Banks face fines for ATM errors

MUMBAI: Banks will now have to pay account holders a compensation of Rs 100 per day for every day of delay in reversing in failed transactions.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed stringent penalties on banks who fail to reverse a transaction where cash is not dispensed by the ATM but the customer’s account gets debited within 12 days.

In a circular issued on Friday, RBI has said banks must re-credit such customers’ accounts within 12 working days from the date of receipt of the complaint.

The circular is in response to complaints from customers who had to put up with delays in getting back money erroneously debited during failed ATM transactions. Besides imposing the stiff penalty, the central bank also made it clear that this amount needs to be credited to the customer’s account automatically on the day of the re-credit without the customer having to make a claim.
In case the delay is because of a third-party bank ATM through which the customer has transacted, the card-issuing bank must still pay the penalty to the customer. However, it will recover this amount from the bank that owns the ATM.

Similarly, if a non-bank network operator is the reason behind the delay, the bank will make the payment and recover the penalty from the operator.

Furthermore, the RBI has instructed banks to extend the scope of concurrent audit to cover cases of such delays. Banks are now also required to place a quarterly review of ATM transactions to its board of directors, indicating the quantum of penalties paid, reasons for the same, and the remedial action taken to prevent the recurrence of such cases. A copy will have to be forwarded to the central bank.

This apart, the Reserve Bank made a critical note of different banks setting different cutoff limits for permitting cash withdrawals from/for other bank customers.
Courtesy: Economic times

Provision of AC staff car to the officers of the level of JS & equivalent

Review of CGHS

The performance of the CGHS is regularly reviewed by the Government. The Committee of Secretaries has also been regularly reviewing the functioning of the CGHS since December, 2008, and has been giving directions to the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare for making it beneficiary friendly. Some of the recent initiatives are listed below:

(1) Extension of CGHS: CGHS today covers 24 cities, apart from Delhi. Dehradun, Ranchi, Bhubaneshwar and Jammu are the cities where CGHS was extended during the last four years. (2) Computerization: To keep pace with the modern times, a massive computerisation work has been taken up under CGHS in collaboration with the National Informatics Centre. Computerization of the CGHS will result in lesser waiting period for beneficiaries at the dispensaries; on-line placement of indents on local chemists; availability of patient profiles; availability of medicines / drugs usage pattern, which will enable the CGHS to prepare a realistic list of formulary drugs; reduction in use of paper; removal of jurisdictional restriction (as regards the dispensary) for the beneficiaries, etc.

(3) Introduction of Plastic Cards: As part of the computerisation process, it has been decided to issue plastic cards individually to each beneficiary of the CGHS. This will enable beneficiaries to avail CGHS facility in any city should they happen to be in that city either on official work or on leave. Inter-city treatment will be possible after all cities are computerised and networked.

(4) Accreditation of labs with National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) :

With a view to providing better quality treatment to CGHS beneficiaries, it was decided that only those private hospitals and diagnostic centres would be empanelled under the CGHS, as have been cleared by the Quality Council of India after it carried out inspection of the facilities available at these hospitals and diagnostic centres. It has also been decided that all the laboratories on the panel of CGHS have to get certificate issued by the NABL under the Quality Council of India.

(5) Medical Audit of Hospital Bills is an important exercise to assess the quality of services offered and expenditure incurred. In order to be sure that the bills raised by private empanelled hospitals are genuine and that the beneficiaries were required to undergo only that treatment as was required and that the hospital has not forced the beneficiary to undergo unnecessary tests / treatment at the hospital. The job of medical audit of Hospital bills has been outsourced to TPAs.

(6) Holding of Claims Adalats: Complaints were received in the CGHS and in the Ministry that old cases of reimbursement of medical expenses incurred by pensioners were pending for settlement for long time. It was decided that claims adalats be held in each Zonal office of CGHS, Delhi, under the chairmanship of the Additional Directors of the respective zones. Claims adalats were held annually, in each zone (East, Central, South and North Zones) in Delhi, during 2007 and 2008 and over 95% of the claims were settled in those adalats.

(7) Local Advisory Committees: Local Advisory Committee meetings are held in each CGHS dispensary on second Saturday of the month, which is attended by Area Welfare Officer appointed by the Chief Welfare Officer, Department of Personnel & Training, representatives from pensioners’ association, local chemist to resolve problems at dispensary level.

(8) Decentralisation and delegation of powers: Ministries / Departments have been delegated powers to handle all cases of reimbursement claims if no relaxation of rules was involved. Earlier they had powers to handle requests upto Rupees two lakhs and beyond that amount, the cases were referred to CGHS.

(9) Insulin: Orders have been issued to permit issue of Analogue (Insulin Vial/Cartridge) to CGHS beneficiaries and the extra cost would be borne by the CGHS. The beneficiaries would have to purchase the pen for utilization the analogue insulin.

(10) Outsourcing of cleaning process of dispensaries: As there were shortage of Class IV Staff in a large number of dispensaries in Delhi, it was decided to relocate Class IV staff from a few deficient dispensaries to other deficient dispensaries. To overcome the vacuum so created in some dispensaries, it was decided to outsource cleaning work for mechanised cleaning. The agency has been handling this work for the last five months, and the work done by them has been appreciated by all.

(11) Rate contract for purchase of drugs: It has been decided to run a pilot project under which dispensaries in Delhi will be permitted to place indents directly on the manufacturers on rate contract basis. If the proposal proves to be a success, then it may be extended to cover the entire CGHS. The benefit of this arrangement is that dispensaries / CGHS do not have to carry huge inventory of medicines and indents can be placed on a monthly basis depending on the need.

The Sixth Central Pay Commission recommended the introduction of health insurance scheme for Central Government employees and pensioners. It had recommended that for existing employees and pensioners, the scheme should be available on the voluntary basis, subject to their paying prescribed contribution. It has also recommended that the health insurance scheme should be compulsory for new Government employees who would be joining service after the introduction of the scheme. Similarly, it had recommended that new retirees, after the introduction of the insurance would be covered under the scheme.

An expression of interest has been floated by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare inviting suggestions from insurance companies providing health insurance and health consultants on the structure, feasibility and viability of such a scheme.

This information was given by Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad, Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today.

Government clarification on addition of NPA for pre 2006 pensioner , OM Dt 14/07/2009

Air Travel on Official account - Only by Air India , GoI OM Dated 13/07/2009

Grant of Variable Increment to high performers in the Pay Band 3 - recommendation of the 6th Cpc.(Invitation of suggestion for issue of guideline)

Scientist develop solar powered rickshaw

Kolkata (PTI): Weary rickshaw pullers will no longer have to toil to pedal the vehicle as scientists of CSIR's Central Mechanical and Engineering Research Institute (CMERI) have developed a solar electric rickshaw.

Named Soleckshaw, the solar electric rickshaw is a pollution-free, safe and economical solution to the woes of around 50 lakh rickshaw pullers in the country.

"The goal was to develop an optimally-designed, pedal-operated and motor-assisted, zero-carbon emission, urban transport vehicle," Tech Review quotes Samir K Brahmachari, Director General of CSIR as saying.

The new pedicab with a seating capacity for two to three passengers and a payload of 150-200 kgs, excluding the driver, will run at a speed of 15 km per hour. It can be driven for as much as 40 kms.

The new rickshaw is motor-assisted and therefore is likely to be driven easily both in the plains and the hills.

"One of the main aims of Soleckshaw is to reduce the effort required to pull a rickshaw. The 36V motor has been used to 'assist' the driver in pedaling. Even though it may not relieve him of pedaling, it will definitely make the task almost effortless for him," says Project Advisor Gopal Sinha.

While the driver's seat is adjustable and a suspension system ensures smooth ride, all the three wheels have brakes.

The new pedicab comes with features such as a head light, a tail lamp, and indicators. A lower foot board provides easy access for children, senior citizens and the disabled.
Courtesy: The Hindu

Safety rider to disabled posts

New Delhi, July 11: A person can be denied promotion if he has a disability that makes him unfit to carry out his job in a higher post or poses a safety risk, the Supreme Court has ruled.

The court, however, made it clear that a disability in itself cannot bar a person from promotion, as laid down by the disabilities act of 1995.

However, the court added that the act was not intended to jeopardise the safety of the public, the disabled employee himself or his co-employees, or the safety of the employers’ equipment or assets. Nor was the law aimed at accepting reduced standards of safety and efficiency merely because an employee suffered from a disability.

“If promotion is denied on the ground it will affect safety, security and performance, then it is not denial of promotion merely on the ground of disability but is denial by reason of the disability plus something more, i.e. (an) adverse effect upon (the) employee’s performance of (the) higher duties or functions attached to the promotional post,” a two-judge bench said on Thursday.

The court was ruling on a railway ministry appeal against a high court decision asking it to promote a colour-blind person to a higher grade.

Devender Kumar Pant was appointed lab assistant in the Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO) in 1972. He was promoted to junior research assistant in 1977 and senior research assistant in 1983.

In 1997, the ministry promoted him to chief research assistant on condition he get a medical certificate stating he was not colour blind. Pant moved the Lucknow bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal, asking it to quash the part of the order requiring him to produce the certificate, and other orders asking him to appear before medical officers.

The tribunal dismissed his case in May 2005, ruling that the ministry order was in keeping with job requirements and was in his own interest and that of other employees. It held that unless Pant obtained the fitness certificate, he would not be meeting the medical standards for the post.

Allahabad High Court, however, upheld Pant’s appeal, ruling that promotion could not be denied merely on the ground of disability unless the employer was exempted from certain provisions of the 1995 act by a notification. No such notification exempted the RDSO.

The Supreme Court, upholding the ministry appeal, also noted that the law often treated people with different disabilities differently.

For example, a provision of the act reserves jobs for people with blindness, low vision, hearing impairment, locomotor disability or cerebral palsy, but not for those with mental retardation or illness.

The court also said that colour blindness could not be construed as a disability under the 1995 Act, since it did not amount to blindness or low vision. So, it was doubtful whether a colour-blind person could claim benefits under the act.

Courtesy: The Telegraph

Revision of cost index for Delhi w.e.f 01/04/2009

Health Insurance for Government Employees

The Sixth Central Pay Commission recommended the introduction of health insurance scheme for Central Government Employees and pensioners. It had recommended that for existing employees and pensioners, the scheme should be available on a voluntary basis subject to their paying prescribed contribution. It had also recommended that the health scheme should be compulsory for new Government employees who would be joining service after the introduction of the Scheme. Similarly, it had recommended that new retirees after the introduction of the insurance scheme would be covered under the scheme.

Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has floated an Expression of Interest from Insurance companies providing health insurance and health insurance Consultants for implementation of the proposed Central Government Employees and Pensioners Health Insurance Scheme (CGEPHIS) for Central Government employees and pensioners on an all India basis.

This information was given by Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad, Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha today.


see my earlier post for detail here

Streptokinase, A Life Saving Drug, Developed in collaboration with CSIR launched for Indian Market

Shri Prithviraj Chavan, Minister of State for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences (IC), PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions and Parliamentary Affairs, today announced the launch of Streptokinase, a life saver, for marketing in India. Streptokinase is an effective and inexpensive clot dissolving drug used in the treatment of myocardial infarction and pulmonary embolism and belongs to the category of fibrinolytics/clot busters which work by activating plasminogen to produce plasmin which in turn helps in dissolving the clot.

The technology for this life-saver drug was developed at the Chandigarh based Institute of Microbial Technology, a constituent laboratory of Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR). Chennai based Pharma major Shasun Chemicals and Drugs is making a foray into Biotherapeutics by launching Streptokinase in the Indian Market.

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Prithviraj Chavan termed the launch as classic example of what public funded R&D can do. Lauding the efforts of the scientists he said that laboratories and markets must work in an environment of mutual respect to benefit the society. The Minister also expressed hope that CSIR will rededicate itself to make a difference to the life of common man.

Prof. Samir. K. Brahmachari, Director General, CSIR and Mr N. Govindarajan, CEO & MD, Shasun Chemicals & Drugs Ltd. were among those present during the launch.

The technology for the synthesis of this therapeutic protein was developed at Institute of Microbial technology (IMTech) by Dr. Girish Sahni, Director IMTech and his team, including Drs. Deb Sahoo and Kanak Dikshit. IMTech is a premier institute working on the frontiers of Science and Technology under the auspices of the Council of Scientific and Industrial research (CSIR), Government of India. Once developed, the technology was licensed to Shasun Chemicals and Drugs (Shasun) in the year 2002 and Shasun had undertaken enormous amounts of work to effect the transition of this technology from the labs in IMTech to the commercial market place. IMTech, through their guidance on the nuances of the technology, played a pivotal role in the commercialization of this technology. This development represents and endorses the importance of Public-Private-Partnerships to produce affordable medicines.

Over the last decade, treatment mechanism for patients with AMI (Acute Myocardial Infarction) has been by intravenous thrombolysis using Streptokinase. This mode of treatment makes it highly critical for the medicine to be of absolutely best purity. The Streptokinase developed being a recombinant protein does not have any traces of Streptolysin or Streptodornase (which are usually harmful) associated with natural streptokinase. Further studies in the lab have also demonstrated that Shasun’s Streptokinase has one of the best fibrinolytic activities amongst the products currently available in the market.

This medicine will provide immense benefit to the Indian population by reducing mortality among patients, increasing lifespan among the younger generation (young patients with fewer clots can be treated and they are safe for ~ 10 years) and in case of early thrombolytic treatment will avoid surgery and the huge expenses involved in surgical intervention. The medicine is highly affordable and eliminates the need for tPA which is highly expensive.

IMTech, it may be recalled, had also licensed an improved, new clot-specific thrombolytic to Nostrum Inc., USA and Symmetrix Biotech, India recently. This drug is undergoing regulatory testing and is expected to be commercialized in the year 2011.

Payment of Dearness Relief to re-employed pensioners and family pensioners

Insurence payment to beneficiary through electronic payment

Battle for multi-billion dollar e-governance projects hots up

Leslie D'Monte in New Delhi

The battle over standards for the multi-billion dollar e-governance projects is once again hotting up.

IT majors like IBM, Sun Microsystems and Red Hat have shot letters to industry bodies -- Nasscom (for software) and MAIT (for hardware) -- and the department of information technology, protesting over the inclusion of clauses which allow for 'multiple standards' and 'royalty on software' versus a 'single' standard and 'free' software.

At the second meeting of the apex body on standards for e-governance held on June 17 this year, all the members approved Unicode 5.1.0 as a standard for e-governance applications for all 22 Indian languages (except Kashmiri).

They also approved the Open Type Font as a mandatory standard for e-governance applications.

With regard to metadata (name, age, sex, etc. for land records and the like) and data standards, too, there was a consensus.

However, it was on the draft policy on 'Open Standards' that the differences emerged. While Nasscom presented that 'multiple' standards should be allowed, secretary DIT, R Chandrasekhar, himself pointed out that 'complete interoperability could possibly be achieved through single standard.' However, he added that the '. . .possibility of ensuring the same through multiple standards can also be considered in consultation with Industry.'

Nasscom and MAIT were to get back with industry feedback on this subject by July 7-8 which they did.

But players like IBM and Sun are not happy. Insisting that they do not subscribe to Nasscom's views on the subject, they have put on record that they were not consulted by the software body before it presented its view to the government.

"Sun Microsystems believes the Draft Policy on e-Governance Standards, ver 2.0 is an extremely well drafted policy evolved by the government and the policy will help save valuable tax payer's money from being wasted and in creating sustainable e-governance assets...Specifically, we believe that adopting multiple standards in any way will greatly damage the critical e-governance infrastructure of the country and would also increase its vulnerability.

"We also believe that adopting standards that are not Royalty free will compromise the technological sovereignty of the nation....Sun Microsystems was not consulted by Nasscom before presenting its view on the Draft Policy on e-Governance standards," stated Jaijit Bhattacharya, country director, Government Strategy (Asia South and India), Sun Microsystems India, in a letter addressed to Nasscom President Som Mittal.

Ashish Gautam, country leader (open standards), IBM India, confirmed the same and said: "We have written to the DIT, expressing our concern on these suggestions."

Venkatesh Hariharan, corporate affairs director, Red Hat, too, asserted that his company was not consulted, adding: "...We do not support the recommendations of Nasscom...since standards should belong to humanity and not be controlled or owned by anyone.

"In the physical world, we do not pay for using standards like weights and measures. . .In order to protect India's digital sovereignty, we must ensure that national data is stored in formats that are open and free of all encumbrances like royalties, patent claims etc. The government is the custodian of data that belongs to the citizens of India. It must therefore ensure that this data is not stored in formats that are owned and controlled by anyone."

Vinnie Mehta, executive director, MAIT, when contacted, said: "We are in the process of consulting our members, and will soon come up with a well thought-out stance." The e-governance apex committee is expected to meet shortly.

The draft 'Open Standards' policy for e-governance has been in the works for the last two years and several public consultations have been held on this subject. The two recommendations -- one of royalty under 'reasonable and Non Discriminatory' terms and multiple standards -- if accepted, will lead to multiple, proprietary standards, argue these companies.

Egovernment data like land records, etc., these companies point out, remain relevant for hundreds of years. If this data is stored in proprietary formats, it will prove expensive for the country in the long-term, and unnecessarily end up gobbling tax payers' money (if royalty has to be paid).

Incidentally, there has never been a more intense global industry debate over 'open standards'. On the one hand is Microsoft's Office Open XML file format backed by Apple, Novell, Wipro [Get Quote], Infosys [Get Quote], TCS [Get Quote], and Nasscom. On the other is the Open Document Format, supported by the likes of IBM, Sun Microsystems, Red Hat, Google, the Department of Information Technology, National Informatics Centre, CDAC, IIT-Mumbai and IIM-Ahmedabad.

India recently maintained its earlier stance of 'No' to the software major's OOXML (which has been accepted by the International Organisation for Standardisation as an international standard).

ODF proponents oppose OOXML on the grounds that 'multiple standards' are not good, while Microsoft argues that OOXML -- a recognised standard by ECMA International too -- is a response to evolving technology formats in line with continual evolving technology systems.

The debate appears to be a proxy for product competition in the marketplace, argue opponents. It is significant, in part, because it will influence the future success of Microsoft Office -- one of Microsoft's largest and most profitable product families.

Governments are wary of holding digital data in proprietary formats, which could make them hostage to a software vendor.

States such as Delhi, Kerala and others from the North-East are heavy adopters of ODF file formats which are open and free (excluding maintenance and support).

Courtesy: Rediff

CAG’s compliance Audit Report on Information Technology Applications in PSUs

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India’s (C&AG) Audit Report No. CA 23 of 2009-10 – Information Technology Applications in Public Sector Undertakings (Compliance Audit) was tabled in the Parliament today i.e., 9th July, 2009.

Report No. CA 23 of 2009-10 contains results of Information Technology Audit of different IT applications used in various areas of activity in nine Public Sector undertakings (PSUs) under five Ministries.

Some common deficiencies noted in audit were incorrect mapping of business rules, the business continuity plans, disaster recovery plans and IT security policy were either not in place and where formulated were deficient, weaknesses in input controls and validation checks did not ensure completeness, reliability and integrity of data.

The Information Technology Audit of various software programmes revealed the following weaknesses/deficiencies:

The Frequent Flyer Programme of National Aviation Company of India Limited is a customer loyalty reward programme. The IT audit revealed deficient input controls resulting in issuance of award tickets even when adequate mileage points were not available at credit of members. The system had deficient information security controls due to which confidentiality, integrity and availability of information could be compromised.

Coal India Limited (CIL) decided to implement computer network project ‘CoalNet’ for data sharing between the Ministry of Coal, CIL and its subsidiaries. The CoalNet project was not implemented completely in any of the subsidiary companies even after seven years due to non standardisation of the business process. Absence of standard back up procedure made the data unsafe against disasters. Lack of adequate training on CoalNet and non-availability of user manuals also indicated the absence of business continuity plan. The implementation of CoalNet remained unsatisfactory despite an investment of Rs.39.58 crore.

Bharat Electronics Limited introduced SAP in October 2006 in Bangalore Complex and subsequently in other units. Acquisition and implementation of SAP, utilisation of Production Planning and Material Management modules of SAP at Bangalore Complex were reviewed. The savings projected by implementation of SAP towards inventory carrying cost, cost of goods sold and reduction in sundry debtors by the Company did not materialise. Failure to design the required controls in the system, inappropriate customisation etc., during data migration resulted in non-utilisation of the SAP system to its full potential and as a result the integrity and accuracy of the data could not be ensured. Consequently the Company still depended on the legacy system and resorted to manual interventions.

Biecco Lawrie Limited undertook computerisation without formulating an IT policy and developed several modules. The deficiencies in system design like non-integration of different modules with finance modules and non-enforcement of data integrity resulted in manual intervention at each stage which rendered the system vulnerable to the risk of incorrect generation of data. In view of such deficiencies, the Company could not achieve the complete benefits of computerisation.

A review of RAMCO e-Application system in Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited revealed control weaknesses such as users IDs were not linked with employee ID and employee wise entry details (IN entries) did not match with exit details (OUT entries) which defeated the primary objective of access control. Non-integration of the RAMCO e Applications system among various units resulted in manual intervention and led to risk of data entry errors. Non-provision of maintaining history of changes in the system resulted in lack of audit trails.

GAIL (India) Ltd. switched over to SAP ERP system in August 2005. Review of the Financial Accounting module and e-Security issues for the period August 2005 to September 2008 revealed lacking input controls, validation checks and supervisory controls leading to unreliable database. Inadequate customisation of system led to incomplete or incorrect data. Non-rationalised user roles and authorisations to critical combinations and sensitive transactions posed the risk of misuse and manipulation.

Audit reviewed the implementation and customisation of Material Management module of Indian Oil Corporation Limited. The review revealed deficiencies in the input controls and validation checks which ran the risk of unreliable data entering into the system. Some features of the system were not adequately customised.

Human Resource module of the SAP system of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited was not customised for manpower planning activities, determination of staffing needs, selection of personnel for various postings based on pre-defined criteria. Lack of input controls in the system also resulted in feeding of erroneous and incomplete data affecting integrity of data maintained.

Bokaro Steel Plant (BSP) of Steel Authority of India Limited computerised the Invoicing System which comprised of a ‘File Server System’ using Oracle9i developed in house. It was seen that there were multiple data entries of the same source data which delayed the preparation of invoices. There were inadequate physical access controls, as well as environment controls which rendered the System and data unsafe against un-authorised access, as well as fire hazards.

Representation of women members on Selection Committees/Boards Mandatory

Government has initiated steps to ensure better representation of women members on various Committees/ Boards concerned with the selection to posts in Central Government and also to monitor the trend in recruitment of women. Accordingly, DoPT has written to the secretaries of all Ministries/Departments of GoI, UPSC and SSC to instruct all appointing authorities to scrupulously observe the following guidelines:-

(i) The composition of selection Committees should be representative. It should be mandatory to have one woman member in the Selection Boards/ Committees for making recruitment to• ten (10) or more vacancies and lady candidates are expected to be available for the service / Post.

(ii) Where the number of vacancies against which selection is to be made is less than 10, no efforts should be spared in finding a lady officer for inclusion in such Committees / Boards.

(iii) In the event of such an officer not being available in the Ministry / Department itself, there is no objection to nominating lady officer from any other office at the same station.

(iv) Wide Publicity should be given to all appointments in Government, Advertisements should be issued in the language (s) spoken by large number of people of the State/UTs, apart from English and Hindi.

Earlier, the Govt had issued such guidelines for various Committees/Boards concerned with selection to Group C&D posts only.

Further, for Group'C' level Posts, having only basic qualifying requirements, information about vacancies for recruitment should also be disseminated through schools and colleges in that area, in addition to normal channels.

With a view to monitoring the trend in recruitment of women, all Ministries/ Departments are requested to submit a consolidated report including attached/ subordinate offices on the total number of posts and employees group- wise and gender wise as on 31.03.2009 latest by 31.08.2009. The consolidated annual position as on 31st March of every year may also be furnished thereafter by 30th May of that year.

All Central Ministries/Departments asked to redress public grievances within two months

The total number of cases of public grievance received in the Prime Minister’s Office, Cabinet Secretariat and Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances is 109620, 101995, 124052 and 52933 during the years 2006,2007, 2008 and 2009 (upto 30.6.2009) respectively.

Out of the above figures 28489, 29591, 37879 and 18267 were respectively forwarded during these years to various Ministries and Departments for appropriate action. Directions have already been issued to all Ministries/Departments to redress grievances of the citizens within a period of two months. Redress of grievance is primarily the responsibility of the concerned Ministries/Departments/organizations. However, overall status is reviewed periodically. With the introduction of a Centralized Public Grievance Redressal and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS), citizen can view the status of his complaint on the web.

This information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Shri Prithviraj Chavan in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.

Central government's steps to eradicate corruption

The Government is fully committed to implement its policy of "Zero Tolerance against Corruption¨ and is moving progressively to eradicate corruption from all spheres of life by improving transparency & accountability. Several steps have been taken to combat corruption and to improve the functioning of Government. These includes:

„ Issue of Whistle Blowers Resolution, 2004;

„ Enactment of Right to Information Act, 2005;

„ The pro-active involvement of Ministry/Department through Annual Action Plan on Vigilance as a preventive measures;

„ Issues of comprehensive instructions on transparency in tendering & contracting process by the CVC;

„ Instructions issued by the CVC advising the organizations to adopt integrity pact in major Government procurement activities;

„ India is amongst the countries who have signed the United National convention against Corruption;

„ Introduction of e-Governance and simplification of procedures and systems; and

„ Issue of Citizen Charters.

This information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Shri Prithviraj Chavan in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.

Amendment to RTI Act

The Government proposes to strengthen right to information by suitably amending the laws to provide for disclosure by government in all non-strategic areas. In this regard, it is proposed to review the number of organizations in the second schedule to the Right to Information Act, 2005 and make rules for more disclosure of information by public authorities.

Government has received representations expressing doubts about the proposed amendments. Non-Governmental Organisations and Social activists will be consulted on the proposed amendments. However No time frame can be fixed for completion of the process.

This information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Shri Prithviraj Chavan in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

Income of NPS Trust to be exempt from income tax; also from DDT and STT

Shri Pranab Mukherjee, Minister of Finance in his Budget Speech informed the Lok Sabha today that he proposes to exempt the income of New Pension System (NPS) Trust from the income tax and any dividend paid to this Trust from Dividend Distribution Tax (DDT). Similarly, all purchases sales of equity shares and derivatives by the NPS Trust will also be exempt from this Securities Transaction Tax (STT), he added.

The Finance Minister further proposed to enable self employed persons to participate in the NPS and avail of the tax benefits available thereto. Underlining that NPS will continue to be subjected to the Exempt-Exempt-Taxed (EET) method of tax treatment of savings, Shri Mukherjee said that it is proposed to provide necessary fiscal support to the NPS for the establishment this much needed social security system.

“The New Pension System is an important milestone in the development of a sustainable, efficient, voluntary and defined pension system in India”, Shri Mukherjee emphasized.