Madras HC: Govt servants appointed on or after April 1, 2003, not entitled to pension 

DECCAN CHRONICLE. | J STALIN

Published Dec 4, 2019, 2:08 am IST

Thus, this contrary view taken by two division bench of this court has led to the present reference to this Full bench, the Full bench added.

Madras high court

Chennai: The Madras high court has held that those government servants /employees, who are freshly appointed on or after April 1, 2003, are not entitled to pension in view of proviso to Rule 2 of Tamil Nadu Pension Rules, 1978 inserted by G.O dated August 6, 2003.

The Full Bench comprising Justices R.Subbiah, P.T.Asha and C.Saravanan gave the ruling while answering the reference made to it on a batch of petitions and appeals from individual employees and state government.

The Full bench said such reference came to be made by the division bench on noticing that there were two conflicting decisions rendered by the division benches of this court. In one of the judgments, it was held that persons who were absorbed and/or regularized to service after April 1, 2003 were not entitled to count half of the past service rendered by them for the purpose of conferment of pensionary benefits along with the service rendered by them after regularization.

Another division bench held that such persons, whose service came to be regularized after April 1, 2003 were entitled and/or eligible to count half of the services rendered by them on daily wage basis prior to their regularization, for the purpose of conferment of pensionary benefits. Thus, this contrary view taken by two division bench of this court has led to the present reference to this Full bench, the Full bench added.

The Full Bench held that those government servants/employees appointed prior to April 1, 2003 whether on temporary or permanent basis in terms of Rule 10 (a) (1) of Tamil Nadu State and Subordinate Service Rules will be entitled to get pension as per the Tamil Nadu Pension Rules, 1978.

In case, a government employee/servant had also rendered service in non-provincialised service, or on consolidated pay or on honorarium or daily wage basis and if such services were regularized before April 1, 2003, half of service rendered shall be counted for the purpose of conferment of pensionary benefits, the Full Bench added.

The Full Bench said those government servants who were appointed in the aforesaid four categories before the cut off date and later appointed under Rule 10 (a) (1) of Tamil Nadu State and Subordinate Service Rules and absorbed into regular service after April 1, 2003 will not be entitled to count half of their past service for the purpose of determination of qualifying service for pension.

Those government servants, who were appointed in the aforesaid four categories before April 1, 2003 but were absorbed in regular service after April 1, 2003 will not be entitled to count half of their past service for the purpose of determination of qualifying service for pension, the Full Bench added.

34-year-old man jumps to death from terrace of Tiruchy government hospital Ganesh Murthy, who was under treatment for jaundice, died due to the impact of the fall, said doctors who tried to revive him.

Published: 03rd December 2019 04:30 PM 



 
Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital in Tiruchy (File photo | EPS) 

By Sowmya Mani

Express News Service

TIRUCHY: A 34-year-old patient jumped from to his death from the terrace of the new building of Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital (MGMGH) on Tuesday morning. Ganesh Murthy, who was under treatment for jaundice, died due to the impact of the fall, said doctors who tried to revive him.

“He was admitted to the hospital on 22nd November with fever and was subsequently diagnosed with jaundice and we treated him for that. He responded to the treatment well and was going to be discharged in a few days,” said Dr K Vanitha, Dean of MGMGH Tiruchy.

Ganesh was admitted in a ward on the 6th floor of the new building.

“He asked his father Nagaraj to go get some food for him at 7:30. The door to the terrace was open from where he jumped. When he fell down, we tried to revive him but unfortunately, he died,” said Dr Yeganathan, Medical Superintendent.

It is said that there were no security officials or nurses in the ward when Ganesh took the drastic step. The nurse on duty had reportedly gone to check on the pressure valve on the terrace and left the gate to the terrace open.

Dean says that no one expected Ganesh to take this step.

“We did not detect any suspicious signs of depression or suicidal thoughts. It is said he was unemployed and had recently applied for a foreign job. As he was diagnosed with Hepatitis B, his dream of going abroad was uncertain. We suspect this to be the reason behind Ganesh's extreme step, ” added Dr. Vanitha.

The incident raises questions about security at the hospital. Doctors say that this is the first such incident where a patient jumped from the terrace.

Enrol men in nursing course, govt urged

A source said, “The health department stopped course for male students in 2008. 

Published: 04th December 2019 06:41 AM 

By Sinduja Jane

Express News Service

CHENNAI: With an eye on reducing workload, government nurses have appealed to the health department to enrol male students in Diploma Nursing Course in government School of Nursing Colleges. The Tamil Nadu Government Nurses Association recently submitted a memorandum, for which senior officials replied they would consider after discussion with directorates of the department.

Speaking to Express, S Kaliyammal, State treasurer of the association said, “Male nurses can be posted in sensitive wards like trauma and convicts wards, which we find tough to handle. Now, they are recruiting male nurses through Medical Recruitment Board who are graduated from private nursing colleges and they directly join. But if the department offers the course to male students, they can be trained in government hospitals during training period. This will reduce burden on us.”

A source said, “The health department stopped course for male students in 2008. One of the main reasons was it could not arrange for accommodation as it is a residential course. Also only a few seats were available, besides nursing profession is more synonymous with female as they have to assistant deliveries also. If it was male, pregnant women may feel uncomfortable.”

Nursing students stage protest on DME campus

Chennai: Around 200 people who completed their nursing assistant courses in government colleges held a protest at the Directorate of Medical Education office campus on Tuesday. S Manikandan, said, “I completed my course at Govt Kilpauk Medical College in 2014-15. Only 2009 batch students were posted in govt hospitals but subsequent batches were not posted. We request the State to give us job as there are vacancies.”

AYUSH practitioners to get nod to prescribe allopathy drugs
 
04/12/2019 , Special Correspondent, , Bengaluru

The government of Karnataka is keen on allowing practitioners of the Indian systems of medicine, such as ayurveda, yoga, Unani, Siddha and homeopathy (AYUSH), to practice allopathy and will come out with rules in this regard soon, according to a statement issued by State Health Minister B. Sriramulu.

The Minister had recently assured AYUSH practitioners that if their clinics had been shut down for cross-practice, the District Health Officers (DHOs) would be directed to reopen them.

Doctor gets 14 traffic notices
 
04/12/2019 , Special Correspondent, Bengaluru

A doctor received 14 notices from the Traffic Management Centre (TMC) for violations that he did not commit. It was only when he approached the centre did the police realise that the notices had been sent to the wrong address because of an error in the registration number on a scooter. The incident came to light when Sanjay G.R. approached the TMC challenging the notices. After verification, the police concluded that someone was misusing the registration number and sounded an alert to the traffic police.

After analysing videos from across the city, Assistant sub-inspector Ravi Kumar and constable Allabakash, attached to the TMC, zeroed in on one motorist who frequently rode on Tannery Road, where most of the violations were reported. They intercepted the rider on Monday.

Ravikanthe Gowda B.R., Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic), said the owner, Sheikh Wasim, had a scooter with the same colour as that of the doctor’s vehicle. He had bought it three months ago and got the registration done through a middleman from the RTO. The middlemen gave him a registration number that originally belonged to Dr. Sanjay. All the letters and numbers were the same, barring one numeral.

Wasim got a number plate made with the given number but did not bother to cross-check it with the RC smart card, which had the correct number. “Wasim admitted to the mistake and even paid the penalty of ₹2,600 for 14 traffic violations,” said a senior police officer.

CAG report pulls up govt. bodies, finds ₹1,701.14 cr. loss in 500 cases 

Delhi Transport Corporation incurred ₹3,843 crore loss, states report
 
04/12/2019 , Staff Reporter , New Delhi

A Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report tabled in the Delhi Assembly on Tuesday criticised different government bodies for their lapses and laxity which has cost hundreds of crores of rupees to the exchequer.

Under assessment/short levy/loss of revenue and other irregularities involving ₹1,701.14 crore in 500 cases was revealed during test check of the records of 70 units of the Department of Trade and Taxes, State Excise, Transport and Revenue conducted during 2017-18, the report said.

Transport and tourism

The CAG report came down heavily on the Department of Transport and the Department of Tourism.

“Due to failure of Delhi Transport Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited [DTIDC] to provide work fronts timely, the upgradation work of ISBT Kashmere Gate could not be completed even after more than eight years of stipulated completion date, resulting in raising of claims of ₹113.80 crore by contractor and DIMTS,” the report read.

“Delhi Transport Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited incurred avoidable payment of interest of ₹2.76 crore due to default/delay in filing of ITR and default/deferment in payment of advance tax,” the report said. It also pointed to the lapse of not establishing ISBTs at North and South West entry points of Delhi in Dwarka and Narela even after Supreme Court directions 20 years ago.

“The objective of reducing air pollution in GNCTD [Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi] by establishing these two ISBTs could not be achieved as 516 and 1,243 inter-State diesel operated buses arriving from Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh continue to ply to/from ISBTs at Sarai Kale Khan and Kashmere Gate respectively on daily trip basis,” it said.

“In the case of Narela ISBT, after releasing payment of ₹10.30 crore to DDA, the land for establishment of the ISBT has not yet been finalised even after the lapse of 11 years,” the report said. It also read that even after over five years after being assigned the responsibility of managing the bus queue shelters (BQS), the DTIDC failed to construct any new BQS.

“Injudicious decision of Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation to enter into an agreement with a firm for the operations of Coffee Home without seeking consent of New Delhi Municipal Corporation [land owning agency] has resulted in loss of revenue of ₹3.05 crore,” the report said.

During the period — July 2017 to March 2018—, 70% to 98% taxpayers had filed their returns. The report also said as, on March 31, 2018, there were 18 State PSUs which included 16 government companies and two statutory corporations. Of this, 13 PSUs (other than Power Sector) incurred overall losses during the five year period from 2013-14 to 2017-18.

“Major losses were incurred by Delhi Transport Corporation to the tune of ₹3,843.62 crore as per the latest finalised accounts of the corporation. As per the latest finalised accounts for 2017-18, out of 13 PSUs, five earned profit of ₹70.32 crore and four PSUs incurred losses of ₹3,859.78 crore and four incurred marginal profit and loss,” the CAG report said.

During the last five years, the turnover of five power sector undertakings recorded compounded annual growth of 2.81% and compounded the annual decline in debt was 6.97% due to which the debt-turnover ratio improved from 1.87 in 2013-14 to 1.25 in 2017-18.

No scam found: CM

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the CAG is the most admired auditing agency in India and in the last 70 years, it had unearthed many scams like 2G, Coal and CWG etc.

“In spite of harsh scrutiny, the CAG couldn’t find out anything wrong with the Delhi government in the last five years. We have fulfilled the responsibilities entrusted to us by the public,” he added.

BSNL VRS window closes
 
04/12/2019 , Special Correspondent, NEW DELHI

The voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) being offered by BSNL and MTNL seems to have been a success, with nearly one lakh employees opting for it.

While a total of 78,569 BSNL employees have opted for the scheme, the number for MTNL stood at 14,387 employees, a source said.

“The application window which was opened on November 4, closes on December 3. Till evening today [Tuesday], the combined employees count who opted for VRS for the two PSUs stood at 92,956. We should be able to give the final figures on Wednesday,” the source added.