Highlights of Union Budget 2016-17

Highlights of Union Budget 2016-17

Written By Admin on February 29, 2016 | Monday, February 29, 2016

Affirming that the economy is right on track, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the Union Budget for 2016-17. Citing that the CPI inflation has come down to 5.4% from 9 plus, he said it is huge relief for the public. 

Tax

Infrastructure and agriculture cess to be levied. 

Excise duty raised from 10 to 15 per cent on tobacco products other than beedis 

1 per cent service charge on purchase of luxury cars over Rs. 10 lakh and in-cash purchase of goods and services over Rs. 2 lakh. 

SUVs, Luxury cars to be more expensive. 4% high capacity tax for SUVs. 

Companies with revenue less than Rs 5 crore to be taxed at 29% plus surcharge 

Limited tax compliance window from Jun 1 - Sep 30 for declaring undisclosed income at 45% incl. surcharge and penalties 

Excise 1 per cent imposed on articles of jewellery, excluding silver. 

0.5 per cent Krishi Kalyan Cess to be levied on all services. 

Pollution cess of 1 per cent on small petrol, LPG and CNG cars; 2.5 per cent on diesel cars of certain specifications; 4 per cent on higher-end models. 

Dividend in excess of Rs. 10 lakh per annum to be taxed at additional 10 per cent. 

Personal Finance

No changes have been made to existing income tax slabs 

Rs 1,000 crore allocated for new EPF (Employees' Provident Fund) scheme 

Govt. will pay EPF contribution of 8.33% for all new employees for first three years 

Deduction for rent paid will be raised from Rs 20,000 to Rs 60,000 to benefit those living in rented houses. 

Additional exemption of Rs. 50,000 for housing loans up to Rs. 35 lakh, provided cost of house is not above Rs. 50 lakh. 

Service tax exempted for housing construction of houses less than 60 sq. m 

15 per cent surcharge on income above Rs. 1 crore 

Social

Rs. 38,500 crore for Mahtma Gandhi MGNREGA for 2016-17 

Swacch Bharat Abhiyan allocated Rs.9,500 crores. 

Hub to support SC/ST entrpreneurs 

Government is launching a new initiative to provide cooking gas to BPL families with state support. 

LPG connections to be provided under the name of women members of family: Rs 2000 crore allocated for 5 years for BPL families. 

2.87 lakh crore grants to gram panchayats and municipalities - a quantum jump of 228%. 

300 urban clusters to be set up under Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission 

Four schemes for animal welfare. 

Health

2.2 lakh renal patients added every year in India. Basic dialysis equipment gets some relief.

A new health protection scheme for health cover upto 1 lakh per family. 

National Dialysis Service Prog with funds thru PPP mode to provide dialysis at all district hospitals. 

Senior citizens will get additional healthcare cover of Rs 30,000 under the new scheme 

PM Jan Aushadhi Yojana to be strengthened, 300 generic drug store to be opened 

Education 

Scheme to get Rs.500 cr for promoting entrepreneurship among SC/ST 

10 public and 10 private educational institutions to be made world-class. 

Digital repository for all school leaving certificates and diplomas. Rs. 1,000 crore for higher education financing. 

Rs. 1,700 crore for 1500 multi-skill development centres. 

62 new navodaya vidyalayas to provide quality education 

Digital literacy scheme to be launched to cover 6 crore additional rural households 

Entrepreneurship training to be provided across schools, colleges and massive online courses.

Objective to skill 1 crore youth in the next 3 years under the PM Kaushal Vikas Yojna-FM Jaitley

National Skill Development Mission has imparted training to 76 lakh youth. 1500 Multi-skill training institutes to be set up. 

Energy 

Rs. 3000 crore earmarked for nuclear power generation 

Govt drawing comprehensive plan to be implemented in next 15-20 years for exploiting nuclear energy 

Govt to provide incentive for deepwater gas exploration 

Deepwater gas new disc to get calibrated market freedom, pre-determined ceiling price based on landed price of alternate fuels. 

Investments and infrastructure

Rs. 27,000 crore to be spent on roadways 

65 eligible habitats to be connected via 2.23 lakh kms of road. Current construction pace is 100 kms/day 

Shops to be given option to remain open all seven days in a week across markets. 

Rs. 55,000 crore for roads and highways. Total allocation for road construction, including PMGSY, - Rs 97,000 crore 

India's highest-ever production of motor vehicles was recorded in 2015 

Total outlay for infrastructure in Budget 2016 now stands at Rs. 2,21,246 crore 

New greenfield ports to be developed on east and west coasts 

Revival of underserved airports. Centre to Partner with States to revive small airports for regional connectivity 

100 per cent FDI in marketing of food products produced and marketed in India 

Dept. of Disinvestment to be renamed as Dept. of Investment and Public Asset Management 

Govt will amend Motor Vehicle Act in passenger vehicle segment to allow innovation. 

MAT will be applicable for startups that qualify for 100 per cent tax exemption 

Direct tax proposals result in revenue loss of Rs.1060 crore, indirect tax proposals result in gain of Rs.20,670 crore 

Agriculture 

Total allocation for agriculture and farmer welfare at Rs 35984 crores 

28.5 lakh heactares of land wil be brought under irrigation. 

5 lakh acres to be brought under organic farming over a three year period 

Rs 60,000 crore for recharging of ground water recharging as there is urgent need to focus on drought hit areas cluster development for water conservation. 

Dedicated irrigation fund in NABARD of Rs.20.000 cr 

Nominal premium and highest ever compensation in case of crop loss under the PM Fasal Bima Yojna. 

Banking

Banks get a big boost: Rs 25,000 crore towards recapitalisation of public sector banks. Jaitley says: Banking Board Bureau will be operationalised, we stand solidly behind public sector banks. 

Target of disbursement under MUDRA increased to 1,80,000 crore 

Process of transfer of government stake in IDBI Bank below 50% started 

General Insurance companies will be listed in the stock exchange 

Govt to increase ATMs, micro-ATMs in post offices in next three years

NFPE, CHQ writes to the Secretary (Posts) for introducing 5 days week in postal operative offices

NFPE, CHQ writes to the Secretary (Posts) for introducing 5 days week in postal operative offices

Implementation of Recommendation of 7th CPC- Minutes of the Meeting of Joint Secretary (IC) with the Members of the Staff-Side of the Standing Committee (National Council-JCM) held on 19.02.2016

Implementation of Recommendation of 7th CPC- Minutes of the Meeting of Joint Secretary (IC) with the Members of the Staff-Side of the Standing Committee (National Council-JCM) held on 19.02.2016 

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How to Insert 0 Before Any Number in Excel

How to Insert 0 Before Any Number in Excel

Have you ever tried to insert 0 before sequel of numbers in Excel? You think that what's the use of appending 0 before sequel of numbers because in mathematics 123 is same as 0123 but there are some areas where these two numbers are treated as different number. As in banks, if you have an account, definitely you have an account no. account no. is an entity which distinguishes you from all others so it must be unique to identify you. For example account no. 123 is different from 0123. Both the account no. belongs to two different persons, if you write 0123 in the cell of excel sheet, 0 will be automatically removed as we move to the next cell. We can't ignore zero as you know how it is important to us. You can add zero before any number by performing the following steps: 1.Open the MS Excel worksheet. 2.Write the number in the cell before you want to add zero. 3.Right click the mouse in the cell, select Format Cells... option. Format Cells window will be displayed. 4.Select the Numbers tab from the window then click Custom option from the left Category: section. 5. Select 0 option from the Type section. 6.Type the no. of zeroes as many as your number contains digit. For example, your number is 12345, so now you need to enter five zeros after the selected 0 in the type section i.e. 000000. 7.Click OK. The number of zeros entered by you will be converted to digits and the result would be 012345.

7TH CPC: SOON, CENTRAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES MAY SEE DOUBLE PAY PERCENTAGE HIKE IN SALARIES: ZEE NEWS

New Delhi: Central government employees, who called the recommendations of the 7th pay commission as ‘total rubbish’ and ‘not worth the paper it was printed on’, may be in for some good news.

Empowered Committee of Secretaries, who are processing the recommendations of 7th Pay Commission (7thCPC), are likely to double the percentage of pay hike recommended by the pay commission.

According to sources, the central government employees will get a salary hike of around 30 percent on the minimum basic pay, much more than 23.55 percent as recommended by the 7th pay commission in November 2015.

The employees have been protesting that the hike in totality is only 14.27 percent, the lowest in 70 years, and are mulling over to go on an indefinite strike from 11 April.

The hike in salaries is expected to be effective from January 1.

Arguably, even the 6th CPC had recommended a 20 percent hike on the basic pay, which was revised to 40 percent at the time of implementation in 2008.

The 7th CPC, with its recommendations, is expected to cause an annual burden of Rs 1.02 lakh crore on the exchequer, which would last for two to three years.

SEVENTH PAY COMMISSION REPORT ‘TOTAL RUBBISH’, SAY EMPLOYEES’ LEADERS

New Delhi: Central government employees’ leaders have trashed the Seventh Pay Commission report on pay and allowances hike of central government employees and officers, saying it was ‘total rubbish’ and ‘not worth the paper it was printed on’.

The Seventh Pay Commission report was presented to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in November.

A Trade Union leader said he finds it hard to believe that the 900-page report had failed to find any government employees’ welfare motive behind the issuance of such type of pay hike recommendations, which has given nothing, not even proper minimum pay hike.

“Who in the domain of central government employees and officers believes was there any welfare motive behind the recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission for government employees?” he asked.

“who of them believes that no government agencies were involved in the issuance of such type pay commission? The pay commission report reveals that it was made on the direction of the government.”

“Yes, government can say that the Seventh Pay Commission report gave a message of cheer of senior officials as commission was comprised three bureaucratic members excluding Justice A K Mathur, who led the committee. The bureaucratic members gave their vote in favor of their fraternity.

“The pay panel was constituted with no leader of the trade unions and the employees associations as representative of employees. So, the panel took a different view for lower grade employees.

IPS, IRS and other services officers have also suffered as there was not any member as their representative in the panel,” the leader of the CPI-affiliated All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) said in here on Monday.

AITUC General Secretary Gurudas Dasgupta had already said, “It is totally disappointing… least hike (proposed) in the last 30 years. Considering the inflation, it is unsatisfactory.”

CPI-M linked Centre of Indian Trade Unions’s (CITU) President A K Padmanabhan had said these recommendations are an “injustice” to workers. The minimum pay is not in sync with today’s inflation and prices.

RSS affiliate Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh’s General Secretary Viresh Upadhyay had said, “It is disappointing and we oppose it strongly. There is just 16 per cent hike in net pay against projected 23.55 per cent. Besides, there is now a huge gap between the minimum and maximum pay. This gap should not be more than 1:10, but it is way above.”

Confederation of Central Government Employees and Workers President K K N Kutty had said it was “totally disappointing and beats logic. It is the only commission, which has reduced the allowances and due to which the growth in net income is only 14.28%.”

The leading associations of Central government employees like central secretariat, railwaymen, nurses, employees of CBEC and CBDT, postal employees and other departments have opposed the the Seventh Pay Commission report and have sought “rectification” to its.

Accordingly, the have submitted their representations to Implementation Cell (IC) in the Finance Ministry which works under the Empowered Committee of Secretaries (CoS) headed by Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha.

A 13-member Empowered Committee of Secretaries (CoS) was set up on January 27 for processing the report of the Seventh Central Pay Commission before cabinet nod.

Interest Rates of Small Saving Schemes to be recalibrated w.e.f. 1.4.2016

Press Information Bureau 
Government of India
Ministry of Finance

16-February-2016 19:10 IST

Interest Rates of Small Saving Schemes to be recalibrated w.e.f. 1.4.2016 on a Quarterly Basis to align the small saving interest rates with the market rates of the relevant Government securities;

Interest rate on savings schemes based on laudable Social Development or Social Security Goals including Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana, the Senior Citizen Savings Scheme and the Monthly Income Scheme left untouched by the Government. 

            The National Savings Schemes (NSSs) regulated by the Ministry of Finance offer complete security of investment combined with high attractive returns. These schemes also act as instruments of financial inclusion especially in the geographically inaccessible areas due to their implementation primarily through the Post Offices, which have reach far and wide. 

            The small savings interest rates are perceived to limit the banking sector’s ability to lower deposit rates in response to the monetary policy of the Reserve Bank of India.  In the context of easing the transmission of the lower interest rates in the economy, the Government also has to take a comprehensive view on the social goals of certain National Small Savings Schemes.  Accordingly, it has been decided that the following shall be implemented with effect from 1.4.2016 with regard to National Savings Schemes:

  1.  The Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana, the Senior Citizen Savings Scheme and the Monthly Income Scheme are savings schemes based on laudable social development or social security goals.  Hence, the interest rate and spread that these schemes enjoy over the G-sec rate of comparable maturity viz., of 75 bps, 100 bps and 25 bps respectively have been left untouched by the Government. 

 2.  Similarly the spread of 25 bps that long term instruments, such as the 5 yr Term Deposit, 5 year National Saving Certificates and Public Provident Fund (PPF) currently enjoy over G-Sec of comparable maturity, have been left untouched as these schemes are particularly relevant to the self-employed professional and salaried classes.  This will encourage long term savings.

 3.  The 25 bps spread that 1 yr., 2yr. and 3 yr. term deposits, KVPs and 5 yr Recurring Deposits have over comparable tenure Government securities, shall stand removed w.e.f. April 1, 2016 to make them closer in interest rates to the similar instruments of the banking sector.  This is expected to help the economy move to a lower overall interest rate regime eventually and thereby help all, particularly low-income and salaried classes.

4.  The interest rates of all small saving schemes would be recalibrated w.e.f. 1.4.2016 on a quarterly basis as given under, to align the small saving interest rates with the market rates of the relevant Government securities;

Sr. No.	Quarter for which rate of interest would be effective	Date on which the revision would be notified	Rate of interest to be based on FIMMDA month end G-Sec. rate pertaining to
1.	April to June	15th March	Dec.-Jan.-Feb.
2.	July to September	15th June	Mar.-Apr.-May.
3.	October to December	15th September	Jun.-Jul.-Aug.
4.	January to March	15th December	Sep.-Oct.-Nov.

       5.   The compounding of interest which is biannual in the case of 10 yr National Saving Certificate (discontinued since 20-12-2015), 5 yr National Saving Certificate and Kisan Vikas Patra, shall be done on an annual basis from 1.4.16.

     6.        Premature closure of PPF accounts shall be permitted in genuine cases, such as cases of serious ailment, higher education of children etc,. This shall be permitted with a penalty of 1% reduction in interest payable on the whole deposit and only for the accounts having completed five years from the date of opening.

7.  In pursuance to the decision as mentioned in Para 4 above, the rates of interest applicable on various small savings schemes for the quarter from April to June 2016 effective from 1.4.2016 would be notified in March, 2016.

            The above changes have been brought with the objective of making the operation of National Saving Schemes market-oriented in the interest of overall economic growth of the country, even while protecting their social objectives and promoting long term savings.

**********

IMPACT OF UNION STRUGGLE . NPS WITHDRAWAL PERMMITTED

ATTENTION OF ALL CIRCLE SECRETARIES/DIVISONAL/BRANCH SECRETARIES, P3 & P4

NATIONAL FEDERATION OF POSTAL EMPLOYEES

(Central Head Quarters)

ALL INDIA POSTAL EMPLOYEES UNION GROUP – C (CHQ)

ALL INDIA POSTAL EMPLOYEES UNION  POSTMEN&MTS(CHQ)

New Delhi – 110 001

To,

All Divisional/Branch Secretaries, P3, P4

Circle Secretaries, P3, P4

CHQ Office bearers, P3, P4

Mahila Committee Members, P3, P4

ATTENTION OF ALL CIRCLE SECRETARIES/DIVISONAL/BRANCH SECRETARIES, P3 & P4

Please conduct an effective campaign among GDS through SPMs and Postmen Comrades and make them to send the copy of the enclosed memorandum to the Chairman, GDS Committee and a copy to GDS (CHQ).

R. N. Parashar Secretary General, NFPE & General Secretary AIPEU Group ‘C’ (CHQ)

R. Seethalakshmi General Secretary AIPEU Postmen & MTS (CHQ)

From: - ………………………………………… ………………………………………… ………………………………………… …………………………………………

To Shri Kamlesh Chandra Chairman, Gramin Dak Sevak Committee Ministry of Communication & IT Government of India Malcha Marg Post office Building New Delhi – 110021

Sub: - Memorandum on GDS issues,

With due respects and regards, we submit the following for your kind consideration and favourable recommendations to the Govt.

1.     Departmentalization of GDS by declaring them as Civil Servants and grant all benefits of regular employees on pro rata basis.

2.    Change the nomenclature of GDS as “Gramin Dak Karmachari” or “Rural Postal Employees”

3.    Considering the need and requirement of Rural Post Offices after modernization viz., Core Banking Solutions (CBS), Core Insurance Solution (CIS) and introduction of handheld computers at BOs and additional responsibilities, the working hours of all BOs may be extended to 8 hours and all GDS may be granted full time Civil Servant status. There should no combination of duties. The illegal condition that GDS shall not on duty for more than five hours should be removed.

4.    Minimum five hour wages should be paid even if the work load is less than 5 hours and if work load is more than five hours wages for full time (8hours) should be paid. Nomenclature of TRCA should be changed and it should be called as ‘Pay’. There should not be any reduction in wages under any circumstances.

5.    The Branch Postmaster shall be paid at the pro rata wages of Postal Assistants; GDSMD/GDSSV shall be paid equal to Postmen; and all other categories with the comparison of MTS. GDS shall be appointed and not engaged and the word ‘engagement’ shall be deleted in the existing rules.

6.    Time bound promotion (ACP) to higher pay scale on completion of 10 years, 20 years and 30 years may be granted to GDS. Point to Point fixation is requested for senior GDS. The pay shall be fixed to the seniors in the revised pay based on the number of years of service rendered to that extent by granting notional annual increments. The percentage of annual increment shall be at par with regular employees to whom the comparison is being made. The nomenclature of increment shall be introduced in the place of ‘future entitlement’.

7.    The GDS may be considered for grant of HRA, Transport Allowance, Split duty Allowance on pro rata basis at par with regular departmental employees whom we are comparing for wage fixation. The rent of the building in which BO is housed may be paid by the department.

8.    TA/DA may be granted to GDS if ordered in the interest of service and all other Allowance like Boat Allowance, SDA, may be extended to GDS.

9.    The GDS shall be covered with the Children Education Allowance and hostel subsidy at par with regular employees.

10.  The GDS shall be covered under the CS (MA) Rules or a new set of rules equal to that which provide full reimbursement of medical expenses to the GDS and their families.

11.  The GDS may be granted leave on the following norms.

(i)           E.L – One Day for each completed calendar month with accumulation.

(ii)          HPL – 20 days per year, with accumulation facility.

(iii)        Commuted leave may be introduced.

(iv)         Maternity leave – 180 days at par with regular employees with full pay & allowances. Pay shall be made from salary head and not from the welfare fund of GDS.

(v)          Child care leave shall be granted at par with regular employees.

(vi)         Special Disability Leave – As applicable to regular employees.

12.  Notwithstanding our claim of introduction of pension scheme at par with regular employees prior to 01-01-2004, we request to modify the S.D.B.S scheme to the extent of 10% recovery from the officials; 20% from the department. Ex-gratia gratuity shall be granted on completion 10 years service. Family pension shall also be introduced.

13.  All vacancies in the departmental posts viz. MTS, Postmen, shall be filled only by GDS and there shall be no other open market direct recruitment. In respect of PA cadre, the GDS possessing Qualifications and computer knowledge shall be permitted to write the competitive exam along with postman & MTS for the Departmental Quota vacancies.

14.  The GDS Conduct & Engagement rules 2011 shall be scrapped and CCS (Conduct) Rules 1964 may be made applicable to GDS also. It shall be covered under Article 309 of the Union Constitution.

15.  50% of the past services of GDS shall be counted as regular service on promotion for pensionary benefits including gratuity.

16.  GDS shall also be covered under LTC Scheme to have recreation in life.

17.  GDS may be provided with uniforms and also grant of Washing Allowance.

18.  All advances like festival, medical, LTC, Tour TA, scooter, HBA, Motor Cycle Advance shall be extended to the GDS. All incentives, honorariums shall be introduced for the excess work performed by GDS.

19.  Furnishing of security band shall be dropped. Similarly the residential condition may also be dropped in the recruitment rules.

20. Transfer facilities may further be liberalized; there shall be no loss of service or pay on transfer. Identity cards to GDSs are a must and that shall be supplied to GDS free of cost of the Department.

21.  Compassionate appointment may be granted to the dependents of deceased GDS, removing the existing conditions.

22. GDS may be granted all Trade Union rights at par with regular employees.

23. The amount payable under Group Insurance Scheme may be enhanced to five lakhs.

24. The 50 years age limit for appearing for departmental examination may be removed.

25. One point may be granted for Rs.4000- of cash handling in BOs.

We submit that these poor and down trodden 2.76 lakhs of Gramin Dak Sevaks should not be neglected and shall be extended with all benefits applicable to departmental employees. As Justice Talwar Quoted that ‘the weak and downtrodden need protection’. We hope that the respected Chairman, GDS Committee will look in to the prayers made by the All India Postal employees Union GDS (NFPE) also we made in the pre paras and render justice to this down-trodden section of the Postal employees.

With profound regards,

Yours sincerely,

Place: -

Date:-

(Name of the GDS with

Designation