Grant of Festival Advance in Higher Education

Government of West Bengal
Higher Education Department
University Branch
Bikash Bhavan, Salt Lake, Kolkata-700091

No. 799(19)/Edn(U)/1U-74/03 Date: 24th July, 2014

From: Shri P. K. Das
Assistant Secretary to the Government of West Bengal

To: The Registrar,/ ………………….
………………………….. University

Sub: Grant of Interest Free Festival Advance to the employees of the State-Aided Universities under the administrative control of this Department and West Bengal State Council of Higher Education.

Sir,

The undersigned is directed by the order of the Governor to say that the Governor is pleased to order that the employees of all the State-aided Universities under the administrative control of this Department and employees of the West Bengal State Council of Higher Education whose revised emoluments on 31st March, 2014 exceeded Rs. 22,000/- per month but did not exceed Rs. 30,000/- per month applying for Interest Free Festival Advance (IFFA), may be granted an advance upto a maximum of Rs. 3,000/- only per head.

2. The undersigned is further directed to state that the benefit of Interest Free Festival Advance may also be allowed to (a) the whole time piece-rate workers, either permanent or temporary and (b) the employees belonging to work charged/contingent establishments. Such employees drawing revised emoluments exceeding Rs. 22,000/- per month but not exceeding Rs. 30,000/-per month on 31st March, 2014 may be allowed to draw the Interest Free Festival Advance upto a maximum of Rs. 3,000/- only if they apply for the same.

3. In case of the employees falling under Para 2 above, the authority sanctioning the advance shall certify after being satisfied that the employees are likely to continue in service until the recovery is completed.

4. The advance will be recovered from the salary of the employees/workers as above concerned in not more than 10 monthly installments. If the amount of advance is exactly divisible by ten, it will be recovered in the equal monthly installments. If not, the figure obtained by dividing the amount by ten should be rounded off to the nearest rupee which will be the amount of each of the first nine monthly instalments, and the balance will be recovered in the tenth monthly installment. The same methodology will apply mutatis-mutandis where the advance will be repaid in less than ten installments. The recovery of the advance sanctioned under this order will begin either from the salary for the month of November, 2014 or from the salary for the month following the month in which the advance is drawn, whichever is earlier. However, recovery in all cases should be completed by 31st August, 2015 at the latest.

5. The employees who will retire/leave the service on a date after the issue of the Finance Deptt. Order No. 3713-F(P2), Dt. 16/07/2014 but before 1st November, 2014 will not be allowed any festival advance. However, an employee who will retire after 1st November, 2014 will be eligible for IFFA sanctioned in this order subject to the condition that the recovery should be completed on or before the month of his/her superannuation/release.

6(a). The persons who have entered or will enter the service for the first time after 31st March, 2014 but before 1st October will be entitled to the benefit of IFFA as sanctioned in this order subject to fulfillment of the terms and conditions as laid down herein before and their emoluments for the purpose of payment of advance will be determined on the basis of their emoluments at the time of entry into the service.

6(b). The benefit of IFFA sanctioned above will be admissible to the those employees who have been appointed on regular or contract basis provided they are not eligible to draw ad-hoc bonus on pro-rata basis sanctioned for Accounting Year, 2013-14 and provided their regular or contract emoluments did not exceed Rs. 30,000/- per month.

7. For the employees who are drawing pay in the revised scale, the terms ’emoluments’ will mean basic pay (i.e. Pay in the Pay Band plus Grade Pay) and Dearness Allowance.

8. The term ’emoluments’ in the case of employees drawing pay and allowances in the un-revised scale, will include Basic Pay, Personal Pay, Special Pay, Dearness Pay, Dearness Allowance,Special allowance.

8. In the case of retired employees on re-employment, the term ’emoluments’ will mean remuneration drawn by them plus Basic Pension.

Disbursement of IFFA (wherever applied for) should be made as early as possible in case of Muslim employees and in case of Other employees should be made between 15th September, 2014 to 22nd September, 2014. In case of failure, such disbursement should be completed before 1st December, 2014 in case of all employees at the latest.

9. The Advance will be debited to the respective salary heads of the Universities in the Budget Provision and the recoveries thereof should be automatically adjusted by monthly deduction of installments of advance paid to an employee from his pay.

Sd/- P. K. Das
Assistant Secretary

No. 799-Edn dated 24.07.2014