Ad hoc bonus for govt employees

CHANDIGARH, Nov 20: The Haryana government has decided to grant ad hoc bonus equivalent to 30 days emoluments to its employees for 1996-97. ...

CHANDIGARH, Nov 20: The Haryana government has decided to grant ad hoc bonus equivalent to 30 days emoluments to its employees for 1996-97. The bonus will be computed on the basis of actual emoluments up to Rs 4,000 per month as on March 31, 1997.

Disclosing this here today, Finance Minister Charan Dass Shorewala said the government would pay 25 per cent of the total ad hoc bonus in cash and the remaining would be credited to general provident fund (GPF) accounts. In the case of those who had no such accounts, their remaining amount after making cash payment of 25 per cent would be invested in post office saving certificates. The National Savings Certificates (NSCs) would be purchased by drawing and disbursing officers in the name of the government employee concerned, he said.

The minister said the maximum bonus amount would be restricted to the amount admissible to those drawing emoluments of Rs 2,500 per month. For employees drawing monthly emoluments of between Rs 2,500 and Rs 4,000 per month, the ad hoc bonus would be calculated on Rs 2,500 per month. The government has decided to apply the upper ceiling limit of Rs 4,000 per month (as on March 31, 1997) on emoluments drawn in the revised scales of pay.

He said pro-rata payments would be admissible to eligible employees for a period of continuous service during the year ranging from six months to a full year. The eligibility period would be taken in terms of number of months of service, rounded to the nearest number of months. The quantum of ad hoc bonus admissible would be worked out on the basis of emoluments including basic pay, personal pay, special pay, deputation allowance and dearness allowance.

The minister said that work-charged and daily-wage employees, who had worked for at least 240 days for each year for three years or more, would also be eligible for this ad hoc payment. Similarly, work-charged employees who get regular pay scales but do not work on a regular basis would also be treated as casual labour.

He said the amount would be paid on a notional monthly wage of Rs 750 irrespective of actual monthly wage. The amount of ad hoc bonus would be Rs 726. In cases where the actual emoluments fall below Rs 750, the amount would be calculated on actual monthly emoluments. Ad hoc employees would not be eligible for this bonus.

He said the bonus had been granted to those government employees who had not been covered by any of the productivity-linked bonus scheme for any such bonus or ex-gratia scheme.