LTC rules further relaxed for air journeys to Northeast, J&K and Andaman

THE government last week extended some additional clarifications regarding travel by government employees under Leave Travel Concession (LTC) to Northeast, Jammu and Kashmir and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. According to the clarifications…

Govt relaxes norms to allow LTC reimbursements for some employees who by mistake travelled by air last year

IN AN unusual step, the Central government has decided to relax norms for those Central government employees who by mistake travelled by air and then claimed Leave Travel Concession or LTC. The government in an order issued last week said that the employees in Level 6 to Level 8 of the pay matrix, who had travelled by air as per the revised TA rules while availing LTC during the period between July 13, 2017 and September 19, 2017, would get their reimbursements. Let’s first understand how the confusions cropped up? The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) in an order dated  September 19, 2017 had said that…

Yes, a govt employee during her child care leave can proceed on foreign travel, Centre clarifies

EARLY this month, the Central government issued an office memorandum with three major clarifications on what’s permissible during Child Care Leave (CCL). Child Care Leave, for the record, is granted to women employees having minor children below the age of 18 years, for a maximum period of two years (i.e. 730 days) during their entire service, for taking care of up to two children whether for rearing or to look after any of their needs like examination, sickness etc. The clarifications are regarding permissibility of  LTC, foreign travel and leaving of the headquarters during the period of Child Care Leave. Can an employee on CCL leave the headquarters…

No daily allowance for travel on LTC; 6 new LTA conditions here that you may like to know

YES, for the Central government employees, there will no longer be daily allowances being admissible for travel on LTC. Following the decisions taken by government on the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission relating to travelling allowance entitlements of Central Government employees, the TA rules have undergone changes according to an office memorandum dated July 13, 2017. It is also clarified that the travel entitlements of government servants for the purpose of LTC shall be the same as TA entitlements as notified in the same order except the air travel entitlement for Level 6 to Level 8 of the Pay Matrix, which is allowed in respect of TA only and not for LTC. Here are 6 key new LTA conditions that you need to know:

No need to buy ticket through govt-authorized travel agents for LTC if the employee claims rail fare: Govt

THE government through an office memorandum has clarified that the government servants who are not entitled to travel by air for the LTC purpose but do travel by air and claim the  entitled rail fare, it won’t be mandatory for them to book the air tickets through the authorized travel agents viz. Balmer Lawrie and Company, Ashok Travels and Tours and the  IRCTC, an office memorandum dated August 21, 2017 said. But for those who are…

Flexi-fare of Rajdhani, Shatabdi to be admissible in LTC, but…

YES, the flexi-fare, also called dynamic fare, introduced by the Indian Railways in September last year, is admissible in Leave Travel Concession (LTC) journeys too, but the dynamic fare component will not be admissible in cases where a non-entitled government servant travels by air and claims reimbursement for the entitled class of…

What if there is no public transport available in a particular stretch of LTC journey? Govt clarifies

WHAT if a government servant travels on LTC up to the nearest airport, railway station or bus terminal by authorized mode of transport and finds no public transport available for the rest of the journey? Can the officer and the family take a taxi for the rest of the journey to reach his destination? DoPT in an office memorandum (OM) dated February 9, 2017, clarified that in case, there is no public transport available in a particular stretch of journey, the government servant may be…

Ministries asked to take severe action against govt employees indulging in LTC malpractices in collusion with travel agents

THE Central government has reiterated the measures being undertaken to curb malpractices regarding Leave Travel Concession (LTC) after it was noticed that some government servants colluded with private travel agents to submit LTC claims with inflated airfare to clandestinely obtain undue benefits such as free boarding, lodging, transport or cash refunds etc. The government has now issued an office memorandum giving a detailed guideline to be followed. “As per instructions reiterated from time to time, in all cases whenever a Govt. servant claims LTC by air, he/she is required to…

Planning an LTC vacation by train? You can now draw the advance money 125 days before the journey

IF YOU are a government employee planning to go on a vacation on LTC (Leave Travel Concession), you can draw the advance 125 days prior to the journey, provided you travel by train. The government in an order has relaxed the time-limit for withdrawal of LTC advance to 125 days from earlier 65 days. The logic for relaxation has to do with the decision of the…

Centre proposes child care leave to be extended to govt employees for taking their children out on a vacation

THE Central government is beginning to believe that childcare does not merely mean looking after the children’s needs only during examinations and when they are actually sick. Why not Child Care leave (CCL) be extended to the government employees for taking their children out for a vacation? In fact, the government has now proposed that its employees should be permitted to…

Centre issues a clarification on where to book air tickets for LTC journeys

THE Centre has issued a fresh clarification about the procedure for booking air-tickets for LTC journeys after it has observed that various ministries and departments continue to send references to DoPT seeking relaxation regarding the booking of air tickets for the purpose of LTC from unauthorized travel agents. The recent office memorandum reminds an earlier order (June 19, 2014), where it was said that the government employees need to book air tickets directly from the…

Working in Delhi, but residing in Noida or Faridabad? This DoPT clarification on LTC will benefit you

Destination Modhera (Photo courtesy: Gujarat Tourism)

A SMART marketing person selling real estates in Noida, Ghaziabad or Gurgaon can resort to this May 18, 2015, office memorandum (OM) when he or she pitches a Central government officer next time. In fact, this OM, issued by DoPT, clarifies that those government employees residing in areas in National Capital Region of Delhi (e.g. Noida, Indirapuram, Gurgaon or Faridabad etc.) can actually avail of Leave Travel Concession (LTC) using the…

Destination Goa or Kutch? Centre relaxes LTC rules to help unmarried government employees

Great Rann of Kutch

IN WHAT could possibly be described as the first benefit especially directed towards the unmarried Central government employees, the Centre has relaxed Leave Travel Concession (LTC) norms to allow unmarried government employees to avail of the LTC facilities while traveling anywhere in the country. In other words, an unmarried government officer belonging to, say Kolkata, can now travel to...

Govt mulls over extending LTC to government employees for visiting “some SAARC countries”

Paro International Airport, Bhutan

CAN you imagine an Indian bureaucrat disembarking at Paro airport and driving down to Thimpu, and then spending a week in Bhutan before coming back to New Delhi and getting the entire expenses reimbursed under Leave Travel Concession (LTC)? Maybe, this could be a reality sometime in future. In fact, a proposal to provide LTC to government employees to visit some SAARC countries has been at an initial stage of consideration, according to…

Leave encashment along with LTC only once a year: DoPT Office Memo

ENCASHMENT of leaves by government servants along with LTC can’t be taken twice, an office memorandum issued on Monday clarified. “When the one and the same LTC is being availed of by the Government servant and his family members separately in a block year, encashment of leave would be…

If you can’t buy tickets from Air India site, then only go to Balmer Lawrie or IRCTC, Govt tells LTC seekers

THE government employees going on a vacation and availing leave travel concession (LTC) can buy tickets from web-portal of government-authorized travel agents, namely Balmer Lawrie and Company Ltd., Ashok Travels and Tours and IRCTC, but the DoPT in an office memorandum (OM) dated September 24, 2014, said it in clear terms that those agencies should not be…

LTC relaxation to Kashmir extended for 2 years; Srinagar, Gulmarg hot destinations

IN AN attempt to encourage more and more Central government employees visiting picturesque Jammu and Kashmir, the Government has extended the relaxation of LTC by air for another two years beyond June 18, 2012. This means the employees who are otherwise not eligible to travel by air could avail of Leave Travel Concession, or LTC, by air provided...

AIR TRAVEL: Centre extends LTC relaxation norm for North-East for 2 years

Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh is not far from India-China border

THE Central government employees wishing to venture out to India’s North-East, have reasons to cheer. The government on Monday extended its earlier order of relaxation of LTC rules so that the employees could continue to travel by air to North-Eastern Region and avail their Leave Travel Concession. According to a DoPT office memorandum dated April 30, 2012, the extension is for

Centre relaxes LTC rules to allow government employees to travel by air to J&K

TIME to explore the beauty of Kashmir valley and get the expenses reimbursed! Sounds good. In fact, the Centre has relaxed the LTC rules to allow government employees to travel by air to Jammu and Kashmir, according to an order issued by DoPT dated June 18, 2010. The same order has made it clear that the employees needed to fly only Air India.

All officers or employees of government of India will now be allowed to avail LTC to visit J&K against conversion of one block of their home town LTC, the order said. They are allowed to fly to any place of J&K either from Delhi or Amritsar airport.

The order will be in operation for a period of two years from the date of issue.

Read DoPT CIRCULAR, dated June 18, 2010

Also Read

Officials must travel Air India for LTC claims

Exceptions in case of LTC under Railway entitlements 

Former foreign secretary Shyam Saran joins Wipro board

Former foreign secretary and the Prime Minister’s envoy on climate change Shyam Saran, a 1970 batch IFS, is joining the board of India’s software company Wipro Ltd on July, 2010, as an independent director. Mr Saran came into news recently when he was virtually at loggerheads with environment and forest minister Jairam Ramesh on a number of issues related to climate change. Mr Saran decided to quit the government when his two batch junior Shiv Shankar Menon was made the national security advisor (NSA) with the rank of a minister of state whereas Mr Saran remained as a secretary rank official. 

Why did Mulayam choose to target bureaucrats’ wives and daughters?

SAMAJWADI Party (SP) supremo’s reported comment on daughters and wives of officers and businessmen have made the bureaucrats red-faced though none of the officers or their wives are likely to take up the issue at any forums. However, the man who could come close bureaucrats across the country is expelled Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Amar Singh, who on Wednesday sought intervention of the National Commission for Women (NCW) over remarks of his political mentor-turned adversary.

In fact, Mulayam Singh Yadav who recently opposed the Women’s reservation Bill tooth and nail in Rajya Sabha, reportedly said on Tuesday that if the Bill was passed, “wives and daughters of officers and businessmen who invite whistles from boys” would enter Parliament. Another expelled SP leader and former cine actress Jaya Prada too termed it ‘an insult to women’ hoped that the NCW will take the complaints seriously.

Though many politicians love to insult their bureaucrats and always want them to behave like their private secretaries, this is probably the first ever seriously objectionable remark by a senior politician about wives and daughters of bureaucrats.

Also Read

Why Goan Netas hate bureaucrats?

Should Indian politicians deserve a standing ovation from bureaucrats?

Why does an Australia-based ex-IAS want to fight elections in India?

Ministers and bureaucrats can fly first class again

Finally, Indian ministers and bureaucrats will be able to break free from “cattle class” experiences in air. A finance ministry order has now said that travel on government account by air, both domestic and international, “may take place by the entitled class”, meaning bureaucrats and ministers will again fly first class for foreign junkets and business class for domestic trips from April 1 onwards.

Though the government still has not allowed first class travel for reimbursing the LTC, the recent move is an indication that there has been an improvement of the economic conditions which got exacerbated after the Lehman collapse. The government last September directed the government employees not to fly first class irrespective of their entitlements. Ministers like Farooq Abdullah, Dayanidhi Maran and Anand Sharma had reportedly protested against the austerity drive, but it was the minister of state for external affairs Shashi Tharoor who came into controversy thanks to his description of the economy class as “cattle class”.

SC verdict to bring cheers to state civil servants

The Supreme Court’s ruling that a government employee has a fundamental right to be considered for promotion and it is mandatory for the Centre and states to carry out cadre review of eligible officers for promotion to the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), may bring joy to the families of hundreds of state civil service officers. The apex court further directed the Centre and the UP government to consider the promotion of two, Hemraj Singh Chauhan and Ramnawal Singh, to the IAS.