HR News: 16 Oct, 2017

1.

7th Pay Commission: Central government employees may have to wait more

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will leave for a four-day visit to Russia on June 20 which implies that he will not be present for the Cabinet meeting scheduled for Wednesday.

A decision has been long pending on the revision of 7th Pay Commission allowances, including House Rent Allowance (HRA), and it seems the wait isn’t over yet. The Cabinet led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was reportedly going to take a call on the recommendations made by the Committee on Allowances for HRA under 7th Pay Commission this week. However, whether it will take a decision is not clear yet.

The government could finalise 7th Pay Commission allowances including HRA later this month. A committee led by finance secretary Ashok Lavasa has already submitted its report to the Cabinet and recommended HRA at 25-27 percent as against employees' and pensioners' demands of 30 percent.

Although the PM was to meet Jaitley and Lavasa yesterday evening to discuss his views on Pay Commission allowances, the decision will apparently take longer as Jaitley is leaving for an official trip to Russia today. He is expected to present the proposals regarding the said allowances before the Union Cabinet for approval sometime soon. 

Since Jaitley is also looking after the Defence portfolio, he will leave for a four-day visit to Russia on June 20 which implies that he will not be present for the Cabinet meeting scheduled for Wednesday (June 21). He had to share proposals on allowance reforms mandated by the 7th Pay Commission, and modified later by the Committee on Allowances and Empowered Committee of Secretaries.

2.

Amid fears of privatisation, Air India staff displays loyalty and solidarity

Employees are raising concerns and   also offering solutions, to help the company overcome its debts and prevent privatisation.

National carrier Air India is riding tough times with its soaring losses and a fear of divestment. Considering the huge loss it has been bearing, the Union Cabinet is contemplating selling the government's stake in the airline. 

After Air India accumulated losses of more than Rs 50,000 crore with debts of about Rs 55,000 crore, PM Modi had given his consent for disinvestment in the airline, about two months ago. With that, the Committee of Secretaries has prepared a cabinet note, which includes both the Niti Aayog's recommendation of complete privatisation of Air India and the civil aviation ministry's proposal of significantly reducing the airline's debt by selling subsidiaries and assets before going for privatisation.

The idea is being heavily opposed by the seven Air India unions though. A jointly written letter by the unions - AI Air Corporate Employees' Union, AI Employees' Union, AI Aircraft Engineers' Association, United Air India Officers' Association, AI Engineers' Association, AI Cabin Crew Association and AI Service Engineers' Association – warns of ‘massive protests’ if the Niti Aayog's suggestion to sell AI is implemented.

On the other hand, employees are raising concerns but also offering solutions in their capacity, to help the company overcome its debts and prevent privatisation.  So much so, that one of the cabin crew members apparently offered to work without pay for two months and even give up flying allowance, layover allowance and special allowance when travelling abroad. 

3.

Now, performance review for central government employees

These include 25,000 IAS, IPS, and IRS officers.

Those who thought government employees do not have to undergo the performance review process every year like employees in a corporate job will be happy to learn that the government has reviewed the performance of 67,000 government employees.

This includes 25,000 officers from the Indian Administrative Service, Indian Police Service and Indian Revenue Service.

The central government’s objective is to further improve the service delivery and governance system.

The review is not just for the sake of it. Those government officials who fail on performance or are high on corruption, will be shown the door.

As per media reports, Jitendra Singh, MoS, personnel, stated that the government’s approach is of high-level efficiency and "zero-tolerance" towards corruption. On the other hand, it is also ensuring work-friendly environment for honest officers.