Dopt issued guidelines to register home town address to avail LTC…

Dopt issued guidelines to register home town address for new entrants of Central Government Employees to avail the benefits of Leave Travel Concession in Government Service…

Declaration of Home Town under LTC Rules

Every new entrants in Government service is required to declare his / her home town to avail the benefits of Leave Travel Concession.

2. The term “Home” was defined for the first time in MHA’s O.M.No.43/1/55-Estt (A) Part-II dated 11th October, 1956. This was further clarified vide O.M.No.43/5/57 dated 11th February, 1958, wherein, it was stated that An Officer who is his own Controlling Officer for purposes of travelling allowance should make the initial or any subsequent declaration of his town to his next superior administrative authority for acceptance. This procedure should also be followed in cases where declaration have already been sent direct to the Account Officers concerned by officers who are their own controlling officers.

The Comptroller & Auditor General and Secretaries to Government will, however, communicate the initial declaration of home towns as well as any subsequent declaration for a change therein direct to the Accounts Officers concerned. Heads of Departments and Ministries are advised, for the purpose of administrative convenience, to forward to the respective Accounts Officers a list of all concerned Gazetted Officers who are eligible for the concession together with their approved home towns.

3. “Home Town” was further defined / elaborated vide O.M.No.43/15/57-Estt (A) dated 24th June, 1958 which lay down the criteria to determine whether the Government servant declaration may be accepted as under:-

i. Whether the place declared by the Government servant is the one which requires his physical presence at intervals for discharging various domestic and social obligations, and if so, whether after his entry into service, the Government servant had been visited that place frequently.

ii. Whether the Government servant owns residential property in that place or whether he is a member of a joint family having such property there.

iii. Whether his near relations are resident in that place.

iv. Whether, prior to his entry into Government service, the Government servant had been living there for some years.

4. Rule 5 of CCS (LTC) Rules, 1988 states that the once declared and accepted by the Controlling Officer shall be treated as final. In exceptional circumstances, the Head of the Department or if a Government servant himself is the Head of the Department, the Administrative Ministry may authorize a change in such a declaration provided that such a change shall not be made more than once during the service of the Government servant.

5. In case of any request of change of home town any of the above mentioned criteria in para 3 is to be met. The criteria need be applied one after the other till any of them is met.

6. The Officer who is his own Controlling Officer for purposes of travelling allowance should make the initial or any subsequent declaration of his home town to his next superior administrative authority for acceptance. This procedure should also be followed in cases where declarations have already been sent direct to the Accounts Officers concerned by officers who are their own Controlling Officers. The Comptroller and Auditor General and Secretaries to Government will, however, communicate the initial declaration of home towns as well as any subsequent declaration for change therein direct to the Accounts Officers concerned.

Source : DOPT
[http://ccis.nic.in/WriteReadData/CircularPortal/D2/D02est/HandBook_HomeTown.pdf]