Notifications & Circulars

Press Information Bureau

16.03.2017

Service

Government to Amend EPF Scheme, 1952 to Enable EPF Members to Withdraw upto 90 Percent Fund for Purchase of House

MANU/PIBU/0212/2017

The Government has taken a decision for modification in the Employees' Provident Funds (EPF) Scheme, 1952 to add a new paragraph 68 BD under which a member of Employees' Provident Fund (EPF), being a member of a co-operative society or a housing society having at least 10 members of EPF, can withdraw upto 90 per cent from the Fund for purchase of dwelling house/flat or construction of dwelling house/acquisition of site. Monthly installments for repayments of any outstanding payments or interest may also be paid from the amount standing to the credit of the member, to the Government/housing agency/primary lending agency or banks concerned. The total number of Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) member accounts as on 31.03.2016, as per Annual Report for 2015-16, is 17.14 crore. On an average, contributions have been received in respect of 3.76 crore members during the year 2015-16. The withdrawal facility from the Provident Fund (PF) account under the Scheme will be available to only those PF members who fulfill the conditions prescribed. This information was given by Shri Bandaru Dattatreya, the Minister of State (IC) for Labour and Employment, in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha.

Tags : EPF scheme Amendment Fund Withdrawl

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Press Information Bureau

16.03.2017

Civil

Draft Equal Opportunity Commission Bill Re-Circulated for Inter-Ministerial Consultations

MANU/PIBU/0213/2017

Based on the Expert Group Report and examination by the Government, the draft Equal Opportunity Commission (EOC) Bill has been re-circulated for inter-ministerial consultations. In pursuance of one of the recommendations made by Sachar Committee, the Government had set up an Expert Group to examine and determine, inter alia, the structure and functions of an EOC to address the grievances of deprived groups.

To enable the minorities to avail opportunities in development process of the country, the Ministry of Minority Affairs is already implementing various welfare and development schemes/programmes. It has taken initiatives for educational empowerment, infrastructure development, skill development, economic empowerment, women empowerment and also to meet the special needs of the Minorities.

Moreover, under Prime Minister's 15 Point Programme for the Welfare of Minorities (PM's New 15-PP), 24 schemes/programmes of 11 Ministries/Departments including 7 exclusive schemes of the Ministry of Minority Affairs are covered. Details of the schemes / programmes / initiatives taken up by the Ministry of Minority Affairs exclusively for minorities, and various schemes of other Central Ministries / Departments under PM's New 15-PP and Sachar Committee recommendations is available on the website of the Ministry, www.minorityaffairs.gov.in. This information was given by Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, the Minister of State (IC) for Minority Affairs, in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha.

Tags : Bill Re-circulation Ministerial Consultations

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Press Information Bureau

16.03.2017

Civil

National Health Policy, 2017 approved by Cabinet Focus on Preventive and Promotive Health Care and Universal access to good quality health care services

MANU/PIBU/0216/2017

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in its meeting on 15.3.2017, has approved the National Health Policy, 2017 (NHP, 2017). The Policy seeks to reach everyone in a comprehensive integrated way to move towards wellness. It aims at achieving universal health coverage and delivering quality health care services to all at affordable cost. This Policy looks at problems and solutions holistically with private sector as strategic partners. It seeks to promote quality of care, focus is on emerging diseases and investment in promotive and preventive healthcare. The policy is patient centric and quality driven. It addresses health security and make in India for drugs and devices.

The main objective of the National Health Policy 2017 is to achieve the highest possible level of good health and well-being, through a preventive and promotive health care orientation in all developmental policies, and to achieve universal access to good quality health care services without anyone having to face financial hardship as a consequence. In order to provide access and financial protection at secondary and tertiary care levels, the policy proposes free drugs, free diagnostics and free emergency care services in all public hospitals. The policy envisages strategic purchase of secondary and tertiary care services as a short term measure to supplement and fill critical gaps in the health system. The Policy recommends prioritizing the role of the Government in shaping health systems in all its dimensions. The roadmap of this new policy is predicated on public spending and provisioning of a public healthcare system that is comprehensive, integrated and accessible to all.

The NHP, 2017 advocates a positive and proactive engagement with the private sector for critical gap filling towards achieving national goals. It envisages private sector collaboration for strategic purchasing, capacity building, skill development programmes, awareness generation, developing sustainable networks for community to strengthen mental health services, and disaster management. The policy also advocates financial and non-incentives for encouraging the private sector participation. The policy proposes raising public health expenditure to 2.5% of the GDP in a time bound manner. Policy envisages providing larger package of assured comprehensive primary health care through the Health and Wellness Centers'. This policy denotes important change from very selective to comprehensive primary health care package which includes geriatric health care, palliative care and rehabilitative care services. The policy advocates allocating major proportion (upto two-thirds or more) of resources to primary care followed by secondary and tertiary care. The policy aspires to provide at the district level most of the secondary care which is currently provided at a medical college hospital. The policy assigns specific quantitative targets aimed at reduction of disease prevalence/incidence, for health status and programme impact, health system performance and system strengthening. It seeks to strengthen the health, surveillance system and establish registries for diseases of public health importance, by 2020. It also seeks to align other policies for medical devices and equipment with public health goals.

The primary aim of the National Health Policy, 2017, is to inform, clarify, strengthen and prioritize the role of the Government in shaping health systems in all its dimensions- investment in health, organization and financing of healthcare services, prevention of diseases and promotion of good health through cross sectoral action, access to technologies, developing human resources, encouraging medical pluralism, building the knowledge base required for better health, financial protection strategies and regulation and progressive assurance for health. The policy emphasizes reorienting and strengthening the Public Health Institutions across the country, so as to provide universal access to free drugs, diagnostics and other essential healthcare. The broad principles of the policy is centered on Professionalism, Integrity and Ethics, Equity, Affordability, Universality, Patient Centered & Quality of Care, Accountability and pluralism.

It seeks to ensure improved access and affordability of quality secondary and tertiary care services through a combination of public hospitals and strategic purchasing in healthcare deficit areas from accredited non-governmental healthcare providers, achieve significant reduction in out of pocket expenditure due to healthcare costs, reinforce trust in public healthcare system and influence operation and growth of private healthcare industry as well as medical technologies in alignment with public health goals.

The policy affirms commitment to pre-emptive care (aimed at pre-empting the occurrence of diseases) to achieve optimum levels of child and adolescent health. The policy envisages school health programmes as a major focus area as also health and hygiene being made a part of the school curriculum.

In order to leverage the pluralistic health care legacy, the policy recommends mainstreaming the different health systems. Towards mainstreaming the potential of AYUSH the policy envisages better access to AYUSH remedies through co-location in public facilities. Yoga would also be introduced much more widely in school and work places as part of promotion of good health.

The policy supports voluntary service in rural and under-served areas on pro-bono basis by recognized healthcare professionals under a 'giving back to society' initiative. The policy advocates extensive deployment of digital tools for improving the efficiency and outcome of the healthcare system and proposes establishment of National Digital Health Authority (NDHA) to regulate, develop and deploy digital health across the continuum of care.

The policy advocates a progressively incremental assurance based approach.

Background:

The National Health Policy, 2017 adopted an elaborate procedure for its formulation involving stakeholder consultations. Accordingly, the Government of India formulated the Draft National Health Policy and placed it in public domain on 30th December, 2014. Thereafter following detailed consultations with the stakeholders and State Governments, based on the suggestions received, the Draft National Health Policy was further fine-tuned. It received the endorsement of the Central Council for Health & Family Welfare, the apex policy making body, in its Twelfth Conference held on 27th February, 2016. The last health policy was formulated in 2002. The socio economic and epidemiological changes since then necessitated the formulation of a New National Health Policy to address the current and emerging challenges.

Tags : policy Approval Health care

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Press Information Bureau

16.03.2017

Arbitration

Comments invited on the working paper of the high level committee to review the Institutionalisation of Arbitration Mechanism in India by 7 April 2017

MANU/PIBU/0214/2017

The Government of India has emphasised the need for promoting arbitration as a preferred dispute resolution mechanism for commercial disputes. Pursuant to this, a High Level Committee has been constituted under the Chairmanship of Mr. Justice B N Srikrishna, Retired Judge, Supreme Court on 29th December 2016 to review the institutionalisation of arbitration mechanism in India and submit a report. The Committee has prepared a Working Paper, which is available on the website of the Ministry of Law and Justice. The Working Paper seeks to ask some important questions as to how to make India as a hub for institutional arbitration. The Paper also attempts to review why several existing arbitral institutions in India are not functioning effectively. For this purpose, the Committee has prepared two questionnaires addressed to (a) arbitral institutions in India; and (b) stakeholders in arbitration such as parties, their in-house counsel, lawyers and arbitrators. The questionnaires constitute Annexures 1 and 2 to the Paper.

Further, the Paper studies some of the most popular arbitral institutions worldwide in order to identify international best practices. On this basis, the paper identifies areas for reform in the Indian arbitration landscape. The Committee invites public comments on suggestions made in this Working Paper as well as any other suggestions on strengthening institutional arbitration in India. All responses should be limited to 25 typed pages. The comments may be submitted by email on or before 7th April 2017.

Further, all existing arbitral institutions in India are requested to complete the questionnaire annexed as Annexure 1 to this Working Paper and email the completed questionnaire to hlcarbitration@gmail.com on or before 7th April 2017.

All parties, in-house counsel, lawyers and arbitrators are requested to complete the questionnaire annexed as Annexure 2 to this Working Paper and email the completed questionnaire to hlcarbitration@gmail.com on or before 7 April 2017.

Tags : Arbitration Mechanism Institutionalisation Review

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Reserve Bank of India

16.03.2017

Banking

Annual Closing of Government Accounts - Transactions of Central / State Governments - Special Measures for the Current Financial Year

MANU/RMIC/0020/2017

The Government of India has desired that all government transactions with banks must be accounted for within the same financial year and has requested that certain special arrangements be made for the purpose, as in previous years. Accordingly, all agency banks should keep the counters of their designated branches conducting government business open for government transactions up to 6.00 p.m. on March 30, 2017 and up to 8.00 p.m. on March 31, 2017. All electronic transactions would, however, continue till midnight on March 31, 2017. Banks may give adequate publicity to the special arrangements made. As regards conduct of extended clearing sessions / operations on these two dates, separate guidelines are being issued by our Department of Payment and Settlement Systems, Central Office, Mumbai.

Tags : Transaction Accounts Closing

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Reserve Bank of India

16.03.2017

Banking

Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Deposit Scheme (PMGKDS), 2016 – Clarification

MANU/IDMC/0003/2017

Please refer to our letter IDMD.No.1451/08.03.016/2016-17 dated December 16, 2016 and Notification No. S.O.4061(E) dated December 16, 2016 issued by the Government of India about announcement of "Pradan Mantri Garib Kalyan Deposit Scheme (PMGKDS), 2016. It has been brought to our notice that there is lack of clarity amongst investors on the reference number that needs to be quoted on Form V while uploading the same to the Income tax Authorities. Currently, banks are issuing an acknowledgement for having received the amounts under PMGKDS. The details of the deposit are then entered in the Bank's e-kuber application which generates a "Subscription Receipt". The "Subscription Receipt" which is a system generated receipt, has an "Issue Reference No". This reference number will need to be quoted by the investor in the Form V of Income Tax Authorites, prior to uploading the same. In order to bring in greater clarity, the nomenclature of "Issue Reference No" generated by e-kuber is being renamed as "Deposit Reference No". Necessary changes have been made in RBI's e-Kuber application to reflect this change. The staff of receiving banks under PMGKDS may be sensitized to take note of above changes and advise the depositors of PMGKDS, 2016 accordingly.

Tags : Scheme Clarification Gharib kalyan

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Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

15.03.2017

Civil

Drugs and Cosmetics (5th Amendment) Rules, 2017

MANU/HFAM/0030/2017

Whereas a draft of certain rules further to amend the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945 was published as required by section 12 and section 33 of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 (23 of 1940) vide notification of the Government of India in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (Department of Health and Family Welfare) number G.S.R. 44(E), dated the 17th January, 2017, published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, Sub-section (i), dated the 17th January, 2017, inviting objections and suggestions from persons likely to be affected thereby before the expiry of a period of thirty days from the date on which the copies of the Official Gazette containing the said notification were made available to the public;

And whereas copies of the Gazette were made available to the public on 17th January, 2017;

And whereas objections and suggestions received from the public on the said rules have been considered by the Central Government;

Now, therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred under section 12 and section 33 of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 (23 of 1940), the Central Government after consultation with the Drugs Technical Advisory Board, hereby makes the following rules further to amend the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945, namely:-

1. (1) These rules may be called the Drugs and Cosmetics (5th Amendment) Rules, 2017.

(2) They shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.

2. In the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945, in rule 3A, in sub-rule (8), in clause (b), after item (5) and the entries relating thereto, the following shall be inserted, namely:-

"(6) Enzyme and Hormones such as-

(a) Streptokinase (Natural and Recombinant);

(b) Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG);

(c) Human Menopausal Gonadotropin (hMG).

(7) Bacterial vaccine such as-

(a) Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine.

(8) Viral vaccines such as-

(a) Live attenuated Measles vaccine;

(b) Live attenuated Rubella vaccine;

(c) Cell culture Rabies vaccine"

Tags : Rules Amendment Drugs

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Ministry of Textiles

15.03.2017

Civil

Rates for Rebate of State Levies on Made-UPS

MANU/TEXT/0009/2017

In pursuance of the decision of the Government of India to initiate measures for reforms to boost employment generation in the employment intensive textile and apparel sector, and approval of a new scheme for remission of State Levies on garments which has now been extended to made-ups, the Ministry of Textiles has notified the scheme to provide for the remission of State levies on export of made-ups through the mechanism of rebate. The scheme is called the Scheme for Rebate of State Levies on Export of made-ups 2017. (hereinafter referred to as the ROSL Scheme).

The rates for the ROSL Scheme are hereby notified as schedule 3 annexed to this notification. The rates of rebate are not divisible into any component of tax or input and are provided only on average basis calculated in a like manner as the All Industry Rates of Drawback. This notification shall come into force with effect from 23rd March 2017. The amount of rebate shall be calculated using the FOB value. The rate of rebate with cap for a tariff item as shown in columns (4)&(5) of Schedule 3 of rates being notified shall be applied for calculation when the item has claim for AIR Drawback or export under claim for brand rate drawback with claim for provisional Customs portion of AIR.

4. Ministry of Textiles also hereby makes the following amendments in the Notification of the Ministry of Textiles No.12015/47/2016-IT dated 3rd January 2017 regarding Scheme for Rebate of State Levies on Export of Made-ups, namely-

Para 4.2 shall be replaced by the following:

"4.2 The rate and rebate shall be applicable only to exporters who have constituted an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) in pursuance of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act 2013, and the exporter has not claimed or shall not claim credit/rebate/refund/reimbursement under any other mechanism in respect of the goods being exported".

In clause 7 relating to repayment by claimant/recovery and dispute resolution after sub clause 7.2 the following shall be inserted:

"7.3 The procedure for recovery: Officer of CBEC shall issue a letter to exporter under Para 7 of ROSL Scheme ; (i) informing the rebate amount to be paid back and the date from which interest thereon is due ,and (ii)requesting the exporter to deposit the full sum within 30 days in the account head of Ministry of Textiles and submit proof of deposit to office of the Textile Commissioner within 60 days of date of issue of the said letter, and (iii) informing that any such amount remaining to be reconciled would be recovered by the Textile Commissioner

A copy of this letter shall be endorsed to the office of the Textile Commissioner.

7.4 Where any amount of rebate and/or interest remains due from the exporter, the Textile Commissioner shall prepare and sign a certificate specifying the amount due from the exporter and send it to the concerned Collector of the district to recover that amount as if it were arrears of land revenue.

7.5 Residual issues related to the Scheme arising subsequently shall be considered by Secretary, Ministry of Textiles whose decision shall be final and binding."

Tags : Levies Rate Rebate

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Ministry of Labour and Employment

15.03.2017

Service

Determination regarding non-payment of sum by the employer in relation to his employees as the further sum payable by the employer every month to the Deposit-Linked Insurance Fund

MANU/LABR/0035/2017

In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (a) of sub-section (4) of section 6C of the Employees' Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 (19 of 1952), and in supersession of the notification of the Government of India, in the Ministry of Labour and Employment published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, Sub-section (ii), vide number S.O. 324(E), dated the 2nd February, 2015, except as respects things done or omitted to be done before such supersession, the Central Government hereby determines that no sum shall be payable for the time being by the employer in relation to his employees as the further sum payable by the employer every month to the Deposit-Linked Insurance Fund for the meeting the expenses in connection with the administration of the Employees Deposit-Linked Insurance Scheme, 1976 other than the expenses towards the cost of any benefits provided by or under that scheme. For the removal of doubts, it is hereby notified that nothing contained in this notification shall affect the administrative charges payable in respect of the period upto and inclusive of the 31st March, 2017 in respect of which the notification referred to in paragraph 1 herein shall continue to apply as if the same had not been superseded. This notification shall come into force from 1st day of April, 2017.

Tags : Employer Non-payment Determination

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