Day-8 - IPO Exam - CCS (Conduct) Rules, 1964

1. Short title, Commencement and application

2. Definitions

3. General

3-A. Promptness and Courtesy

3-B. Observance of Government’s Policies

3-C. Prohibition of sexual harassment of working women

4. Employment of near relatives of Government Servant in companies or firms.

5. Taking part in the politics and elections.

6. Joining of Associations by Government Servants

7. Demonstration and Strikes.

8. Connection with Press or other media

9. Criticism of Government

10. Evidence before committee or any other authority

11. Communication of official information

12. Subscriptions

13. Gifts

13-A. Dowry

14. Public demonstration in honor of Government Servants.

15. Private trade or employment

15-A. Subletting and vacation of Government accommodation

16. Investments, lending and borrowing

17. Insolvency and habitual indebtedness

18. Movable, immovable and valuable property

18-A. Restrictions in relationto acquisition and disposal of immovable property outside india and transactions with foreigners.

19. Vindication of Acts and character of Government Servant

20. Canvassing of non-official or other outside influence

21. Restriction regarding marriage.

22. Consumption of intoxicating drinks and drugs.

22-A. Prohibition regarding employment of children below 14 years of age

23. Interpretations

24. Delegation of Powers

25. Repeal and Savings

Source: SA Post

Clarification on the Definition of "Members of Family" in the context of Rule 4 of CCS (Conduct) Rules-1964

 The DoPT OM dated 20.07.2016 on the above subject matter.

Source :SA Post

One day paid weekly off for casual workers-implementation of the Order of Hon ble CAT, Ahmedabad bench in the OA No. 214 of 2003 filed by Smt. Bhikaben Pratapbhai Prajapati

It has been decided that casual workers working in offices having a five day week may be allowed one day paid weekly off provided they have worked for a minimum of 40 hours during the said week. The relevant provisions of the Department of Personnel and Training OM No.49014/2/86-Estt (C) 7th June, 1988 are amended to this extent.

Source: SA Post

- IPO Exam - CCS (CCA) Rules, 1965

1. Is there any provision for withholding of appeal?

There is no provision for withholding of appeal. All appeals are now to be addressed direct to the appellate authority with a copy forwarded the authority which made the orders appealed against.

2. Describe ‘de novo’ proceedings’.

The appellate authority has powers, after due consideration of the appeal to set aside the punishment order and to remit the case for de novo trail to the authority which imposed the penalty with directions as he may deem fit. Such an order can specify the particular stage from which the re-trail should be conducted. This is called as ‘de novo’ proceedings.

3. What is a revision?

1) A revision is the process in which the president, the member (Personnel), Postal Service Board, a head of the Department directly under the Central Government, an appellate authority or any other authority specified in the behalf of President may at any time, of its own motion or otherwise call for records of an inquiry in a disciplinary and pass appropriate orders as it may deem fit.

2) Such revision may be conducted only when appeal submitted is disposed of. If no appeal has been preferred, revision should be made only after the expiry of the period of limitation of an appeal.

3) In case of revision, by the appellate authority, it should be conducted within six months of the date of the order proposed to be revised.

4) If, after revision, it is proposed to impose any penalty of enhance the penalty already awarded by the Disciplinary Authority, no order is passed without giving a reasonable opportunity to the Government Servant concerned of making representation against the penalty proposed.

5) If it is proposed to impose any one of the major penalties or enhance the penalty to any one of the major penalties, an inquiry in the matter laid down in Rule 14 of CCS CCA Rules, 1965 should be conducted. (Rule 29 of CCS CCA 1965)

4. What is a review?

The President may, at any time, either on his own motion or otherwise review any order passed under these rules, when any new material or evidence which could not be produced or was not available at the time of passing the order under review and which has the effect of changing the nature of the case, has come, or has been brought to his notice (Rule 29-A)

It may be noted that while the President and other authorities enumerated in Rule 29, exercise the power of revision under that rule, the power of review under Rule 29-A, is vested the President only and not in any other authority.

5. Who the competent authority to issue punishment oreder?

1) Power to impose is a statutory power.

2) It cannot be delegated.

3) It cannot be taken over by the supervisor.

4) Punishment should be communicated by the competent authorities under their own names. It should be communicated by the lower authority.

Source : https://finaclesolution.blogspot.com/

DoP to release special cover on Rajini Kanth's upcoming movie "Kabali"

The latest to join in the Kabali fever is the Department of Posts. For the first time, India Post is bringing out a “special carried cover” to mark the release of a movie.

The “carried cover” will travel on the first special aircraft that will fly fans from Bengaluru to Chennai on July 22, the day of the film’s release. The Karnataka Postal Circle and the Chennai City Region of the department have joined hands with Air Asia for the initiative.

The special covers, which are usually described as philatelists’ delight, from the Postmaster-General, Bengaluru, will be addressed to the Postmaster-General of the Chennai City Region. They will bear the postmarks of the Bengaluru and Chennai airport post offices.

On the “carried cover” concept, Mervin Alexander, Postmaster-General, Chennai City Region, said, “Whenever, a new flight is launched, some special covers are also transported on it and they have their own philatelic value. The Air Asia aircraft is the first cine flight in the country flying exclusively between Bengaluru and Chennai to help fans watch the first day, first show. That makes the carried covers more memorable.”

He recalled that such special covers were released last year to commemorate the first journey of the Chennai Metro Rail between Koyambedu and Alandur. They were carried in the inaugural run of the metro rail. The limited edition of these covers carried on the special flight on July 22 will be subsequently available for sale at the Philatelic Bureau, Bengaluru GPO, and the Anna Road HPO, Chennai, he added.

Source : PO Tools

India Post seeks services of students, unemployed for delivering goods

With online orders piling up, India Post is hiring students and the jobless to deliver goods, S.K. Sinha, secretary at the department of post, said on Thursday.

The department recently issued orders under which it can hire third-party persons, such as unemployed people and students, to pick up and deliver articles from post offices, with a 12% commission for every delivery.

“If you pick up about 10 orders of about 1 kg, you can earn Rs100-250 per day,” said Sinha, adding that the programme will also help generate employment. There’s an upper limit for how much commission you can earn.

The outsourcing will augment its parcel service and bring it at par with other private parcel services that offer to pick up orders from the customer’s location.

The postal department’s revenue from COD (cash on delivery) consignments from e-commerce majors surged to Rs.1,300 crore in the year ending March 2016, up from Rs.500 crore in 2014-15, and just Rs.100 crore in 2013-14.

E-commerce firms availing India Post’s services include all the major online portals such as Amazon India, Flipkart as well as Snapdeal.

The requirements to register for the program is an identification proof and reference from two prominent person known to the post office, after which the third party will be given a licence to deliver and pick up articles.

With e-commerce and financial services expected to take off, the department is expecting earnings from these services to help break even in the next 6-7 years.

India Post recorded a deficit of about Rs.6,000 crore for fiscal year 2015, a 14.4% increase from a year earlier.

The department is also looking at revenue from its online service, e-post office, which sells philately products as well as the newly launched bottled Gangajal, water from the river Ganga.

There is strong demand for Gangajal with almost all the stock sold out, added Sinha.

India Post has sold at least 4,000 bottles of Gangajal, considered holy by Hindus, from its post offices and online and has witnessed strong demand from southern states such as Tamil Nadu.

“While India Post doesn’t generate any profit from the Gangajal program, it does create a lot of goodwill for the department, which in turn can help attract users for its speed post and banking services,” Sinha said.

Source : Live Mint

DAY-6 - IPO EXAM - CCS (CCA) RULES, 1965

1. What are the orders against which appeal lies? 

A Government servant may prefer an appeal against the following:-

1. An order of suspension made or deemed to have been made.
2. An order imposing any of the penalties specified in Rule 11 whether made by the Disciplinary Authority or by any appellate or revising authority.
3. Any order which denies or varies to his disadvantage his pay, allowances, pension or other conditions of service as regulated by the rules.
4. Any order reducing or withholding pension, gratuity etc.
5. Any order regarding regularization of period of suspension or deemed suspension and pay and allowances for the period.

2. Is there any provision to withdraw the appeal or petition already made?

The question of whether an appeal or a petition after it has been submitted should be allowed to be withdrawn or not is within the discretion of the authority to which the appeal or petition has been addressed. The discretion in the matter rests entirely with the competent authority.

3. What is the period of limitation of appeals?

No appeal shall be entertained unless such appeal is preferred within a period of 45 days from the date on which a copy of the order appealed against is delivered to the appellant.

The appellate authority may entertain the appeal after the expiry of the said period, if it is satisfied that the appellant had sufficient cause for not preferring the appeal in times.

4. To whom appeal is to be preferred in case of a disciplinary order against an office bearer of an association or union in respect of activities as office bearer?

Such appeals may be preferred to the President.

5. What is form and contents of an appeal?

1. Every person preferring an appeal shall do so separately and in his own name.
2. The appeal shall be presented to the authority to whom the appeal lies, with a copy being forwarded by the appellant to the authority which made the order appealed against.
3. It shall contain all material statements and arguments on which the appellant relies upon, shall not contain any disrespectful or improper language and shall be complete in itself.
4. On receipt of a copy of the appeal , the authority which made the order appealed against shall forward the same with its comments thereon together with the relevant records to the appellate authority without any avoidable delay and without waiting for any direction from the appellate authority.

Source: PO TOOLS

Centre Plans To Bar Its Officials From Making Any Criticism Of Govt On Social Media

New Delhi: The Centre plans to amend the CCS (Conduct) Rules for baring its officials from making any criticism of government on social media, television and any other communication application.

Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh

Right now, the conduct rules do bar government officials from criticizing the government on a radio broadcast, communication over any public media, in any document, in any communication to the press or in any public utterance.

However, to make the rules specific to social media given presence of many officials on the same, a note is now proposed to be added to the All India Service (Conduct) Rules, 1968 saying: “The member of service shall also not make any such statement on television, social media or any other communication application. The word ‘Document’ may also include a caricature.”

This implies that any criticism of the government or its policies on social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook or on social networking groups like WhatsApp or through the officer drawing out a caricature will also attract disciplinary action under the Conduct Rules. The step comes after a committee constituted to review All India Service Rules has proposed certain amendments to the Conduct Rules.

Under the rules, a statement by an official is considered critical of the government if it has the effect of an adverse criticism of any current or recent policy or action of the Central Government or a State Government, which is capable of embarrassing the relations between the Central Government and any State Government or which is capable of embarrassing the relations between the Central Government and the Government of any Foreign State. All such statements by officials will not stand barred on social media.

In the context of social media, the government however wants to introduce a provision allowing government officials to participate in any public media including social media websites without the prior sanction of the government if the same is required by the officer as part of bonafide discharge of his duties. Many officials have joined Twitter and Facebook to communicate government decisions and the provision seems to be aimed at the same.

The government also plans to tweak an existing rule and plans to specify that government officials can take part in “simple and inexpensive entertainment events arranged by public bodies or institutions”.

In another tweak to the conduct rules, the government plans to introduce a provision whereby the official will be required to intimate the government of the purchase of an asset like automobiles or household equipment only if its value exceeds two months of his basic pay.

Inputs with ET

India Post to Start Separate Company for Philately Business

The Department of Post is planning to set up an independent company for its philately business with an aim to boost revenues from the sale of collectible stamps. India Post Philately Company is proposed as a public limited company, fully owned by the government, with an authorized capital of Rs. 100 crore. “The proposed company will be a service-based one, which will not only sell its products to existing customers —collectors and philatelists — but will also try to attract new ones. It will focus on promotion of philately, mainly among the younger generation,” a senior official told. The proposal would soon be sent to the Cabinet. Philately in Text Books As part of the strategy to spread the interest in philately among the younger generation, S.K. Sinha, Secretary, Posts, wrote to the Department of School Education and Literacy under the Ministry of Human Resources Development last month, seeking that a chapter on philately be included in the textbooks for Class V, VI, or VII. India Post is eyeing a jump of Rs. 100 crore, or over 250 per cent, in turnover from the philately segment to Rs. 141 crore in the current fiscal. The earnings from this segment stood at Rs. 39.88 crore during 2015-16 and Rs. 32.85 crore during 2014-15. This does not include revenues from the sale of stamps meant for daily use. As per the proposal, the new firm will have a corporate office and four zonal offices. The board of directors will have seven officials. While the Secretary, Department of Posts, will be the non-executive chairman, India Post officials of the rank of Joint Secretary will be appointed as chairman and managing director on deputation. The board will have three persons from the department and four outsiders. The Department of Company Affairs will also be represented on the board. Inter-ministerial consultations will be held with the Departments of Expenditure and Legal and Company Affairs, and their views would be incorporated in the Cabinet note. In the six months from January to June this year, the Department has issued 14 commemorative stamps.

Wipro, Infosys and IBM Responded for IPPB Back End Operations Posted: 18 Jul 2016 10:54 AM PDT At least 15 companies, including Wipro Ltd, Infosys Ltd and International Business Machines Corp. have shown an interest in handling the back end operations of India Post Payments Bank (IPPB). All of these companies have responded to a request for proposal (RFP) released by the department of posts on 1 July on its website, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said. The RFP aims to select a systems integrator for delivery of business applications and IT systems for IPPB for a period of five years, and each of these companies has paid Rs.50,000 for the tender document. The department of post is expected to brief the applicants in the next few days, and the final bids are expected to come in by the beginning of August. “Both in terms of size and value, the contract is huge. Unlike any other large commercial banks, this will have to have a lot more levels of simplicity since it caters to a different category of customers,” said Ravi Trivedi, an independent consultant who was formerly with audit firm KPMG. The contract size could be roughly for at least Rs.500-700 crore, Trivedi said. The postal department will then take a couple of months for evaluation before announcing the winner, said the person aware of the issue quoted above. “Payment banks’ business models are based on technology; so, there will be high focus and spending on technology,” said Abizer Diwanji, partner and national leader, financial services, EY India. The department of posts has already awarded a contract to Infosys as its financial services integrator for implementing core banking solutions and installing automated teller machines. Tata Consultancy Services Ltd also won a six-year contract in 2013 for India Post’s IT modernization programme. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, as part of its Digital India programme, is banking on IPPB to take its schemes such as direct benefits transfers to the remotest corners of the country on the strength of India Post’s strong network of about 150,000 post offices. Like other payments banks, IPPB will target financially excluded customers such as migrant workers, low-income households and tiny businesses. It will not lend and, as a result, will be shielded from the risks that conventional banks are exposed to. “Payments banks are a very strong component of Digital India and can have a high impact and will bring down the cost of bank transactions in rural areas,” said Ashis Sanyal, a former senior director at the department of electronics and information technology. The department of posts was among the 11 entities that got an in-principle approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in August 2015 to start a payments bank. Of these, Tech Mahindra Ltd; Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd promoter Dilip Shanghvi and his partners; IDFC Bank Ltd; Telenor Financial Services, and Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Co.— have surrendered their licences after they discovered the business is characterized by high volume and low profit. For India Post, though, the business will be a natural extension of its work. Considering the size of India Post’s operations and its reach in the hinterland, this vertical is a lucrative proposition both for the government-owned entity and the private companies who seek to work with it. Infosys did not respond to queries sent on Thursday. “We do not comment on ongoing business pursuits,” a Wipro spokesperson said. On 8 July, the cabinet approved a proposal to set up IPPB with a corpus of Rs.800 crore. The then minister for communications and information technology, Ravi Shankar Prasad, had said IPPB had plans to open 650 branches and will be operational by September 2017. The payments bank will begin with Rs.400 crore equity capital and a Rs.400-crore government grant. IPPB plans to set up 5,000 automated teller machines as well, Prasad had said Source : Post Bank Of India

PART 4 IPO Exam - CCS (CCA) Rules, 1965

1. When and under what circumstances new evidence is permitted?

i. New evidence is permitted when there is inherent lacuna or defect in the evidence which has been produced originally and not permitted to fill up any gap in the evidence.

ii. New evidence is permitted is necessary in the interest of justice.

2. In how many cases, a retired Government servant can appear as Defense Assistant?

i. Retired Government servant can appear as Defense Assistant in Seven cases at a time.

3. What is ‘bias petition’ against the inquiry Officer?

i. When the charged official brings any allegation against the inquiry authority in the course of an inquiry connected to his inquiry or where a representation has been made by the charged official against the appointment of a particular inquiry authority is treated as ‘bias’ petition against the inquiry officer.

4. What action is to be taken by the inquiry Authority when the charged official moves an application moves an application of bias against inquiry officer?

i. Application of bias should be forwarded to the Disciplinary Authority.

ii. If the application of bias is rejected by the Disciplinary Authority. It is open to the delinquent official to prefer an appeal to the Appellate Authority.

iii. The disciplinary proceeding should be stayed by the inquiry Authority until the receipt of appropriated orders from the Disciplinary Authority/ Appellate Authority.

5. What are the actions to be taken by the Disciplinary Authority against absconding officials?

The competent Disciplinary Authority may take the following actions:

i. A certificate should be obtained from the local police authorities to the effect that the whereabouts of the officials concerned are not known. The certificate should be placed on record in the concerned file.

ii. A brief statement of allegations and charges should be prepared and kept on the file.

iii. The Disciplinary authority should record on the file the reasons for not holding inquiry under Rule 14 of CCS CCA Rules, 1965 and he can take to recourse to Rule 19 to CCS CCA Rules, 1965

iv. The Disciplinary Authority should issue orders imposing such penalty as deemed fit. Normally in such cased, the punishment would be either removal or dismissal from service.

Source : POFinacle guide blog