Nitish Kumar Sworn In As Bihar CM Nitish Kumar was sworn in Bihar Chief Minister for a fifth time on November 20, 2015 at a grand event attended mostly by non-BJP leaders. He was administered oath of office and secrecy by Governor Ram Nath Kovind in the presence of a galaxy of prominent political leaders and a cheering crowd of over one lakh supporters. In the allocation of portfolios, Tejaswi Yadav, the younger son of Mr. Lalu Prasad, became Deputy Chief Minister. The elder son, Tej Pratap, was given charge of three important Ministries. Apart from Nitish Kumar, 12 members each from the Janata Dal (United) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal and four from the Congress were administered the oath of office. The JD(U) members who took the oath are: Rajiv Ranjan Singh Lallan, Bijendra Prasad Yadav, Shrawan Kumar, Jay Kumar Singh, Maheshwar Hazari, Krishnandan Prasad Verma, Santosh Nirala, Khurshid alias Firoz Ahmad, Shailesh Kumar, Kumari Manju Varma, Madan Sahni and Kapildeo Kamat. Rajiv Ranjan Singh Lallan, Bijendra Yadav, Shrawan Kumar and Jay Kumar Singh were Ministers in the previous Nitish government. Shailesh Kumar, Kumari Manju Verma, Madan Sahni and Kapildeo Kamat are first-timers. Other RJD leaders who found a place in the new Cabinet are Abdul Bari Siddiqui, Abdul Gafoor, Vijay Prakash, Chandrika Rai, Alok Kumar Mehta, Ram Vichar Rai, Sheo Chander Ram, Muneshwar Chaudhary, Dr. Chandrashekhar and Anita Devi. Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, whose party was also a major beneficiary of the grand alliance, Minister H D West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, former Prime Minister Deve Gowda, National Conference leaders and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Ministers Farooq Abdullah and his son Omar and AIUDF leader from Assam Badaruddin Ajmal were among those present at the ceremony. It is the fifth time Nitish Kumar was sworn in as the chief minister -- and the first time Bihar will have a coalition government of the Janata Dal-United (JD-U), the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress. The Grand Alliance won 178 of the 243 seats in the Bihar assembly. Plans for Infrastructure Development Union Government approved 3120 crore rupees investment for infra boost in 102 AMRUT cities The Ministry of Urban Development on 26 November 2015 approved an investment of 3120 crore rupees investment plans for basic urban infrastructure boost for 102 cities approved under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT). The plans will enhance water supply, sewerage network services, storm water drains, non-motorised transport and availability of public spaces in 102 cities, under AMRUT. Besides, an inter-ministerial Apex Committee approved State level Annual Action Plans for 2015-16 with an investment of 438 crore rupees for Haryana (18 AMRUT cities), 573 crore rupees for Chattisgarh (9 AMRUT cities), 416 crore rupees for Telangana (12 AMRUT cities), 588 crore rupees for Kerala (9 AMRUT cities) and 1105 crore rupees for West Bengal (54 AMRUT cities). The Apex Committee approved investments in different basic urban infrastructure areas as proposed by respective state governments. Ministry of Urban Development will provide an assistance 1540 crore rupees which is about 50 perecnt of total approved project expenditure. Total investment in water supply projects in 58 mission states will be 2386 crore rupees. Sewerage projects will demand an investment of 495 crore rupees in 17 cities. A total of 106 crore rupees will be invested on storm water drains in 9 cities. Urban transport will seek an investment of 61 crore rupees in 9 cities. Around 72 crore rupees will be invested on development of parks and green spaces in all the 102 cities. 7th Central Pay Commission Recommendations 7th Central Pay Commission submitted its report; recommended 23.55% hike The seventh pay commission recommended an average 23.55% increase in their salary, allowances and pension, a move that will benefit 4.8 million staffers and 5.5 million pensioners. The hike will be effective from January 1, 2016. A minimum pay of Rs 18,000 per month and a maximum of Rs 2.5 lakh has been recommended by the commission, headed by justice (retired) AK Mathur, that presented its 900-page report to finance minister Arun Jaitley. More cash in hand is likely to result in higher consumption by the government’s massive employee base, which accounts for a large segment of the Indian middle-class. More demand could boost the economy through higher spending on assets such as cars and housing. The government usually accepts the broad proposals for pay revision — due every 10 years — and state governments usually respond with their own hikes. Jaitley said a secretariat will be set up to implement the pay panel recommendations. A separate empowered committee of various departments will examine the suggestions of the panel. The government’s spending on employee payouts will rise by Rs 1.02 lakh crore. Of this, expenditure on salaries will go up by Rs 39,100 crore and allowances by Rs 29,300 crore, while revised pensions would Rs 33,700 crore. A fresh IAS recruit will get a basic salary of Rs 56,000 a month against Rs 23,000 currently, while a sepoy in the Indian Army will earn Rs 21,700 per month from Rs 8,460 currently. In addition, employees are paid dearness allowance and house rent among many other allowances. If accepted, the new proposals will set Rs 18,000 as the minimum pay of an employee on the central government’s rolls. At present the minimum salary is Rs 7,000. The commission has proposed a change in the salary structure by doing away with the system of pay bands and grade pay and recommended “pay matrix”. It has also called for scrapping overtime allowance and interest-free loans to buy motor vehicles. House rent allowance – a key perk -- has also been rationalized at 24%, 16% and 8% of the basic pay, depending on the city where the employee works, and would increase when the dearness allowance crosses 50% and 100%. Since the government’s overall expenditure will increase, its fiscal deficit -- the difference between what it earns and spends – will also widen by 0.65 percentage points and likely make an impact on the deficit-reduction target of 3.5% for the next financial year (2016-17). The government’s overall payout will be lower because of no arrears this time, compared to the previous pay commission, which came in late. Following are the highlights of the recommendations made by the 7th Central Pay Commission:- 23.55 per cent increase in pay and allowances recommended Recommendations to be implemented from January 1, 2016 Minimum pay fixed at Rs 18,000 per month; maximum pay at Rs 2.25 lakh The rate of annual increment retained at 3per cent 24 per cent hike in pensions One Rank One Pension proposed for civilian government employees on line of OROP for armed forces Ceiling of gratuity enhanced from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh; ceiling on gratuity to be raised by 25 per cent whenever DA rises by 50 per cent Cabinet Secretary to get Rs 2.5 lakh as against Rs 90,000 per month pay band currently Financial impact of implementing recommendations will be Rs 1.02 lakh crore – Rs 73,650 crore to be borne by Central Budget and Rs 28,450 crore by Railway Budget. Total impact of Commission’s recommendation to raise the ratio of expenditure on salary and wages to GDP by 0.65 percentage points to 0.7 per cent Military Service Pay (MSP), which is a compensation for the various aspects of military service, will be admissible to the defence forces personnel only MSP for service officers more than doubled to Rs 15,500 per month from Rs 6,000 currently; for nursing officers to Rs 10,800 from Rs 4,200; for JCO/ORs to Rs 5,200 from Rs 2,000 and for non-combatants to Rs 3,600 from Rs 1,000 Short service commissioned officers will be allowed to exit the armed forces at any point in time between 7 to 10 years of service Commission recommends abolishing 52 allowances; another 36 allowances subsumed in existing allowances or in newly proposed allowances. Recommendations will impact 47 lakh serving govt employees, 52 lakh pensioners, including defence personnel. .