First Phase locations identified for CBS & PLI

It is learnt from Directorate that following 7 Postal Circles have been identified for CBS and PLI as pilot Circles in phase I project. 

1. Assam    2. Delhi    3. Karnataka   4. Maharashtra   5. Rajsthan   6. Tamil Nadu   7. Uttar Pradesh 

CSB Project likely to be implemented in 110 HOs and 12 SOs. (i.e. 122 locations) 

PLI Project likely to be implemented in 8 HOs and 192 SOs. (i.e. 210 locations) 

Introduction of Barcode for Parcels

Government of India

Ministry of Communications & IT

Department of Posts

Mail Business (Development & Operations) Division

Dak Bhawan, Sansad Marg, New Delhi-110001

No.30-49/2012-D                                                           Dated: 06.03.2013

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Sub: - Introduction of Barcode for Parcels: Specifications regarding.

            The matter regarding restricting of the existing network for parcel operation is currently under examination at this Directorate. It has been decided to provide track and trace feature for the three proposed parcel products, i.e., “Express Parcel”, “Business Express Parcel” and “Business Parcel” as well as for Registered Parcel. It has further been decided to introduce barcode on all categories of parcel articles and bags including ordinary parcels. However, track and trace feature would not be available for ordinary parcels.

2.         A new application software for processing of parcels at Parcel Processing Centres (nomenclature yet to be decided for these mail offices) is being developed by CEPT Mysore. Provisions are also being made for computerized booking and printed barcode stickers shall also be used for posting/ acceptance of parcel in bulk at Centres to be created for this purpose.

3.         The structure of the bar code for parcel articles will be the same as prescribed for Speed Post articles, i.e., Code 39 symbology with 13-character alpha numeric combination as per the UPU standards. The first two alpha characters would be in the range of “CA to CZ” for parcels. For example, a parcel booked in Maharashtra Circle will have a barcode as “CMxxxxxxxxxIN”, where “CM” reflects the bar code series allotted to Maharashtra Circle for parcels, the next 8 digits being in serial order and the 9^th digit being the check digit and “IN” denoting “India”. The bar code series allocated to the Circles for the purpose of prcels is given in the Annexure 1. Same series of barcodes would be used for all categories of parcels. Further, the same series of bar code, as allotted to the Circles, will be used for both domestic and international parcels. Accordingly, this memo supersedes Directorate memo No.28-2/2003-CF dated 9.11.2004 and 13.12.2004 containing barcode series for international parcels. Specifications for barcodes to be used on parcel articles are given in Annexure 2.

4.         All parcel bags would carry a bag label containing a barcode. The barcode series allocated to the Circles for parcel bags is given at Annexure 3. There would be two separate bags label for parcels bags- One for “Express Parcel” bag and the other for rest of the parcel bags. The design and specification for Express Parcel bags and other categories of parcel bags are given Annexure 4 and Annexure 5 respectively.

Shri Kapil Sibal Inaugurates India’s First All Women Post Office

On the occasion of the International Women`s Day today, the Union Minister of Communications & IT Sh. Kapil Sibal inaugurated India`s First All Women Employees Post Office at Shastri Bhawan, here today. This office is a Project Arrow Office and has three counters. Two counters offer Multi Purpose services like booking of Speed Post, Registration, Sale of IPOs, Booking of Money Orders etc. and one counter is for Sale of Stamps. All these counters of this Post Office will now be manned by Women employees only. The working hours of this Post Office will be from 9.30 a.m. till 5.30 p.m. 

There are 1003 women employees at the operative level in Delhi circle and their percentage in the total work force is about 14%. In the administrative cadres the percentage is 22%. In a co-incidence the Junior Engineer [Civil] who is Incharge of maintenance of this Post Office building, the Assistant Superintendent of Post Offices of the Postal Sub Division as well as Senior Superintendent of Post Offices of Delhi Central division who are controlling officers of this Post Office are also women. 

Th Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Shri Kapil Sibal being presented the MY STAMP Album at the launch of the India’s first ALL WOMEN post office, in New Delhi on March 08, 2013.

Govt to launch website for e-postal order by March end

NEW DELHI; A website to help Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) to pay the fee for filing RTI applications through e-postal order is all set to be launched by this month end. 

The website will have an option for NRIs to pay the fee of Rs 10 via credit or debit cards to the government while exercising their Right to Information, official sources said. 

The Department of Personnel and Training, which act as a nodal agency for the implementation of the RTI Act, has worked out all the modalities along with the Department of Posts for the purpose, they said. The facility, which is likely to be made online by this month end, will also be extended for citizens living across the country, the sources said. 

The DoPT has already floated a tender for an RTI call centre and website project which will help an applicant to file applications online under the transparency law and receive the response. 

CBS Project will fecilitate India Post to initiate full-fledged banking services

NEW DELHI: Union Budget of 2013-14 has come with a major development proposition for India post. Not only postal department big shots, but even small postal service agents are also happy with the announcement of Finance Minister.

"Government has initiated an ambitious IT driven project to modernize the postal network at a cost of Rs. 4,909 crore. Post offices will become part of the core banking solution and offer real time banking services. I propose to provide Rs. 32 crore for the project in 2013-14," said the FM in his budget speech.

Clear enough, the initiative will be a big shot in the arm of Indiapost that already is a major small savings service provider in India. "We are happy with the decision as we have been asking for this since long.

CBS  will empower us to go full fledged in banking services," said Mr. John Samuel, Chief Post Master General of J & K who also plays a vital role in visualizing Indiapost's modernization and new business sector.

Although India post has always traditionally remained as a major agency facilitating small savings especially in rural areas, it was never allowed to initiate full-fledged banking services.

Moreover, manual operation of postal department versus electronic and cyber age core banking solution of all other banks have pushed Indiapost to back bench in providing financial services.

But, "Indiapost has 1.55 lakh establishments in India touching deepest interiors. This is almost double of total 83,000 establishments of all banks put together. With introduction of modernized services, now we will be able to contribute in a big way to GoI's targeted  financial inclusion drive in India," said Mr. Samuel.

Revised Recruitment Rules of Inspectors & Asst Supdts Posts

Click here to view Inspector Posts Revised Recruitment Rules.

Click here to view Asst Superintendent Posts Revised Recruitment Rules.

Enhancement of limit for verification of withdrawals from Savings Accounts made at Extra Departmental Sub/Branch Post Offices and Single Handled Post Offices

Our Association has continuously requested Directorate to enhance the limit of verification of withdrawals took place at Single Handed SOs and BOs. Directorate has enhanced the limit of verification of withdrawal by GDS BPM from Rs.5000/- to Rs. 10000/- w. e.e f. 1/3/2013. To view copy of Directorate, please CLICK HERE.

Coming soon, Post Bank of India

The postal department plans to enter the banking business with the Reserve Bank of India deciding to grant new bank licences to entities with credible track-record.

Consultant appointed : 
Sources said the Department of Posts, which has a strong foot print in rural areas, has appointed Ernst and Young (E&Y) as the consultant for the proposed ‘Post Bank’

“Ernst and Young is expected to submit a detailed project report by April, after which all the necessary measures will be taken up to apply for banking licence,” a source at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology told PTI.

The sources added that the Department of Post (DoP) might need Cabinet approval for setting up Post Bank of India.

Of the 1.55 lakh post offices in the country, around 24,000 district offices may be ready to offer banking services in the next two years.

The DoP is in process of setting up 1,000 ATMs.

“Post Bank shall not only take care of the banking needs of the rural poor but shall also converge with micro-insurance and micro-remittance services of the DoP,” the source said.

TWO DAYS STRIKE EXHIBITED THE TOTAL UNITY AND PROTEST OF POSTAL & RMS EMPLOYEES

Entire Postal and RMS services came to a standstill

We (NFPE & FNPO) once again extend our warm greetings and congratulations to all Postal and RMS employees who made the two days nationwide strike a thundering success. About 1,50,000 Postal and RMS offices including Branch Post offices remained closed for two days. About more than five lakhs employees including GDS struck work. Though the strike will be over tonight, the struggle against the anti-worker policies will continue. Let us keep this unity and fighting spirit intact.

Unity for Struggle, and struggle for unity.

                  Thank you, Thank you all.

M. Krishnan                                                                                                          D. Theagarajan

Secretary General                                                                                             Secretary General

NFPE                                                                                                                       FNPO

7th CPC News : 7th Pay Commission Projected Pay Scale

People may think that the babus again started to make voice over pay revision and next pay commission or 7th Pay commission. There is a saying that “The crying baby gets the milk”. The need makes the man to act.

One should try to understand the fact that being a government servant one can witness a considerable pay hike at least twice or thrice of his/her entire service period. Because, other than promotion, only the pay commission recommendation will give them considerable pay hike. But it takes place once in ten years. Now a days a government employee can render service 20 or 30 years only due to non availability of employment opportunity in government service below the age of 25. So there is no need to be get annoyed by hearing the voice for seventh pay commission from central government employees. Because constituting next pay commission is for nothing but to review the salary of the govt. servants with the current economical condition of the country.

How the pay of a govt. employee had been fixed at the beginning of the Independence India.

Till now there are six pay commission had been constituted to review and recommend pay structure of central government employees.

All the six pay commissions have taken many aspects into consideration to prescribe the pay structure for government servants.

In the first pay commission the concept of ‘living wage’ was adopted.

In second pay commission it had been reiterated that the pay structure and working condition to be crafted in a way so as to ensure the effective functioning of government mechanism.

The third pay commission adopted the concept of ‘need based wage’

The Fourth CPC had recommended the government to constitute permanent machinery to undertake periodical review of pay and allowances of Central Government employees, but which got never implemented.

In Fifth pay commission all federations demanded that the pay scale should be at par with the public sector. But the pay commission didn’t accept this and told that the demand for parity with the Public Sector was however difficult to concede as it felt that the Job content and condition of service in the government and pulic sector not necessarily the same. There were essential differences between the two sectors.

The Sixth Central Pay Commission, claimed that it had not only tried to evolve a proper pay package for the Government employees but also to make recommendations rationalizing the governmental structure with a view to improve the delivery mechanisms for providing better services to the common man

What about seventh pay commission?

Generally every pay commission, before recommending a pay structure, it used to analyze all the aspects including the economic situation of the country, financial resources of the government, comparison with the public sector, private sector and state government pay structure etc. So it is very much clear that Pay Determination is very complicated and sensitive task. Without any doubt every one accepts that this is very challenging task too. In order to determine the new pay structure the pay commission has to go through voluminous data consisting current economic condition, strength of the work force and working condition etc. In the meantime, if one tries to suggest or comment about 7thy pay commission pay scale or about what the seventh pay commission pay scale would be, it will not get much importance.

But when we come across all the recommendations of six pay commissions, we observed an interesting factor which is common to all the pay commission recommendations, particularly in the matter of percentage of increase in the pay. Average 3 times increase in the pay was recommended by each pay commission and it was accepted by government and implemented. We have posted three articles about six pay commissions before this post.

Click the link given below to see those articles and average increase was worked out in the table.

First CPC to Third CPC Pay Scales

Fourth CPC pay scale and Fifth Pay commission

Short Description about Sixth Pay Commission

Obviously it is simple thing, we can say it a mathematical coincidence that we have in common in all previous pay commission, but we cannot neglect this. Because it was there, every time it is noticed that the revised pay was approximately three times higher than its pre revised pay. Apart from all the factors which has been used to determine the pay revision, we can use this simple formula ‘common multiplying factor’ to know the 7th pay commission pay scale . If next pay commission prefer to continue the same running pay band and grade pay system for seventh pay commission also, the pay structure may be like the following projected figures given below, using common multiplying factor ‘3’. The Following is only the projected figure using common multiplying factor ‘3’

SIXTH CPC PAY STRUCTURE				PROJECTED  PAY STRUCTURE  FOR NEXT  (VII)  PAY COMMISSION
Name of Pay Band/ Scale	Corresponding Pay Bands	Corresponding Grade Pay	Entry Grade +band pay	Projected entry level pay using uniform multiplying factor` 3’
				Band Pay	Grade Pay	Entry Pay
PB-1	5200-20200	1800	7000	15600-60600	5400	21000
PB-1	5200-20200	1900	7730	15600-60600	5700	23190
PB-1	5200-20200	2000	8460	15600-60600	6000	25380
PB-1	5200-20200	2400	9910	15600-60600	7200	29730
PB-1	5200-20200	2800	11360	15600-60600	8400	34080
PB-2	9300-34800	4200	13500	29900-104400	12600	40500
PB-2	9300-34800	4600	17140	29900-104400	13800	51420
PB-2	9300-34800	4800	18150	29900-104400	14400	54450
PB-3	15600-39100	5400	21000	29900-104400	16200	63000
PB-3	15600-39100	6600	25530	46800-117300	19800	76590
PB-3	15600-39100	7600	29500	46800-117300	22800	88500
PB-4	37400-67000	8700	46100	112200-20100	26100	138300
PB-4	37400-67000	8900	49100	112200-20100	26700	147300
PB-4	37400-67000	10000	53000	112200-20100	30000	159000
HAG	67000- (ann increment @ 3%) -79000	Nil				201000
HAG+ Scale	75500- (ann increment @ 3%) -80000	Nil				226500
Apex Scale	80000 (Fixed)	Nil				240000
Cab. Sec.	90000 (Fixed)	Nil				270000