Central government employees now allowed to reimburse IRCTC tour packages for LTC holidays

FLYING to Goa for a holiday with your family during this new year eve! Your airfare along with rail and road fare will be reimbursed under leave travel concession (LTC) provided you choose a package offered by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), a government of India undertaking under the ministry of railways. In fact, the finance ministry has now allowed LTC packages of IRCTC, including the component of air travel, to be reimbursed for Central government employees. Significantly, the government had earlier issued a number of circulars changing its stand on LTC reimbursement for government employees when it launched an austerity drive. The business class travel was no longer to be eligible for reimbursement, and LTC air travel had to be done by Air India alone. The IRCTC has now been offering tour packages involving air travel in the sectors like Delhi - Leh, Delhi - Srinagar, Jaipur -Goa, Calcutta - Port Blair etc. which could now be availed of by government employees as well. Actual DoPT office memo, dated December 2, 2009 Earlier Story: Officials must travel by Air India to claim LTC (July 28, 2009) Central PSUs must pay salaries out of their own resources Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) are expected to pay the wages, salaries and statutory dues to their employees regularly out of their own resources, Arun Yadav, minister of state for heavy industries and public enterprises stated in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. It was however mentioned that the government provides financial assistance by way of non-plan loans to certain CPSEs to supplement their efforts for payment of wages and salaries and statutory dues when they are unable to generate required resources. In respect of 11 CPSEs under department of heavy industry, total amount outstanding as on November 30, 2009 for payment to employees is Rs 129.58 crore. The heavy industry ministry has been giving budgetary support in the form of loan to CPSEs under its control for payment of salary/wages and statutory dues. The salary and statutory dues to such CPSEs have been paid upto June, 2009. Global Corridors: UK Athletics chief accuses London bureaucrats Charles van Commenee, Britain’s head coach for athletics, has recently accused London bureaucrats of causing delays that threaten chances of Olympic medals in 2012. Van Commenee further said that Britain’s elite athletes were being put at risk by eight months of prevarication by local authority planners as changes are being made to the Lee Valley training centre in north London where athletes will train before and during the Games. Any thought for Commonwealth Games, 2010 athletes?