EXISTING POWERS

RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE  IN-HOUSE COMMITTEE

REASONS

RECOMMENDATION OF THE SUB-COMMITTEE OF STANDING COMMITTEE

VIEWS OF THE FINANCE & ACCOUNTS DIVISION OF HQRS. OFFICE

VIEWS OF THE HQRS.OFFICE

Sl. No

S.N. of RoB

NATURE OF POWER

Extent of Powers

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5.

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9.

1.

1.

Creation of Posts

Full powers to create temporary posts carrying maximum monthly salary not exceeding Rs.1600/- subject to the conditions :-

i)      The posts are admissible according to the approved norms and standards of work.

ii)     The necessary provision for posts exists in the budget.

iii)    Prior concurrence of the Financial Advisor and Chief Accounts officer is obtained before creation of the posts.

Note: Limit of Rs.1600/- was fixed prior to 4^th Pay Commission.

Full powers in respect of posts carrying pay scale upto Rs.10,000 –15,200/-.

Due to increase in pay scale as per Vth Pay Commission.

It is recommended that this power may be exercised with the approval of the Standing Committee

There is no recommendation of the committee to enhance the existing power of delegation.   The pay scale of Joint Director, which was Rs.1200–1600, as per the Third Pay Commission recommendations has been replaced by the scale of Rs.10,000 – 15,200.  Accordingly, the in-house Committee proposed that the existing amount be replaced with the delegation to create posts carrying maximum scale of Rs.15,200 which is justifiable and may be accepted.

The Standing Committee in its second meeting held on 13^th and 14.9.1949 had delegated the powers to the Director General to create posts in the regular sanctioned categories and the scales of pay upto Rs.500/-. This pay scale had undergone revision as per the recommendations of the successive Pay Commissions and it stood at Rs.1200-1600 as per the 3^rd Pay Commission’s recommendations which has now been replaced by the pay scale of Rs.10000-15200 as per the V Pay Commission’s recommendations.  It was, therefore, proposed in the Delegation of Powers to replace the pay scale of Rs.1200-1600 to that of Rs.10000-15200 which would cover the same category of employees as at present.

The proposals for creation of the posts carrying the pay scale of Rs.14300-18300 are invariably placed before the Standing Committee/Corporation for its approval as specified in Rule-20 of ESI (Central) Rules, 1950.  The proposals with regard to creation of the posts in the pay scale of Rs.18400-22400 are placed before the Standing Committee and Corporation for consideration and thereafter submitted to the Central Government for approval. 

There is a ban by Government on creation of all posts without its permission and irrespective of the authority in Corporation in whom the powers to create posts is vested, the Government approval will be necessary as long as the ban is in position.

Therefore, the status quo may be maintained except incorporating the revised pay scale recommended by Vth Pay Commission, viz. the recommendation of the In-house Committee given in Col.5 may be accepted.

EXISTING POWERS

RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE  IN-HOUSE COMMITTEE

REASONS

RECOMMENDATION OF THE SUB-COMMITTEE OF STANDING COMMITTEE

VIEWS OF THE FINANCE & ACCOUNTS DIVISION OF HQRS. OFFICE

VIEWS OF THE HQRS.OFFICE

S. N.

S.N. of RoB

NATURE OF POWER

Extent of Powers

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2.

2.

Appointment of posts

Full powers to fill all posts other than the posts of Principal Officers in accordance with the regulations.

Full powers to make appointments to all posts other than Financial Commissioner as per their respective Recruitment Regulations

According to the provisions of Section-16 of ESI Act, the post of Financial Commissioner is filled by Central Government and hence it needed to be excluded.

It is recommended that the appointment/promotion to the post of IC/MC may be made with the prior approval of the Standing Committee.

There were no recommendations of the Committee to either enhance the powers of D.G.  Only the words “Principal Officers” were proposed to be replaced by the words “Financial Commissioner” keeping in view the fact that FC is now appointed by the Government.  The procedure is already prescribed under the ESIC (Staff & Condition of the Service) Regulations, 1959.  There is no provision to place the recommendations of the DPC before any other authority for acceptance.

In view of the above, the delegation, as recommended by the in-house Committee, may be considered and no change needed from the existing position.

The text of Regulation-4 of ESI (Staff & Conditions of Service) Regulations, 1959 is as under:-

4.                    Appointing Authority :  All appointments to posts shall be made by the Director General:

Provided that the Standing Committee or the Director General may, by general or special order, delegate to any other authority or officer of the Corporation, powers to make appointments to any post or class of posts other than posts in Class-I and Class-II.

The Recruitment Regulations dated 3.4.1965 in Regulation-9 state that:-

“The Director General shall make the appointment as recommended by the Commission, unless he is of the opinion that the recommendation of the Commission should not be accepted, in which case he shall bring the matter to the notice of the Standing Committee, and if the Standing Committee also agrees with the Director General, the matter shall be submitted to the Central Government for a final decision.”

In view of the above, it is proposed that the recommendation of the In-house Committee given in Col.5 may be accepted.

3

7.

Transfer

Full powers to transfer an employee from one post to another

Full powers and the nature of powers re-drawn as

  
“ Transfer of employees.”

Only wording changed.

It is recommended that this item may be decided by the Standing Committee I its next meeting.

--

It has already been decided in Corporation meeting held on 13.2.04 as per para 42 of the Draft Minutes.

EXISTING POWERS

RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE  IN-HOUSE COMMITTEE

REASONS

RECOMMENDATION OF THE SUB-COMMITTEE OF STANDING COMMITTEE

VIEWS OF THE FINANCE & ACCOUNTS DIVISION OF HQRS. OFFICE

VIEWS OF THE HQRS.OFFICE

S. N.

S.N. of RoB

NATURE OF POWER

Extent of Powers

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

4

8.

(a)

Fee & Honorarium

Full powers to grant and to  permit acceptance of honorarium upto Rs.5000/- per employee per annum excluding principal officers (in the case of recurring honorarium this limit applies to the total of recurring payments made to an individual in a year.

Full powers to grant and to permit acceptance of honorarium upto Rs.10,000/- per employee per annum

Financial limit enhanced due to increase in cost index.

It is recommended that financial limit may remain Rs.5,000/- instead of Rs.10,000/- as proposed.

We may have no objection though the In-house Committees’ recommendation was keeping in view the increase in cost of index.

The recommendation of the Sub-Committee of Standing Committee may be accepted.

(b)

Full powers to permit undertaking of work for which fee is payable upto maximum of Rs.5000/- for an employee excluding Principal Officers. (in the case of recurring honorarium this limit applies to the total of recurring payments made to an individual in a year).

Full powers to permit under taking of work for which fee is payable upto a maximum of Rs.10,000/- per annum for an employee

Financial limit enhanced due to increase in cost index.

5

9.

Retention after the age of superannuation

Power to retain an employee in service after the age of 55(now) 58) but not beyond the age of to 60 to be exercised with the prior approval of the Standing Committee and provided that the extensions are limited to one year at a time.

Power to retain an employee in service after the age of 60 but not beyond the age of to 62 to be exercised with the prior approval of the Standing Committee and provided that the extensions are limited to one year at a time.

Age limit enhanced due to increase in retirement age.

It is recommended that approval of the Govt may also be obtained to re-employ an employee after superannuation.  The extent of proposed power is recommended as under.

“Power to re-employ an employee on superannuation but not beyond the age of 62 to be exercised with the prior approval of the Standing Committee and the Govt. provided that employment is limited to one year at a time”.

The recommendations of the in-house Committee were based on the enhancement of the retirement age by the Govt. of India and there was no proposal to enhance the powers of the Director General.  Since Corporation is an independent entity, the present practice of obtaining prior approval of the Standing Committee may continue

We have no objection to accept the recommendation to refer the matter to the Government.

EXISTING POWERS

RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE  IN-HOUSE COMMITTEE

REASONS

RECOMMENDATION OF THE SUB-COMMITTEE OF STANDING COMMITTEE

VIEWS OF THE FINANCE & ACCOUNTS DIVISION OF HQRS. OFFICE

VIEWS OF THE HQRS.OFFICE

Sl.N0.

S.N. of RoB

NATURE OF POWER

Extent of Powers

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10

(a).

Deputation

For Training/ Technical assistance abroad or in India

Full Powers to depute a :

(b)       Corporation Employee and to treat such period as duty.

(ii) To depute Corporation employee for training/ technical assistance programmes and to incur necessary expenditure on payment of fee and other charges subject to furnishing a half yearly report to the Standing Committee

Full power to depute Corporation employees abroad in India for training.  Technical assistance meetings Conferences, fellowships etc. offered by U.N. or other foreign Government to incur necessary expenditure connected there with and to treat the period on duty.

The wording  has been changed to make it more explicit.

The committee recommended that this power may be exercised with the approval of the Govt,. and report to the Standing Committee.

Recommendations of the Committee were only to make the language of the provision explicit and not enhance the powers of DG in this regard.   Exercising the powers with the approval of the Govt. of India would delay the process of deputation, and may deprive employees of the Corporation to exposure of foreign training, technical assistance, participation in conferences, etc. hence, the recommendations of the In-House Committee may be considered.

We have no objection to accept the recommendation of the Sub-Committee.

7.

21.

 Date of Birth

Full powers to alter date of birth recorded in service books in the case of clerical errors, in respect of employees other than Principal Officers.

Full powers to alter date of birth recorded in service books in the case of clerical errors, in respect of employees other than Financial Commissioner

In place of P.O., F.C. incorporated.

It is recommended that the extent of power may be revised as under:

“ Full powers to alter Date of Birth recorded in Service Books in the case of clerical errors in respect of employees other than FC, IC and MC.

We may agree

The recommendation of the Sub-Committee of Standing Committee may be accepted.

8.

24. (I)

Contingent Expenditure (please also see item No.55 & 58)

(i)        Non-recurring contingent charges including purchase of office equipment, stores, typewriters, furniture, books publications etc., Full powers within budget Limit.

Full powers and the nature of power redrawn as under:

(ii)    Non-recurring contingent charges- Full powers.

ii- Recurring Contingent Charges-

    Full powers.

iii-Purchase of office equipments, stores, typewriters, furniture, books publications stationery etc – Full powers.

The nature of power has been divided into 3 parts to make it more explicit.

It is recommended that the full powers may be replaced by “Full powers within sanctioned budget against respective items”.

We may agree

The recommendation of the Sub-Committee of Standing Committee may be accepted.

EXISTING POWERS

RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE  IN-HOUSE COMMITTEE

REASONS

RECOMMENDATION OF THE SUB-COMMITTEE OF STANDING COMMITTEE

VIEWS OF THE FINANCE & ACCOUNTS DIVISION OF HQRS. OFFICE

VIEWS OF THE HQRS.OFFICE

S. N.

S.N. of RoB

NATURE OF POWER

Extent of Powers

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28.

To permit modification in the prescribed procedure relating to specified items of contingent expenditure.

Full powers involving financial implications up to Rs.2,000/- in each case.

Full powers in consultation with Finance & Accounts.

Financial limit deleted

It is recommended that this power should be limited to Rs.10,000/- in consultation with Finance & Accounts.

We may agree

May be accepted

10

34.

To sanction expenditure for celebration on Republic Day and Independence Day

On Independence and Republic Days:

(i)           Hqrs. Office up to Rs.500/- on each occasion.

(ii)          Regional Office Gr.I upto Rs.200/- on each occasion.

(iii)         Regional Office Gr.III upto Rs.100/- on each occasion.

(iv)        Regional Office Gr.III upto Rs.75/- on each occasion.

Up to Rs.5000/- in each case

Financial limit made uniform for all offices and also  enhanced due to increase in price index.

It is recommended that the proposed powers may be revised as under:

i)      HO – upto Rs.5000/-

ii)     RO Gr.I   – Upto Rs.2000

iii)    RO Gr.II – Upto Rs.1000/-.

We may agree

May be accepted

11

35.

Payments in cash

Full powers to permit payments exceeding Rs.100/- to be made in cash in cases where the payee demands payment in cash.

Full Powers.

There has been change in wording.

The Committee recommended that instead of Full powers there should be a limit of Rs.10000 for making payment in cash.

The Committee had recommended full powers keeping in view the fact that there should be no problem for the beneficiaries to receive their due amount, irrespective of the amount involved.  If the amount exceeds Rs.10,000/-  the beneficiary shall be compelled to open a bank Account in order to encash the financial instrument, which may be burdensome.  It is recommended that full powers need to continue to be delegated to the D.G. The Committee had not proposed any enhancement of the existing powers of D.G. in this regard.

We have no objection to accept the recommendation of the Sub-Committee.

EXISTING POWERS

RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE  IN-HOUSE COMMITTEE

REASONS

RECOMMENDATION OF THE SUB-COMMITTEE OF STANDING COMMITTEE

VIEWS OF THE FINANCE & ACCOUNTS DIVISION OF HQRS. OFFICE

VIEWS OF THE HQRS.OFFICE

S. N.

S.N. of RoB

NATURE OF POWER

Extent of Powers

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3.

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12

45.

Write off of losses etc.

i)            Losses due to theft, fraud, negligence etc. : Up to Rs. 2000/- in individual case without report to the Standing Committee (cases involving an amount exceeding Rs.2000/- in an individual case may be submitted to the Standing Committee for prior approval)

Losses due to theft, fraud, negligence etc. Up to Rs.10,000/- in individual case without report to the Standing Committee (cases involving an amount exceeding Rs.10,000/- may be reported to the Stranding Committee.)

 The financial limit enhanced due to increase in price index.

ii)            Irregular expenditure etc.  The Director General is empowered to waive recovery of irregular expenditure and expenditure placed under objection and which has become irrecoverable up to Rs.500/- in any individual case.

iii)           To waive/write off overpayments made to IPs upto Rs.3000/- in each case.

The Director General is empowered to waive recovery of irregular expenditure and expenditure placed under objections and which has become irrecoverable up to Rs.1,000/- in any individual case.

No change

 The financial limit enhanced due to increase in price index.

It is recommended that the limit of Rs.3000/- may be enhanced to Rs.5,000/-

We may agree.

The recommendation of the Sub-Committee of Standing Committee may be accepted.

EXISTING POWERS

RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE  IN-HOUSE COMMITTEE

REASONS

RECOMMENDATION OF THE SUB-COMMITTEE OF STANDING COMMITTEE

VIEWS OF THE FINANCE & ACCOUNTS DIVISION OF HQRS. OFFICE

VIEWS OF THE HQRS.OFFICE

S. N.

S.N. of RoB

NATURE OF POWER

Extent of Powers

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13

47

Delegation of powers to subordinate.

Notwithstanding any restriction imposed earlier, the Director General may delegate any of his power under Rules or the Regulation or under any Resolution of the Corporation and the Standing committee as the case may be t any persons subordinate to him limitations and conditions as the Director General may impose from time to time.

No change

It is recommended that the Standing Committee may review this delegation in its next meeting as this power was delegated in 1968.

There is need to decentralize both administrative and financial powers in the interest of better running of the ESI Scheme.

In the year 1968, it was observed by the Standing Committee that though certain powers were delegated to the Director General from time to time, however, some powers can not be re-delegated by him to any of the officers subordinate to him.  Consequently, a large number of cases of routine nature which could easily be disposed of finally at the level of Principal Officers and Director (Administration) and other officers, are being submitted to the Director General, thus, keeping him tied to Hqrs. and leaving little time for touring, inspections and consideration of the important policy matters.  The Standing Committee had further observed that every time DG wished to delegate some powers to the subordinates, the prevailing provisions required the item to be placed before the Standing Committee.  To eliminate such references being made to the Standing Committee, it was desired that the Director General be empowered to delegate any of his powers to the Officers subordinate to him without absolving him of the overall responsibility for proper and efficient functioning of his office.

Accordingly, the Standing Committee had adopted the following resolutions in its meeting held on 24^th May, 1968 :-

“Resolved that notwithstanding any restrictions imposed earlier, the Director General may delegate any of his powers under the rules, or the regulations or under any resolution of the Corporation and the Standing Committee as the case may be, to any person subordinate to him, subject to such restrictions, limitations and conditions, if any, as the Director General may impose from time to time”.

Since the matter of re-delegating the powers of the Director General to the subordinate officers was extensively deliberated and it was resolved that the Director General should have sufficient time at his disposal to shoulder the over-all responsibility for proper and efficient functioning of the ESI Scheme, therefore, imposing restriction in existing delegation of powers already granted to the subordinate officers may not be necessary.  The expanding nature of the organization calls for further delegation/re-delegation  to the subordinate officers to meet the growing requirement of the field officers such as Regional Directors/ Joint Directors I/c Sub-Regional ffices/SSMCs/ SMCs/Joint Director I/c of Divisional Offices/Branch Officers whose delegation of powers have been revised in the recent past.  However, re-delegations made by the Director General to lower functionaries will be reported to the Standing Committee.

In view of the above, it is proposed that the recommendation of the In-house Committee, given in Col.5 may be accepted.

EXISTING POWERS

RECOMMENDATIONS  OF THE  IN-HOUSE COMMITTEE

REASONS

RECOMMENDATION OF THE SUB-COMMITTEE OF STANDING COMMITTEE

VIEWS OF THE FINANCE & ACCOUNTS DIVISION OF HQRS. OFFICE

VIEWS OF THE HQRS.OFFICE

S. N.

S.N. of RoB

NATURE OF POWER

Extent of Powers

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6

7.

8.

9.

14

52.

Expenditure on refreshments/ lunch

Meetings of Employees’ State Insurance Corporation/Standing Committee.

Full powers subject to a maximum of Rs.25/- per head.

Full powers in connection with the meetings of Employees’ State Insurance Corporation/ Standing Committee, Medical Benefit Council and other Committees.

Financial limit deleted

It is recommended that the existing limit of rs. 25 may be enhanced to Rs.50 instead of Full Powers as proposed.

The recommendations to grant full powers has been made on the basis of ground reality of the purchasing power of the rupee.  It is recommended that full powers be delegated to the D.G., to be exercised with the concurrence of the Finance.

Recommendation of the Sub-Committee of the Standing Committee  may be accepted.

15

75.

Sanction of plan and estimates/ revised estimates for any construction etc for ESI project.

Up to Rs.7 crores per ESI Project.

Up to Rs.Ten crores per ESI Project and the words “revised estimates” added.

The financial limit enhanced due to increase in price index.

It is recommended that the existing limit of Rs.7 crore may continue.

The recommendation to enhance the financial limit was made keeping in view the increase of price index and construction costs.  The powers of the D.G. should at least be in conformity with the powers that are exercised by the equivalent ranking officers of the Govt. of India working in autonomous bodies.

The recommendations of the Sub-Committee of the Standing Committee may be accepted.

16

76.

Investment of Surplus Funds.

To sell, endorse, transfer, realise or otherwise deal on behalf of the Corporation, in Govt. securities, treasury deposit receipts and securities mentioned or referred to in clauses (a) to (d) of section 20 of the Indian Trusts Act 1882 (II of 1882); and to place money of the Corporation in fixed deposits with the Reserve Bank or the Imperial Bank of India and on realisation to withdraw the same.

No change

It is suggested that the committee may be constituted to make recommendations for investment of surplus funds by delegate.  The Committee was also of the view that since the mater has been referred to Ministry of Labour for seeking opinion of the Ministry of Law, the Standing Committee may take a view in this regard.

Already considered by the Standing Committee in its 161^st meeting held on 5.1.04.

In the 161^st meeting of the Standing Committee, it was decided to form a Committee under the Chairmanship of DG with FC, ESIC and one Jt. Secretary of the Ministry as members for investing surplus funds of the Corporation.