Replying to a question raised by Congress leader T.N. Prathapan in the Lok Sabha, Union Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office Jitendra Singh listed out the details of rockets and satellites approved by the government, their cost and the amount spent on those till February 2022.
He said the projects approved for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), their cost (Rs 17,631.27 crore) and amount expended (Rs 6,853.37 crore) are:
According to Singh, ISRO will be launching one navigation satellite (NVS-01), one earth observation satellite (EOS-06) and one communication satellite called GSAT-24 in 2022.
The Indian space agency also has two commercial launches - one each for PSLV and GSLV-Mk III- rockets in 2022 and two developmental flights of newly-developed SSLV rocket.
Under the government's SVAMITVA scheme, geospatial technology along with Drones will survey all the over six lakh Indian villages, he said at the first anniversary of the release of geospatial data.
Singh said that the open call for empanelment of geospatial companies by Survey of India for mapping six lakh villages under the SVAMITVA scheme and the launch of pan-India 3D Maps Programme by Genesys International for 100 cities, based on the concept of Digital Twins, are historic and revolutionary in nature and will be a game changer decision, a release from the Science and Technology Ministry said.
On the "trinity" of geospatial systems, drone policy, and unlocked space sector as the hallmark of India's future economic progress, he said: "This is in line with the strategic push by the Government of India for adopting these sunrise technologies across national mission-mode projects to achieve the vision of the $5 trillion economy."
The Minister also cited the launch of Indo ArcGIS by Esri India to address the need for ready-to-use GIS-based solution products and content in the areas of forest management, disaster management, electrical utilities, land records, water distribution, and property taxation.
Science and Technology Secretary, Dr S Chandrasekhar, Association of Geospatial Industries President Agendra Kumar, Geospatial World founder and CEO Sanjay Kumar, MapMyIndia Chairperson Rakesh Verma, Genesys Chairman and MD Sajid Malik, IIT-Kanpur's Prof Bharat Lohani, and representatives from Google, Hexagon and other industry members and officials were present at the event.
"Geospatial technologies are the nation's 'digital currency' that find dynamic application into multiple sectors such as infrastructure, manufacturing, health, agriculture, urban planning, highways, and service delivery. The size of the Indian geospatial market in 2020, as per one industry estimate, was Rs 23,345 crore, including Rs 10,595 crore of export, which is likely to grow to Rs 36,300 crore in 2025," the Minister said.
The Department of Science and Technology has truly triggered a systemic change within the geospatial ecosystem, he added.
Accordingly, a committee has been constituted for streamlining the fellowships and research grants.
The streamlining of the fellowships and research grants will not only save cost and time but also provide a level-playing field to every individual and help achieve 'Ease of Science Education' for students and scholars, Singh said on Wednesday at the meeting attended by Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Secretary and Chairman of the Streamlining Committee, Shekhar Mande; Ministry of Earth Sciences Secretary, M. Ravichandran; Department of Science and Technology (DST) Secretary, S. Chandrasekhar and Department of Biotechnology (DBT) Secretary, Rajesh Gokhale along with senior officials.
The Union Minister informed that currently there are a number of schemes under the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) and the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) providing scholarship or fellowship to students, researchers at different levels (school, UG, PG, Ph.D, Post-doc, RA or re-entry from abroad). For example, CSIR and DBT, both conduct separate examination for Junior Research Fellowship and similarly, DST, DBT and CSIR have schemes for Postdoc or Research Associateship and re-entry from abroad.
However, all these departments have separate advertisements and interview or selection processes and thus students or researchers have to apply at different portals in different formats and face multiple exams or interviews which lead to hardship among students.
This situation is not only time-consuming for students but also lot of time and resources are deployed in process of selection to disbursement of grants by the funding agencies, said a release from the MoST.
Recognising the hardship faced by students, Jitendra Singh mooted the idea of creating a single web interface to facilitate for all scholarships and fellowships under MoST and MoES. The aim is to make the schemes student-centric and simplify the processes.
He said once implemented the students need not submit multiple applications and different portals as all four departments will converge all scholarship or fellowship schemes at a single portal.
The Union Minister added that steps like simplification of processes and bringing uniformity, providing single point of contact to students or researchers, adopting a fast process and timely release of fellowships, eliminating the duplicity, synergising the process and schemes, and reducing the transaction costs will be the main components of single window opportunity for scholarships and fellowships.
Jitendra Singh said that the step was taken as a number of grievances are being received regarding delays in sanction and release of fellowships or research grants to scholars and students. Moreover, every department has its own system and mechanism of sanctioning and monitoring such fellowship grants.
The Committee for streamlining the fellowships and research grants will be chaired by Shekhar Mande and Secretaries of DST, DBT and MoES would be its members. Two senior scientists would be members too.
“The crucial meeting of Pradesh Election Committee will be held tomorrow where the criteria of selecting candidates will be finalised. Moreover, the party will certainly announce list of candidates within next 15 days,” said Singh.
Singh further informed that the focus will be given on revival of the party in Odisha. Similarly, be it leaders or workers, they will have to connect with their respective booths.
“The performance of the newly formed PCC team will also be reviewed every month,” Singh added.
Earlier, the newly formed PCC team today met to chalk out poll strategies and plans to strengthen the party from grassroots to the Pradesh level as per directives issued by AICC president Rahul Gandhi.
“There was a brainstorming session on how to strengthen and rejuvenate the party from the grassroots to the Pradesh level. There was also discussion on reaching out to people by highlighting the failures of the Narendra Modi-led NDA government at the Centre and Odisha government,” said senior Congress leader Debasish Patnaik.
Congress is the only party which has given a lot to the State. While the party was in power in the State, a lot of projects were taken up on Mahanadi river much before the Chhattisgarh government.
“The party believes in working for the poor. When Niranjan Patnaik took charge as PCC chief, he had stated to take the party forward in Odisha by taking everyone together,” he added.
Senior Congress leader Pradeep Majhi said, “Suggestions of all office bearers on how to strengthen party will be taken into consideration before finalising strategy.”
Along with the portal, Union Minister of State for Earth Sciences, Jitendra Singh, also launched the newly furbished MoES website that would provide a more user-friendly interface and cyber secure experience to the public.
The MoES-ESSDP (Earth System Science Data Portal), an integrated digital web portal of MoES institutes, makes available data on various themes of earth system science for public use.
The portal has been developed using the latest information technology tools and is available at https://incois.gov.in/essdp.
It would facilitate search and retrieval of earth system science data (of atmosphere, ocean, poles, geoscience and seismology) for societal benefit.
The minister encouraged the MoES to expand, enhance and promote services to the society, especially related to weather, climate, ocean and seismology, bringing in more socio-economic benefits to the country.
On the occasion, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) introduced a new mobile app named 'Pune Weather Live', which would provide real-time and location-specific weather updates for Pune city.
The app captures live data from more than 80 weather stations, including information on rainfall.
Earlier, Petteri Taalas, Secretary-General, World Meteorological Organization (WMO), delivered the foundation day lecture and spoke on 'WMO, Disasters, Climate and COP-26' besides discussing the pressing issue of climate change and its impact.
Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Indira Murthy, announced the national awards in various categories for the scientists of the multiple agencies of the MoES.
Congress' Odisha in-charge, Jitendra Singh has advised party members to follow the steps of Salepur MLA Prakash Behera, who resigned from the post of the party's Cuttack district president on Tuesday.
According to sources, all the potential candidates for the upcoming general elections have been advised to relinquish their office-bearer posts. However, party members who have less chances of winning will be appointed in those posts like that of a district president.
"If a person retains a post for a longer period, others fail to get a chance to show their potential. It's necessary for all to grow, move ahead and leave space for others," said Singh.
OPCC president, Niranjan Patnaik said the party is working towards strengthening the constituencies where it has incumbent MLAs so that they can win again in the upcoming election.
"As far as possible we will do that," he added.
Several senior party leaders have welcomed the move with Congress' working committee president Bhakta Charan Das claiming that 'One Man One Post' strategy will help members carry out their responsibilities properly without any extra burden.
Earlier today in the 'Maha Milana Utsav' of OPCC, several former leaders of the party including Trinamool Congress' Arya Kumar Gyanendra, former MP Kartikeswar Patra and former minister Haldhar Karjee rejoined Congress.
According to reports, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) chief Prasad Harichandan also met Jitendra Singh and AICC general secretary in-charge of organisation Ashok Gehlot to discuss party affairs in the State.
Sources said, as per the decision taken in the meeting, Jitendra Singh will hold discussion with senior party members from Odisha in next two days in New Delhi. The party would announce the names of district and block presidents thereafter.
"Party members from Odisha should work at grassroot level to strengthen the party organisation. All of us must follow the directives of AICC President Rahul Gandhi for development of farmers and backward section of the society," said Anil Chaudhary, AICC Secretary.
Meanwhile, Congress legislators have welcomed the appointment of new AICC secretaries yesterday. But, the MLAs rued about the delay in bringing changes to the Pradesh Congress Committee.
"We welcome the appointment of the new AICC secretaries for the State. However, it is to be seen when changes will be made in Odisha," stated Congress MLA Prafulla Majhi.
Echoing similar views, Jogesh Singh, another Congress legislator, said, "It is up to Rahul Gandhi to decide whether Prasad Harichandan will continue as OPCC chief or not."
Earlier last year, Singh had visited the State and held discussions with party leaders at grassroots and submitted a report to the Congress President.
In the plenary session of the AICC, Rahul Gandhi had hinted that young leaders in the party will get major responsibilities. Political experts see Singh’s appointment as a move in that direction.
Reacting to the development, senior Congress leader Niranjan Patnaik said, “Jitendra Singh who has been appointed as Odisha in-charge of party is a young and practical leader. I hope Congress will get organised under his guidance.”
Congress leader Biswaranjan Mohanty stated, “As Rahul had said young leaders will work along with senior leaders, Singh’s appointment is a step in that direction.”
"When senior leaders are leaving Congress, appointment of new Odisha in-charge is seen as a prelude to the change of guard at Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC)," said sources.
As BK Hariprasad and OPCC chief Prasad Harichandan have been managing the party affairs in the State, change in leadership of OPCC is not ill-founded, said sources with knowledge of the matter.
Though BK Hariprasad had been the party’s Odisha in-charge for a considerable time, he had failed to resolve intra-party squabble, said sources.
While the party’s voter base has been shrinking, which is evident from the panchayat polls and the Bijepur by-poll results, appointment of Singh is seen as a move to strengthen party's organisation in the State.
Senior leaders Tamrdhwaj Sahu, Sushmita Dev and Jitendra Singh are part of the team and have been asked to submit a joint report to the Congress chief after their visit to the State.
A media release issued by the party said, “The team will jointly work with the AICC general secretary and secretary in-charge of Odisha to assess the political situation.”
Earlier in the day, OPCC chief Prasad Harichandan, Srikant Jena, Ramchandra Khuntia, Kanhu Charan Lenka and other senior leaders called upon Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and discussed on party organisation in the State.
The Minister's remarks came at a panel discussion on "From Fragile Cities to Renewal" at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in the Swiss town of Davos on Tuesday.
"More than 239 cities in the world were classified as fragile due to pollution, conflict, terrorism, unemployment and lack of electricity, besides other factors. What was needed, he said, was to upgrade the urban space and offer better facilities to the population," an official statement said quoting Singh.
When asked to narrate his experience of fragile cities in the context of insurgency in the northeastern region of India, Singh said: "In the last three-and-a-half years of the Modi government, a lot of stability in the region has been established.
"Insurgency and "fragility" also have a correlation with lack of development and ineffective political leadership. Corruption not only leads to loss of moral authority of the state leadership but also causes a huge pilferage of the state exchequer, which would otherwise be gainfully utilised to address the fragility."
Singh asserted that with the growing aspirations among the youth, which is a welcome development, there will always be a certain amount of fragility noticeable even in the ideal situations because fragility itself is a relative term and what was fragile yesterday may not be fragile today, and what is fragile today may not fragile tomorrow.
On the occasion, the Minister also said the world was looking for a new "global" roadmap with uniform parameters, in spite of the diversity and heterogeneity and that it might not be possible to easily visualise the local perspective in different countries because of their diverse characteristics.
Singh is accompanying Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal and Minister of State for External Affairs M.J. Akbar to Switzerland for participation in different sessions of the annual WEF event.
Speaking to the media, Odisha Congress in-charge Jitendra Singh on Saturday said that the NDA’s Rafale deal prevented Odisha youths from getting employment opportunities.
“Had the Jet planes being built at the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in Odisha, youths in the State could have got employment opportunities. We are planning a different agitation in Odisha on the issue," Singh said.
He further said, "We will have an intense meeting for the next three days in Odisha which will be attended by district presidents. Meetings of the newly-formed committees, including that of Pradesh Election Committee, will also be conducted. We will also try to begin the ticket distribution process from day after tomorrow and plan to complete it much early.”
On the other hand, PCC chief Niranjan Patnaik alleged that the Rafale deal will turn out to be the biggest scam in the country.
"We will take Rafale deal to the district level as Odisha suffered the most due to the deal. Rafale is a scam that PM Modi did to help Anil Ambani," said Patnaik.
Earlier, Singh, Patnaik, Leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra attended a meeting convened by AICC president Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi today.
As per reports, several issues pertaining to the party’s strength, weakness and prospects ahead of the ensuing election were discussed in the meeting.
Besides, discussion on strengthening party organisation, poll preparation, chalking out strategies for 2019 elections and ticket distribution were also reportedly discussed during the meeting.
Stating that guidelines are being prepared for selection of candidates, Patnaik revealed that the present MLAs will also be getting party tickets in the elections.
Speaking to media, the OPCC Chief said, “The first phase of PEC meeting began today. The meeting discussed on various agendas including the guidelines and criteria for candidate selection. Guidelines have been limited to discussion only and nothing has been finalised. New and fresh faces will be given tickets this time and the sole criteria is 'Winnability' (Jeetna Hai!)”
https://twitter.com/otvnews/status/1031447873362178048
On the other hand, senior Congress leader Tara Prasad Bahinipati has stated that the party members working at the grassroots level and connected with the people will get the tickets for the upcoming 2019 elections.
Earlier on Sunday, Odisha Congress in-charge, Jitendra Singh had informed that the party will declare its first list of candidates within 15 days.
New Delhi: About 11,000 candidates have been recommended for different government jobs by the Staff Selection Commission (SSC) during 2018-19, Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said today.
A total of 25,138 and 68,880 candidates were recommended for the jobs by the SSC in 2015-16 and 2016-17, respectively, he said.
In 2017-18, 45,391 candidates were offered government jobs and 10,997 were recommended by the SSC in 2018-19 (as on June 30, 2018), Singh said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.
"Generally there is no unnecessary delay on the part of the SSC in conducting its examinations," the minister said.
Also Read: SSC Recruitment 2018 for 54,953 Posts: Exam Pattern, Cutoff Mark & Revised Eligibility criteria
He said the SSC announces its calendar of exams well in advance and all efforts are made to strictly adhere to the said examination schedule announced by the commission in the public domain.
"In exceptional circumstances some delay may occur in the conduct of an examination, due to unavoidable/compelling circumstances, yet the SSC makes all efforts to conduct the said delayed examination at the earliest," Singh said.
Following the appointment of TS Singh Deo as temporary in-charge of Odisha, party leaders are hopeful of witnessing success during the upcoming polls.
“T S Singh Deo will look into the affairs of the State as Jitendra Singh is likely to contest polls,” said Niranjan Patnaik, OPCC chief.
Patnaik added that Singh might not be able to give enough time for Odisha due to his additional responsibilities.
Sources said Singh is likely to contest from Alwar constituency of Rajasthan in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
“His organisational experience and strategy will be helpful for Congress to come to power in Odisha. Appointment of an in-charge, additional in-charge and three deputy in-charges indicates that AICC chief Rahul Gandhi is focussing more on Odisha,” said Ramchandra Khuntia, AICC General Secretary.
OPCC vice president Anant Charan Sethi said that Singh Deo's experience will be a big boost for the party members in Odisha.
“TS Singh Deo’s presence, planning and programme will help the party a lot. Moreover, his experience will give us success,” Sethi said.
“Congress will win in the upcoming polls and we will work together as a party,” said D. Rudra Raju, PCC deputy in-charge.
Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman, Harsh Vardhan, Vijay Goel and Jitendra Singh participated at the protest at the Jantar Mantar area along with party workers, who sported black bands on their arms and held up placards reading 'Save Bengal, Save Democracy'.
Clashes broke out between members of the Trinamool Congress students' union and BJP supporters who participated in Shah's roadshow in north Kolkata on Tuesday evening, following which the Vidyasagar College was vandalised and the bust destroyed.
Speaking to the media here on Wednesday, Singh said that a 'massive reshuffle' will take place within the party in the coming days in Odisha.
"We have plans for reshuffle from block level to zone to PCC level. We will reach out to people at the grassroots level and strengthen the party once again. We will also give opportunity to new people," he added.
On the other hand, OPCC chief Niranjan Patnaik said that the party had constituted a fact finding team to find out the reasons behind the party's poll debacle and the said team will submit its report in two months.
The Congress had won only nine out of the 146 Assembly seats and one of the 21 Lok Sabha seats in 2019 general polls.
Officers in position as on January 1, 2019, was 5,205, against the total authorised strength of 6,699, Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said in a written reply.
In order to address the shortage of Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers in the regular recruitment quota, the government has increased the annual intake from 55 in civil services examination (CSE) 1998 to 180 in CSE 2013, he said.
In the promotion quota, prompt actions have been taken for holding selection committee meetings for appointment by promotion or selection of state service officers to IAS, Singh said.
Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office Jitendra Singh tabled the Right to Information (Amendment) Bill, 2019, asserting it will lead to ease of delivery of RTI Act and described it as an enabling legislation for administration purposes.
Singh described the current law "clumsy" which, he said, was brought in by the Congress-led government "in haste".
Slamming the government, Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the bill is a "threat to independence" of Central Information Commissioner. His colleague Shashi Tharoor called it "RTI elimination bill" as it "removes" the organisations institutional independence.
"It is not an RTI (Amendment) Bill. It is an RTI Elimination Bill. This Bill is removing the two greatest armours of institutional independence and on top of that, by controlling the State Information Commissioners, by taking over the power to determine their salaries, the Central government is destroying it," Tharoor said.
The current RTI Act says that the salaries, allowances and other terms and conditions of the service of the Chief Information Commissioner will be the same as that of the Chief Election Commissioner while that of an Information Commissioner shall be same as that of an Election Commissioner.
The amendment, tabled on Friday, states that Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners have salaries of a Supreme Court Judge which brings Chief Information Commissioner and Information Commissioners at par with the apex court judges.
"The functions being carried out by the Election Commission of India and the Central and State Information Commissions are totally different. The Election Commission of India is a Constitutional body...On the other hand Central Information Commission and State Information Commission are statutory bodies established under the Right to Information Act, 2005," it said.
The change in the law will "enable the central government to prescribe by rules the term of office of, and the salaries and allowances and other terms and conditions of service of the Chief Information Commissioner, Information Commissioners, state information commissioner and state information commissioners."
Opposition parties demanded that the bill be sent to a standing committee for scrutiny.
AIMIM member Asaduddin Owaisi sought a division of votes on the bill's introduction. With the BJP-led NDA alliance having a strong majority in the House, 224 members ended up supporting it and only nine opposed it.
Members of the Congress and Trinamool Congress walked out during the voting.
Jitendra Singh said no one can question the Modi government on its commitment to transparency, asserting it works on the principle of maximum governance, minimum government.
The bill strengthens the overall RTI structure and institutionalise it, he said, describing it as an enabling legislation for administration purposes.
Activists have criticised the amendments, saying it will weaken transparency panels in the country.
Owaisi said the bill is a threat to the Constitution and Parliament.
As the exchange of words between the treasury and opposition benches continued, Singh took a dig at the Congress, saying during its government RTI was a "10 am to 5 pm" work but now an RTI application can be filed anytime from anywhere online.
He said the Modi government moved an extra mile for selection of CIC. Since there was no leader of opposition in the 16th Lok Sabha, the government amended rules so that leader of largest opposition party can be included in the selection panel.
Jaitley, 66, has been put on extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), which is used for patients whose lungs and heart are incapable of operating on their own.
He was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences on August 9 after he complained of breathlessness and restlessness.
Others who visited the hospital on Sunday included Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, Himachal Pradesh Governor Kalraj Mishra, RSS Joint General Secretary Krishna Gopal and former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh.
President Ram Nath Kovind, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had visited AIIMS on Friday and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) President Mayawati on Saturday.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar flew to Delhi on Saturday and directly went to the hospital from the airport.
Among other leaders, Union Minister Piyush Goyal, Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik, and Congress leaders Abhishek Singhvi and Jyotiraditya Scindia also visited the hospital.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and top BJP leaders have also visited the hospital.
The decision to abrogate Article 370 provisions was taken to restore the position of Jammu and Kashmir as it was when handed over by its last ruler Maharaja Hari Singh, he said.
On August 5, the central government ended the special status given to Jammu and Kashmir under the article and bifurcated it into Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, which will come into being on October 31.
"The abrogation of Article 370 will benefit the common man of Jammu and Kashmir, ending their exploitation. The day is not far when the PoK will be a part of India," he said at an event to mark the birth anniversary of Maharaja Hari Singh here.
Singh said the day, the provisions that gave special status to the state were abrogated, was a day of redemption, resurgence and rejuvenation.
This day has come due to the long and selfless journey by some people who made untiring efforts in this direction, he said.
The minister said the whole nation is celebrating this decisive move by the Modi government.
"There has been no curfew, no incidence of violence since the decision has been taken. Some restrictions are there to avoid any disturbance by anti-social elements," he said.
Singh said the common man of the Kashmir valley is happy with the decision of the government and this has ended their exploitation.
He said many rules applicable to other parts of the country will now be applicable to Jammu and Kashmir, specially rules concerning central government employees.
Singh said Maharaja Hari Singh was a true patriot and a visionary. History needs to be kind to him and his contribution needs to be seen in the right perspective, he said.
Maharaja Hari Singh has been denied the right place in history. Now, the dream of the Maharaja is fulfilled with this bold decision of the government, he said.
The last ruler of Jammu and Kashmir will be remembered for his agricultural reforms and making primary education compulsory in 1930, Singh said.
The Maharaja won the confidence of the people of the Kashmir Valley, due to his effective handling of the acute food shortage in 1921-22 and he also took many steps to remove gender-biased practices, the minister said.
Responding to a media query regarding statements of several leaders and discussion regarding change of PCC president, Singh stated that there is absolutely no room for indiscipline.
Singh further asked party leaders to refrain from making comments in media regarding party’s position. “Congress is a family and there might be differences of opinion, but nothing should come through press. If anyone has any grievance, they can directly discuss with me or AICC president. Disciplinary action would be taken against those workers giving statements outside,” said Singh.
Singh also informed that soon a talent search programme will be organised in Odisha to provide a platform to youngsters who want to contribute in development of the State. All the appointments of district or block Congress presidents and even PCC office bearers will be done through a committee in a transparent manner.
The statements of Singh assume significance in the backdrop of a recent meeting comprising several leaders of the party who threw weight behind Barabati-Cuttack MLA Mohammad Moquim as the next PCC chief.
The leaders had organised close-door-meeting and unanimously approved a decision to elevate Moquim to the Congress chief post in Odisha. Many saw such a congregation by some leaders as an open revolt in Odisha Congress.
“Mohammad Moquim had also met me but never said that he wanted to become the PCC president. But if anyone in the party wants to share views or opinions, there is a proper way. Organising meetings and then making such comments are not acceptable,” Singh added.
On the other hand, party district presidents and supporters of OPCC chief Niranjan Patnaik today held a meeting in a hotel in Bhubaneswar.
Senior Congress leader Sambhunath Panigrahi said, “Disciplinary action needs to be taken against those trying to hatch a conspiracy against Niranjan Patnaik for vested interests."
Meanwhile, reports claimed that change of guard in Odisha Congress is unlikely now and Niranjan Patnaik will continue as the PCC chief.
As against the sanctioned posts of 38,02,779 in the central government, 31,18, 956 were filled as on March 1, 2018, it said.
"Recruitment against vacant posts is a continuous process. By the time vacancies are reported by a department to get filled up, some new vacancies arise," Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said in a written reply.
He said when a post remains vacant for more than two or three years, it becomes 'deemed abolished'.
"Such posts are revived based on the functional justification," the minister said, adding that there is no system of abolishing posts in the railways.
Based on the vacancies reported by the user departments, the Staff Selection Commission (SSC) has started the recruitment process to fill up 1,05,338 posts during the year 2019-20, Singh said.
During 2017-18, centralised employment notifications (CENs) for 1,27,573 combined vacancies of various group 'C' and Level-1 posts were notified by the Ministry of Railways - for new and future vacancies to arise in two years time, he said.
Another five CENs covering 1,56,138 vacancies of various Group 'C' and Level-1 posts were issued in 2018-19, the minister said.
The Department of Posts has also conducted examination/notified to fill up 19,522 vacancies, other than those to be filled up through SSC, in various grades, he said, adding that "recruitment process to fill up 4,08,591 vacancies by the SSC is in progress".
All Central government pensioners can now submit Life Certificate from 1st November 2020 to 31st December 2020. Earlier, this used to be only for the month of November for maintaining continuity of Pension.
The pensioners in the age group of 80 years and above, can now submit Life Certificate from 1st October 2020 to 31st December 2020. During this extended period, the pension will be continued to be paid by the Pension Disbursing Authorities (PDAs) uninterrupted.
Singh said that the decision was taken in view of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and the vulnerability of elderly population to Coronavirus.
"As per RBI notification dated January 9, 2020, which permits Video-based Customer Identification Process (V-CIP) as a consent-based alternate method of establishing the customer’s identity, Pension Disbursing Banks have been also asked to explore the said methodology for obtaining a Life Certificate from the pensioner to the extent permitted by RBI guidelines, in order to avoid rush at the branches," he said.
Every Central government pensioner has to submit a life certificate in the month of November for further continuation of their pension. Pensioners can submit a life certificate by visiting the bank branches, however, the Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare has been promoting the Digital Life Certificate which can be given from the comfort of one’s home also, a release read.
In 2019, as a measure to enable additional dedicated time to very senior pensioners, the Department had issued orders enabling pensioners in the age group of 80 years and above to submit Life Certificate from 1st October onward instead of 1st November, every year so that they could avoid the general rush in the month of November, it added.
Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Jitendra Singh said that this relaxation has been extended up to September 25, 2022.
As a consequence, to this circular, Jitendra Singh said that an entitled government official can avail LTC for visiting Jammu & Kashmir, North Eastern Region, Ladakh and Andaman & Nicobar in lieu of a hometown LTC.
In addition, the facility of Air journey to non-entitled government servants will be available for visiting Jammu & Kashmir, North Eastern Region, Ladakh and Andaman &Nicobar Islands. As a further convenience, ease of travel permission is also being granted to undertake journey to these areas by private Airlines, whereas normally a government servant is expected to travel by the state owned Air India, he added.
It is pertinent to mention that in relaxation to Central Civil Services (LTC) Rules 1988, the scheme allowing government servants to travel by Air to visit Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir, Union Territory of Ladakh, the North Eastern States and Union Territory of Andaman & Nicobar Islands has been extended for a period of two years till September 25, 2022, an official release read.
Describing this exclusive facility for the government employees, Jitendra Singh said that all eligible government servants may avail LTC to visit Jammu & Kashmir or North East or any of these mentioned areas against the conversion of their one Home Town LTC in a four-year block.
However, the government servants whose hometown and place of posting is the same, are not allowed this conversion. He said, such government servants who are not otherwise entitled to travel by Air will also be allowed to travel by Air, under the norms of this scheme, in Economy class by any Airlines, subject to the maximum fare limit of LTC-80 scheme.
Ever since the Modi government took over in 2014, said Dr Jitendra Singh, it has been the direction of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to give priority to the far flung and difficult regions, and do whatever possible for ease of living and ease of governance in these areas, it added.