Seventh Pay Commission Report

The Seventh Pay Commission led by Justice AK Mathur has just submitted its report to the Central government, recommending a modest 16 percent hike in salary but a 63% increase in allowances and 24 percent hike in pensions. This means the overall hike for central government employees and its pensioners comes to 23.5 percent. This compares poorly with the 35 percent hike after the recommendations of the 6th Pay Commission were implemented.

Highlights of Recommendations of Seventh Central Pay Commission 

Recommended Date of implementation: 01.01.2016

Minimum Pay: Based on the Aykroyd formula, the minimum pay in government is recommended to be set at Rs 18,000 per month.

Maximum Pay: Rs 2,25,000 per month for Apex Scale and Rs 2,50,000 per month for Cabinet Secretary and others presently at the same pay level.

Financial Implications:The total financial impact in the FY 2016-17 is likely to be Rs 1,02,100 crore, over the expenditure as per the ‘Business As Usual’ scenario.  Of this, the increase in pay would be Rs 39,100 crore, increase in allowances would be Rs 29,300 crore and increase in pension would be Rs 33,700 crore.

Out of the total financial impact of Rs 1,02,100 crore, Rs 73,650 crore will be borne by the General Budget and Rs 28,450 crore by the Railway Budget.

In percentage terms the overall increase in pay & allowances and pensions over the ‘Business As Usual’ scenario will be 23.55 percent. Within this, the increase in pay will be 16 percent, increase in allowances will be 63 percent, and increase in pension would be 24 percent.

The total impact of the Commission’s recommendations are expected to entail an increase of 0.65 percentage points in the ratio of expenditure on (Pay+Allowances+ Pension) to GDP compared to 0.77 percent in case of VI CPC.

New Pay Structure: Considering the issues raised regarding the Grade Pay structure and with a view to bring in greater transparency, the present system of pay bands and grade pay has been dispensed with and a new pay matrix has been designed. Grade Pay has been subsumed in the pay matrix. The status of the employee, hitherto determined by grade pay, will now be determined by the level in the pay matrix.

Fitment: A fitment factor of 2.57 is being proposed to be applied uniformly for all employees.

Annual Increment: The rate of annual increment is being retained at 3 percent.

Modified Assured Career Progression (MACP): 

Performance benchmarks for MACP have been made more stringent from “Good” to “Very Good”.

The Commission has also proposed that annual increments not be granted in the case of those employees who are not able to meet the benchmark either for MACP or for a regular promotion in the first 20 years of their service.

No other changes in MACP recommended.

Military Service Pay (MSP): The Military Service Pay, which is a compensation for the various aspects of military service, will be admissible to the Defence forces personnel only. As before, Military Service Pay will be payable to all ranks up to and inclusive of Brigadiers and their equivalents. The current MSP per month and the revised rates recommended are as follows:

		Present	Proposed
i.	Service Officers	6,000	15,500
ii.	Nursing Officers	4,200	10,800
iii.	JCO/ORs	2,000	5,200
iv.	Non Combatants (Enrolled) in the Air Force	1,000	3,600

Short Service Commissioned Officers: Short Service Commissioned Officers will be allowed to exit the Armed Forces at any point in time between 7 and 10 years of service, with a terminal gratuity equivalent of 10.5 months of reckonable emoluments. They will further be entitled to a fully funded one year Executive Programme or a M.Tech. programme at a premier Institute.

Lateral Entry/Settlement: The Commission is recommending a revised formulation for lateral entry/resettlement of defence forces personnel which keeps in view the specific requirements of organization to which such personnel will be absorbed. For lateral entry into CAPFs an attractive severance package has been recommended.

Headquarters/Field Parity: Parity between field and headquarters staff recommended for similar functionaries e.g Assistants and Stenos.

Cadre Review: Systemic change in the process of Cadre Review for Group A officers recommended.

Allowances: The Commission has recommended abolishing 52 allowances altogether. Another 36 allowances have been abolished as separate identities, but subsumed either in an existing allowance or in newly proposed allowances. Allowances relating to Risk and Hardship will be governed by the proposed Risk and Hardship Matrix.

      Risk and Hardship Allowance: Allowances relating to Risk and Hardship will be governed by the newly proposed nine-cell Risk and Hardship Matrix, with one extra cell at the top, viz., RH-Max to include Siachen Allowance.

The current Siachen Allowance per month and the revised rates recommended are as follows:

		Present	Proposed
i.	Service Officers	21,000	31,500
iii.	JCO/ORs	14,000	21,000

This would be the ceiling for risk/hardship allowances and there would be no individual RHA with an amount higher than this allowance.

House Rent Allowance: Since the Basic Pay has been revised upwards, the Commission recommends that HRA be paid at the rate of 24 percent, 16 percent and 8 percent of the new Basic Pay for Class X, Y and Z cities respectively. The Commission also recommends that the rate of HRA will be revised to 27 percent, 18 percent and 9 percent respectively when DA crosses 50 percent, and further revised to 30 percent, 20 percent and 10 percent when DA crosses 100 percent.

In the case of PBORs of Defence, CAPFs and Indian Coast Guard compensation for housing is presently limited to the authorised married establishment hence many users are being deprived. The HRA coverage has now been expanded to cover all.

Any allowance not mentioned in the report shall cease to exist.

Emphasis has been placed on simplifying the process of claiming allowances.

Advances:

All non-interest bearing Advances have been abolished.

Regarding interest-bearing Advances, only Personal Computer Advance and House Building Advance (HBA) have been retained. HBA ceiling has been increased to 25 lakhs from the present 7.5 lakhs.

Central Government Employees Group Insurance Scheme (CGEGIS): The Rates of contribution as also the insurance coverage under the CGEGIS have remained unchanged for long. They have now been enhanced suitably. The following rates of CGEGIS are recommended:

	Present		Proposed
Level of Employee	Monthly Deduction  (₹)	Insurance Amount  (₹)	Monthly Deduction  (₹)	Insurance Amount  (₹)
10 and above	120	1,20,000	5000	50,00,000
6 to 9	60	60,000	2500	25,00,000
1 to 5	30	30,000	1500	15,00,000

Medical Facilities:

Introduction of a Health Insurance Scheme for Central Government employees and pensioners has been recommended.

Meanwhile, for the benefit of pensioners residing outside the CGHS areas, CGHS should empanel those hospitals which are already empanelled under CS (MA)/ECHS for catering to the medical requirement of these pensioners on a cashless basis.

  All postal pensioners should be covered under CGHS. All postal dispensaries should be merged with CGHS.

Pension: The Commission recommends a revised pension formulation for civil employees including CAPF personnel as well as for Defence personnel, who have retired before 01.01.2016. This formulation will bring about parity between past pensioners and current retirees for the same length of service in the pay scale at the time of retirement.

The past pensioners shall first be fixed in the Pay Matrix being recommended by the Commission on the basis of Pay Band and Grade Pay at which they retired, at the minimum of the corresponding level in the pay matrix.

This amount shall be raised to arrive at the notional pay of retirees, by adding number of increments he/she had earned in that level while in service at the rate of 3 percent.

In the case of defence forces personnel this amount will include Military Service Pay as admissible.

Fifty percent of the total amount so arrived at shall be the new pension.

An alternative calculation will be carried out, which will be a multiple of 2.57 times of the current basic pension.

The pensioner will get the higher of the two.

Gratuity: Enhancement in the ceiling of gratuity from the existing 10 lakh to 20 lakh. The ceiling on gratuity may be raised by 25 percent whenever DA rises by 50 percent.

Disability Pension for Armed Forces: The Commission is recommending reverting to a slab based system for disability element, instead of existing percentile based disability pension regime.

Ex-gratia Lump sum Compensation to Next of Kin: The Commission is recommending the revision of rates of lump sum compensation for next of kin (NOK) in case of death arising in various circumstances relating to performance of duties, to be applied uniformly for the defence forces personnel and civilians including CAPF personnel.

Martyr Status for CAPF Personnel: The Commission is of the view that in case of death in the line of duty, the force personnel of CAPFs should be accorded martyr status, at par with the defence forces personnel.

New Pension System: The Commission received many grievances relating to NPS. It has recommended a number of steps to improve the functioning of NPS. It has also recommended establishment of a strong grievance redressal mechanism.

Regulatory Bodies:  The Commission has recommended a consolidated pay package of 4,50,000 and 4,00,000 per month for Chairpersons and Members respectively of select Regulatory bodies. In case of retired government servants, their pension will not be deducted from their consolidated pay. The consolidated pay package will be raised by 25 percent as and when Dearness Allowance goes up by 50 percent. For Members of the remaining Regulatory bodies normal replacement pay has been recommended.

Performance Related Pay: The Commission has recommended introduction of the Performance Related Pay (PRP) for all categories of Central Government employees, based on quality Results Framework Documents, reformed Annual Performance Appraisal Reports and some other broad Guidelines. The Commission has also recommended that the PRP should subsume the existing Bonus schemes.

There are few recommendations of the Commission where there was no unanimity of view and these are as follows:

The Edge: An edge is presently accordeded to the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) at three promotion stages from Senior Time Scale (STS), to the Junior Administrative Grade (JAG) and the NFSG. is recommended by the Chairman, to be extended to the Indian Police Service (IPS) and Indian Forest Service (IFoS).

Shri Vivek Rae, Member is of the view that financial edge is justified only for the IAS and IFS. Dr. Rathin Roy, Member is of the view that the financial edge accorded to the IAS and IFS should be removed.

Empanelment: The Chairman and Dr. Rathin Roy, Member, recommend that All India Service officers and Central Services Group A officers who have completed 17 years of service should be eligible for empanelment under the Central Staffing Scheme and there should not be “two year edge”, vis-à-vis the IAS. Shri Vivek Rae, Member, has not agreed with this view and has recommended review of the Central Staffing Scheme guidelines.

Non Functional Upgradation for Organised Group ‘A’ Services: The Chairman is of the view that NFU availed by all the organised Group `A’ Services should be allowed to continue and be extended to all officers in the CAPFs, Indian Coast Guard and the Defence forces. NFU should henceforth be based on the respective residency periods in the preceding substantive grade. Shri Vivek Rae, Member and Dr. Rathin Roy, Member, have favoured abolition of NFU at SAG and HAG level.

Superannuation: Chairman and Dr. Rathin Roy, Member, recommend the age of superannuation for all CAPF personnel should be 60 years uniformly. Shri Vivek Rae, Member, has not agreed with this recommendation and has endorsed the stand of the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Download report of the Seventh Central Pay Commission (7.19MB) 

Toyota signs Virat Kohli as Brand Ambassador

Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) today announced Virat Kohli as its Brand Ambassador. The young cricketer has endorsed the Toyota brand as it enters a new phase of its growth in India.

Commenting on this new alliance Sandeep Singh, Deputy Managing Director, Marketing, TKM, said, "we are extremely happy to announce Virat Kohli as our brand ambassador. He brings with him all the emotions that Toyota aims to offer its customers through its vehicles- passion, exuberance, energy, fun and excitement. Toyota's journey in India and Virat's journey in cricket bear similarities. From a budding player, both went on to become promising player, in such a short duration of time. Brand Toyota and Virat Kohli both represent perfection and continuous improvement. The synergy would bring about more fun and excitement to all Toyota customers".

"I am excited to be a part of Toyota's drive to connect with India's youth. Toyota inspires the spirit of success and that is an emotion that is close to my heart", said Virat Kohli about endorsing Toyota brand.

Disappearing Ponds of Kashmir

Govt to launch Energy Accounting System to check power losses

J&K tops in revenue generation increase:

 In a major decision to curb mounting losses in power sector and bring revenue at par with electricity purchase bill, the State Government planned to introduce ‘Energy Accounting System’ in the State under which the Power Development Department (PDD) officials would be made accountable for the load consumed and shown on the papers in their areas.

The new system was expected to be in place from the next financial year beginning April 1, 2012.

An announcement to this effect was made by Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather while replying to four days long discussion on the general budget 2012-13 in the Legislative Assembly today.

In his 101 minutes reply, Mr Rather said the ‘Energy Accounting System’ was necessitated as actual load consumed in the areas didn’t match to the billing. "The officials would be accountable. If a transformer was showing 100 KV load, it must also reflect on the bills and papers’’, he said.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who holds power portfolio, was expected to make a detailed announcement on ‘Energy Accounting System’ during grants of his Ministry in the Assembly on March 27 and 28.

The electricity purchase bill for current year was expected to be around ` 3000 crore while it has been estimated in next year’s budget at Rs 3100 crore. Mr Rather said the Government was expecting around ` 1100 crore to ` 1200 crore worth revenue from power during current year, which means net losses to the tune of ` 1800 crore to Rs 1900 crore. Next financial year’s revenue target has been fixed at ` 1725 crore.

He recalled that revenue generation from electricity was just ` 600 crore during 2008-09 when present dispensation took over reign of affairs. The revenue has doubled in three years, he said.

On construction of small power projects of 10 mw, he said the Government has started receiving good response and 61 offers have already poured in.

Admitting PDP leader and former Finance Minister Muzaffar Baig’s assertion during his speech on the budget that the way funding provision has been kept for some hospitals it would take several years for them to complete, Mr Rather said he has taken up the issue with the Health Department. Promising to improve funding for early commissioning of hospitals, he added that funds for the hospitals required earlier would be given more generously.

Referring to the issue of daily wagers raised by various speakers while participating in the budget debate including Prof Chaman Lal Gupta and Harshdev Singh, the Finance Minister recalled that there were 59,000 daily wagers in 1994 when an official order was issued that all daily wagers completing seven years of services would be regularized. At the same time, the order had mentioned that no daily wager would be appointed in future.

"Of 59,000, we have regularized 56,000 daily wagers. Three thousand daily wagers were left due to lacunas in their orders’’, he said, adding that a number of casual and need base workers had been engaged after 1994.

Mr Rather said a Cabinet Sub Committee was being formed to look into all issues including violation of 1994 order, financial implications on making payments to casual and need base workers, the authorities which appointed them etc. "The information was not coming. We have again written to the Departments seeking information and will take a decision shortly’’, he added.

The Finance Minister said Jammu and Kashmir State has topped in the country in increase in revenue generation during the current year. He disclosed that this fact was admitted at no less a forum than Empowered Committee of Finance Ministers of the country.

"Jammu and Kashmir has recorded an increase of 43.1 per cent in the current financial year and topped in the country’’, Mr Rather said and also referred to increase registered by other States ranging from 15 per cent by New Delhi to 22 per cent by Maharashtra and 38 per cent by Chattisgarh.

He said grown on both tax and non-tax fronts was 14 per cent during 2003 to 2008 while it went up to 26 per cent from 2008 to 2012.

"There were no tricks of trade as mentioned by Mr Baig but we have recorded 34.8 per cent growth in tax revenue from ` 3500 crore to ` 4800 crore during current year’’, he added.

The Finance Minister, who had presented 12 budgets and two Vote on Accounts also countered Mr Baig’s charges on Per Capita Income. He said the figured were based on 2004-05 prices for Gross State Domestic Product. The parameters for taking the year to decide the price are taken by the Planning Commission and not by the State Government. "It’s a globally accepted and recognized principle to determine Per Capita Income’’.

On NPP leader Harshdev Singh’s charge that Per Capita Income of ` 41,833 was not an indicator of rich and poor ratio, Mr Rather said even daily wagers in the State have Per Capita Income of ` 34860. "There were not much disparities in J&K in rich and poor ratio. All aspects fixed by Central Statistics Organisation have been taken into account to determine Per Capita Income’’, he added.

The Finance Minister didn’t agree with the claims of some MLAs that the State’s dependence was increasing on the Central Government. He said the grant-in-aid for the State was decided by the Finance Commission under Article 275 of the Constitution of India and not by the State Governments or the Finance Ministers themselves.

"Funds were not discretionary powers of the Government of India but were transferred to the State under rules. We are part of the Union of India and the funds are our right. Taking money from the Union didn’t mean that our dependence was increasing on the Centre’’, he asserted.

He said while non-plan revenue deficit grants have reduced, the share of Central taxes to Jammu has increased. The share of J&K from the Central taxes was Rs 2910 crore in 2010-11, which went up to ` 3691 crore in 2011-12 and was pegged at ` 4244 crore in 2012-13.

He added that the State has recorded 38 per cent hike in tax revenue and 42 per cent increase in Value Added Tax (VAT) during current financial year as compared to the last year.

On Mr Baig’s claim that the State had fixed targets on lower side, Mr Rather said the State was not free to fix the targets on its own. It was the Planning Commission, which had to fix the targets. "During current financial year, year tax collection target was ` 3470 crore but we realized ` 4800 crore, an increase of about ` 1300 crore, which is a history. This is not an easy task. The members should have given credit to us, our officers, our work force’’.

Referring that some MLA’s statement that J&K was falling into debt trap, which was increasing every year, Mr Rather disputed the claims saying the Government of India, Union Finance Ministry and the Finance Commission keep a watch on debts of every State that it shouldn’t exceed the permissible limits. There was a fixed criteria as to how much debt a State can take, he said, adding J&K’s liabilities stood at ` 31,272 crore which included internal debts, loans and advances, insurance money and Provident Fund etc.

On NC MLA Saifullah Mir’s assertion that the State should take debts but ensure development, Mr Rather said J&K was not a sovereign country, which can adopt its own debt policy. It had to work on the policy of the Union Government, he added.

On claim of some MLAs that the budget lacked vision for next 20 years, the Finance Minister said the vision documents were made by the political parties for next years but the budget had to be presented for one year only.

He said Jammu and Kashmir Bank benefited a lot with the return of ` 2300 worth Overdrafts as it invested the amount for welfare of unemployed youth and other sections of the society. The State also benefited as it got ` 1000 crore grant from the Union Government and generated ` 1300 crore from the market at just 8.5 per cent interest as against 17 per cent charged by the J&K Bank. Moreover, he said, ` 1300 crore borrowings and ` 1000 crore grant were not counted in the fiscal deficit.

He said the Bank benefited with return of the amount, which went to the people and led to increase in economic activities. "We saved ` 229 crore worth annual interest on Overdrafts. Every one—be it the bank, the Government and the people—benefited with the return of ` 2300 crore worth ODs to the bank’’.

He said: "we have brought the fiscal deficit down to 4.2 per cent though it would have been okay even at 5.3 per cent. Total debt outstanding was 56.1 per cent of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) during 2010-11 but was reduced it to 54 per cent, which was well within the target and the limits of 13th Finance Commission’’.

On the concern expressed by some members over increase in revenue and non plan expenditure, the Finance Minister said soon after taking over the Government in 2009, the State faced the first implication of ` 2000 crore in non-plan amount for implementation of sixth Pay Commission recommendations followed by ` 4200 crore worth arrears, which were being given in installments, and regularization of contractual/adhoc employees. He told the House that implementation of Sixth Pay Commission report and regularization of adhoc employees was the demand of almost the entire House.

Further, the Government had to create 35,000 posts in three years for eight newly created districts, which also put burden on the State exchequer especially the non-plan expenditure.

On Mr Baig’s query that there was no provision in the budget for Seventh Pay Commission, Mr Rather said there were still six years left for the new Commission’s recommendations.

He pointed out that ` 618 crore of the plan were blocked by the Central Government as plan money had been diverted for other purposes by the previous Government. Despite hectic lobbying with the Centre, "we got ` 302 crore only while the rest was cut by the Centre’’.

On the point raised by Mr Baig that Jammu and Kashmir was getting less plan as compared to national level, the Finance Minister said the States like Maharashtra have revenue generation worth ` 32,000 crore as against ` 4800 crore of Jammu and Kashmir. "Such States can contribute their own share in plan. That was the reason that we are behind the plan and got less plan than national average’’.

Mr Rather said the Government has made entire agriculture tax-free. "Is it tokenism as mentioned by some MLAs. If fertilizers prices went up they were not increase by us but due to hike in the prices of petroleum products. We have done for the farmers but we could do by completely exempting fertilizers and other items of VAT’’, he added. He said the Government has also withdrawn 10.5 per cent Service Tax on insurance of crops. Though agriculture land was becoming victim of urbanization, still the growth rate of agriculture has gone up, he asserted.

Referring to the issue of unemployment raised by various MLAs, the Finance Minister said though the Government employment was no solution, the Government has given jobs to 39,000 youth in a year through PSC, SSB and police. The number was in addition to the jobs given under NRHM, ReT and Class-IV posts.

Sher-I-Kashmir Employment and Welfare Programme for Youth (SKEWPY), off banking finance and other schemes have also been launched for welfare of youth. About 800 youth were given subsidy under the banking finance schemes.

On the charges of regional imbalances, he said along with Jhelum, proposals worth crores have also been approved for Tawi river while Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has spoken to Union Forest and Environment Ministry that ` 3 crore grant for Mansar and Surinsar lakes was not enough and should be increased.

Earlier, participating in the 4th day discussion on budget in the Legislative Assembly here today, Congress MLA and former Minister G M Saroori hailed the Government for taking various steps for the development and betterment of people and making Jammu and Kashmir a model and Khushaal State. He thanked the Central Government for doling out ample funds for development of the State.

Mr Saroori demanded regularization of Educational Volunteers (EVs) who have been converted to ReT and daily wagers engaged in various departments and enhancement of honorarium of SPOs, provision of solar lanterns in snow prone and hilly terrains and release of funds under Article 270 and BRGF.

Hailing the budget proposals, Mohammad Sharief Niaz (Congress) pin pointed some lacunas in it and suggested measures for making it more effective. Appreciating the Government for taking measures for the return of Kashmiri Pandit migrants, he pleaded for rehabilitation of migrants of Jammu province also. Mr Niaz advocated for construction of micro and macro hydel power projects and measures to reduce Transmission and Distribution losses. He demanded construction of Grid Station at Kishtwar, enhancement of honorarium of ReT and SPOs, rehabilitation of Gujjar and Bakerwals and provision of funds for development of Gaddi and Sippi community under Tribal Sub Plan.

Rafi Ahmad Mir (PDP) called for strict implementation of decisions taken in the District Development Board (DDB) meetings. He also stressed for the projects in Phase-II and III under PMRP shall be taken up for implementation. 

State of art pavilion at Zindshah Stadium

Recruitment of local staff in PNB jammu

Kashmiri Poetess gets Sanskriti Award

Backdoor appointment of Shafi Uris son

Backdoor appointment of former Finance Minister and National Conference MP, Mohd Shafi Uri’s son in the J&K Sports Council and 35 others, evoked strong protest from the Opposition in the Upper House today, followed by the walk-out by the PDP member as Minister failed to convince on the issue and give satisfactory reply.

The issue in the House of Elders was raised by the PDP Member Murtaza Ahmed Khan during the Question Hour today. Minister In Charge, Youth Services and Sports, Technical and Medical Education, R S Chib was responding. The Government admitted on the floor of the House that 36 appointments were made since January 2009 till now, in the Youth Services and Sports and the Sports Council under different arrangements in the State.

Mr Chib in his reply said that Mohd Shafi Uri’s son Ovais Ahmed, resident of Gharllot in Uri (Baramulla), was appointed as Editor in the Sports Council on probation basis. He however, failed to define the meaning of ‘probation’ and give explanation of this category of arrangement made in the recruitment, despite being pressed repeatedly by PDP members. The PDP member Mr Khan further pressed that if any application was sought or the posts advertised in the Press, Radio or TV for these posts available and whether the posts were referred to the SSRB or any other recruiting agency. The Minister preferred to maintain silence over it due to unknown reasons. He however, kept on saying that proper procedure was adopted by making engagements.

In the first question Murtaza Khan asked whether any person/persons have been engaged in the Sports, Youth Services department or Sports Council, under different arrangements other than SSRB since January 2009, the reply of the Government was total self-contradictory as the Minister concerned said no adhoc, seasonal, casual, need basis employees had been employed/ engaged in the Youth Services and Sports. However, only one person Ameek Ahmed Khan, son of Mohd Khalil of Anantnag was engaged on need basis as Groundsman for a period of 89 days. No extension was granted to him thereafter. But 36 appointments have been made in the J&K State Sports Council since January 2009. One hundred eighty three vacancies of Class IV were available in the department of Youth Service and Sports and six in the Sports Council as on date.

Giving details he admitted that seven persons were engaged on probation basis. They are Ovais Ahmed, son of Mohd Shafi Uri from village Gharllot (Uri- Baramulla), as Editor on 29-4-2010, Jehangir Mir, son of Gh Mohd Mir of Sonwar Bagh Srinagar as Computer operator on 18-2-2010, Joginder Kumar, son of Khazan Chandof Jawahar Nagar New Plot Jammu as Groundsman in August 2010, Jagdish Kumar, son of Titro Ram of Korga Sohal in Jammu as Groundsman in January 2011, Bilguis Dar, daughter of Nazir Ahmed Dar of Kohankhan, Srinagar as Ground attendant in January 2011, Hilal Ahmed, son of Mohd Amin of village Ranbirpora in Mattan Anantnag as Groundsman in February 2011 and Shabir Ahmed Dar, son of Gh Mohd Dar, of Kursoo, Padshahi Bagh Srinagar as Yoga Instructor on 18-10-2011.

Besides this, eleven (11) persons were engaged on contractual basis as coaches and driver. They are Onkar Singh Gill, son of Puran Chand of Bishnah as Volleyball coach, Jagjit Singh, son of Sindhu Singh of Sector 7 Nanak Nagar as Hockey coach, Shakti Gupta, son of Late Bishan Dass Gupta of Nagrota Gujroo Billawar as Judo Coach, Dalwinder Singh, son of Gurmukh Singh of Kaluchak, near SBI Jammu as Hockey Coach, Rachna Jamwal, daughter of S S Jamwal of Shastri Nagar Jammu as Fencing Coach, Vikas Magotra, son of V P Magotra of Shakti Nagar Jammu as Swimming Coach, Javaid Ahmed Sofi, son of Ghulam Mohi-ud-Din of Chhatabal Srinagar as Football coach, Muneer Aalam Mir, son of Mir Mushtaq of Dalipora Kawada Sgr as Volleyball Coach, Rubia Jan, son of Mohd Ramzan of Bijbehara Anantnag as Netball trainer, Mohd Ashraf Parray, son of Ghulam Mohd Parray of Saloora Baramulla as Handball Instructor and Vijay Singh, son of Karnail Singh of village Khushalpura in R S Pura as driver on consolidated basis.

Mr Chib further claimed that 15 persons were engaged as casual labourers on "Need basis’’ and out of them only two belonged to Jammu region. Three others were engaged as part-time sweepers on consolidated salary. They are Mushtaq Ahmed Parray, son of Late G M Parray of Gadoora Ganderbal, Ajaz Ahmed Doomb, son of Ghulam Hassan Doomb of Tujar in Sopore, Mohd Ismail Dar, son of Late Mohd Sultan of Gamroo in Bondipora, Rakesh Kumar, son of Dev Raj of Kanji House Jammu, Mohd Maqbool Malik, son of Late Mohd Ramzan of Dalgate Sgr, Altaf Hussain, son of Gh Qadir Dar of Dalina Baramulla, Zakir Ahmed Malik, son of Mushtaq Ahmed Malik of Boniyar in Baramulla, Gulshan Kumar, son of Batta Ram of Rajouri, Veer Singh, son of Sain Dass, resident of Satriyan in R S Pura, Imtiaz Ahmed, son of Noor Mohd Shah of Qamarwari Sgr, Lovekash Singh, son of Sardar Singh of Ballar in Kathua, Fayaz Ahmed Mir, son of G M Mir of Lasjan in Srinagar, Tariq Ahmed Sofi, son of Ghulam Mohd Sofi of Sgr, Rehana, daughter of Ali Mohd Bhagwan of Rainawari, Sgr, Fayaz Ahmed Bhat, son of Gh Qadir Bhat of Khaniyar Sgr, Abdul Rashid Sheikh, son of Abdul Ahad of Anantnag, Mohd Iqbal, son of Gulzar Ahmed of Khawajabagh Baramulla and Mushtaq Ahmed, son of Sonaullah Sheikh of Mehjoor Nagar, Srinagar.

Murtaza Khan grilled the Minister and brought him to uneasy situation by raising volley of pointed questions and later staged walk out to lodge protest alleging that Minister failed to give satisfactory reply and maintained silence on the advertisements issue and also provided self contradictory response. However, his two other party members Nizamuddin Khatana and Asgar Ali remained seated inside the House.

Workshop on financial management held

A two days workshop on Financial Management was conducted under the guidance of Mission Director NRHM J&K Dr. Yashpal Sharma for District and Block Accounts Managers of Kashmir Division under NRHM concluded today on 1st March 2012 at RIHFW Dhobiwan Tangmarg Kashmir. The workshop was organized to sensitize the participants about various aspects of Financial Management in reference to NRHM. The resource persons who participated in the workshop were Ayub Ittoo FA&CAO to Govt. Health & Medical Education Department J&K, Rajesh Talwar FA&CAO NRHM, Ajay Sharma Chartered Accountant (Statutory Auditor NRHM J&K), Ashok Kumar State Accounts Manager NRHM and Tally experts Harsha M from Bangalore and Brijesh Raina from Jammu. The resource persons discussed all the aspects of Financial Management in context to NRHM and a hands on training was imparted on customized Tally ERP 9.0 and maintenance of various books of accounts used in day to day financial management at district, block and facility level. All the resource persons laid stress upon the monitoring of NRHM funds released to Districts and Blocks so that there is efficient utilization and timely expenditure of funds to achieve the NRHM goals.State Training Facilitator Dr. Robinder Khajuria and Divisional Nodal Officer Dr. Mushtaq Ahmad coordinated the workshop

Finance Minister meets Governor ahead of budget session

Ahead of the budget session, Minister for Finance and Ladakh Affairs Abdul Rahim Rather today met Governor N N Vohra and discussed important issues relating to revenue and financial management.

Rather called on the Governor at Raj Bhavan here today and during a more than one hour wide-ranging meeting, they discussed important issues relating to taxation, revenue and financial management.

Rapid socio-economic development of the state and various aspects of Registration and Stamp Duty regulations were also discussed.

State Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) G R Sufi also called on the Governor at Raj Bhavan and briefed him about the progress of implementation of the J and K Right to Information Act for furthering the interests of good governance.

Sufi also briefed the Governor about the measures being taken by the Commission for enlarging awareness among the people about their rights under the Right to Information Act, 2009.

3 CNG stations in J&K soon
Rail services suspended in valley
President on 2 day visit to Jammu

JKGB organises awareness programme

The J&K Grameen Bank (JKGB) today organised an awareness programme on Financial Inclusion at village Tarah in Dansal block here.

M K Vij, General Manager of JKGB was the chief guest who impressed upon the public to come forward to open the no frill accounts and also emphasised on various benefits by availing credit schemes of the bank to the public.

Vikram, Manager from Reserve Bank of India highlighted the role of RBI in facilitating the process of Financial Inclusion programme.

Virender Kotwal, Area Manager of JKGB informed the gathering that the bank has tied up with Bajaj Allianz and Metlife for life insurance besides devising the products which are being easily affordable to rural masses.

R P Sharma, Senior Manager, MF&FI of JKGB apprised the gathering about the various lending schemes of the bank.

Sanction letters of loan cases in the diversified activities amounting to ` 80 lakh were also disbursed on spot.

H L Kar, Branch Manager, Jhajjar Kotli, presented the vote of thanks.

The camp was organised with the support and financial assistance of NABARD.

Jammu and kashmir budget 2012 13 on Mar 5

Minister for Finance Abdul Rahim Rather will present state’s annual budget for the year 2012-13 on March 5.According to the provisional calendar issued by the Assembly Secretariat today for the ensuing budget session commencing from February 23 in the winter capital, there will be total 26 business days.

The session will begin with the Governor’s Address on February 23 at 10.30 AM and it will be followed by discussion on Motion of Thanks on the Address. The Government Business will be taken on February 24,25,27,28, March 1 and 30.The Annual Financial Statements of Expenditure for the year 2012-13 will be presented on March 5. The discussion on the budget will be held on March 6 and 8. The Demands for Grants will be taken on March 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 19, 20, 22, and 24.The Private Members’ Resolution will be taken on February 29 and March 28. The Private Members Bills will be considered on March 27 and 29. Similarly the Appropriation Bills will be taken on March 26.Meanwhile in view of the ensuing budget session, the Council Secretariat has requested the members to furnish not more than 15 starred and 10 un-starred questions and 5 Bills on or before January 30, 2012.Similarly, the members have been asked to send 4 resolutions by or before February 6, 2012.

JDA to construct 1000 flats

Dismantling of structures raised for migrants almost complete JDA to construct 1000 flats at Muthi, Nagrota

Shifting its focus on the vertical expansion, Jammu Development Authority (JDA) has chalked out a plan to construct 1000 flats for high and low income group people at Muthi and Nagrota, where over 300 kanals of land has become available due to the shifting of Kashmir Pandit migrant families to Jagti township.

Official sources said that demolition of structures, which were raised at Muthi and Nagrota to provide shelter to the Kashmiri Pandit migrants following onset of militancy in the Kashmir valley and rendered un-useful due to shifting of KPs to Jagti, is progressing well and will be completed by month end.

With the razing of the structures, a total of 312 kanals of land-233 kanals at Nagrota and 42 and 37 kanals respectively at two different locations in Muthi area, would become available for the JDA, they said.

Since as per the records, land at both the places could only be utilized for real estate residential purposes, the senior officers of JDA and town planners thoroughly deliberated upon plots as well as flats options and finally it was decided to shift focus on the vertical expansion in order to meet the housing requirement of large number of people.

Accordingly, a plan was chalked out for construction of multi-storied flats at both the places for high income as well as low income groups, sources informed while disclosing that the plan would be placed before the Board of Directors meeting of the JDA slated to be held shortly for formal approval.

When contacted, Vice-Chairman of JDA, Vinod Sharma confirmed that a plan has been mooted for construction of around 1000 flats at Muthi and Nagrota, adding "keeping in view the limited land available with JDA in the Jammu city and adjoining areas, vertical expansion is the only option to meet the housing needs of the people".

At present, the Board of Directors meeting of JDA in which the plan would be formally given nod, is scheduled to be held on July 11 but it has to be postponed by few days keeping in view the latest intimation about the District Development Board meeting of Jammu being taken by Chief Minister on July 12, he said.

To a question, he said that flats would be constructed by adopting self-financing option as is being followed by the private builders, who are coming up with multi-storied flats in different parts of Jammu.

"We don't have sufficient funds to construct such a large number of flats as such we will invite applications from those interested in getting flats at these places, take money from them in installments and utilize the same in the construction", the Vice-Chairman said while disclosing that it would be after six-seven years that JDA would be constructing flats.