Lok Sabha Question No. 3216 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-03-14
Subject: Gramin Dak Sevaks
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO, ANWHAR RAAJHAA, GAJANAN CHANDRAKANT KIRTIKAR, SUDHEER GUPTA, T. RADHAKRISHNAN, ASHOK SHANKARRAO CHAVAN, NARANBHAI KACHHADIA, KUNWAR HARIBANSH SINGH, VIJAY KUMAR S.R.

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF POSTS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3216 TO BE ANSWERED ON 14 th  MARCH, 2018

## GRAMIN DAK SEVAKS

3216.   SHRI BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO:

SHRI A. ANWHAR RAAJHAA:

SHRI GAJANAN KIRTIKAR:

SHRI SUDHEER GUPTA:

SHRI T. RADHAKRISHNAN:

SHRI ASHOK SHANKARRAO CHAVAN:

SHRI NARANBHAI KACHHADIYA:

KUNWAR HARIBANSH SINGH:

SHRI S.R. VIJAYAKUMAR:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) the number of Grameen Dak Sevaks working in the country at present, State/UT-wise;
- (b) whether pay/remuneration of Grameen Dak Sevaks has not been increased as per 7th Pay Commission recommendation and if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;
- (c) whether the Government has received any representation's from people representatives to increase their pay/ remuneration as per 7th Pay Commission recommendations;
- (d) if so, the details thereof and the response of the Government thereto; and
- (e) the time by which their pay/ remuneration is likely to be increased?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE (IC) OF THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS & MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS (SHRI MANOJ SINHA)

- (a) The number of Grameen Dak Sevaks working in the country at present, State/UT-wise is given in Annexure - I.
- (b) Grameen Dak Sevaks are not covered under the purview of the 7 th  Pay Commission. Therefore a separate one man Committee was constituted to examine the wage structure and service conditions of the Grameen Dak Sevaks. The Committee has submitted its report and the recommendations  are  presently  under  consideration  of  the  Government.  The  details  of  the recommendations are given in Annexure - II.
- (c) Yes, Madam. Government has received several representations from people's representatives to implement the recommendations of the GDS Committee Report.
- (d) & (e) 34 such representations were received between January 2017 to February 2018. The recommendations of the one man Committee are presently under active considerations of the Government, and action will be taken after following due procedure.

## STATE WISE LIST OF NUMBER OF GRAMEEN DAK SEVAKS WORKING IN THE COUNTRY

|   Sl. No. | Name of the State   |   Number of Gramin Dak Sevaks working in the country |
|-----------|---------------------|------------------------------------------------------|
|         1 | Andhra Pradesh      |                                                15627 |
|         2 | Arunachal Pradesh   |                                                  462 |
|         3 | Assam               |                                                 7794 |
|         4 | Bihar               |                                                15325 |
|         5 | Chhattisgarh        |                                                 4645 |
|         6 | Delhi               |                                                  139 |
|         7 | Goa                 |                                                  330 |
|         8 | Gujarat             |                                                13294 |
|         9 | Haryana             |                                                 3764 |
|        10 | Himachal Pradesh    |                                                 5916 |
|        11 | Jammu & Kashmir     |                                                 2495 |
|        12 | Jharkhand           |                                                 6041 |
|        13 | Karnataka           |                                                14128 |
|        14 | Kerala              |                                                 9532 |
|        15 | Madhya Pradesh      |                                                11513 |
|        16 | Maharashtra         |                                                17807 |
|        17 | Manipur             |                                                 1797 |
|        18 | Meghalaya           |                                                  857 |
|        19 | Mizoram             |                                                  926 |
|        20 | Nagaland            |                                                  785 |
|        21 | Odisha              |                                                14193 |
|        22 | Punjab              |                                                 5535 |
|        23 | Rajasthan           |                                                12844 |
|        24 | Sikkim              |                                                  473 |
|        25 | Tamil Nadu          |                                                19236 |
|        26 | Telangana           |                                                 8356 |
|        27 | Tripura             |                                                 1248 |
|        28 | Uttar Pradesh       |                                                26691 |
|        29 | Uttarakhand         |                                                 5485 |
|        30 | West Bengal         |                                                16035 |

UNION TERRITORY WISE LIST OF NUMBER OF GRAMIN DAK SEVAKS WORKING IN THE COUNTRY

|   SL. No. | Name of the Union Territory   |   Number of Gramin Dak Sevaks working in the country |
|-----------|-------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------|
|         1 | Andaman and Nicobar           |                                                  162 |
|         2 | Chandigarh                    |                                                   50 |
|         3 | Daman and Diu                 |                                                   17 |
|         4 | Dadar and Nagar Haveli        |                                                   48 |
|         5 | Lakshdweep                    |                                                    6 |
|         6 | Puducherry                    |                                                  161 |

## Salient features of the One Man Committee Report headed by  Shri Kamlesh Chandra

- o The old system of payment of Time Related Continuity Allowance (TRCA) is dispensed with  and  replaced  with  a  new  wage  payment  system.  Under  the  new  wage  payment system,  11  TRCA  slabs  are  subsumed  into  3  Wage  Scales  with  two  Levels  each  for BPMs  and  for  other  than  BPMs.  One  wage  scale  would  be  common  for  both  the categories of GDSs.
- o The minimum working hours of GDS Post Offices and GDSs are increased to 4 hours from 3 hours.
- o The new working hours for GDS Post Offices will be 4 hours and 5 hours only.
- o The Level 1 GDS Post Offices / GDSs will have 4 hours as working hours and Level - 2 will have 5 hours as working hours.
- o The Point System for assessment of workload of BPMs has been abolished.
- o The new wage payment system is linked to revenue generation of GDS Post Offices. Under the new system, there will  be  no  increase  in  wages  of  BPMs  from  Level  -1  to Level -2 on the basis of workload but the same will be increased based on achievement of  prescribed  revenue  norms  which  is  fixed  at  100%  for  normal  areas  and  50%  for special areas.
- o The  GDS  Post  Offices  not  achieving  the  prescribed  revenue  norm  within  the  given working hours will have to open GDS Post Offices for minimum of additional 30 minutes beyond the prescribed working hours.
- o The GDS BPMs will be paid Revenue Linked Allowance @10% beyond level-2 wage scale if they will be successful in achieving revenue beyond prescribed norms
- o The GDS Post Offices has been categorized into A, B; C and D categories based on the revenue  generation  norms.  The  GDS  Post  Office  in  A  category  will  achieve  100% revenue norm. The Committee has recommended a set of actions for each category of GDS Post Offices.
- o The  six  approved  categories  of  GDSs  are  subsumed  into  two  categories  only.  One category will be Branch Post Master and all other 5 categories of GDSs are subsumed into one Multi Tasking Category.
- o The  GDSs  working  in  the  GDS  Post  Offices  will  be  known  as  Assistant  Branch  Post Master (ABPMs) and those working in the Departmental Post Offices will be known as Dak Sevak (DS).
- o The minimum wage has been increased to Rs. 10000/- per month and maximum pay to Rs. 35480/- per month.
- o The rate of annual increase is recommended as 3%.
- o A Composite Allowance comprising of support for hiring accommodation for GDS Post Offices as well as mandatory residence, office maintenance, mobile and electricity usage charges etc. has been introduced for the first time.
- o Children Education Allowance @Rs. 6000/- per child per annum has been introduced for GDSs.

- o Risk & Hardship Allowance @Rs. 500/- per month for GDS working in the special areas has also been introduced.
- o A  Financial  up-gradation  has  been  introduced  at  12  years,  24  years  and  36  years  of services in form of two advance additional annual increases.
- o The Ceiling of ex-gratia gratuity has been increased from Rs. 60,000 to Rs. 5,00,000
- o The  GDS  Contribution  for  Service  Discharge  Benefit  Scheme  (SDBS)  should  be enhanced maximum up to 10% and minimum up to 3% of the basic wage per month, whereas the Department should contribute a fixed contribution of 3% of the basic wage of the GDSs.
- o The coverage of GDS Group Insurance Scheme has been enhanced from Rs. 50000/- to Rs. 5,00,000/
- o The contribution of Department in Circle Welfare Fund (CWF) has been increased from Rs. 100/ per annum to Rs. 300/ per annum.
- o The scope of CWF is extended to cover immediate family members such as spouse; daughters, sons and dependent daughters in law in the scheme.
- o The Committee also recommended 10% hike in the prescribed limits of financial grants and assistances in the Circle Welfare Funds.
- o The  Committee  has  recommended  addition  of  Rs.  10,000/  for  purchase  of  Tablet  / Mobile from the Circle Welfare in the head 'Financial Assistance of Fund by way of loans with lower rate of interest (5%)'.
- o Provision of 26 weeks of Maternity Leave for women GDS has been recommended.
- o The  wages for  the  entire  period  of  Maternity  Leave  is  recommended  to  be  paid  from salary head from where wages of GDSs are paid.
- o The Committee has also recommended one week of paternity leave.
- o Leave accumulation and encashment facility up to 180 days has been introduced.
- o Online system of engagement has been recommended.
- o Alternate livelihood condition for engagement of GDSs has been relaxed.
- o Voluntary Discharge scheme has been recommended.
- o The Discharge age has been retained at 65 years.
- o The Limited Transfer Facility has been relaxed from 1 time to 3 times for male GDSs. There  will  be  no  restriction  on  number  of  chances  for  transfer  of  women  GDSs.  The powers for transfer has been delegated to the concerned Divisional head.
- o The ex-gratia payment during put off period should be revised to 35% from 25% of the wage and DA drawn immediately before put off.
- o The Committee has recommended preferring transfer before put off duty.

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