Request for Voluntary retirement from persons suffering from disability — Supreme Court Order…

F.No.25012/1/2015-Estt (A-IV)
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions
Department of Personnel and Training
Establishment (A-IV) Desk

North Block, New Delhi-110 001
Dated : May 19, 2015

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Subject : Request for Voluntary retirement from persons suffering from disability — Supreme Court Order in Bhagwan Dass & Anr Vs Punjab State Electricity Board, (2008) 1 SCC 579.

The undersigned is directed say that vide Department of Personnel and Training’s OM No.18017/1/2014-Estt(L) dated the 25 th February, 2015, certain clarifications regarding treatment of leave and absence of disabled Government servants have been issued.

2. Instances have come to notice where Government servants apply for voluntary retirement under various provisions like Rules 38, Rule 48 and 48A of CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972 or Rule 56 of the fundamental Rule on account of hardships faced by them due to a disability, as they are unaware of the protection provided by the Section 47 of the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 (PWD Act). Section 47 of the PwD Act, 1995 is reproduced below for reference:

“Non-discrimination in Government Employment — (1) No establishment shall dispense with, or reduce in rank, an employee who acquires a disability during his service.

Provided that, if an employee, after acquiring disability is not suitable for the post he was holding, could be shifted to some other post with the same pay scale and service benefits;

Provided further that if it is not possible to adjust the mployee against any post, he may be kept on a supernumerary post until a suitable post is available or he attains the age of superannuation, whichever is earlier.

No promotion shall be denied to a person merely on the ground of his disability;

Provided that the appropriate Government may, having regard to the type of work carried on in any establishment, by notification and subject to such conditions, if any, as may be specified in such notification, exempt any establishment from the provisions of this section”.

3. The issue had come up in Bhagwan Dass & Anr Vs Punjab State Electricity Board (2008) 1 SCC 579, decided by the Hon’ble Supreme Court where the employee who had during his service suffered from blindness, had applied for voluntary retirement. The Hon’ble Supreme court has observed that the Petitioner was not aware of any protection that the law afforded him and apparently believed that the blindness would cause him to lose his job, which was the source of livelihood of his family. In those circumstances, it was the duty of the superior officers to explain to him the correct legal position and to tell him about his legal rights.

4. Keeping in view the provisions of the Section 47 of the PwD Act, 1995 and the above mentioned judgement, it has been decided that whenever a Government servant seeks voluntary retirement citing medical grounds, or when the said notice has been submitted due to a disability, the administrative authorities shall examine as to whether the case is covered under Section 47 of PWD Act, 1995. In case the provisions are applicable, the Government servant shall be advised that he/she has the option of continuing in service with the same pay scale and service benefits.

5. In case a disabled Government servant reconsiders his decision and withdraws the notice for voluntary retirement, his case shall be dealt with under the provisions of the Section 47 read with the Department of Personnel and Training OM dated 25th February, 2015, mentioned above. If however, in spite of being so advised, such Government servant still wishes to take voluntary retirement, the request may be processed as per the applicable rule.

6. All the Ministries and Departments are requested to keep the above in view while processing cases of requests for Voluntary retirement from disabled Government servants.

7. Hindi version follows.

Sd/-
(Mukesh Chaturvedi)
Director

 

Hats Off to all the Staff Working In Speed Post Centres across the country and our delivery postman teams.

Hats Off to all the Staff Working In Speed Post Centres across the country and our delivery postman teams.

Deliveries of speed post letters which are more reliable and faster than private courier services says CAG

NEW DELHI: In a rare observation coming from the official auditor, the Comptroller and Auditor General has appreciated the functioning of the postal department. The reason: deliveries of speed post letters which are more reliable and faster than private courier services. 

Delivery of letters by speed post ranged from 1-9 days in major cities with 99% chances of letters reaching addressees. In comparison, the private courier services turned out to be less reliable with 92% test check letters reaching destination, and time taken ranged from 1-10 days.

A CAG report, tabled in Parliament recently, has said that the performance of speed post has been better than the private couriers in major cities, at the tehsil level and at village level.

In order to compare the performance and quality of speed post service with private courier agencies for delivery of mails, a test check was conducted by CAG in eight postal circles -- Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Checks were conducted by posting hundreds of letters. 

As far as delivery performance was concerned, it was found that 98% letters were delivered by speed post in local areas as compared to 93% by private couriers. In major cities, the delivery performance by speed post was 99% as compared to 92% of private couriers. At the tehsil level only speed post could reach 100% addressees that too within 1-7days. Private couriers could only deliver 83% letters and time ranged from 1-23 days. 

"Based on the results, it could be concluded that the speed post service of the department of posts (DoP) was better than the services provided by the private courier services," the auditor said. 

Speed post service was introduced in 1986 to provide a fast and time-bound delivery service in major cities. However, due to late delivery of mails people had stopped relying on the department for timely-delivery of documents. Still, speed post services account for more than 10% of the total revenue of DoP. 

In the test check, the auditor had posted 284 letters by speed post and 287 by different private courier services. The performance was judged based on the number of letters sent, letters actually delivered, and time taken for delivery of test letters by speed post as well as private couriers. 

CADRE RESTRUCTURING ON THE VERGE OF FINALISATION

Grant of age concession to the Persons with Disabilities suffering from (a) blindness or low vision, (b) hearing impairment and (c) locomotor disability or cerebral palsy for direct recruitment to civil posts/services under the Central Government. 

CLICK HERE TO VIEW INSTRUCTIONS

E-Commerce Center of Post to start from Monday

Press Information Bureau 

Government of India
Ministry of Communications & Information Technology
08-May-2015 15:49 IST

Considering the rapid growth of e-commerce business in the country in the recent past, the Department of Posts, through Delhi Postal Circle has taken up a project to establish the e-commerce Centre at Safdarjang, New Delhi-110003.This processing centre will handle exclusively all the e-commerce business with the state of the art technology driven facility for quick and smooth operation starting from booking till dispatch from the centre.
The Centre is equipped with modern technology and newly introduced conveyor belt where parcels get sorted with the help of conveyor belt. As a result, the e-Commerce Centre is now capable of handling 30000 parcels/articles per day. The parcels are collected from the e-commerce customers, processed & dispatched within 24 hours to respective destination through quickest available flight/train, as the case may be.
The leading e-commerce customers, viz., Amazon, Paytm, Yepme, Snapdeal, etc are already availing the benefits of fast, reliable and safe processing of their e-commerce parcels at the newly established e-commerce Centre at Safdarjang in New Delhi.
The e-commerce Centre at Safdarjang, New Delhi -110003 is to be dedicated to the Nation by Sh. Ravi Shankar Prasad, Hon’ble Minister of Communications & Information Technology on 11th May 2015
India Post Mobile App is also launched by the Hon’ble Minister of Communications & Information Technology on the occasion. .This is an android based application developed by Centre for Excellence in Postal Technology (CEPT), Mysore. The application includes features like real time tracking of accountable articles, Post Office search, Postage calculator, etc through Mobile Phone.

Instructions regarding persons suffering from Disabilities

NFPE LEADERS DISCUSSION IN NJCM MEETING. MINUTES OF THE MEETING.

6th May All India Strike Deferred

PROPOSED INDEFINITE STRIKE  FROM 06th  MAY, 2015  STANDS DEFERRED. BASED ON THE ASSURANCES GIVEN BY HON`BLE  MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD DURING THE MEETING  HELD WITH BOTH THE SECRETARY GENERALS  OF NFPE & FNPO  IN PRESENCE OF SECRETARY (P), MEMBER (HRD) & DDG (SR) AT SANCHAR BHAWAN NEW DELHI AT 1 PM TODAY DATED 05.05.2015 .

Details of meeting held at Sanchar Bhawan on 05.05.2015 at 1300 hrs with Hon’Minister of Communications by Secretary Generals of NFPE & FNPO on behalf of Postal Joint Council of Action.

In continuation of the meeting by PJCA leaders consisting all General Secretaries and Secretary Generals of both Federations ( NFPE &FNPO) held with Chairman Postal Services Board , Member(HRD),  Member (O), Member(Tech) & other higher officers of Postal Directorate on 30.04.2015 at 1100 hrs on all the 26 Charter of demands, the PJCA had decided to insist a further meeting with Hon’ Minister of Communications in respect of the following three Major sectional demands pertaining to the Postal fraternity.

1. Corporatisation and  Privatisation of Postal Department as recommended by the TASK FORCE committee.

2. Inclusion of Gramin Dak Sevaks (GDS) in the terms of reference of 7th Central Pay Commission. Grant of Civil servant status to GDS and grant of all benefits of departmental employees on pro-rata basis without any discrimination.

3. Implementation of Cadre Restructuring in Postal, RMS, MMS and Postal Accounts as per the proposal signed with the JCM (DC) staff side.

The ground was under active preparation for indefinite strike w.e.f .06.05.2015.

  Secretary Generals of NFPE & FNPO on behalf of Postal Joint Council of Action were invited for meeting with Hon’Minister of Communications.

On 05.05.2015.at 1300 hrs both Secretary Generals met the Hon’ MoC and submitted a memorandum on GDS issues primarily for inclusion of GDS under the purview of 7^th Central Pay Commission. As the Department of Posts assured the PJCA on 30.04.2015 that the proposal will be strongly recommended and referred to D/o Expenditure for reconsideration, the Hon’ MoC was requested to offer his good offices.

Hon’Minister of Communications has assured that the GDS issues would be looked into with an open mind and he would try to his best.

The  Cadre Restructuring Proposal file is awaiting for the approval of Hon’ MoC and now even though he had some reservations, he agreed to pass it with positive recommendations. The Cadre Restructuring Proposal will shortly be forwarded to DoPT.

In respect of Task Force Committee recommendations, Hon’ MoC  has not given any assurance about future course of action. But he asserted that NO PRIVATISATION at present and there will be no reduction or structural change in the department.

The meeting with Hon’ MoC is hopeful.

Considering the reply given in the minutes by the Postal Directorate and assurance given by Hon’ MoC , the PJCA has decided to defer the proposed INDEFINITE STRIKE from 06.05.2015 .

6th May Strike Development: 

On Tuesday 05.05.2015 Minister of Communication and IT has invited both NFPE and FNPO unions for negotiations and final decision will be taken by union in said meeting.