Message to the Members of the Association

Dear friends,

The Circle conference is a rare occasion to show the strength, to feel the togetherness and to share the ideas. There is a pleasure, unique in itself to being a participant in the Circle Conference which is now held once in two years.

06/02/2016(Saturday):-          Pre-Circle Conference CWC at 10:30 hrs

        Venue:-                Postal Recreation Club

Circle Office, 5^th Floor

Bhubaneswar-751001

07/02/2016(Sunday):-        40^th Circle Conference

Venue:-      The Press Club of Odisha

Qr.No.VII DS 1/1, Master Canteen Square

Bhubaneswar-751001

Open Session

Chief Guest:

         

          Shri Tilak De, IPoS

          Chief Postmaster General, Odisha Circle

Chief Speaker:

       

        Shri Soumya Ranjan Pattnayak

Editor, leading Odia daily “Sambad”

Guests of Honours:

          Col. Jaleswar Kanhar, IPoS

          Postmaster General, Sambalpur Region

          Shri Smruti Ranjan Swain

          Director of Accounts (Postal)

                  

Detail Programme

09:30 hrs:   Breakfast

10:00 hrs:   Registration 

10:30 hrs:   Arrival of Guests, Presentation of Bouquet & Badge

                   State Song of Odisha

                   Key-note address by Circle Secretary

Address by Guests of Honours

                   Address by Chief Speaker

                   Address by Chief Guest

                   Presidential Address

                   Vote of thanks

                   National Anthem

13:30 hrs:     Lunch

14:30 hrs to 17:30 hrs :    Second Half:- General Body meeting of the Association as per Agenda (Members only)

Please make your travel plan in advance, submit individual application to your controlling authority for special CL including journey time as admissible under rules referring C.O. Letter No. WL/24-7/2001-Ch-I dated 16/12/2015 and show the hallmark of greatness by remaining present at the venue at 9:30 hrs on 07/02/2016 (Sunday).

IRs at Ashoknagar MDG and Saheed Nagar MDG have been reserved in the name of Circle Secretary for 06/02/2016 and 07/02/2016. For accommodation or any other assistance at Bhubaneswar, please don’t hesitate to contact Shri Bibhudatta Behera (Mob:-9437194138) and Shri Manoj Ku. Dash (Mob:-9437080993).

I wish every single member of this Association to participate in the 40^th Circle Conference. Together we can make this Association stronger. With courage, faith and efforts we shall conquer everything we desire. 

With regards,

Fraternally yours,

Pitabasa Jena

Circle Secretary

To view the Invitation please Click Here.

To view C.O. Letter No. WL/24-7/2001-Ch-I dated 16/12/2015 on special Casul Leave for Pre-Circle Conference on 06-02-2016 and Circle Conference on 07-02-2016 please Click Here.

Retirement on Superannuation

Shri Suresh Ch Shukla, Sr. Postmaster, Cuttack GPO, Cuttack is retiring on 31st January, 2016 (A/N) on superannuation. 

On the occasion of his retirement from Govt. Service, All India Association of Inspectors and Assistant Superintendents of Posts , Odisha Circle Branch bids him a respectful farewell and wishes him a good-health and peaceful life in his post-retirement days. 

Meeting of Nodal officers of various Departments - implementation of the recommendations of the 7th CPC(Dated 29th January, 2016)

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Special Donation for 40th Circle Conference

To view the list of members who have contributed Special Donation for 40^th Circle Conference and 39^th All India Conference along with the Receipt No. and Amount please Click Here.

Immovable Property Return for the year 2015 (as on 31.12.2015).

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Promotion of Govt. Servants exonerated after retirement - Procedure and Guidelines to be followed - Regarding.

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Secretaries committee to screen Pay Commission recommendations

Government has set up a 13-member Empowered Committee of Secretaries (CoS) headed by Cabinet Secretary for processing recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission, which has bearing on remuneration of 47 lakh central government employees and 52 lakh pensioners. 

"The Empowered Committee will function as a screening committee to screen the recommendations of the Commission after taking into account the views of the concerned stakeholders... so as to firm up the final conclusion for approval of the Cabinet," said an office memorandum of the Finance Ministry. 

The implementation of the new pay scales is estimated to put an additional burden of Rs 1.02 lakh crore on the exchequer in 2016-17. Subject to acceptance by the government, they will take effect from January 1, 2016. 

The final recommendations of the committee will be submitted for approval of the Cabinet. 

On January 13, the Cabinet had approved setting up of the panel. 

The committee has secretaries from ministries of Home Affairs and Defence. It has secretaries from department of personnel and training, pension and PW, revenue, expenditure, posts, health, and science and technology. Chairman of Railway Board, Deputy CAG and Secretary (Security) in the Cabinet Secretariat are also on the panel. 

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had earlier said that he was not worried about fiscal deficit and government would be able to meet its target despite additional outgo on account of higher pay. 

He had however admitted that the impact of implementing the recommendations, which will result in an additional annual burden of Rs 1.02 lakh crore on exchequer, would last for two to three years. 

Source:-The Economic Times

RBI to issue Rs 10 coins on Ambedkar's 125th birth anniversary

Reserve Bank today said it will soon issue Rs 10 coins to commemorate the occasion of 125th birth anniversary of B R Ambedkar. 

"The Government of India has minted Rs 10 coins to commemorate the occasion of 125th birth anniversary of Dr B R Ambedkar which the Reserve Bank will shortly put into circulation," the apex bank said in a notification. 

On the design details, the obverse of the coin will bear the Lion Capitol of Ashoka Pillar in the centre with the legend 'Satyamev Jayate' inscribed below, flanked on the left periphery with the word 'Bharat' in Devnagri script. 

And on the right periphery with the word 'India' in English and it shall also bear the Rupee symbol and denominational value '10' in the international numerals below the Lion Capitol, RBI said. 

"On the reverse, the coin will bear the portrait of Ambedkar in the centre,...'125th BIRTH ANNIVERSARY OF Dr B R AMBEDKAR' in English on the lower periphery", RBI said. 

The coin will carry the year '2015' written in the international numerals below the portrait of Ambedkar. 

RBI said the coins are legal tender as provided in The Coinage Act 2011. 

The existing coins in this denomination would continue to be legal tender, it added further. 

Source:-The Economic Times

CHQ News:- GS writes to DG(Posts) Non finalization of Calendar of Departmental Examination for the year 2015 – regarding

No. CHQ/IAIIPASP/CRC/2012                                        Dated :     27/1/2016

To,                                                                                          

Ms Kavery Banerjee,

Director General,

Department of Posts, 

Dak Bhavan, Sansad Marg, 

New Delhi 110 001. 

Subject : Non finalization of Calendar of Departmental Examination for the year 2015 – regarding.

Ref.       : Directorate letter No. Memo No. A.34012/01/2015-DE dated 4^th Dec. 2015

Respected Madam,    

            

It is once again bring to your kind notice that LDCE for the promotion to the cadre of PS Gr. B for the year 2013, 2014 and 2015 have not been held so far for one or other reasons.

Further Directorate vide above captioned letter informed to IP/ASP Association that department has taken decision to hold departmental examinations on line and new calendar of examinations will be issued after the engagement of new agency for conducting the exams online.

It is therefore urged upon to look into the matter personally and arrange to issue directions to ‘DE Division’ of Directorate to finalize the new calendar of departmental examination for the year 2015 and 2016 immediately.

With warm regards,  

                                                                                 Yours sincerely,

 Sd/-

(Vilas Ingale)

General Secretary

E-tender must from April 1 for govt purchases above Rs 2 lakh

Come April 1, all central ministries and public sector units will have to float e-tenders for procuring goods and services exceeding Rs 2 lakh, a move aimed at bringing transparency in government purchases. 

At present, e-procurement is mandatory for purchases of Rs 5 lakh or more. Government procures goods, services and work contracts. 

In January, the Expenditure Department had decided the tender value limit of Rs 10 lakh spent in respect of e-procurement would be brought down to Rs 5 lakh from April 1, 2015 and further down to Rs 2 lakh from April 1, 2016. 

As per its instructions it is mandatory for all central ministries, departments and Central Public Sector Enterprises, and autonomous/statutory bodies to publish their tenders on the Central Procurement Portal ( CPP) after a certain threshold limit. 

In 2014-15, about 3.81 lakh e-tenders were floated worth Rs 2.12 lakh crore. 

As per the latest data, in 2015-16 so far, 471,826 e-tenders have been floated entailing an amount about Rs 3.49 lakh crore. 

Bulk of the tenders are floated by Railways followed by Central Public Works Department (PWD) and defence PSUs. 

In the current fiscal so far, 3.56 lakh tenders were floated for goods, about 93,000 for work contracts and 22,342 for services. 

Source:-The Economic Times

Court orders against GOI Instructions on service matters-consultation with Ministry of Law and Department of Personnel and Training on question of filing appeals.

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Pay Commission report: 20 services seek fair representation on panel

Seeking to check IAS dominance, a confederation representing thousands of officers of 20 civil services, including Indian Police Service, has sought fair representation on an empowered committee that will examine the 7th Central Pay Commission recommendations.

In a memorandum submitted to Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha and Expenditure Secretary Ratan P Watal recently, it demanded that the representation of any one service should be restricted to 25 per cent of the total strength of the committee.

The Union Cabinet had on January 13 given its approval for setting up an empowered committee of Secretaries under the Cabinet Secretary to process the recommendations of the pay panel. 

The move assumes significance as various civil services have been raising their voice against career benefits enjoyed by officers of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and Indian Foreign Service ( IFS).

The Confederation of Civil Services Association (COCSA) has highlighted the "apprehensions" shared by a "majority" of officers and requested for a fair representation to other services on committee, limiting the representation of any one service to 25 per cent of the total strength, said senior IRS officer Jayant Misra, its convener.

The COCSA had in December forwarded a memorandum and sought an appointment with the Cabinet Secretary to explain to him the "concern" of these officers.

"We are still waiting for an opportunity to meet the Cabinet Secretary. We have submitted fresh Memoranda dated January 19, 2016 to the Cabinet Secretary and also to the Expenditure Secretary, reiterating our demand that equitable representation be given to various services in all the bodies or committees etc. looking into or implementing recommendations of the 7th CPC, so that there is no domination by any particular service," he said.

Amid a bitter war of words among services, the confederation maintained "that officers from various services continue to maintain excellent interpersonal relations and serve the Government with full devotion".

"Cohesion and camaraderie among various civil services are essential pre-requisites for good governance and efficient public service delivery.

"The onus of strengthening these attributes lies on the officers of these services, but somewhat more on the officers who control the service conditions of the services, particularly when they are expected to render absolutely objective and neutral advice to the competent authorities, even if it may be perceived as disadvantageous to their own service," the memorandum said, citing its concern.

In the present context, strong evidence was presented before the Pay Commission regarding unfair, unjustified and exclusive edge to two services, the confederation said.

"Our arguments were accepted and favourable recommendations were made by the Commission in a majority voice, and the final decision will be taken by the Cabinet in due course," it said referring to the report submitted by the pay panel in November last year.

Two factors, however, raised concerns among thousands of officers whether the recommendations of the Commission will ever be taken to logical conclusion.

"First, the dissenting notes of one member of the Pay Commission in violation of the time-honoured principle of 'nemo judex in causa sua' (No one can be a judge in his own cause), and second, the very meagre level of compliance of the PMO's instructions of reducing the huge inter-service gap in empanelment to the Joint Secretary level by December 2015.

"When instructions from even the highest office of the country are not being complied, one cannot blame the affected officers if they get hugely disappointed and agitated, and approach the service associations for espousing their cause," said the COCSA, that comprises 20 services including IPS, Indian Revenue Service, Indian Forest Service, Indian Audit and Accounts Service and Federation of Railway Officers Association(representing nine railway services).

Source:-The Economic Times

EPFO may pay 9% interest on PF deposits for 2015-16

Retirement fund body EPFO may provide 9 per cent interest on PF deposits for this fiscal, which is higher compared to 8.75 per cent provided in previous two fiscals to its over five crore subscribers.

"The income projection of Rs 34,844.42 crore for the current fiscal is expected to be revised upward. Thus the body can provide 9 per cent rate of interest on PF deposits for 2015-16," an EPFO trustee and Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh Secretary P J Banasure told PTI. 

RThe Employees Provident Fund Organisation's (EPFO) Finance Audit and Investment committee (FAIC) recommended 8.95 per cent interest on PF deposits for the current fiscal in its meeting earlier this week.

Banasure, who is also a member of FAIC said:"If the EPFO provides 8.95 per cent interest rate on PF deposits for 2015-16, it will leave a surplus of Rs 91 crore as per income projections worked out in September last year. But the FAIC will meet again later this month to vet the latest income estimate which is likely to be revised upward."

According to EPFO income projections worked out in September, providing 9 per cent interest on PF will result in a deficit of Rs 100 crore. "We are expecting that there will be a surplus of Rs 100 crore on providing 9 per cent rate of interest on PF deposits when EPFO will work out the latest estimates. FAIC can change its recommendation in the next meeting and suggest 9 per cent interest rate for 2015-16," he said.

he proposal has to be endorsed by the Central Board of Trustees (CBT) before the Finance Ministry notifies it.

However, there has been indications from the Finance Ministry that it will slash interest rate on small savings like public provident fund in view of the rate cut by Reserve Bank of India.

The EPFO provides rate of interest from the earning on investments of formal sector workers' funds without any assistance from the government. 

Source:-The Economic Times

Tax payers can now e-verify ITRs using bank, demat account details

In a bid make e-verification of tax returns simpler, the Income-Tax Department has included bank account and demat account details among the modes that can be used to generate code to e-verify ITRs. 

Currently an Income-Tax Return or ITR can be e-verified by using internet banking, email or an Aadhaar number- generated One Time Password ( OTP). 

To these, two more modes of bank account and share demat account have been added for generating an electronic verification code (EVC) that is used to submit annual ITRs. 

The measures are intended towards ending the practice of sending paper acknowledgement of ITRs to CPC, Bengaluru. 

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has added two additional modes for generation of electronic verification code (EVC) for e-verification of ITRs. 

The efiling website of the I-T department would now provide a facility to pre-validate bank account details. The assessee will have to provide bank account number, IFSC code, email id, and mobile number and these details will be validated against the details of the tax payer registered with the bank. 

"Generated EVC will be sent by e-filing portal to taxpayers's email id and or mobile number verified from bank," a CBDT notification said. 

The list of banks which will participate in this facility would be provided on the efiling website. 

As regards generation of EVC using Demat account details, the CBDT said the assess would have to provide demat account number, email id and mobile number. This details, along with Permanent Account Number (PAN), would be validated against the information with depository (CDSL/NSDL). 

"Generated EVC will be sent by e-filing portal to email id and or mobile number verified from CDSL or NSDL," CBDT said. 

After the EVC is generated, it can be put in the ITR form for final submission. 

"Despite of all the efforts of the government to go green and paperless, the mandate of providing Aadhaar Number at the time of filing the return of income prevented e-filing from becoming a completely paperless process for those who did not have an Aadhar Card," Nangia & Co Executive Director Neha Malhotra said. 

Last year the tax department launched its ambitious One Time Password (OTP) based e-filing verification system for taxpayers using the Aadhaar number. 

According to experts, bank account detail based EVC generation is a more reasonable mode for e-verification. It would be now easier for small tax payers as mostly all of them have bank accounts, even if they do not have Aadhaar numbers. 

"With Jan Dhan Yojna, even the small taxpayers have a bank account and thus can complete easily complete the return filing process," Malhotra added. 

Source:-The Economic Times

Comments on the proposal of restriction of direct recruitment in Central Group A Services

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Admissibility of Travelling Allowance (TA) and other expenditure incurred while on training by the Government Servants on probation.

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Special Donation for 40th Circle Conference

To view the list of members who have contributed Special Donation for 40^th Circle Conference and 39^th All India Conference along with the Receipt No. and Amount please Click Here.

Two Groups of Secretaries present ideas and suggestions to PM

As a follow-up to Prime Minister's exhortation to Secretaries to come up with ideas for transformative change in various areas of governance, on Wednesday (20th January, 2016), two Groups of Secretaries presented their ideas and suggestions on (a) Good Governance: Challenges and Opportunities (b) Farmer-centric issues in agriculture and allied sectors, to the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi.

Union Ministers Shri Rajnath Singh, Smt. Sushma Swaraj, Shri Nitin Gadkari, and Shri Manohar Parrikar, besides all Secretaries to the Government of India were present. During and after the presentation, several members of the audience, including the Prime Minister and Union Ministers asked questions related to the theme of the presentation, and gave their suggestions. 

Source:-PIB

PIB likely to approve India Post's payments bank proposal

The Public Investment Board (PIB) today discussed the Rs 800-crore proposal from the India Post for setting up a payments bank and the final approval on the same is expected in the next meeting. 

"The proposal was discussed in the meeting today but no decision has been taken yet. Another meeting is likely in a week," a official in the postal department told PTI. 

After the board approval, the proposal will be moved to the Cabinet within a month. The PIB under the Finance Ministry vets investment proposals by state-run entities. 

The pilot for payments bank is set to start from January 2017 and the full-fledged operations may start by March. 

The department is likely to finalise the consultant for its payments bank by the end of this month. It had shortlisted six consultants but only three of them submitted their bids. 

The consultant will advise the India Post on setting up of payments bank. 

As many as 40 international financial conglomerates including World Bank and Barclays have shown interest to partner the postal department for setting up the bank. 

The Reserve Bank has granted payments bank permit to the department, which is already into providing financial services and has 1.55 lakh branches across the country. 

As per the RBI guidelines, a payments bank can offer limited services such as demand deposits and remittances. 

They will not be allowed to undertake lending activities and will initially be restricted to holding a maximum balance of Rs 1 lakh per individual customer. 

They will be allowed to issue ATM or debit cards as other prepaid payment instruments but not credit cards. 

Source:-The Economic Times

References/Representations/Court Cases in various Ministries/Departments/Organisations for grant of MACPS benefits in the promotional hierarchy - reg.

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Special Donation (Members only) for 40th Circle Conference

To view the list of members who have contributed Special Donation for 40^th Circle Conference and 39^th All India Conference along with the Receipt No. and Amount please Click Here.

Message to the Members regarding Immovable Property Return for the year 2015

Dear friends, 

The Annual Property Returns required to be filed under the Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1964 for the year 2015 which is required to be filed by the 31st January, 2016, may be filed in the forms prescribed under the CCS (Conduct) Rules, 1964.

To download the form prescribed under the CCS (Conduct) Rules, 1964 please Click Here.

In this connection Department of Personnel and Training OM No.11013/7/2014-Estt.A-III dated 05-01-2016 may please referred to. To view please Click Here.

Please do not forget to file the immovable Property Return for the Year 2015 by 31-01-2016. This is being linked at the time of promotion in Odisha Circle. 

Regards, 

Circle Secretary

Postal Department to open 1,000 ATMs by March this year

The Department of Posts (DoP) plans to open 1,000 ATMs and bring all 25,000 departmental post offices under core banking system by March this year.

It has already rolled out core banking system (CBS) in 12,441 post offices along with 300 ATMs, a DoP official said.

By March this year, 1000 ATMs will be rolled out across the country, he added.

DoP has 25,000 departmental post offices and 1,30,000 rural post offices across the country.

CBS will enable customers to operate their accounts, and avail banking services from any post office on CBS network, regardless of where they maintain their account.

Regarding rural post offices, the official said all 130,000 post offices would be provided with solar powered, biometric hand-held devices by March 2017. 

Supply to these devices to about 20,000 rural branch post offices shall be completed by March 31 this year.

To promote financial inclusion, the DoP is also going to set up payment bank by March 2017. It is going to finalise consultants for the payment bank by the end of this month. 

Source:-The Economic Times

UPU News:- Small businesses want to use postal services, says eBay

Postal services are facing a golden opportunity in the e-commerce market, if they can offer reliable, affordable, fast and traceable cross-border delivery, according to eBay.

Stefan Krawczyk, head of eBay’s government relations team, revealed that 93 per cent of businesses using eBay in Europe engage in cross-border commerce. The majority are micro firms with fewer than 10 employees.

Efficient postal services are at the heart of the new trade model, he said. 

“Despite experiencing delivery problems, there is great willingness among small business owners to forget about the private package operators and turn to what they know best – their local post office,” Krawczyk said.

With a 20-year history, eBay is one of the longest-running online market platforms in existence.

“eBay is sitting on very rich data. We see the transactions and what people are selling and where the products are sent,” Krawczyk said.

Inclusive trade

E-commerce is the way that small businesses that would otherwise have fallen by the wayside can be included in the world economy, he explained, giving an example of a small-town Italian shoemaker, who transformed his ailing family business through online sales.

“The key to this story is that this guy’s business would have been nothing if it wasn’t for postal services. For the smaller business, it’s the Post that makes the difference – because it is there nearby and hopefully it will stay there,” Krawczyk said.

Krawczyk appealed to Posts to solve problems in cross-border parcel delivery.

“The answers are pretty easy and straightforward and there are best-case example and scenarios there to guide us. These micro-multinationals need your help.”

Ecosystem

Between 2010 and 2014, eBay saw an increase of 48 per cent in the number of firms in the European Union (EU) selling to 15 or more countries. Almost all the EU-based firms using eBay sell to customers in four or more continents. 

“You will be surprised to see that very remote regions with low GDP and high unemployment are often the ones that have the highest density of internet-savvy sellers,” Krawczyk said, urging delegates to think of e-commerce as a tool to achieve economic development.

The complexities of exporting often lead to high failure rates among small entrepreneurs. Only 37 per cent of small sellers in the EU are still exporting on eBay after three years.

Krawczyk said it was essential for small and medium sized enterprises to be able to sell their products through mobile channels and that platforms like eBay made this possible.

“There is a whole ecosystem of small entrepreneurs and they need third-party marketplaces like us,” Krawczyk said.   

“That’s where the economy is going and that’s where the opportunities lie,” he added.

Krawczyk was speaking at a recent conference on trade facilitation at the Universal Postal Union headquarters in Berne. 

Immovable Property Return for the year 2015 (as on 31.12.2015)- submission through cscms.nic.in regarding.

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CHQ News:- Allocation of candidates, nominated for appointment as Inspector Posts on the basis of Combined Graduate Level Examination 2014, to Postal Circles

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Transfer and Posting in PS Group-B Cadre

The following transfer and posting order in PS Group-B cadre has been issued vide C.O. Order No. ST/2-4(2)/2013 dated 18-01-2016.

Sl No	Name of the Officer S/Shri	Present place of Posting	Posted on transfer
1	Surendra Nath Panda	ADPS, RO, Berhampur	Asst. Director(BD/ML), Circle Office, Bhubaneswar
2	Bijay Ku. Patra	Asst. Director(BD/ML), Circle Office, Bhubaneswar	SPOs, Cuttack South Division, Cuttack
3	Ratikant Swain	SPOs, Cuttack South Division, Cuttack	Asst. Manager (Admn), Postal Printing Press, Bhubaneswar-10

Adhoc Promotion to PS Group-B Cadre

The following ASPs are promoted to PS Group-B Cadre on temporary and adhoc basis and allotted Regions/posted against the post as mentioned below vide Circle Office Memo No.ST/2-4(3)/2015 dated 18-01-2016:-

Sl No	Name of Officer S/Shri	Present place of posting	Allotted to the Region	Posted on adhoc Promotion
1.	Raghunath Sahu	ASP(OD), Berhampur Division, Berhampur	HQ Region	Sr, Postmaster, Cuttack GPO w.e.f 01-02-2016
2.	Rajendra Ku. Pattnaik	ASP(I/C), Berhampur North Sub-Division	Sambalpur Region	Against the vacant post of SPOs, Keonjhar Division
3.	Ekalabya Choudhury	ASP(I/C), Bargarh Sub-Division	Berhampur Region	Against the vacant post AD, RO, Berhampur
4.	Gopesh Dash	ASP(I/C), Bhanjanagar Sub-Division	Berhampur Region	Against the vacant post AD, RO, Berhampur