Measures to Check Fall in Saving Deposits

The details of saving deposits with Banks and Gross and Net Small Savings Collections during 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12 and during the current year are given below:-

(Rs. In Billion)

	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13
Saving Deposits with Banks	11,367	12,855	14,442	15,578(April-August)
Gross Small Savings Collections	2509.3	2,747.2	2,190.0	516.7 (April-June)
Net Small Savings collections	643.5	586.5	6.5	(-) 19.2 (April-June)

           While the saving deposits with banks have a positive growth, there has been a decline in gross and net small savings collections.

            The Government, inter alia, has taken the following decisions with regard to interest rates and other measures for making small saving schemes attractive:-

1.      The rate of interest on small savings schemes has been aligned with G-Sec rates of similar maturity, with a spread of 25 basis points (bps) with two exceptions.  The spread on 10 year NSC (new Instrument) will be 50 bps and on Senior Citizens Savings Scheme 100 bps.

2.      The rate of interest on Post Office Savings Account (POSA) has been increased from 3.5 % to 4%.   The ceiling of maximum balance in POSA (Rs. 1 lakh in single account and Rs. 2 lakh in joint account) has been removed.

3.      The maturity period for Monthly Income Scheme (MIS) and National Savings Certificate (NSC) has been reduced from 6 years to 5 years.

4.      A new NSC instrument, with maturity period of 10 years, is being introduced.

5.      The annual ceiling on investment under Public Provident Fund (PPF) Scheme has been increased from Rs. 70,000 to Rs. 1 lakh.

6.      Liquidity of Post Office Time Deposit (POTD)-1,2,3 & 5 years – has been improved by allowing pre-mature withdrawal at a rate of interest 1% less than the time deposits of comparable maturity.  For pre-mature withdrawals between 6-12 months of investment, Post Office Savings Account (POSA) rate of interest will be paid.

The Reserve Bank of India has also deregulated the savings bank deposit interest rate effective October 25, 2011.  Banks are now free to determine their savings bank deposit interest rate, subject to the following two conditions: First, each bank will have to offer a uniform interest rate on savings bank balances up to Rs. 1 lakh, irrespective of the amount in the account within this limit.  Second, for savings bank balances over Rs. 1 lakh a bank may provide differential rates of interest, if it so chooses.

 This was stated by the Minister of State for Finance, Shri   Namo Narain   Meena in written reply to a question in the  Rajya  Sabha today.

RE-SCHEDULE OF IPO EXAM

IPO EXAMINATION 2012

(MOST URGENT)

CONDUCTING OF LIMITED DEPARTMENTAL COMPETITIVE EXAMINATION FOR PROMOTION TO THE CADRE OF INSPECTOR POSTS (66.66%) DEPARTMENTAL QUOTA FOR THE YEAR 2012. {RE-SCHEDULED}

  

Sub: Conducting of Limited Departmental Competitive Examination for promotion to the cadre of Inspector Posts (66.66%) Departmental quota for the year, 2012.

D.G. Posts No. A-34012/07/2012-DE Dated 22^nd August, 2012.

I am directed to invite kind attention to this office letter No. dated 07.06.2012 wherein a notification was issued for Conducting of Limited Departmental Competitive Examination for promotion to the cadre of Inspector Posts for the year 2012 on 8^th & 9^th September 2012.

2.         The Competent Authority has now ordered to re-schedule and hold the above examination on 15^th & 16^th September, 2012 to the following timings:

Date of examination	Paper Nos.	Time
15th September,2012	Paper-I	10.00 A.M. to 01.00 P.M.
15th September,2012	Paper-II	02.00 P.M. to 05.00 P.M.
16th September,2012	Paper-III	10.00 A.M. to 01.00 P.M.
16th September,2012	Paper-IV	02.00 P.M. to 05.00 P.M

3.         This may be circulated to all concerned. There will be no change in other terms and conditions, issued in this office letter of even no. dated 07.06.2012.

4.         This issues with the approval of Competent Authority.

                                                                        Sd/-

(K. Rameswara Rao)

Assistant Director General(DE

OVER RS. 750 CR LYING IN INACTIVE POST OFFICE SAVING ACCOUNTS : GOVERNMENT.

The government today said around Rs 752 crore is lying as unclaimed deposits in more than 2.49 crore inactive savings accounts in post offices.

"Rs 752,44,57,414.03 is the amount lying in all inactive (silent) accounts as on March 31, 2011 in 2,49,59,446 accounts," Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal said in a written reply to Lok Sabha.

West Bengal led the tally of unclaimed deposits with over Rs 107 crore lying in 20.16 lakh accounts, followed by Tamil Nadu (Rs 105.87 crore in 62.72 lakh accounts) and Uttar Pradesh (Rs 68.61 crore in 21.74 lakh accounts).

"The depositor of such account can activate the account at any time by transaction. Notices are issued every year to the account holder of such accounts who are not maintaining minimum balance. Special drives are launched to re-activate such accounts by issuing notices and giving information through electronic media," Sibal said.

Responding to another query, Sibal said 79,604 complaints for non-delivery of Registered Letters, 41,794 for Speed Post and 8,257 related to Parcels were received in the April-June, 2012 period.

"Of these, 73,077 complaints for registered post, 38,154 for Speed Post and 6,147 for Parcels were addressed. As on June 30, 2012, 6,527 complaint cases of Registered Letters, 3,640 cases of Speed Post and 2,110 cases of Parcels are pending," Sibal said.

The major reason for the pendency are involvement of more than one postal circle/state in processing the complaints, time taken in making detailed inquiry or investigation and non-submission of the required details by the complainant in some cases, he added.

The Minister added that during 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12, departmental action has been initiated in 1,287 cases against postal employees and penalties have been imposed in 1,157 cases for non-delivery and loss of articles etc.

In a separate reply, Minister of State for Communications and IT Sachin Pilot said the Department of Posts' (DoP) volume as well as revenue from speed post has continuously increased over the years.

"The volume of Speed Post has increased from 21.14 crore in 2008-09 to 24.08 crore in 2009-10, 27.45 crore in 2010-11 to 39.19 crore in 2011-12," Pilot said.

Revenues from speed posts have also grown from Rs 515 crore in 2008-09 to Rs 614 crore in 2009-10, Rs 749 crore in 2010-11 and Rs 900 crore in 2011-12, he added.

ALL THREE HOs OF PURI DIVISION ARE INCLUDED IN THE RENEWAL OF AMC FOR BY THE CHIEF POSTMASTER GENERAL OF ODISHA POSTAL CIRCLE FOR39 Nos. of Line Printers, 01 No. of T2255 DMP & 02 Nos. of Passbook Printers up to 30.06.2014

The Chief Postmaster General, Odisha Circle, Bhubanesdwar  has  approved the AMC of 39 Nos. of Line Printers, 01 No. of T2255 DMP & 02 Nos. of Passbook Printers up to 30.06.2014 as shown in the Annexure below.

Madhya Pradesh Govt. implements Agrawal Pay Commission’s recommendations

Accepting recommendations of Agrawal Pay Commission, the State Government has given Independence Day gift to government employees by revising rates of house rent allowance, free residential facility, conveyance allowance, vehicle/transport allowance, Reserved Area allowance and non-professional allowance. Besides, the State Government has also accepted the recommendation about calculation of pension as per Central Government’s index.

   State Government employees will start getting benefit of revised rates of house rent allowance, concessional rate of rent of government quarters in Reserved Areas and non-commercial allowance with retrospective effects from November 1, 2011. Benefits of remaining recommendations will be given with effect from August 1, 2012. The State Government will bear an annual burden of Rs. 500 crore due to acceptance of these recommendations.

House rent allowance

   Under this head, allowance of eight percent was given in cities with over five lakh population. Now, ten percent house rent allowance will be given in cities with over seven lakh population. Earlier, house rent allowance worth five percent was given in cities with 2 lakh to 5 lakh population. Now, seven percent allowance will be given in cities with 3 lakh to 7 lakh population. At present, four percent house rent allowance was payable in cities having 50 thousand to two lakh population. Now, five percent house rent allowance will be paid in cities with 50 thousand to three lakh population. Allowance worth 2.5 percent was given in cities with below 50 thousand population, which has been increased to three percent.

Free of cost residential facility

   Earlier, Rs. 200 to Rs. 800 house rent allowance was payable to inspectors, sub-inspectors, head constables and constables of police, foresters, deputy foresters, Vanpals, forest guards and Jail Department’s superintendents, deputy superintendents, chief wardens, wardens and matrons. Effecting an increase in the rates, now house rent allowance will be paid to employees of equal pay scale, as per employee’s eligibility for category of house and as per minimum licence fees at Rs. 758 + 150 = 908 to Rs. 1629 + 425 = 2054.

Vehicle allowance

   Rates of vehicle allowance for motor car has also been revised upward. Earlier, motor car allowance of Rs. 300 to Rs. 800 was given to government employees, which has been increased to Rs. 750 to Rs. 2000. Allowance for other conveyance sources has also been increased from Rs. 100 to Rs. 230 to Rs. 300 and Rs. 700.

Daily allowance

   Besides daily allowance, headquarters allowance and special rest allowance have also been revised upwards. In ‘A’ category Rs. 200 will be given in place of Rs. 80, in ‘B’ category Rs. 160 in place of Rs. 60, in ‘C’ category Rs. 120 in place of Rs. 48 and in ‘D’ category Rs. 100 will be given in place of Rs. 32. Rate of daily allowance in newly constituted ‘E’ category has been fixed as Rs. 70. Now, in ‘A’ category Rs. 200 will be given for one-day journey, Rs. 400 for two days, Rs. 600 for three days and Rs. 2000 will be given a simple rate on the journey of ten days.

Eligibility for air travel

   Earlier, officers of Secretary and above ranks were eligible for air travel. Now, officers of Grade Pay “A” category drawing Rs. 7600 have also been given eligibility for air travel. Besides, officers of Grade Pay Rs. 6600 will also be eligible for air travel through air service being operated by private operators within the state.

Meal allowance

Only Grad Pay will be accepted as basis.

Lodging allowance

   Now, Rs. 500 to Rs. 4000 per day will be given in place of Rs. 200 to Rs. 3000 for staying at hotels in mega cities outside the state. Earlier, Rs. 100 to Rs. 250 was given for staying at relative’s house. Now, Rs. 200 to Rs. 400 will be given. Rs. 250 to Rs. 2000 will be given for lodging in places within the state. Earlier, this facility was available to only class-I officers.

Local conveyance during tour

   Now, Rs. 150 to Rs. 1200 will be given in place Rs. 100 to Rs. 1000 for conveyance reimbursement. Rs. 50 to Rs. 250 will be given for making conveyance arrangement by employee himself as per earlier practice.

Transfer grant

   It will now be given at the rate of Rs. 900 to Rs. 3000 in place of Rs. 300 to Rs. 1000.

Vehicle allowance

   Class-III and IV employees at Bhopal, Indore, Gwalior and Jabalpur will get Rs. 200 per month in place of Rs. 50 while disabled employees will be given Rs. 350 per month. The commission had recommended Rs. 75 for general and Rs. 150 per month for disabled employees. Thus, the State Government has sanctioned more funds than recommended by the commission.

House rent allowance in reserved areas

   House rent allowance was given at the rate of Rs. 22 to Rs. 126 to employees posted in reserved areas. It has been increased. Now, employees posted in reserved areas will get one percent more house rent allowance than employees posted in general areas.

Special allowance in reserved areas

   Earlier, special allowance of Rs. 120 to Rs. 600 was given to government employees posted in Category-1 development blocks in reserved areas. Now, they will get Rs. 400 to Rs. 1200. The allowance given to employees posted in Category-II development blocks will now get Rs. 300 to Rs. 900 in place of Rs. 80 to Rs. 400. Similarly, Rs. 150 to Rs. 450 allowance will be given in place of Rs. 40 to Rs. 200 in Category-III development blocks.

Uniform allowance in Jail, Home and Forest departments

   Uniform allowance given in these departments has also been increased from Rs. 800 to Rs. 2400 to Rs. 1200 to Rs. 3600. Renewal grant given every three years has also been revised upwardly. It will now be Rs. 800 to Rs. 2400 in place of Rs. 300 to Rs. 2000.

Non-practicing allowance (NPA)

   Rates of non-practicing allowance have also been revised upwardly. Earlier, it was Rs. 2500 on Rs. 10 thousand payable at the rate of 25 percent of basic pay. Now, it has been fixed at Rs. 630 on the basic pay of Rs. 25 thousand 200.

Great pension robbery continues unabated in Tamil Nadu

 In 2010, the CBI conducted raids in post offices in Chennai and arrested 
11 postmen on charges of taking bribes from poor pensioners of the 
Tamil Nadu government's social security scheme. The situation, it appears
 , remains the same even now after banking correspondents were appointed
 to put an end to the corrupt practices. The action then was based on a report
 published in The Times of India.

With the AIADMK government enhancing the social security pension from
 Rs 500 to Rs 1,000 per month since May last, pensioners allege that postmen
 extract a 'tip' of up to Rs 50 for each payment they make to beneficiaries.
 Even the banking correspondents, who the state government engaged a few 
months ago with the help of banks to deliver pension at the doorsteps, are 
corrupt, allege pensioners.

The banks were roped in to get rid of irregularities that take place when postmen
 disburse the money. The banking correspondents carry handheld devices with 
printers and biometric authentication equipment and on confirmation, the
 pension is disbursed with a receipt.

Biometric parameters like thumb impression and images of 4.5 lakh pensioners,
 of the total 26.4 lakh, have been recorded, and smart cards given.

However, D Janakiammal, a widow from Rosalpatti panchayat in Virudhunagar,
 who received a smart card few months ago,said she was being offered only Rs 950 . "Initially,the correspondent said the balance sum was meant for service charges 
for the bank and later he said it was his wage. We kept silent,"
 she said. Janakiammal said the receipt given by the correspondent was indeed 
for Rs 1,000. Her story is no different from that of other pensioners in the village.
 So far, 3,209 villages in the state are covered by banking correspondents.

A Kuppammal, an old-age pensioner from South Poigainallur in Nagapattinam
 said the postman, who delivers her pension, demands Rs 50 every month, but 
she could give him only.30. "Otherwise, he just does not go away." She alleged
 about 50 pensioners in her village did not get the payment last month. 
"When we inquired at the taluk office, we found that the payment had been 
made to the postal department last month. We do not know where the money
 went," she said. V Alagappan of Nanamedu in Cuddalore said nearly 30 
pensioners from his village were to get pension from the local postoffice, 
buton payment of Rs 50. "I can't imagine my life without this amount as 
the daily wage is insufficient," he said.

Social security pension schemes cover old age, disability, widow,
 destitute/deserted wives, agricultural labourers and single women.Revenue 
officials warn that action would be severe, including suspension, if complaints
 are found to be true. "We have already suspended postmen in the past. 
Corrupt banking correspondents will face a similar fate," a senior revenue 
official said.The banks are paid Rs 50 to produce each biometric smart 
card as non-recurring payment and another Rs 30 for each transaction
 as recurring payment. The state also issued an order recently, bringing
 private banks, like HDFC, ICICI and Axis Bank, into the scheme to deliver
 pensions at doorsteps.

The Association of Transparency and Anti-Corruption has demanded
 a probe into it

(source - Times Of India)

Tamil Nadu post offices best in the country

Nobody cares for the good old post offices as Tamil Nadu does. The State not just has the third highest number of post offices in the country, they are kept in best shape too.
As per details available with the Ministry of Communications and IT, Tamil Nadu has 12,065 post offices in the country, thus becoming the State with third largest network of post offices. The other two states having more number of post offices are Andhra Pradesh (16,141) and Uttar Pradesh (17,640).
But Tamil Nadu has beaten both these states when it comes to their upkeep and modernisation. The State has taken most interest in modernising its post offices and has managed to computerise 2,516 of them. 
Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh have managed to computerise only 2,184 and 2,336 post offices respectively till the end of last year. Not just in computerisation, Tamil Nadu is way ahead of other states in providing internet connectivity in its post offices. 
The State has around 1,448 post offices having internet connectivity. Here, Kerala is closely behind with 1,070 post offices.
Similarly, the State is also in the number one slot with highest number of ATMs installed in the post offices. It has so far installed ATMs in 94 post offices. Andhra Pradesh is in the number 2 position followed by Maharshtra and Kerala.
“It is all about attitude,” said an official with the Ministry when asked about the unique status of Tamil Nadu with regard to the post offices. “While most states adopt a step-motherly attitude towards post offices, Tamil Nadu has always been enthusiastic about it. It has succeeded in transforming the post offices in tune with the changing times rather than treating it as an outdated institution. Tamil Nadu model is worth emulating for other states,” said the official.
The official said the attitude of Tamil Nadu is so encouraging that the Ministry is planning to declare Tamil Nadu as a “model state” in Post Office development.
According to him, the performance of other South Indian states too is better than the average.


source - (iBN live)