CSIR vide OM No 5-1(3)/2008-PD Dt. 4/10/2008 implemented the 6th Pay commission recommendation in CSIR in line of DR.Vikram Kumar committee recommendation except (1) Non Functional scale 0f 8000-275-13500 to SO/ PS from 3/10/2003 instead of 1/1/1996 (2) Grant of Central Secretariat Official Language Services scale to Rajbhasha staff wef 1/1/2006 (3) Withhold of implementation in case of Gr IV & Director (only interim payment of Rs 50000.00)
The 10% of the additional expenditure will be met out of LRF.
According to the Act, the term 'employee' means "any person employed on a salary or wage not exceeding three thousand and five hundred rupees per mensem in any industry to do any skilled or unskilled manual, supervisory, managerial, administrative, technical or clerical work for hire or reward, whether the terms of employment be express or implied".
An employee is entitled to be paid by his employer a bonus in an accounting year subjected to the condition that he/she has worked for not less than 30 working days of that year.
An employer shall pay minimum bonus at the rate of 8.33% of the salary or wages earned by an employee in an year or one hundred rupees,whichever is higher. Here it is not required that the employer has any allocable surplus in the accounting year. However, where an employee has not completed fifteen years of age at the beginning of the accounting year, the minimum bonus payable is 8.33% or sixty rupees, whichever is higher.
In any accounting year, if the allocable surplus exceeds the amount of minimum bonus payable to the employees, the employer shall in lieu of such minimum bonus, be bound to pay bonus (maximum bonus) equivalent to the amount which shall not exceed 20% of the salary or wages earned by employees.
In computing the allocable surplus, the amount set on or the amount set off shall be taken into account. In other words:- (i) If, in any accounting year, the allocable surplus exceeds the amount of maximum bonus payable to the employees in the establishment, then the excess surplus is carried forward for being set on in the succeeding accounting year and so on up to and inclusive of the fourth accounting year for the purpose of payment of bonus; or (ii) If there is no or less allocable surplus in respect of that year, then such a shortfall is carried forward for being set off in the succeeding accounting year and so on up to and inclusive of the fourth accounting year.
Where in any accounting year, any amount has been carried forward and set on or set off, then in calculating bonus for the succeeding accounting year, the amount of set on or set off carried forward from the earliest accounting year shall first be taken into account.
All amounts payable to an employee by way of bonus under this Act shall be paid in cash by his employer within a month from the date on which the award become enforceable or the settlement comes into operation, in respect of any dispute regarding payment of bonus. But, in any other case, it shall be paid within a period of eight months from the close of the accounting year.
However, the Government may order, upon receiving application made to it by the employer and for sufficient reasons, to extend the said period of eight months to such further period or periods as it thinks fit, such that that the total period so extended shall not, in any case, exceed two years.
An employee shall be disqualified from receiving bonus if he/ she is dismissed from service for:- (i) fraud; or (ii) riotous or violent behavior while on the premises of the establishment; or (iii) theft, misappropriation or sabotage of any property of the establishment.
As per the 'Committee on Fair wages', there are three distinct levels of wages:-
(i) Living wage represents a standard of living which provides not merely for a bare physical subsistence, but for the maintenance of health and decency, a measure of frugal comfort including education for children, protection against ill-health, requirements of essential social needs and some insurance against the more important misfortunes;
(ii) Minimum wage ensures not merely the bare sustenance of life, but the preservation of the efficiency of the worker by providing some measure of education, medical requirements and amenities. Thus, the minimum wage prescribes the lower limit while the upper limit is set by the capacity of the industry to pay;
(iii) Fair wage is the wage which is above the minimum wage but below the living wage.
Role of Finance in National Lab.:- Service oriented, primarily in three fields
(1) Financial advice: - the Director and other Officer down the line are vested with power to accord financial sanction subject to budget allocation as laid down in delegation of financial power to the national lab of CSIR. Hence all financial sanction irrespective of amount is subject to observance of codal formalities need financial concurrence of the finance of national lab. This is called audit of sanction as per norms stipulated in the GFR & budget & accounts manual of the CSIR.
(2) Auditing: - all payments of the lab are subject to pre-audit with a view to see that rules and procedure are followed. This calls for good understanding of various govt. rules.
(3) Accounting & Budgeting: - Budget is prepared according to need and demand of a lab on approved projects authorized by the apex body of the lab for a particular year. Project oriented budget estimates and revised budget are formulated each year for approbation of CSIR and allocation of funds.
Accounting is done as per procedure laid down by CAG and various books of account are prepared accordingly.
As per the purchase procedure 2002, para 19.0.0 "Audit of Purchase Proposals All indents shall be audited concurrently by the Sr. FAO/ FAO of the lab who is the member of the SPC. However, the finance member of the SPC shall ensure that all the financial parameters are fully complied with before according his concurrence." While complying this instruction the officer of the Accounts Division should ensure thatDGS&D MANUAL
Approval of competent authority/committee exists for the purchase.
In case of proprietary items, detailed technical justification wherever necessary for the choice of the proprietary make is furnished by the Indenter.
Tenders are evaluated in terms of the criteria alreadyincorporated in the tender document, based on which tenders havebeen received.
It is against the Responsive Bid.
Sufficient funds are available.
Head of Account to which expenditure is to be debited is correctly indicated.
Lowest quotation is accepted or satisfactory reasons have been recorded in writing for not accepting the lowest quotation.
Proper procedure for making purchase is followed.
Approval of the competent authority is obtained for deviation from the procedure and also from the standards terms and conditions of the contract where applicable.
Provision is made in the contract for safeguarding government property required to be entrusted to the contractor.
Paying authority has been correctly stipulated in the purchase order.
Price preference/purchase preference wherever applicable as per the Government order is accorded.
All the necessary details concerning the offers, such as rates, make, delivery, quantity offered, together with any other information relevant to the decision of the tender are extracted and neatly entered in the comparative statement.
When a purchase order is proposed based on a single offer received against limited tender, adequacy of the coverage of field and reasonableness of the price are certified by the officer concerned in the Purchase / Indenter.
Whether the provisions of GFR particularly those relating to contracts, purchases and cannons of financial propriety have been followed.
If the purchase order proposed to be placed is on ex-works or F.O.R. basis whether suitable provision has been made in the purchase order for safe delivery of the items by the contractor to be purchaser’s site.
Whether suitable clause for proper packing is incorporated and whether name and address of the consignee, quantity, rate and other relevant commercial terms and conditions have been correctly reflected in the purchase order.
If previous purchase references are available, whether the rates stipulated in the purchase order are comparable with the previous purchase order.
In respect of imported stores, when foreign bids are received in different currencies, conversion of foreign currency into rupees is to be done taking into account the B.C. Selling rate of State Bank of India on the date of opening of price bid.
Wherever required and agreed to, whether liquidated damages clause has been incorporated in the purchase order.
Whether appropriate guarantee clause has been incorporated in the purchase order.
Whether documents to be presented for release of payment have been listed out properly.
In cases where free issue materials are to be provided by the Department to the Contractors, whether suitable provision for safeguarding the interests of the governments, manner and method for delivery of free issue materials, furnishing safeguards by the contractor, accounting of free issue materials, the maximum permitted percentage of loss/wastage have been incorporated in the purchase order.
In case of supply by Indian agents of imported items whether the Indian Agents are registered with DGS&D as authorized Indian Agent of Foreign Supplier under the Compulsory scheme of Ministry of Finance.Agents quoting on behalf of their principals should;
1.Produce their foreign principals’ Performa invoice indicating commission, payable to the Indian agent, nature of after-sales service to be rendered by the Indian agent.,
2.Clearly indicate, if their offer is on F.O.R basis, the break up of the prices viz. net f.o.b value, insurance, freight and clearing/handling charges at the Indian Port, profit margin and charges for dispatch up to destination.
3.Produce copy of the Agency Agreement with their foreign principals.
4.Give particulars regarding precise relationship with the foreign principals and their mutual interest in the business.
25. Whether state statutory liabilities are dispensed.
26. One time purchase for projects or capital equipments / spares should be properly justified depending on the actual requirement usage, rate of return etc. Further, the obsolescence factor should also be taken into account i.e. the equipment to be purchased should conform to the latest specifications and technology available in the market.
Please find here the CSIR OM No 1(11)/Acctt./2000-2001 Dated 4th September 2000 regarding Procedure for generation and utilization of ' Laboratory/ Headquarter Reserve Fund' as this has been quite in demand at the time of Audit & LRF expenditure . And this is also not available at CSIR website.
GoI vide OM No 7/23/2008 E-III A Dated 30/09/2008, issued the guideline for extension of 6th Pay commission recommendation to Autonomous Bodies link here
The system of employing contract labour is prevalent in most industries in different occupations including skilled and semi skilled jobs. It is also prevalent in agricultural and allied operations and to some extent in the services sector. A workman is deemed to be employed as Contract Labour when he is hired in connection with the work of an establishment by or through a contractor. Contract workmen are indirect employees; persons who are hired, supervised and remunerated by a contractor who, in turn, is compensated by the establishment. Contract labour has to be employed for work which is specific and for definite duration. Inferior labour status, casual nature of employment, lack of job security and poor economic conditions are the major characteristics of contract labour. While economic factors like cost effectiveness may justify system of contract labour, considerations of social justice call for its abolition or regulation.
The condition of contract labour in India was studied by various Commissions, Committees, and also Labour Bureau, Ministry of Labour, before independence and after independence. All these have found their condition to be appalling and exploitative in nature. The Supreme Court of India in the case of Standard Vacuum Refinery Company Vs. their workmen (1960-II-ILJ page 233) observed that contract labour should not be employed where:
(a) The work is perennial and must go on from day to day;
(b) The work is incidental to and necessary for the work of the factory;
(c) The work is sufficient to employ considerable number of whole time workmen; and
(d) The work is being done in most concerns through regular workmen.
THE CONTRACT LABOUR (REGULATION AND ABOLITION) ACT, 1970
The concern for providing legislative protection to this category of workers, whose conditions have been found to be abysmal, resulted in the enactment of the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970.
OBJECTS AND PURPOSES OF THE ACT
The Contract Labour (Regulation andAbolition) Act, 1970 was brought on theStatute Book to regulate the employment ofContract Labour in certain establishments andto provide for its abolition in certaincircumstances and for matters connectedtherewith.
APPLICATION
The Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970 and the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Central Rules, 1971 came into force on 10.2.71.The constitutional validity of the Act and the Central rules were challenged before the Supreme Court in Gammon India Ltd. Vs. Union of India 1974-ILLJ-480. The Supreme Court upheld the constitutional validity of the Act & Rules and held that there is no unreasonableness in the measure. The Act & Rules were enforced w.e.f. 21.03.1974.
The Act applies to every establishment in which 20 or more workmen are employed or were employed on any day on the preceding 12 months as contract labour and to every contractor who employs or who employed on any day of the preceding 12 months 20 or more workmen. It does not apply to establishments where the work performed is of intermittent or seasonal nature. An establishment wherein work is of intermittent and seasonal nature will be covered by the Act if the work performed is more than 120 days and 60 days in a year respectively. The Act also applies to establishments of the Government and local authorities as well.
APPROPRIATE GOVERNMENT
The jurisdiction of the Central and State Government has been laid down by the definition of the ‘Appropriate Government’ in Section 2(1)(a) of the Act, as amended in 1986. The Appropriate Government, in respect of an establishment under the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970 is the same as that in the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947.
As per the interpretation given by the Supreme Court, through its judgement dated 30.08.2000, in Steel Authority of India Limited and Ors Vs. National Union Water Front Workers & Ors., the ‘appropriate government’ in relation to an establishment would be the Central Government if (i) the concerned Central Government company/ undertaking or any undertaking is included by name in clause (a) of Section 2 of the Industrial Disputes Act, or (ii) any industry carried on by or under the authority of Central Government or by a railway company, or (iii) any such controlled industry as may be specified in this behalf by the Central Government, otherwise in relation to any other establishment, the Government of the State in which that other establishment is situated, will be the appropriate government.
REGISTRATION OF ESTABLISHMENT AND LICENSING OF CONTRACTORS
The establishments covered under the Act are required to be registered as principal employers with the appropriate authorities. Every contractor is required to obtain a licence and not to undertake or execute any work through contract labour except under and in accordance with the licence issued in that behalf by the licensing officer. The licence granted is subject to such conditions as to hours of work, fixation of wages and other essential amenities in respect of contract labour as laid down in the rules.
WELFARE AND HEALTH OF CONTRACT LABOUR
The Act has laid down certain amenities to be provided by the contractor to the contract labour for establishment of Canteens and rest rooms ; and arrangements for sufficient supply of wholesome drinking water, latrines and urinals, washing facilities and first aid facilities and have been made obligatory. In cases of failure on the part of the contractor to provide these facilities, the Principal Employer is liable to provide the same.
PAYMENT OF WAGES
The contractor is required to pay wages and a duty is cast on him to ensure disbursement of wages in the presence of the authorised representative of the Principal Employer. In case of failure on the part of the contractor to pay wages either in part or in full, the Principal Employer is liable to pay the same. The contract labour who performs same or similar kind of work as regular workmen, will be entitled to the same wages and service conditions as regular workmen as per the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Central Rules, 1971.
PENAL PROVISIONS
For contravention of the provisions of the Act or any rules made there under, the punishment is imprisonment for a maximum term upto 3 months and a fine upto a maximum of Rs.1000/-.
OTHER PROVISIONS
The Act makes provision for the appointment of Inspecting staff, for maintenance of registers and records and for making Rules for carrying out the purpose of the Act. In the central sphere, officers of the CIRM have been appointed as Inspectors.
PROHIBITION
Apart from the regulatory measures provided under the Act for the benefit of the contract labour, the ‘appropriate government’ under section 10(1) of the Act is authorised, after consultation with the Central Board or
State Board, as the case may be, to prohibit, by notification in the official gazette, employment of contract labour in any establishment in any process, operation or other work. Sub-section (2) of Section 10 lays down sufficient guidelines for deciding upon the abolition of contract labour in any process, operation or other work in any establishment.
The guidelines are mandatory in nature and are:-Conditions of work and benefits provided to the contract labour.
• Whether the work is of Perennial nature.
• Whether the work is incidental or necessary for the work of an establishment.
• Whether the work is sufficient to employ a considerable number of whole-time workmen.
• Whether the work is being done ordinarily through regular workman in that establishment or a similar establishment.
The Central Government on the recommendations of the Central Advisory Contract Labour Board, have prohibited employment of contract labour in various operations/ category of jobs in various establishments. So far 48 notifications have been issued since inception of the Act.
EXEMPTION
The ‘appropriate government’ is empowered to grant exemption to any establishment or class of establishments or any class of contractors from applicability of the provisions of the Act or the rules made thereunder on such conditions and restrictions as may be prescribed. Nine notifications granting exemption to establishments in exercise of this power in the Central sphere have been issued.
ENFORCEMENT
In the Central sphere, the Central Industrial Relations Machinery (CIRM) have been entrusted with the responsibility of enforcing the provisions of the Act and the rules made thereunder, through Inspectors, Licensing Officers, Registering Officers and Appellate Authorities appointed under the Act.
Regular inspections are being conducted by the Field Officers of the CIRM and prosecutions are launched against the establishments, whenever violations of the Act/Rules/notifications prohibiting employment of contract labour are detected. From time to time, instructions/directions have been issued to the field officers of CIRM and State Government for proper implementation of the Act.
IMPORTANT JUDGEMENTS OF THE SUPREME COURT.
Three judgements delivered by the Supreme Court in the cases of Gujarat State Electricity Board Vs Union of India, Air India Statutory Corporation Ltd. & Ors Vs United Labour Union & Others, and Steel Authorityof India Ltd. & Others Vs National Union of Waterfront Workers and others on 09.05.1995, 06.12.1996 and 30.08.2001 respectively, are landmark judgements.
In Gujarat State Electricity Board case, inter-alia, the Supreme Court recommended that the Central Government should amend the Act by incorporating a suitable provision to refer to industrial adjudicator the question of the direct employment of the workers of the ex-contractor in the principal establishments, when the appropriate Government abolishes the contract labour.
In Air India Statutory Corporation case, the Supreme Court held that though there exists no express provision in the Act for absorption of employees in establishments where contract labour system is abolished by publication of the notification under section 10 (1) of the Act, the principal Employer is under statutory obligation to absorb the contract labour. The linkage between the contractor and employee stood snapped and direct relationship stood restored between principal employer and contract labour as its employees.
The Supreme Court in the case of Steel Authority of India Ltd. Vs National Union of Waterfront Workers & Others and others have held that neither Section 10 of the Act nor any other provision in the Act whether expresslyor by necessary implication provides for automatic absorption of contract labour on issuing a Notification by the appropriate Government under sub section (1) of Section 10 prohibiting employment of contract labour in any process or operation or other work in any establishment. Consequently the Principal Employer cannot be required to order absorption of the contract labour working in the concerned establishment. The judgement in Air India’s case was over-ruled prospectively.
CSIR has introduce Accrual Accounting in 2004 and tries their level best to educate about its concepts & implementation but there are still misconception particularly at the lower level of cadre. I had came across two articles from Government Accounting Standards Advisory Board (GASAB) which beautifully elucidate Accrual accounting standard and its implementation in India. (1) PRIMER ON ACCRUAL ACCOUNTING http://www.gasab.gov.in/pdf/Primer151107.pdf (2) Operational Framework of Accrual Basis of Accounting in Governments in India http://www.gasab.gov.in/pdf/OperationalFramework%20_Final_260207.pdf
Vigilance is not a stand-alone activity. It has to be seen as part of the overall risk management strategy of an organization wherein the structures, systems and processes are built in such a manner so as to prevent leakages which adversely affect productivity and profitability. A number of organizations both in public and private sector are re-engineering their processes by leveraging information technology. It will be in the organizational interest that when they are reorganizing business processes they should identify the likely risks like fraud, corruption, other malpractices and build in the required risk management tools in the new processes. Recently a write-up has appeared in the Economic Times under the heading “Fuel for e-commerce at HPCL”. This article explains how HPCL has networked all its petrol pumps in and around Mumbai for the purposes of inventory control and supply chain management. The same process also indirectly helps in curbing adultration and under measurement. These malpractices are in turn connected with corruption. The system automatically detects any tampering with the fuel dispensers. It enables the company to monitor every outlet. Similarly providing global positioning system on the tankers for transporting fuel, the management can detect diversion of tankers to dubious destinations. This technology while providing solution for efficient supply chain management also helps in risk management thus strengthening the internal vigilance. There is need to integrate vigilance activity as a part of overall risk management strategy which in turn has to be integrated in the main stream operations of organizations.
The Central Vigilance Commission has been wrestling with the idea of identifying areas where generic solutions to the problems of vigilance administration can be applied across wide spectrum of government organizations. A number of areas have been identified where use of information
technology can bring efficiency, economy as well as transparency thus curbing corruption. Some of these ideas are as follows:-
E-Procurement
It has been the experience of a large number of organizations worldwide both in public and private sectors that e-procurement can bring in economy and efficiency in the procurement of goods, works and services. Apart from these benefits, the process also brings in greater transparency, thus reducing opportunities for corruption. Some of the State Governments like Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka as well as some Public Sector Undertakings like SAIL are already making use of e-procurement systems. The Central Vigilance Commission has issued a directive that all Govt. organizations over which the Commission has jurisdiction should publish their tenders and complete bid documents along with the application forms on the website. This is the first step towards e-procurement and would help in curbing mal-practices prevailing in various Govt. organizations where competition is sought to be restricted.
E-Payment
Another directive of the Central Vigilance Commission regarding levarging technology pertains to introducing e-payment. Here again, the intention is to bring economy and efficiency, while at the same time, reducing corruption. The banking industry in the last one decade has made rapid
technological advances in India. The directive of the Central Vigilance Commission for introducing e-payment is to levarge these technological advances in banking sector for the benefit of rest of the governmental set up. This system will help in significantly reducing transaction costs involved in making payments by way of cheques and sending the payment through couriers. It will also curb corruption which accompanies handing over cheques to
contractors, suppliers and others like persons receiving refunds from income tax and other departments.
Apart from the above mentioned two specific directives which the Central Vigilance Commission has already issued there are very many other areas where technology can be leveraged simultaneously for efficiency, economy and corruption control. The key idea being that risk management tools are made integral part of the main business processes. For example, there are frequent cases of frauds in availing various employee benefits like medical expenses, LTC, TA/DA etc. The accounting softwares can be built in such a manner that the computer system generates ‘exception report’ and gives alerts wherever there are significant deviations from certain benchmarks and norms. Similarly, the same accounting software system can make inter unit/inter location comparisons of expenditure on these items. Similarly, softwares can be developed with regard to procurement with in built features for making inter unit/inter office comparisons of rates and consumption patterns. Extensive use of website can be made both as a tool for communication with the stake holders as well as for curbing corruption. Right to information and transparency are the biggest tools for fighting corruption and website as a
tool for such communication can have very extensive application across the entire spectrum of Govt. activity. Contractors and suppliers can know where their bills are held up, applicants for passport can know where their passport application is held up or whether police is taking abnormally long time in issuing NOC, beneficiaries of public distribution system can know whether wheat, rice and sugar is being diverted by the ration shop owner. Municipal corporations and other civic agencies can get feedback from public whether repairs to roads or drainage pipes is actually being carried out or only fake bills are being prepared without actually undertaking the works. Some Govt. organizations have already taken initiatives in this direction but the complete potential of website/portal as a tool for fighting corruption is yet to be made.
In addition to generic issues pointed out above, there can be a large number of organisation specific solutions where risk management tools can be integrated in the business processes. Customs & Central Excise, Income Tax, Employee Provident Fund Organisation and certain other organizations are learnt to have already undertaken such exercises in their computerization projects and business process re-engineering efforts. The aim is to gradually
integrate preventive vigilance in the business processes and reduce our dependence on a complaint driven vigilance administration which is the present scenario.
The JCM accepted the earlier committee decision and decided that the inter-se seniority of erstwhile Asst. (G) Gr I staff among themselves as it was existed prior to their switch over , will be maintained in the recipient cadre i.e Finance & Accounts cadre. For detail : http://www.csir.res.in/CSIR/External/heads/aboutcsir/announcements/cir_list.pdf
