Grameen Dak Sevak: Details of Post Offices manned by GDS, Monthly Wages, Eligibility of Pension, Silent features GDS Committee Report

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS

LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO: 3450

ANSWERED ON: 22.03.2017

Grameen Dak Sevaks

RAHUL KASWAN
TAMRADHWAJ SAHU
BALABHADRA MAJHI
RAMESH BIDHURI
Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:-

(a) the total number of postal circles in the country and the number of GPOs, SPOs and EDBOs functioning under these circles alongwith number of these post offices located in rural and urban regions separately;

(b) the number of post offices manned by Grameen Dak Sevaks (GDSs) State/UT-wise alongwith the details about the monthly salary of the GDS;

(c) whether Grameen Dak Sevaks (GDSs) are eligible for pension like other Government employees and if not, the reasons therefor;

(d) whether Government is contemplating to constitute any Committee to look into the salary structure and other service matters of Grameen Dak Sevaks and if so, the details thereof;

(e) whether the said committee has submitted its said report and if so, the salient features of the said report; and

(f) the time by which it is likely to be implemented?

ANSWER

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

(a) Madam, the total number of Postal Circles in the country is 23. The total number of GPOs is 24, the total number of Sub Post Offices (SPOs) is 24753, the total number of Extra Departmental Branch Offices (EDBOs) is 129346. The details of these post offices rural and urban regions wise is enclosed at Annexure-I.

(b) The number of post offices which are manned by Gramin Dak Sewaks (GDS) is given in the Annexure-II. Details of the monthly wages admissible to various categories of Gramin Dak Sewaks are given in the Annexure-III.

(c) No, Madam. The legal status of the Gramin Dak Sevaks as held in 1977 by Apex Court is that they are holders of the civil posts outside the regular civil service. Being a distinct and separate category, CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972 are not applicable in the case of Gramin Dak Sevaks (GDS).

(d) Yes, Madam. To examine the system of Branch Post Offices, engagement conditions, existing structure of allowances and all other welfare issues pertaining to Gramin Dak Sevaks, a one-man Committee under the Chairmanship of Shri Kamlesh Chandra, Retired Member Postal Services Board was set up.

(e) Yes, Madam. The committee has submitted its report. The salient feature of the report is given in the Annexure-IV.

(f) The recommendations of the committee are being examined by the Department of Posts. No timeline is specified to implement the recommendations of the Committee.

Annexure-I

DISTRIBUTION OF RURAL AND URBAN POST OFFICES AS ON 31.03.2016
(in number)
Circles	Departmental Post Office									Gramin Dak Sewak Post Office									Total Post Office
	Head Post Office			Sub Post Office			Total			ED Sub Post Office			ED Branch Post Office			Total
	Rural	Urban	Total	Rural	Urban	Total	Rural	Urban	Total	Rural	Urban	Total	Rural	Urban	Total	Rural	Urban	Total	Rural	Urban	Total
Andhra Pradesh	4	55	59	944	581	1525	948	636	1584	0	0	0	8594	144	8738	8594	144	8738	9542	780	10322
Assam	0	19	19	385	221	606	385	240	625	0	0	0	3246	141	3387	3246	141	3387	3631	381	4012
Bihar	0	32	32	637	386	1023	637	418	1055	0	0	0	7936	46	7982	7936	46	7982	8573	464	9037
Chhattisgarh	0	10	10	99	239	338	99	249	348	0	0	0	2789	20	2809	2789	20	2809	2888	269	3157
Delhi	0	12	12	6	389	395	6	401	407	0	0	0	78	69	147	78	69	147	84	470	554
Gujarat	0	34	34	644	663	1307	644	697	1341	0	0	0	7524	118	7642	7524	118	7642	8168	815	8983
Haryana	0	16	16	177	309	486	177	325	502	0	0	0	2138	44	2182	2138	44	2182	2315	369	2684
Himachal Pradesh	3	15	18	353	97	450	356	112	468	0	0	0	2310	7	2317	2310	7	2317	2666	119	2785
Jammu & Kashmir	0	9	9	94	163	257	94	172	266	0	0	0	1409	26	1435	1409	26	1435	1503	198	1701
Jharkhand	0	13	13	229	218	447	229	231	460	0	0	0	2610	39	2649	2610	39	2649	2839	270	3109
Karnataka	0	58	58	839	815	1654	839	873	1712	0	0	0	7770	181	7951	7770	181	7951	8609	1054	9663
Kerala	6	45	51	977	480	1457	983	525	1508	0	0	0	3224	335	3559	3224	335	3559	4207	860	5067
Madhya Pradesh	0	43	43	327	658	985	327	701	1028	0	0	0	7148	110	7258	7148	110	7258	7475	811	8286
Maharashtra	1	60	61	1031	1124	2155	1032	1184	2216	0	0	0	10538	105	10643	10538	105	10643	11570	1289	12859
North East	0	9	9	186	142	328	186	151	337	0	0	0	2500	86	2586	2500	86	2586	2686	237	2923
Odisha	0	35	35	666	500	1166	666	535	1201	1	0	1	6906	61	6967	6907	61	6968	7573	596	8169
Punjab	0	22	22	328	416	744	328	438	766	0	0	0	3081	14	3095	3081	14	3095	3409	452	3861
Rajasthan	1	47	48	722	570	1292	723	617	1340	0	0	0	8952	26	8978	8952	26	8978	9675	643	10318
Tamil Nadu	0	94	94	1330	1406	2736	1330	1500	2830	0	0	0	8945	356	9301	8945	356	9301	10275	1856	12131
Telangana	1	35	36	433	392	825	434	427	861	0	0	0	4815	159	4974	4815	159	4974	5249	586	5835
Uttarakhand	0	13	13	197	182	379	197	195	392	0	0	0	2315	14	2329	2315	14	2329	2512	209	2721
Uttar Pradesh	0	72	72	877	1602	2479	877	1674	2551	0	0	0	14852	259	15111	14852	259	15111	15729	1933	17662
West Bengal	0	47	47	681	1038	1719	681	1085	1766	0	0	0	7096	209	7305	7096	209	7305	7777	1294	9071
Total	16	795	811	12162	12591	24753	12178	13386	25564	1	0	1	126776	2569	129345	126777	2569	129346	138955	15955	154910

Annexure-II

STATE WISE LIST OF NUMBER OF POST OFFICES MANNED BY GRAMIN DAK SEWAKS

Sl. No.	Name of the State	Number of Post  Offices manned by  Gramin Dak Sewaks
1	Andhra Pradesh	8738
2	Arunachal Pradesh	253
3	Assam	3387
4	Bihar	7982
5	Chhattisgarh	2809
6	Delhi	147
7	Goa	153
8	Gujarat	7596
9	Haryana	2182
10	Himachal Pradesh	2317
11	Jammu & Kashmir	1435
12	Jharkhand	2649
13	Karnataka	7951
14	Kerala	3558
15	Madhya Pradesh	7258
16	Maharashtra	10490
17	Manipur	645
18	Meghalaya	423
19	Mizoram	350
20	Nagaland	287
21	Odisha	6968
22	Punjab	3087
23	Rajasthan	8978
24	Sikkim	186
25	Tamil Nadu	9241
26	Telangana	4974
27	Tripura	628
28	Uttar Pradesh	15111
29	Uttarakhand	2329
30	West Bengal	7046

UNION TERRITORY WISE LIST OF NUMBER OF POST OFFICES MANNED BY GRAMIN DAK SEWAKS

SL. No.	Name of the Union Territory	Number of Post  Offices manned by  Gramin Dak Sewaks
1	Andaman and Nicobar	73
2	Chandigarh	08
3	Daman and Diu	12
4	Dadar and Nagar Haveli	34
5	Lakshdweep	01
6	Puducherry	60

Annexure-III 

DETAILS OF THE MONTHLY WAGES ADMISSIBLE TO VARIOUS CATEGORIES OF GRAMIN DAK SEVAKS

S.No.	Category of Gramin Dak Sevaks	Time Related Continuity Allowance	Work load in hours
1	GDS Sub Postmaster	Rs. 4575-85-7125	4 - 5 hours
2	GDS Branch Postmaster	Rs 2745-50-4245	Up to 3 hours work
		Rs 3200-60-5000	More than 3 hours up to 3 hrs.30 min
		Rs 3660-70-5760	Up to4 hours.
		Rs 4115-75-6365	More than 4 hours up to 4 hour 30 min
		Rs. 4575-85-7125	More than 4.hrs 30 min up to 5 hours
3	GDS Mail deliverer/Stamp vendor	Rs 2665-50-4165	For work up to 3 hrs for new entrants
		Rs 3330-60-5130	For Work load Up to 3 hours 45 minutes
		Rs 4220-75-6470	More than 3 hours 45 minutes up to 5 hours
4	GDS Mail Carrier/Packer/ Mailman	Rs 2295-45-3695	For work up to 3 hrs for new entrants
		Rs2870-50-4370	More than 3 hrs up to 3 hrs 45 min
		Rs 3635-65-5585	More than 3 hours 45 minutes up to 5 hours.

Annexure-IV

Salient features of the Report

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 upgradation 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.