January 2019 price level. The next date of hearing is July 2, 2019.

DESIGN TO IMPLEMENT CODE ON WAGES

The Code on Wages Bill, the first of the four labour codes proposing to replace all 44 existing labour laws, was placed in the now-dissolved 16th Lok Sabha. The Code on Wages Bill proposes to scrap the Minimum Wages Act, 1948. The current methodology of calculating minimum wages is an exercise to implement the Minimum Wages Act. Following scrapping of the Minimum Wages Act, the current methodology will have no relevance. The government aims to implement the expert committee’s methodology thereafter and it has already taken ILO on board for its assault on minimum wages of workers.
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CHANGE IN CCL FACILITY: LOK SABHA - Q & A (03-07-19)


COMPULSORY RETIREMENT: SABHA Q &A (03-07-19)

Wednesday 26 June 2019

Department of Expenditure , Ministry of Finance clarifies that it's Order dated 18th June 2019 relating to the disbursal of salary for the month of June 2019 is applicable to only an attached office under the Department namely, the O/o Controller General of Accounts (CGA) and the officials working in the PFMS Project Cell and is temporary in nature to avoid exceeding the Vote on Account limit

It has been brought to notice that an internal Confidential Office Order pertaining to the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance is being circulated in various social media platforms.

It is clarified and informed that the Department of Expenditure 's Order dated 18th June 2019 relating to the disbursal of salary for the month of June 2019 is applicable to only an attached office under the Department of Expenditure namely, the O/o Controller General of Accounts (CGA) and the officials working in the PFMS Project Cell and is temporary in nature to avoid exceeding the Vote on Account limit. 

The General Public is also forewarned and cautioned not to circulate the Order since it is confidential in nature and may attract punitive actions under the applicable legal provisions.
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DSM

(Release ID :190635)


PIB

CLARIFICATION ON DEPARTMENT OF POSTS POSTMAN AND MAIL GUARD (GROUP 'C') RECRUITMENT RULES, 2018.
(Click the link below to view)         http://utilities.cept.gov.in/dop/pdfbind.ashx?id=3521

PRESERVATION PERIOD FOR KYC FORMS AT CIRCLE CPC(CBS) REGARDING. (Click the link below to view)