UNION BUDGET UPDATE 2012-13 .

·     Budget identifies five objectives relating to  growth recovery, private investment, supply bottlenecks, malnutrition and governance matters

·         GDP growth to be 7.6 per cent (+ 0.25 percent) during 2012-13

·         Amendment to the FRBM Act proposed  as part of Finance Bill.  New concepts of “Effective Revenue Deficit” and “Medium Term Expenditure Framework” introduced

·         Central subsidies to be kept under 2 per cent of GDP; to be further brought down to 1.75 per cent of GDP over the next 3 years.

·         Proposed: Mobile based fertilizer management system; LPG transparency portal; scaling up and rolling out of Aadhar enabled payment for government schemes in at least 50 districts.

·         Rs. 30,000 crore to be raised through disinvestment

·         Efforts to reach broadbased consensus on FDI in multi-brand retail

·         Rajiv Gandhi Equity Saving Scheme: to allow income tax deduction to retail investors on  investing in equities

·         Rs. 15,888 crore to be provided for capitalization of public sector banks and financial  institutions

·         A central  “Know Your Customer” depository to be developed

·         Swabhimaan: remaining habitations to be covered; to be extended to more habitations; ultra small branches to be set up in Swabhimaan habitations

·         Investment in 12^th Plan in infrastructure to go uptoRs. 50,00,000 crore; half of this is expected from private sector

·         Tax Free Bonds of Rs. 60,000 crore to be allowed for financial infrastructure projects

·         Allocation of Road Transport and Highways Ministry enhanced by 14 per cent to Rs. 25,360 crore

·         Financial package of Rs. 3,884 crore for waiver of loans to handloom weavers and their cooperative societies; mega handloom clusters in Andhra, Jharkhand; weaver service centres in Mizoram, Nagaland and Jharkhand ;powerloom mega cluster in Maharashtra; Rs. 500 crore pilot schemes for geo-textiles in North-Eastern region

·         Rs. 5,000 crore India Opportunities Venture Fund to help small enterprises

·         Allocation to agriculture enhanced; RKVY gets Rs. 9,217 crore; BGREI gets Rs. 1,000 crore; Rs.2242 crore project to improve dairy productivity; Rs. 500 crore for coastal aquaculture

·         Various other agricultural activities merged into 5 missions

·         Target for agricultural credit raised to Rs. 5,75,000 crore

·         Interest subvention for short-term crop loans to farmers at 7 per cent interest continues; additional 3 per cent for prompt paying farmers

·         Rs. 200 crore for awards to incentivise agricultural research

·         Provisions under rural housing fund increased to Rs. 4,000 crore from Rs. 3,000 crore

·         Interest subvention of 1 percent on housing loans uptoRs. 15 lakh extended for one more year

·         AIBP allocation raised by 13 per cent to Rs. 14,242 crore

·         National Mission on Food Processing to be started in cooperation with State Governments

·         Scheduled Caste Sub Plan allocation increases by 18 per cent to Rs. 37,113crore; Tribal Sub Plan by 17.6 per cent to Rs. 21,710 crore

·         Multi-sectoralprogramme to address maternal and child malnutrition in 200 high burden districts

·         58 per cent rise in allocation to ICDS, at Rs. 15,850 crore

·         Rural drinking water and sanitation gets 27 per cent rise in allocation to Rs. 14,000 crore; PMGSY gets 20 per cent rise to Rs. 24,000 crore

·         Projects covering length of 8800 km to be awarded under NHDP against 7,300 km during 2011-12

·         RTE-SSA gets Rs. 25,555 crore allocation, showing an increase of 21 per cent; 6000 schools to be set up at block level as model schools in the 12^thPlan; Credit Guarantee Fund to be set up for better flow of credit to students

·         National Urban Health Mission is being launched

·         34 per cent increase in allocation to National Rural Livelihood Mission, to Rs. 3915 crore

·         Rs. 1000 crore allocated for National Skill Development Fund

·         Bharat Livelihood Foundation to be established to support livelihood interventions particularly in  tribal areas

·         Widow pension and disability pension raised from Rs. 200 to Rs. 300 per month

·         Grant on death of primary breadwinner of a BPL family in the age group 18-64 years doubled to Rs. 20,000

·         Defence services get Rs. 193407 crore; any further requirement to be met

·         4000 residential quarters to be constructed for Central Armed Police Forces

·         UID-Aadhar to get adequate funds for enrolment of 40 crore persons, in addition to the 20 crore persons already enrolled

·         White Paper on Black Money to be laid in the current session of Parliament

·         Tax proposals mark progress in the direction of movement towards DTC and GST

·         Income tax exemption limit raised from Rs.1,80,000 to Rs.2,00,000; upper limit of 20 per cent tax slab raised from Rs.8 lakh to Rs.10 lakh

·         Interest from savings bank accounts deductible upto Rs.10,000; deduction ofupto Rs.5,000 for preventive health check-up

·         Senior citizens without business income exempt from advance tax

·         Investment linked deduction of capital expenditure enhanced for certain businesses; new sectors eligible for investment linked deduction

·         Turnover limit for compulsory tax audit for SMEs raised from Rs.60 lakh to Rs.1 crore

·         STT on cash delivery reduced by 20 per cent to 0.1%

·         General Anti Avoidance Rule being introduced to counter aggressive tax avoidance

·         A number of measures proposed to deter generation and use of unaccounted money

·         All services to attract service tax except those in the negative list

·         Central Excise and Service Tax being harmonized

·         Standard rate of excise duty raised from 10 per cent to 12 per cent; service tax rates raised from 10 per cent to 12 per cent; no change in peak customs duty of 10 per cent on non-agricultural goods

·         Relief in indirect taxes to sectors under stress; agriculture, infrastructure, mining, railways, roads, civil aviation, manufacturing, health and nutrition, and environment get duty relief

·         Certain cigarettes and bidis attract higher excise duty; large cars attract higher customs duty

·         Excise imposed on unbranded jewellery also; measures to minimize impact on small artisans  and goldsmiths; branded silver jewellery exempted from excise duty

·         Net gain of Rs.41,440 crore due to taxation proposals

·         Total expenditure budgeted at Rs. 14,90,925 crore; plan expenditure at Rs. 5,21,025 crore – 18 per cent higher than 2011-12 budget; non plan expenditure at Rs. 9,69,900 crore

·         Fiscal deficit targeted at 5.1 per cent of GDP, as against 5.9 per cent in revised estimates for 2011-12

·         Central Government debt at 45.5 per cent of GDP as compared to Thirteenth Finance Commission target of 50.5 per cent

·         Medium-term Expenditure Framework Statement to be  introduced; will set forth 3-year rolling target for expenditure indicators

ITS WORKING ! Postal dept deficit may dip 16% to Rs 5,309 cr: Survey .

The efforts of the Government to revive the Department of Posts (DoP) seems to be bearing fruit as its deficit is likely to come down by over 16 per cent to Rs 5,309.6 crore in 2011-12, the Economic Survey 2011-12 today said.

“In the current year 2011-12 (Budget Estimates), the gross receipts were budgeted at Rs 7,517.7 crore and with gross and net working expenses estimated at Rs 13,522.4 crore and Rs 12,827.3 crore respectively, with the deficit estimated at Rs 5,309.6 crore,” the survey said.

The gross receipts of the DoP in 2010-11 were placed at Rs 6,962.3 crore whereas the gross and net working expenses were Rs 13,793.7 crore and Rs 13,307.9 crore respectively.

The resultant deficit for 2010-11 stood at Rs 6,345.6 crore, the survey said.

It added that the postal sector needs to keep pace with changing times as many of its services have become redundant with growth in technology and takeover by other players.

“Quick decisions and actions to stay abreast of the times, including switching over to new activities and downsizing, could release a lot of resources from this sector for use elsewhere,” the survey said.

The Government has approved a total Plan outlay of Rs 1,877.2 crore for the modernisation of its IT infrastructure to increase the efficiency of the department.

“The project is intended for computerisation of all the non-computerised post offices, mail offices, administrative and other offices, establishment of IT infrastructure and development of required software applications... The project is expected to be rolled out by 2013,” the survey said.

The DoP has the largest postal network in the world with 1,54,866 post offices across India as of March 2011. Of these, 1,39,040 post offices are in rural areas, while the remaining are in urban areas.

Aimed at transforming the infrastructure, the Government had launched Project Arrow in 2008 for upgrading key postal operations such as mail delivery, remittance, and banking services.

India Post now offers a single window facility for banking, money remittances and other financial products.

The DoP is also responsible for disbursing wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) through 96,895 post offices.

The postal network is also being used by other Government agencies to collect data like the rural consumer price index, the survey said.

A TRIBUTE OF INDIAPOST TO THE WOMEN POWER .

For the first time in Indian postal history, Dept of Posts, Maharashtra and Goa, hosts exhibition charting achievements of women 

For the first time in Indian postal history, the Department of Posts, Maharashtra and Goa, is hosting an exhibition commemorating thejourney of Indian women, on the occasion of International Women's Day. The imposing 99-yearold building of the General Post Office at Fort, is the venue for the philatelic exhibition which began on Wednesday.

On display are about 200 rare and ancient stamps, first day covers (envelopes designed to commemorate the first day of special events) and special covers (envelopes commemorating special events, institutions or persons).

While the exhibition also features Indian women before independence, there is special emphasis on the journey of Indian women after independence. It also reminds one of contemporary names like PAN AM flight attendant Neerja Bhanot who gave up her life while saving passengers from terrorists. There is a special cover as well as a stamp in her honour. Another contemporary personality honoured is the fiery Dnyanpeeth awardee Ashapurna Devi whose writings bring out the pain, ideals and dreams of women.

The exhibition is divided into interesting categories. One such category is social reformers and activists who empowered women. This includes Swami Vivekanand, Mahatma Jyotiba Phuleand his wife Savitribai Phule who pioneered women's education in India, and women's rights activist Ramabai Ranade. There are also categories which include warrior queens, and women in paintings, folk dance and cinema. Tributes to women in cinema include those for actresses like Devika Rani, Kanan Devi and Madhubala. There are also stamps on the paintings of Jamini Roy and Nandalal Bose. Maharashtra's popular folk dance lavani is commemorated on a special cover. The oldest stamp on display is one issued in 1952 on Meerabai.

The exhibition also traces International Woman's day celebrations, and pays rich tributes to women like Hellen Keller and Eleanor Roosevelt.

"We thought of this exhibition to celebrate International Woman's day, which is on March 8. But we decided to host it later, as this year Holi was on that day and a weekend followed it. We wanted to host it for the benefit of a wider audience," said Chief Post Master General, Maharashtra and Goa, Humera Ahmed.

The exhibition was put up with help from the staff of the Postal Women's Welfare Organisation.

"The exhibition is unique in the sense that not only it is the first such dedicated to women organised by the Indian Post, but it has a powerful theme: connecting girls, inspiring futures. A special cover with a picture of a girl riding on a pencil that takes off like a rocket was released on Wednesday, to show how women are being empowered through education and the internet," says Abha Singh, director, Postal Services, (HQ). Ahmed feels the exhibition will be an eye opener and a revelation on the spirit of womenhood.

On Thursday, there is a short play on women by postal staff at the exhibition venue. Prizes will be distributed for rangoli that is being exhibited along with the stamps, as well as for an essay competition on 'My vision of a woman' which was for postal employees in Maharashtra.

The exhibition is on till Saturday. 

SCHEME FOR ENGAGEMENT OF GDS ON COMPASSIONATE GROUNDS-MERIT POINTS AND PROCEDURE FOR SELECTION-REVISED PROVISIONS THEREOF.

D.G. Posts No. 17-17/2000-GDS dated 09Mar 2012. 
 

A reference is invited in this Directorate letters of even number dated 14 Dec 2010 and 01 Aug 2011 vide which the scheme for engagement of GDS on compassionate grounds with merit points & procedure for selection as modified was circulated and made effective for all the compassionate engagement cases to be considered on or after 01.01.2011.

2. The scheme has recently been reviewed in this Directorate and in partial modification in the existing provisions of the Scheme, the following provisions are hereby ordered to be substituted with the approval of the competent authority:

(a) The attribute of assessing indigence appearing at Ser 7- Educational Qualification of Applicant on Page 3 of this Directorate letter No. 17-17/2010-GDSdated 14.12.2010 is deleted.

(b) The attribute of assessing indigence appearing at Ser 2- Outstanding liabilities for Education/Marriage of dependent children on Page-2 of this Directorate letter No. 17-17/2010-GDSdated 14.12.2010 is substituted as under:

Ser	Points	Criteria
1	20 for two or more dependent children	For education of children
	15 for one dependent child
2	20 for two or more dependent daughter	For marriage of daughters
	15 for one dependent daughter

(c) The attribute of assessing indigence appearing at Ser 6-Discharge Benefits i.e Ex-gratia gratuity ,Severance Amount, Service Discharge benefits under NPS Lite and Group Insurance Benefits received by family on Page 3 of this Directorate letter No. 17-17/2010-GDSdated 14.12.2010 is substituted as under:

Ser	Points	Slabs for benefits on discharge
1	20	Rs. 75000 & below
2	15	Below Rs. 150000 but above Rs. 75000
3	10	Rs. 150000 & above.

(d) The word “Proposed” appearing under Criteria 1,3,5,& 6 on page 2&3 of this Directorate letter No. 17-17/2010-GDSdated 14.12.2010 may be taken as deleted.

(e) Apart from the above cases where the wife of the deceased GDS has applied for compassionate engagement for her, she shall get 15 additional points as grace points. This is the line with the general principle that the widow needs to be give preference for compassionate engagement. Such grace points shall not be permissible in the widower applicant.

3. All other provisions contained in the Scheme dated 14.12.2010as further modified under letter of even number dated 01.08.2011 shall continue to apply as already prescribed and all compassionate engagement shall be approved with in the ambit of the prescribed Scheme only. It is reiterated that the existing criteria of 50 Points and above for adjudging hard and deserving cases stands.

4. The above changes shall take effect from the date of application of the original Scheme. All cases which were considered & rejected by the CRC based on the earlier provisions of the new Scheme may be reconsidered afresh based on application of the revised criteria within the time frame allowed under Para7 (e) of the Directorate’s letter No. 17-17/2010-GDSdated 14.12.2010 as fresh cases subject to availability of vacancies in the division concerned in view of removal of ceiling of 10% already without further reference to this Directorate.

5. Pursuant to the provisions now revised where the widow now applies for the compassionate engagement following rejection of the case of one of her child case may also be taken as a fresh case to be considered as per the new Scheme as modified. Thus before the already rejected cases are reconsidered the widow may be given an option to be exercised in writing within one month of date of receipt of the communication to be issued by the Circle treating the application of her child as withdrawn & consideration of her application afresh to follow in due course . Where such as option is exercised, the already rejected application of her child may be considered and her fresh application may be got processed expeditiously.

Sd/

(Surender Kumar)

Assistant Director General (GDS)

Regular Promotion to ASP Cadre / Transfer and Posting in ASP Cadre in Odisha Circle

In an important flow of action , the transfer memo of Sri B.M.DAS MOHAPATRA , ASP HQ has been transferred to the Bhubaneswar division . And MR. MOHAPATRA will officiate as the DY.POSTMASTER OF BHUBANESWAR GPO. The copy of the memo can be referred herewith.

1.   The following Inspector of Posts promoted to ASP Cadre on regular basis vide C.O. Memo No. ST/24-15(1)/2004 dated 15^th March, 2012 and allotted/posted as mentioned against each below:-

Sl. No.	Name                S/Shri	Present Place of Posting	Region/Unit to which allotted	Place of Posting
1.	Gangadhar Mohanty	Offtg. ASP(OD), Puri	Head Quarter Region	ASP(OD), Puri
2.	Khageswar Mallick	Offtg. ASP(Bag), PSD, BBSR	Head Quarter Region	ASP(Bag), PSD, BBSR attached to CO as ASP(TO)
3.	Dillip Ku. Behera	APS	APS	---
4.	Tapas Ku. Dash	Offtg. ASP(PG), C.O, BBSR	Head Quarter Region	ASP(PG), C.O, BBSR
5.	Ms. Arunabala Mohanty	IP(PG), Bhubaneswar	Head Quarter Region	ASP(HQ), RMS ‘N’ Division, Cuttack Vice Shri Krupasindhu Panda transferred
6.	B.P.Padhi	Berhampur Region	Berhampur Region	-----
7.	G.B. Behera	APS	APS
8.	Jagadish Dash	IP, Kujang Sub-Division	Head Quarter Region	ASP(I/C), Jagatsingpur  Vice Shri Banamali Patra transferred on administrative ground

2.   The following Officers in ASP Cadre have been transferred and posted vide C.O. Memo No. ST/24-15(1)/2004 dated 15^th March, 2012  in the interest of service as mentioned against each below:-

Sl. No.	Name                S/Shri	Present Place of Posting	Place of Posting
1.	D.K.Samal	DPM, BBSR GPO	PI, RMS ‘N’ Divn attached to CO as ASP(Staff) vice Shri P.K. Nanda given adhoc promotion to PS Gr.B cadre
2.	Susen Peda	ASP(OD), Balasore	ASP(OD), RMS N Divn, Cuttack against the vacant post.
3.	B.M. Dasmohapatra	ASP(HQ), Puri Division	DPM, Bhubaneswar GPO vice Shri D.K. Samal transferred.
4.	Krupasindhu Panda	ASP(HQ), RMS N Dn, Cuttack	ASP(OD), Mayuarbhanj  Divn, Baripada against the vacant post.

3.   The following Officers in ASP Cadre have been transferred vide C.O. Memo No. ST/24-15(1)/2004 dated 15^th March, 2012  in the interest of service on administrative ground as mentioned against each below:-

Sl. No.	Name                S/Shri	Present Place of Posting	Region to which allotted on transfer
1.	Banamali Patra	ASP(I/C), Jagatsinghpur Sub-Division	Sambalpur  Region
2.	J.K. Jena	ASP(I/C), Bhubaneswar North Sub-Division	Sambalpur  Region

 4.   The following Inspector of Posts promoted to ASP Cadre on purely temporary and adhoc basis vide C.O. Memo No. ST/24-15(1)/2004 dated 15^thMarch, 2012 and allotted/posted as mentioned against each below:-

Sl. No.	Name                S/Shri	Present Place of Posting	Region/Unit to which allotted	Place of Posting
1.	Bijay Ku. Mishra	IP, Bhadrak East Sub-Division	Head Quarter Region	ASP(OD), Balasore Divn vice Shri Susen Peda transferred
2.	Nakula Behera	Berhampur Region	Berhampur Region	-----

REGULARIZATION OF CASUAL LABOURERS - WINS A LEGAL BATTLE

AFTER WAITING 30 YEARS, 150 POSTAL STAFF REGULARISED

Chennai, Mar 9, 2012(TNN): After waiting for 30 years, close to 150 employees of the postal department will finally become regular employees, thanks to the intervention of the Central Administrative Tribunal ( CAT). A bench of G Shanthappa, judicial member and R Satapathy, administrative member, passed orders on the matter.

The applicants were appointed mazdoors with the department of posts in 1982. While joining, they were assured that their services would be regularised. Based on directions in a Supreme Court judgment, the department introduced a scheme in 1991 which stipulated that all casual labourers who worked for eight hours a day for 240 days every year as on November 29, 1989 would be conferred temporary status.

Those who were granted temporary status and had worked for three consecutive years would be conferred with 'Group D' status. These employees – who are now called multi-tasking staff – would be eligible for pension and other service benefits.

When they approached the tribunal in 2010, they were directed to make individual representations to authorities by listing out their grievances. But their claims were rejected mainly on two grounds – that they were overage and that they did not have the qualification.

When their fresh applications came up for hearing, M Ravindran, additional solicitor general who appeared for the Union government, said authorities did not have any objection to regularise their services.

The bench said there "cannot be any hindrance for the absorption of applicants" who have been working for so long. "It has also come to our notice that there are enough vacancies to accommodate the applicants before us," the bench said.

Authorities were directed to consider regularising these applicants and give age relaxation and training for those who did not possess matriculation skills within three months.

source : nfpe.blogspot.com