Reply to every RTI application: Rajnath Singh

New Delhi, Nov 7 (PTI) Officials should reply to every RTI application irrespective of what kind of information has been sought by the applicant, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said today and asserted that the importance of the transparency law has increased in present times.

Addressing the inaugural function of the 11th annual Central Information Commission convention, Singh said his ministry was recently asked what is the action plan of the government against "a zombie or alien attack" and he had ensured that response is given to it.

"All of you must understand the ecosystem of information and without getting influenced by what information is being sought, you must do your duty," he told the gathering which included Central Public Information Officers and Information Commissioners.

Singh also inaugurated the e-court system in the Central Information Commission which will make the transparency panel go paperless in matters of appeals and complaints being processed by it.

The new system has come into place as the Commission has digitised over 1.5 lakh files with it, allowing people to file appeals and complaints online without any requirement of hard copy.

"Government must be sensitive, corruption free and accountable to people of the country. Keeping this in mind, the importance of RTI in these times has increased more than ever. As far as RTI is concerned, it is an effective and strong mode of communication between people and government," he said.

Asserting that participation of people is increasing in framing policies, Singh said over 40,000 suggestions were received on GST.

"More the systems will go digital, the better will be transparency... there is a need for a digitally strong society," he said, adding that it is the responsibility of government to make people aware about their rights under Article 21 of the Constitution.

He said there should be a single window system for addressing people's grievances so that people do not have to knock the doors of different offices.

"It is the demand of time that government is transparent, responsive as well as smart. It is required that the government performs and also provides information to people wherever it is required," he said.

Earlier, speaking on the occasion, Minister of State for Prime Minister's Office Jitendra Singh said although there is no pendency, the filing of such grievances has gone up from about two lakh annually when the new government was formed to eight lakh now.

Quoting a couplet of Mirza Ghalib, Singh, while taking a veiled dig at UPA government, said people file grievances because they have hope of them being resolved.

He said a higher number of RTI applications are being processed but still the numbers are increasing.

"We cannot check corruption by laws," Singh said.

Underlining the menace of frivolous RTI applications, Singh said one must test it on a couple of parameters to "avoid the avoidable" RTI applications like whether the motive is public or personal.

Chief Information Commissioner Radha Krishna Mathur also highlighted the system being choked by a single RTI user as among 35,000 pending cases before the Commissioner, about 4,000 have been filed by a single person.

PM Narendra Modi asks all ministries to address grievances within one month

PM Narendra Modi has asked ministries to make all efforts to halve the time taken to redress citizen grievances to one month.

Senior officials told ET that although ministries were earlier told to dispose of grievances within two months, the PM in his monthly PRAGATI (Pro-Active Governance And Timely Implementation) platform meetings stressed on the need for speedy disposal of grievances and said that efforts be made to reduce the redressal time by half.

“All ministries are trying to reduce the time,“ a senior official said, pointing out that top officials in all ministries including secretaries are monitoring the progress.

To ensure that grievances are not disposed of for the sake of disposal, citizens will be given an opportunity to give their feedback to the government about the “quality“ of grievance redressal and seek the help of the Department of Public Grievances in Cabinet Secretariat if they are not satisfied with the quality of resolution. An option has also been introduced whereby citizens can send in a reminder or clarification on a past grievance if the complaint remains pending for long.

The grievances received by the Centre on its online complaint portal this year are close to the 8.8 lakh total complaints it got in 2015, senior officials said. In a communiqué, all ministries were told to analyse the grievances being received at the "policy process resources level."

Source:-The Economic Times

"Cap on withdrawals from ATMs policy decision"

New Delhi, Nov 6 (PTI) The Reserve Bank of India has told the Delhi High Court that the cap on the number of withdrawals from ATMs by banking customers without being charged is a policy decision taken in public interest.

A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal was also informed by RBI that the ATM facility was made available with a view to reduce "cash usage and increase electronic transactions in the country".

RBI was responding to a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by advocate Swati Aggarwal, seeking directions to allow banking customers to make an unlimited number of transactions free of any charge on their own bank ATMs.

India's central banking institution, which controls the monetary policy of the rupee, however, opposed the PIL, saying it is "not maintainable and is liable to be dismissed, as RBI has not violated any laws of the land".

"The PIL is not meant to be a weapon to challenge the financial or economic decisions which are taken by the RBI in exercise of their administrative/ statutory powers and in the public interest...," RBI's counsel said.

On this, the bench has asked the RBI to file an affidavit with regard to its contention made before it by next date of hearing, December 5.

The RBI's oral submissions were made after the high court on last date of hearing had questioned its decision to put a cap on withdrawals by banking customers using their ATM cards, saying account holders were being "unnecessarily taxed".

As per RBI's new guidelines, bank customers in six metros -- Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Bengaluru -- are allowed to withdraw money free of charge only five times a month and every transaction beyond this limit will be charged Rs 20 per use.

Procedure to Invoice COD Article without Booking Data in SpeedNet and Postman

Data Entry option is included in new SpeedNet 4.4.2 and Meghdoot 7.9.6 for handling COD articles of which Booking message has not been received. Following are the new procedure included in the Speednet and Postman module.

COD Data Entry in SpeedNet 4.4.2

• If electronic data of the SP COD article is already received, then delivery post office can transfer the article to Meghdoot Postman directly in the same way as it is being done now.
• If electronic data is not received, then delivery post office will be prompted to do data entry for such SP COD articles.

• Once the "OK" button is clicked, then the data entry window will be shown:

Here, enter / scan the SP COD article barcode, key in the Addressee Name, Addressee Address, Addressee Pincode, COD Value of the SP COD article and Booking Office Pincode. Once the Booking Office Pincode is entered click on "Fetch" button or press "Enter" key and select the Booking Office Name from the dropdown list. Then, key in the Biller ID of Sender / Customer and select the Booking Date from the Date Time Picker.

Save the above entries i.e., click on "Save" button.

Once the above activity is completed, enter / scan the SP COD article barcode in the regular "Transfer to Meghdoot Postman" option (as is available now) and transfer the SP COD article to Meghdoot Postman. Further process remains the same in Meghdoot Postman.

Separate identity will be maintained by the SpeedNet and ePayment systems to identify such cases separately.

Checks at ePayment server and release of COD Payments

1. When the information of delivery of a SP COD article is received by the ePayment Server, the ePayment server will cross check the information entered by the delivery post offices with the booking information captured at the time of booking. 

2. If the data entered by the delivery post office matches with the booking information, ePayment server will transmit the data of such matched articles to the payment office for effecting payment to the eBiller concerned.

3. The cases where the eBiller ID or SP COD Amount is not matched (OR) where booking information is not available in the SpeedNet system, such articles are shown in a separate MIS report to the Payment Divisions concerned in the ePayment Website. 

4. The Booking Divisions can cross check these articles and see whether these articles are booked in the system or not. If they are booked in the system, the booking division has to take action to transmit the booked data to Central Server, so that these articles can be released for payment.

COD Data Entry in Postman

The data entry option for COD articles for which electronic booking message is not received is available in this option. The menu option is “Postman Operator -> Invoicing ->COD Articles-> COD for Dataentry” 

• Once the form is opened, the Physically received COD will be entered. Fill all the column with proper details and click “OK” button.

Fig: “COD Data Entry Screen”

Reserve Bank of India RBI 2000 Rs Note First Look: RBI(Reserve Bank of India) planned for Rs 2000 Note a couple of months ago. But we didn’t get an official confirmation from the RBI about this. But this picture which we got is going viral in social media with a tag “Reserve Bank of India Rs 2000 Note First Look”. Is it really the one?

Reserve Bank of India Rs 2000 Note First Look:

Early in Mid 2016, there was information that the Rs 2000 note will be out later this year or early 2017. The speculations are not that confirmed and RBI was silent when asked about this Rs 2000 note. But they didn’t even say no about the rumors. The picture shows the blueprint of the Rs. 2000 note which is going viral in the social media.

The RBI has nearly completed all the preparations for introducing this new high-value currency, sources said. Currency notes and coins are printed/minted at about eight units owned by the Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Limited (SPMCIL), a finance ministry company.

Many people in India are against the introduction of bigger currency as it will increase the amount of black money. If the sources are said to believe, the notes have already been printed, and they were on the verge of dispatch from the currency printing press in Mysuru(Mysore) has commenced. So it may be on its final stage to the release.

Reserve Bank of India RBI 2000 Note First Look Going Viral:

Coming to the larger denomination which RBI printed, it is Rs 10000 back in 1938 and in 1954. But they were discontinued in later stages and made Rs 1000 as the biggest currency. But we don’t know the exact reason why RBI wants to introduce the Rs 2000 note. The release may give the answers and reason for why they introduced Rs 2000 note.

Soon Finance Ministry will release Official Design Details.

The World's Highest Post Office in India

A 40 minute uphill drive from the town of Kaza in Spiti valley for 14km and one will reach the village of Hikkim. This place houses the highest post office in the world. The village of Hikkim is situated at a towering altitude of around 14,400 feet above sea level. Hikkim also has the highest polling booth in India.

There are two options of getting to Hikkim, the first is to hire a taxi from Kaza. The second option is to take the local HRTC government bus from Kaza to Hikkim, which runs twice a week on Tuesdays and Saturdays and departs from Kaza at 2 pm. It’s advisable to recheck the bus schedule a day prior to your journey. The bus ride takes around 70-90 minutes to reach Hikkim and is the most economical way of getting to the village.

The same bus runs all the way to the village of Komik and also makes a stop at the fossil village of Langza. The bus leaves from the village of Komik the same day at roughly 4 pm and heads back to the town of Kaza.

At first glance, Hikkim can be easily mistaken as an extension of either Komik or Langza since the village has a very similar bowl shaped setting and is located between these two high altitude villages. On reaching the village, travellers will be flocked by little kids asking for chocolates and money. It is advisable not to give into their demands since this has developed into a new breed of children begging all day. In some place the kids even get aggressive and fling stuff if their demands are not met. This seems to be the tantrums of the children of the area. 

The houses in Hikkim are built out of stone and mud with the outer walls painted in white and have Buddhist prayer flags hung around the house to symbolise the Buddhist influence in the village. The houses in the village are all clustered close to each other just below the road. It is a steep 65 degree inclined walk down to the village houses. The village monastery is located at the far end over looking the entire village. The village also has a Hindi medium co-education government school till the eight grade which was started in 1965. 

Hikkim much like the other two villages in this belt is rich in fossil life since it was also a part of the might Indian Ocean before the Himalayan fold mountains were formed. Here fossils are found a lot more easily as compared to in Langza which is known as the fossil village since very few travellers visit Hikkim. In Hikkim, fossils can be found everywhere all you have to do is just look around. 

An absolutely must do thing while in Hikkim is to walk down to the post office and send a post card, because its not everyday that you get to send a post card from the highest highest post office in the world. 

The lower flat plains of the village are where the villagers grow their crops. Since the land is barren and the weather is dry, cultivating crops is extremely hard but just like the rest of the valley, the villagers from Hikkim have managed to do the impossible and cultivate potatoes, spinach and cabbage. Yaks are used to plough the field and traveller will get a glimpse of this through the day. 

Accommodation in Hikkim is limited to a couple of extremely basic home stays which provide nothing more than a mattress to sleep on. The home stays are very clean and also provide all three meals to travellers. Food served in the home stays is a home cooked Spitian meal which consist of the local Spiti bread which is a round shaped fluffed up roti made from wheat served with jam, butter and the previous day’s dal. Lunch and dinner generally includes rice, rajma (kidney bean) dal, roti and a mixed vegetable dish. 

The village of Hikkim is a place which is more suited to travellers in search of wilderness since the village has nothing touristy to offer to a regular traveller. To experience the life of the locals a night stay in the village is highly recommended.

Computer Advance will be allowed maximum five times in the entire service for all Central Government Employees

“Rs.50,000 or actual price of PC, whichever is lower. The computer advance will be allowed maximum five times in the entire service.”

“Motor Car Advance and Motorcycle / Scooter Moped Advance will stand discontinued”

Grant of advances – Seventh Pay Commission recommendations – Amendment to Rules 21(5) of Compendium of Rules on Advances to Government Servants

No.12(1)/E.II(A)/2016

Government of India

Ministry of Finance

Department of Expenditure

New Delhi, 7th October, 2016

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Subject: Grant of advances – Seventh Pay Commission recommendations – Amendment to Rules 21(5) of Compendium of Rules on Advances to Government Servants.

The undersigned is directed to say that in of the decision taken by the Government on the Seventh Pay Commission’s recommendations relating to advances, the existing provisions of Compendium of Rules on Advances – 21(5) relating to Personal Computer Advance are amended as per the amendments attached.

2. These orders will take effect from the date of issue of this O.M. The cases where the advances have already been sanctioned need not be reopened.

3. The other interest bearing advances relating to Motor Car Advance and Motorcycle / Scooter Moped Advance will stand discontinued.

4. In so far as persons serving in Indian Audit and Accounts Department are concerned, these orders issue in consultation with the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.

5. All Ministries/Departments are requested to bring the amendments to the notice of all

its attached and subordinate offices for their information.

Hindi version of this O.M. is enclosed.

sd/-

(Pankaj Hazarika)

Director, E.II(A)

AMENDMENTS TO COMPENDIUM OF RULES ON ADVANCES TO GOVERNMENT SERVANTS, 2005

CONDITIONS OF GRANT OF COMPUTER ADVANCE:

Rule21(5)
Advance : Personal Computer Advance
Quantum : Rs.50000 or actual price of PC, whichever is lower
Eligibility Criteria : All government employees

(ii) The computer advance will be allowed maximum five times in the entire service.

Authority: www.finmin.nic.in

VIGILANCE AWARENESS WEEK 2016 - Public Participation in Combating Corruption

BY N VITTAL

The theme for the Vigilance Awareness Week 2016 is ‘Public participation in promoting integrity and combating corruption’.  The very core idea of the Vigilance Awareness Week being observed under the initiative of Central Vigilance Commission is that the Commission realized that in a huge country like India, we cannot promote integrity and combat corruption unless there is participation of the public. 

 

 What is ‘Integrity’ and ‘Corruption’

 

             Integrity is basically the state in which there is complete coherence and no division.  From a practical point of view, integrity means honesty or straightforwardness.  As the Central Vigilance Commission deals with the issue of integrity, it looks up it in three different angles.  One of course is the integrity relating to intellectual integrity, the second is financial integrity and the third is moral or ethical integrity. 

 

The word corruption is defined by the World Bank as use of public office for private gain.  So far as the strict legal aspect is concerned, the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988 defines the objective conditions for the court to decide whether the act of corruption taken place or not when a case comes before that forum.  For our analysis in this paper we may adopt World Bank definition of using public office for private gain is relatively accurate and broad based and easy for understanding.

 

Public Participation

 

            We may now examine the theme of ‘public participation for promoting integrity and combating corruption’ in the context of our country and the government of India.

 

            It was Shri T.N. Seshan, the former Chief Election Commissioner of India who suggested  that if the Central Vigilance Commission were to observe one week in a year as a ‘Vigilance Awareness Week’, it will help focusing the attention of promoting integrity and combating corruption right across entire spectrum of government organizations which directly come under the jurisdiction of the CVC but will also have a multiplier effect by way of bringing the whole issue in the public domain.

 

 What was visualized by Shri Seshan, has today set an excellent track record and as we look back at the history of the past two decades, we will find that the youth of today can immediately find resonance with the concept of integrity and combating corruption as the sine qua non for good governance. 

 

            In a way, the Vigilance Awareness Week has set into motion of virtuous cycle, one good development following another.  It will be appropriate, on the occasion the Vigilance awareness week to quickly trace the developments in the area of public governance in our country since 2000 when the Vigilance Awareness Week was launched. 

 

To begin with, the background of the changes brought about by the Central Vigilance Commission and the focus on promoting integrity and combating corruption in public life is in reality, a saga of the changes that public participation has brought about.

 

The Advent of RTI Act

 

 Ironically, the beginning in recent times of public participation demanding accountability on governance and checking corruption was in Rajasthan, one of the most backward states of the country. Different states in our country are at different stages of development and though there is a cultural integrity of India, we are a multi ethnic, multi lingual and multi speed country.  From the very backward States like Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh compared to other States like Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Punjab, there is a vast difference when it comes to development in various sectors.

 

            It was in Rajasthan that a Non-Government Organization, Mazdur Kisan Shakti Sangatan (MKSS) lead  by a committed social activist Aruna Roy who earlier was part of Indian Civil Services, spread awareness  among the people of the villages that they should know whether the huge funds which were being made available to Panchayats for the development of the villages were being  properly used.  The theme she underlined was that Tax revenue is ‘our money, give us an account of how our money is being spent’.  “Hamara paisa, hamara hisab’’ was the theme on which she was able to quietly and systematically work in the villages of Rajasthan. This triggered into a powerful movement which finally lead to the enactment of Right to Information Act in 2005.

 

            The Act was indeed revolutionary. It was a diametrically opposite concept under which the States had so far ruled and especially, from the colonial period. So far, there was no method by which the citizens were taken in to confidence and informed about what the government intended to do and how their tax funds were being spent. The   RTI proved to be a game-changer as its enactment ensured public participation which lead to overall awareness about how transparency can be brought out in the governmental system and how government can be made accountable.

 

In 2010, Anna Hazare, who has been active for more than three decades in the village of Ralegan city in Maharastra, became the leader of very popular movement India Against Corruption[IAC]. It grabbed the attention of the entire nation as if it was a second movement for independence. It got an unpresented boost, thanks to the 24/7 electronic media and the all embracing social media.

 

The growth of the internet and especially the social media what is SCAM (Social, Cloud, Analytical, Mobile) areas of development in communication today have virtually placed tremendous powers in the hands of practically every citizen and voter so that he/she can access information and also spread ideas and opinion on a scale not only nationally but internationally and the impact of this have been very dramatic especially in more backward place where physical infrastructure might not have developed but the accessibility of mobile and information technology have empowered people. 

 

 In a country like ours, this continuous participation of the people in promoting integrity and combating corruption, especially in the last decades have led to situations that set political agendas and electoral issues. The 2014 elections were largely shaped by the civil society agitations and media coverage of various scams. It is, therefore, appropriate that this year’s theme of Vigilance Awareness Week is focuses on public participation on promoting integrity and combating corruption. 

 

            This can be a broad overview.  Our experience in the last two decades and more has also shown us that there are multiple aspects of public participation and one has to be clear that we do not do injustice to anyone and we are fair.  In fact, the manner in which the anti-corruption movement and public participation have evolved in the last few years, seem to highlight some negative dimensions. In this context, a mention about role of media would be pertinent. The electronic and print media play a large role in highlighting the issue of corruption and lack of integrity in public life. Though there is not only the ostensible objective of doing the public service but on certain occasion, there is also tremendous commercial interest.  In the case of the electronic media, there is a continuous competition for getting higher Television Rating Points.  There is a possibility that truth and objectivity get suppressed in the process.

 

     With all these, we should appreciate the remarkable role played by our judiciary which has been able to maintain the focus on really bringing guilty to book and laying down standards so that the agencies who are fighting corruption function on the right lines. 

 

In fact, various scams which marred the reputation of past governments in recent times, are all the results of the gross and brazen misuse of powers for private gain which came out in the public domain thanks to the alertness of the media and the activists. Transparency is the best guarantee against corruption.  We have a law now of the Lok Pal but one does not know how effective it will be, because, ultimately the responsibility for integrity is on the individual himself. 

 

            As we observe the Vigilance Awareness Week this time, this author would like to emphasize one very important aspect. This aspect is that now we have the inspiring leadership of our Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. He has given supreme importance to the issue of good governance from the day he assumed charge as the Prime minister. Every step taken since he became Prime Minister, is for realizing that supreme national vision. We can all therefore look forward to a great future for the country.

 

The initiatives taken by the Prime Minister, right from his days of the Chief Minister and the way in which he conducted the campaign and every measure, he has taken, have shown that he realises that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. Under his leadership, we are on our way to become one of best countries in the world drawing inspiration from our own ethical cultural roots.

 

****

 

 

*Article is an abridged version of the speech delivered by Shri. N. Vittal, former Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC). The lecture was part of the Vigilance Week Celebrations at the Chennai office of the Press Information Bureau (PIB).

Source : PIB

Mass Dharana Programme by Odisha State CoC in front of Raj Bhawan, Bhubaneswar on 07.11.2016

Technical Resignation : Highlights of consolidated instructions issued by DOPT

Technical Resignation : Highlights of consolidated instructions issued by DOPT.

DoPT has issued an OM regarding Technical Resignation

TECHNICAL RESIGNATION & LIEN : CONSOLIDATED GUIDELINES.

Highlights of DoPT OM No. 28020/1/2010-Estt(C) Dated 17.08.2016

Compiled by K.V.Ramesh, Sr.JGS IRTSA.

1. Technical Resignation:

a. Government servant should have applied through proper channel for a post in same or some other Department.

b. If the conditions are met, it will be taken as Technical resignation, even if it was not mentioned as Technical Resignation while applying and all admissible benefits should be extended.

c. If competent authority not allowed the forwarding of application, it will not be treated as Technical resignation.

d. Benefits are admissible even if the employee applied before joining the service and application was not routed through proper channel, provided employee should intimate such application immediately after joining the service.

2. Balance leave credited:

a. Balance of utilized Child Care Leave and other leaves will be carried forward.

b. In case of permanent absorption in PSU/Autonomous Body/State Govt. employee is eligible for cash equivalent of leave salary in respect of EL & HPL at his credit subject to the limit of 300 days.

3. LTC carry forwarded: Entitlement for LTC will be carry forward.

4. Pay Protection: Protection of Pay will be given.

5. If employee rejoins his previous post:

a. In case employee rejoins his earlier post, he will be entitled for increments for the period of his absence from that post.

b. Transfer of GPF will be governed.

c. Seniority in the post held by the employee on substantive basis continues to be protected.

However the period spent in other department will not be counted for minimum qualifying service for promotion.

6. Past service counted for Pension: Employee originally joined before 1.1.2004, joined the new post on technical resignation after 1.1.2004, his past services are counted towards pension.

7. Transfer of NPS account: In case of NPS, the balance standing in Personal Retirement Account along with PRNA will be carried forward to new office.

8. Service Book transfer: Service Book from the date first appointment must be kept in the custody of head office in which employee is serving and transferred with him from office to office.

9. Medical Examination & verification:

a. If standard of medical examination is same for the new post, then employee need not to undergo fresh medical examination.

b. No need for verification of character & Antecedents of the employee, if period of discharging from previous post and appointment to new post is less than a year.

10. Lien will be maintained for two years normally, 3 years in exceptional cases.

11. Joining Time, Joining time pay & allowances:

a. Central & State Govt employees are eligible for joining time, which will be included as qualifying service in new Job.

b. During Joining Time, Eligible for pay equal to pay drawn in old post before relinquishment, DA & HRA. No Transport allowance.

c. Entitled for Transfer Travelling Allowance.

Download DoPT OM No. 28020/1/2010-Estt.(C) dated 17.08.2016