Archives- News Updates On December

PGI Chandigarh faculty jubilant over salary rise

The faculty members at PGI Chandigarh have expressed satisfaction over the pay revision for autonomous medical institutions, putting them at par with the faculty in IITs and IIMs. As per the revised scale, assistant professors will now get a basic pay of Rs. 30000 against Rs. 23000 earlier; associate professors will get Rs. 42000, additional associate professors Rs. 46000 and professors Rs. 51600 as basic pay. Promotional policies have also been changed by bringing down the time period for becoming professor from assistant professor to 10 years.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com, December 31, 2009. “PGI faculty happy with pay hike”

Habitual absence from work equivalent to misconduct

Regular absence from work without any formal notice or intimation could indicate gross irresponsibility and disinterest in work on the part of the employee, according to a recent judgement of the Bombay High Court. If the Rule 3 of Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1964, is referred, a government servant must at all time maintain absolute integrity and devotion to duty. He can’t be expected to be informally on leave for more than 10 days.

Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com, December 30, 2009. “Habitual absence from work place amounts to misconduct: HC”

Higher salaries approved for AIIMS, PGIMER faculty

The Union Cabinet has given the nod for increasing salaries of faculty at autonomous medical institutions like the AIIMS and PGIMER. The revised salaries will be in line with that offered to faculty of IITs and IIMs. All the faculty members of these institutes will receive a hike in their salaries almost equal to those in IITs and IIMs with effect from January 2006 while allowances would be given with effect from August 2008.

Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com, December 29, 2009. “AIIMS, PGIMER faculty to get salaries like IIM, IIT”

Salaries to increase by 12% in the telecom and FMCG sector

The FMCG, telecom, chemical, auto/auto components, insurance, education, retail and IT sectors are on a talent hunting spree due increased competition and the paucity of qualified people. Companies across sectors may hike salaries by 9-12% in the year 2010. While the pharmaceutical sector is set to increase salaries by 12%, the IT sector is likely to receive a single digit increment. Education, retail and insurance sector will drive the overall recruitments this year due to enormous demand coupled with a shortage of talent.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com, December 28, 2009. “Telecom, FMCG may hike salaries by 12%”

Pay hike by LS speaker faces flak from FM

The Finance Ministry has opposed the decision of Speaker Meira Kumar's action of hiking pay of the Lok Sabha staff recently. The Lok Sabha (LS) Secretariat downplayed this controversy by stating that the speaker was well within the rights as per certain provisions of the Constitution for granting two increments to the staff. It was also added that this move is necessary to remove anomalies for those did not get the benefits of cadre revision.

Source: www.zeenews.com, December 28, 2009. “Speaker within rights on pay hike decision: LS Secretariat”

IIM A to adopt ‘cohort-based’ placement system

The Indian Institute of Management at Ahmedabad is all set to adopt a new placement process wherein both the recruiting companies and the students will get more time to find the best possible match for the offered profile. The institute plans to do away with the current ‘Day’ approach and wants to invite companies offering similar roles together – that is, in cohorts – on weekends. The process will take place over the course of many weeks and would give the recruiters a span of 2-3 to select candidates. It will also decrease the pressure on students brought on by the increasing batch size and the small window of the current process.

Source: in.news.yahoo.com, December 23, 2009. “IIM-A changes recruitment process”

Orissa state fixes minimum wages for domestic workers

As per the latest notification passed by the Orissa government, domestic workers will also be entitled for the same minimum wages as unskilled workers. Their basic wage will be Rs. 2340 per month, along with special allowance at the rate of Rs. 20 per day for a block period of 2 years. Also, they will be entitled for a weekly off, and if they work on off day, the employer has to pay them double wages.

Source: www.business-standard.com, December 23, 2009. “State fixes minimum wage for domestic help”

Employees to shoulder the burden of taxes

During the Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) regime, the employees didn’t have to pay any taxes on fringe benefits granted to them, making the employers responsible for it. However, the latest budget has exempted companies from paying FBT while putting the onus completely on the employee. Henceforth, the salary of the employees is expected to trim down with the burden of the deductions on expenses like company car, fuel allowance, driver, accommodation and furnishings.

Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com, December 22, 2009. “Your salary cheque to look slimmer after deductions on perks”

Delhi MLAs to get a salary hike

The House Committee on Members Salary, Allowances, Pension Etc (Amendment) Bill, 2009 has recommended a hefty hike in the salaries of Delhi Assembly members. If this Bill gets accepted, a 5-fold salary rise will be implemented for the Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs). Presently, average salary of Delhi legislators is Rs. 45000 but after the hike it is likely to be around Rs. 1.5 lakh per month, taking it in the lines of Punjab, Haryana and Goa.

Source: in.news.yahoo.com, December 21, 2009. “MLAs may get salary hike soon”

Politics is now a viable career option

As people without connections gain acceptance in various political parties, students like Damasthapuram Vasanth Kumar can now consider politics as a career regardless of their family background. A post-graduate diploma in politics from Pune’s MIT School of Government (MIT-SOG) counted in the favour of Vasant Kumar. This school has programs like these, with LK Advani, Digvijay Singh and TN Seshan included in the list of faculty. Over 50 of its alumni hold senior positions in various political parties.

Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com, December 21, 2009. “Congress, BJP now more open to recruiting politics students”

Companies scramble to find talent amid a surge in demand

Various industries like consulting, FMCG, durables and pharmaceuticals are offering yearly bonuses between 15-40% to their staff owing to the upswing in the business since April 2009. Except banks, firms like Deloitte, PepsiCo, LG Electronics, Samsung, Lupin Pharmacuticals aim to hire the best talent and retain them. Thus, the new recruits are likely to get Rs 50,000-2 lakh while seniors will get Rs 30-50 lakh as yearly compensation.

Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com, December 21, 2009. “Cos set to offer payouts as demand for talent intensifies”

No ABEOs in Mysore teaching system

With doubling of staff in the teaching fraternity of Mysore, the government has made up its mind to abolish the post of assistant block education officers (ABEOs). The employees in this category who give private tuitions don’t get paid extra and were means for teachers to get their problems redressed locally. However, after a debate on this issue the administration managed to convince the government against such a post.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com, December 19, 2009. “What's cooking in teaching community?”

Hike in Punjab minimum wages

The minimum wages of the unskilled category of workers has been revised from Rs 3200 to Rs 3398 from September 9 in Punjab. In a meeting of the Minimum Wages Advisory Board, the officials decided to withdraw powers of DCs to fix the minimum wages of the employees working in boards, corporations or semi-government concerns and check the exploitation of teachers, security guards and sweepers working in the private sector or households.

Source: www.business-standard.com, December 19, 2009. “Punjab revises minimum wages”

NREGA fails to reach the target

Under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, a person is ensured 100 days of work in a year. However, only 14 percent of its target of providing 10 days of work has been met. On studying the demand for skilled work, the parliamentary committee aims to scrap manual work in the scheme. Out of the 1010 complaints, 481 cases have been disposed and 529 are pending. In seven cases, Rs.7 crore was found to have been siphoned off. The ministry aims to run an inquiry into the matter for concrete solutions.

Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com, December 18, 2009. “Only 14% of rural job scheme's target met”

Bank employees strike a day’s work against proposed merger

Employees of All India Bank Employees’ Association (AIBEA) and All India Bank Officers’ Association (AIBOA) went on one day nation wide strike on 16th December to protest against the proposed merger of the State Bank of Indore with its parent State Bank of India. This strike affected the normal banking operation throughout the country. AIBEA General Secretary C H Venkatachalam said that there should be no consolidation in the public sector banks just for the sake of creating a large sized bank.

Source: www.financialexpress.com, December 16, 2009. “Bank employees begin nationwide strike”

Employment scenario to improve in 2010

Improvement in the employment market of developed nations like the US and Japan combined with the growth in credit conditions of India have helped to reverse the trend of layoffs, especially in sectors like healthcare, pharmaceuticals and communications. Experiencing job losses and terminations by way of right sizing and voluntary separation packages, India had a tough time in 2009. With the efforts employed by the government, almost five lakh jobs were generated as per the ILO reports.

Source: www.business-standard.com, December 15, 2009. “Job market likely to recover in '10”

Demand for higher wages by CESU contract workers

The contractual employees under the banner of Orissa State Electricity Board Employees Federation staged a dharna on 15th December for wages, holidays, hours of work and conditions of service in accordance to that of the regular employees of Central Electricity Supply Company of Orissa (CESU). The federation claimed that CESU had hired high paid officers without any utility while the workers who perform the core work of the company are given only Rs 2000-3500 per month.

Source: www.business-standard.com, December 15, 2009. “Cesu contractual workers demand permanent jobs”

Job index in Bangalore surges by 8.38%

In Bangalore, IT and ITE sectors have witnessed an increase in hiring activity in November 2009. The job index has moved from 598 in October to 649 in November 2009. According to Naukri JobSpeak, an overall increase of 5.35% was observed in the IT sector of Bangalore.

Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com, December 15, 2009. “Hiring up by 8.38 pc in Bangalore”

Media sector on a recruitment drive

Firms like Network 18 Group, BBC, MTV, Discovery, Turner Broadcasting, Radio Mirchi, STAR India and Living Media Group now plan to hire employees in larger number. The adverse effects of the downturn were partially offset by falling prices of newsprint and major cost management initiatives like restructuring. This time, however, companies want to avoid the mad rush witnessed to hire talent before the slowdown. As business activities in the media industry are rapidly increasing and making way for a higher employment rate, hiring has begun with cautious optimism.

Source: www.business-standard.com, December 11, 2009. “Media firms hiring again, but not like pre-boom days”

Uttarakhand MLAs await a 40% salary hike

The 71 legislators of the Uttarakhand Assembly are expected to receive a 40 to 50 per cent pay hike in their salaries following a bill that was passed in the Assembly. Each MLA in Uttarakhand currently earns a monthly salary of Rs. 52,000, including various incentives. The move was triggered due to a report by a legislative committee headed by Anil Nautiyal, which called for a 40 per cent pay hike for the legislators recently.
Source: www.ptinews.com, December 10, 2009. “Uttarakhand MLAs to get substantial pay hike”

Karnataka HC entertainment expenditure set to increase

The Karnataka state administration has decided to increase the high court entertainment expenditure by 60 percent in view of the increased number of events and high inflation. The proposal was presented by the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (DPAR)  to the govt. In addition to this, financial powers of the Chief Justice under Karnataka High Court Administrative Expenditure Rules 1989 are also proposed to be raised. The Karnataka govt’s finance department has reportedly agreed to the said proposals.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com, December 7, 2009. “HC entertainment spending could get 60% hike”

PSBs to implement variable pay structure soon

State owned banks will soon have a performance based variable pay structure. The finance ministry has decided to no longer ignore the system of performance-linked incentives and has asked banks to expedite the process of implementation. Meanwhile, the Indian Bank Association (IBA) is still negotiating with the employees union for the step which will affect around 7 lakh bank employees. The Finance ministry has appointed a panel to work for implementing new human resource policies in Public Sector Banks.

Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com, December 7, 2009. “Performance-linked pay for PSBs from next year”

EPFO benefits to increase by 66%

The Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) has decided to increase its insurance benefit by 66 percent. This rise will increase the ceiling limit of insurance benefit received by dependents of a deceased worker, affecting around 4.7 crore organized sector workers. The benefit was earlier capped at Rs. 60000, but the Central Provident Fund Commissioner has proposed to increase it to Rs. 100000.
Source: www.financialexpress.com, December 7, 2009. “EPFO insurance benefits may rise 66%”

Jet Airways workers strike for increase in salary

Jet Airways staffers associated with Trinamool congress trade union INTTUC called for a strike over the issue of pay revision for contractual workers. The airline management had promised to pay the salary hike for contractual labour by October, as suggested by the central govt. However, due to non-payment of arrears to the workers, the union resorted to strike work at the airport. The airline management maintains that delay was caused due to a lack of clarity in the circular passed by central government labour commissioner.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com, December 6, 2009. “Fliers stranded after union stir”

India sets records for IT executive salaries

With an increase in the transfer of manufacturing and design operations from western countries to lower-cost parts of the world, countries like India have benefitted a great deal. So much so, that almost 40 % of the respondents in India have seen their salaries grow much higher than what they were 5 years ago as compared to their counterparts in Europe and North America. In the future, the growing competition for engineering talent in India might lead to attractive incentives being offered to IT employees.

Source: infotech.indiatimes.com, December 5, 2009. “India beats Europe in IT pros salary”

Salary and allowances rise for Punjab MLAs

In a proposal made by the General Purposes Committee of the Assembly, Punjab Cabinet approved a 2.5 fold salary hike for MLAs in their salary and allowances. With this, each MLA will get a laptop, a monthly salary of Rs. 10000 along with a constituency allowance of Rs. 15000 and Rs. 9000 in other allowances. The Bill for this purpose will be presented in the assembly in December. The bill also proposes to hike the salary of the Chief Minister, ministers and chief parliamentary secretaries.

Source: www.indianexpress.com, December 4, 2009. “Punjab MLAs to get better pay, perks”

Notification regarding NREGA’s 100 rupee wage cap to be passed soon

The central government, after getting clearance from the law and finance ministry for National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), has decided to pass a notification for capping the rate of daily wages under NREGA to Rs. 100. This notification will help the govt to contribute to agricultural wage rate prevailing in states while also bringing down the fiscal burden. It will also stop state governments from further hiking of agricultural wages.

Source: www.financialexpress.com, December 3, 2009. “Rs 100 cap on NREGA wage to be notified soon”

IITs upbeat about placements this year

IITs have seen a high level of participation in the placement process this year with companies queing up to recruit students. One the first day of placements at IIT Kanpur, nine students were offered annual packages of Rs. 22 lakh. Other IITs across the country are upbeat about the placement session while the chairman of placements at IIT Bombay Ravi Sinha saying that they have confirmations from over 160 companies. Major PSUs are joining this race to hire students from IITs and NITs and institutes are expecting that a salary hike of 30-40 % could be seen this year.

Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com, December 2, 2009. “IIT placements get their groove back”

Registration to be made compulsory for engineers

The HRD ministry is planning on to pass the Engineering Bill, 2009 under which engineers will also have to register themselves with the proposed Indian Council of Engineers, the same way as lawyers, chartered accountants and architects do. As indicated by a Cabinet note, this regulation of the engineering profession will help raise public accountability and innovation in the profession while also creating a certified standard for Indian engineers.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com, December 1, 2009. “Like CAs, engineers may have to register”

Companies increase donation by 8% this year

In the fiscal year that ended in March 2009, donations given by listed companies have increased by about 8 percent. This is inspite of the slowdown period experienced by the market in terms of profits and demand. A study by The Economic Times disclosed that 760 companies donated Rs. 786 crore in FY09, against Rs. 726 crore in FY08. Heads of various companies said corporate social responsibility (CSR) is not linked with the profits of their companies.

Source: www.siliconindia.com, December 1, 2009. “No hike in salary, companies hike donation”