Assam Employees' Parent Responsibility And Norms for Accountability and Monitoring Act, 2017
No: 43 Dated: Oct, 27 2017
THE ASSAM EMPLOYEES' PARENT RESPONSIBILITY AND NORMS FOR ACCOUNTABILTTY AND MONITORING ACT, 2017
ASSAM ACT NO. XLIII OF 2017
An Act to provide for accountability of employees of the State Government or any otter organisation in fee State of Assam in taking care of their parents and divyang siblings and in relation to the matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
Preamble:- Whereas, respect and service to one's parents is fee central obligation of children feat is integral part of Indian family system, for ages, and most of the families in the State, by and large, adhere to the same; and
Whereas wife the emerging modem society, increased mobility and growth of nuclear families, instances of negligence of parents by their children have, of late, come to exist and re-kindling fee family values need easily enforceable norms; and
Whereas fee principles which govern the pension and family pension do amply expound feat fee family of an employee is fee integral unit to lay claim over his salary aid retirement benefits. The parents of the employee axe inseparable part of such family system; and
Whereas it is expedient to provide for an enforceable morality through a certain norms, to begin with, among those employees who do neglect their dependent parents and divyang siblings so that each and every employee would lead as a role model in fee society; and
Whereas it is expedient to provide for accountability of employees of fee State Government or any other organisation in fee State of Assam in taking care of their parents and divyang siblings and in relation to matters connected therewith or incidental thereto;
It is hereby enacted in fee Sixty-eighth Year of fee Republic of India as follows:-
1. Short title, extent and commencement. - (1) This Act may be called 'the Assam Employees' Parent Responsibility And Norms for Accountability and Monitoring Act, 2017, and in short may be called as the Assam Employees PRANAM Act, 2017.
(2) It extends to the whole of Assam.
(3) It shall come into force, on such date as the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.
2. Definitions. - In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, -
(a) "Appellate Authority" means an officer or functionary of the State Government or Organisation, as the case may be, or such officer or functionary, superior to the Designated Authority in rank and post, as may from time to time be notified under section 13, as such by an order by the State Government or by the Organisation for fee purposes of the Act, in order to admit appeals against the orders of the Designated Authority as provided in fee Act;
(b) "Apportioned Salary" means the amount of the salary of the employee, granted by designated authority or appellate authority, that he/she should part with the dependent parents/divyang siblings;
(c) "Commission" means Assam Employees PRANAM Commission constituted and notified under section 18 of the Act or the Assam Administrative Tribunal till the Commission Is notified;
(d) "Dependent Divyang Sibling" means a "person with disability' or and "person with disability having high support needs" as defined under the section 2 (s) and 2 (t) of The Rights of Persons with Disability Act, 2016 (No. 49 of 2016) notified by fee Central Government and who is an unmarried sibling (brother/sister) of an employee and do not have adequate income of their own to support their livelihood;
(e) "Dependent Parents" means the mother/father or both, and dependent on his/her/their son/daughter because such parents do not have adequate source of income of their own;
(f) "Designated Authority" means an officer or functionary of the State Government or the Organisation, as fee case may be, or such officer or functionary, not below the level of Drawing and Disbursing Authority, as may from time to time be notified under section 6 as such by an order by the State Government or by an Organisation for the purposes;
(g) "Employee" means any personnel appointed by and under the control of fee State Government and draw his/her salary from consolidated fund of the State though Government's treasury or appointed by any organisation functioning in the State of Assam as may be notified under section 3 (2);
(h) "Organisation" means an Organisation functioning in the State of Assam and notified by fee State Government under section 3 (2), to be covered under the Act;
(i) "Prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act;
(j) "State Level Monitoring Body" means fee Body to be constituted under section 25(1) to review and monitor the implementation of various provisions of fee Act;
(k) "State Government" means the Government of Assam.
3. Employees, Responsibility, Rights of Dependent Parents/ Divyang Siblings. - (1) All fee employees of fee State Government shall be governed by fee provisions of this Act.
(2) The State Government may notify the organisations functioning within fee State of Assam to be covered under this Act The employees of such organisation shall be governed by fee provisions of this Act and the rules to be prescribed under this Act.
4. Responsibility and care of the dependent Parents/ divyang siblings. - (1) Each employee of fee State Government is responsible to take care of the parents/divyang siblings and any deviation in this regard shall be dealt wife under the provisions of this Act.
(2) The relevant Conduct Rules of the employees of the State Government or an Organisation shall be amended to include fee above, within six months from the date of commencement of this Act or otherwise the Conduct Rules applicable to the respective categories of the employees deemed to have been amended after six months from fee date of commencement of this Act.
5. Rights of fee dependent Parents/ Divyang siblings to seek apportioned salary. - (1) Both or either of fee dependent parents or dependent divyang siblings of an employee, as fee case may be, may apply, in writing before the Designated Authority notified under section 6, seeking apportioned salary of fee employee, to be paid to them directly by fee Drawing and Disbursing Officer on monthly basis from fee salary of fee employee:
Provided that such dependent parents/divyang siblings, prima facie, establish that they do not have adequate source of income to maintain their livelihood in a dignified manner and they are in need of financial support from the employee:
(2) Such application of the dependent pareaXs/divyang sibling should clearly state fee personal monthly income from all sources of the parents and the nature of support, financial and otherwise, which has been presently given to them by the employee.
6. Designated Authority and Accountability. - The State Government or fee Organisation, as fee case may be, shall notify, from time to time, by order, an officer or functionary of the state Government or the Organisation, as the case may be, as the Designated Authority for the purposes of considering fee applications received from the aggrieved dependent parents/divyang siblings seeking apportioned salary of an employee.
7. Time Period for disposal of application. - Upon receipt of such application from the dependent parents/divyang sibling, the Designated Authority shall decide the eligibility of such claim and dispose of fee application within a period of not more than ninety days from the date of receipt of such application, after giving the applicant and the employee concerned a reasonable opportunity of being heard.
8. Quantum of Apportioned Salary and Ceiling thereon. - If the Designated Authority considers appropriate, it shall sanction the apportioned salary of the employee to his dependent parents/ divyang siblings within the period of ninety days as mentioned in section 7 and issue directions to the Drawing and Disbursement Officer concerned clearly stating the apportioned amount to be paid on monthly basis directly to the dependent parents with effect from fee succeeding month of the date of the order:
Provided feat such apportioned amount shall not exceed 10% of fee monthly gross salary being paid to fee employee except in exceptional cases only where it may go upto 15% of fee monthly gross salary.
9. Designated Authority to be quasi-judicial Authority. - The designated authority, while hearing an application under section 7 shall exercise quasi-judicial powers.
10. Rejection of application. - If fee case is not found to be fit to be considered under fee provisions of the Act and the relevant Rules there under, Designated Authority may reject the application within the stipulated period of ninety days bringing out cogent reasons thereof in fee form of speaking order, with due intimation, in writing, to all concerned.
11. Rights to appeal. - If the Designated Authority does not dispose of the case within the stipulated period of ninety days, the dependent parents/divyang sibling or employee has the right to appeal before the Appellate Authority as per the procedure as may be prescribed.
12. Right to appeal against orders of the Designated Authority. - The employee or the dependent parents/divyang siblings as the case may be, aggrieved by the orders of the Designated Authority may prefer an appeal before the Appellate Authority against fee orders of the Designated Authority within one month from fee date of receipt of such order.
13. Appellate Authority and Accountability. - The State Government or the Organisation, as the case may be, shall, by order notify an officer or functionary of the State Government or the Organisation as fee case may be, as fee Appellate Authority, in order to consider appeals against the orders of fee Designated Authority disposing an application seeking apportioned salary.
14. Appellate Authority to have quasi-judicial power. - The Appellate Authority shall hear fee appeal preferred under section 13, by giving reasonable opportunity of being heard to both the parties and pass such order as may be deemed necessary. While passing an order under this section, the Appellate Authority shall exercise quasi-judicial powers.
15. Time limit for the disposal of appeal. - Upon receipt of appeal from the aggrieved dependent parents/divyang sibling or employee concerned, the Appellate Authority shall decide the appeal within a period of not more than sixty days from the date of receipt of such application.