Sixth Pay Commission for Babus'

Employees finally got their second arrears

2009-08-26T05:15:00.000+05:30

The government on Tuesday ordered release of the second instalment of arrears due to employees and pensioners on account of the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations.

The decision will benefit 3.3 million employees and 4 million pensioners on the civilian side besides uniformed defence service personnel.

Government servants employed after January 2004 -- when the new contributory pension scheme came into force -- would, however, have to submit the form for registering under the new scheme to get their arrears. Employees are also advised put this money into GPF.

view detailed order here http://persmin.gov.in/WriteData/CircularNotification/ScanDocument/Pension/38-37-08_p&pw(A)25082009.pdf

Lt. Gens get higher pay band

2009-04-25T20:01:00.003+05:30

Giving in to a long-standing demand of the Armed Forces, the Government on Friday approved placing of Lt Gen and equivalent officers to the highest pay band of HAG-plus (Higher Administrative Grade). Acting on a demand of the Armed Forces, the Government passed orders placing 33% of Lt. Gene quivalent officers in the highest pay band, thus making them equivalent to Director General-level IPS officers.

With the new order, close to 50 of the senior-most officers of the three forces will now get salaries in the highest pay band (PB-4A). Earlier, the Armed Forces had objected to the pay structure that put Director General-level IPS officers in a higher pay-scale.

While details will be worked out, thes enior-most 33 per cent of all Lt Gen level officers will benefit from the order. This was one of the four major anomalies that had been pointed out by the Armed Forces in the Sixth Pay Commission.

Sources said the issue was taken up aggressively by the Ministry of Defence after it was put forward by the Armed Forces earlier this year. The forces had sent a letter to the Defence Secretary in January, requesting him to take up the matter with the Government.

They had argued that Lt Generals need to be placed in the Higher Administrative Grade (HAG)Plus pay-scales to give them parity with DGl evel officers of the IPS. The logic given was that till the last pay commission, Lt Gen and DGP-level offices had the same status and by moving the IPS officer to HAG plus, the status of the Armed Forces has been lowered.

With this new order, the Prime Minister’s Office has accepted three of the four demands relating to the pay panel that had been put forward by the Defence Ministry. The demand for placing Lt Colonels in a higher pay band and increasing the pensionary weightage forj awans has already been accepted by the Government.

Now CPWD Engineers want salary parity

2009-04-15T15:23:00.001+05:30

After ex-servicemen, it is now the turn of CPWD engineers to register their disgruntlement over lack of pay parity with other all India services like IAS and IFS.

In a letter to the PM, the Central Engineering Services Group A Association has talked about the disconnect between the crucial role of engineers in making Congress’s development poll plank a reality, their importance for preparation of Commonwealth Games and the fact that their demands have been pending for so long. ‘‘The present election is being fought on the plank of development. It is rather unfortunate that the officers in government who have been contributing in development on a very rich scale are getting neglected and are demoralized progressively,’’ the letter dated April 13 reads.

The sixth pay commission had recommended pay parity for engineers with other services with a twoyear gap and the government had accepted that recommendation in August last year but a formal order is yet to be implemented.

(Time of India, Delhi - 15/04/2009)

Armed Forces want Lt.Gen be equate with DGP level

2009-02-07T07:54:00.000+05:30

With the issue of higher pay for Lieutenant Colonels resolved, the Armed Forces have written another letter to the Defence Ministry asking for clarification on their demand of equating Lt. Gen. and equivalent officers with Director General-level IPS officers.

The letter, sent to the Defence Secretary last month, says it is necessary to place Lt Gens in the Higher Adminis trative Grade (HAG) plus pay scales to give them parity with DG level officers of the IPS. The logic given is that till now, Lt Gen and DGP level offices had the same status and by moving the IPS officer to HAG plus, the status of the Armed Forces has been lowered.

The letter has been sent by the Principal Personnel Officers Committee (PPOC) to the Defence Secretary and contains a detailed argument, including the status of the two services from the Third Pay Commission onwards.

The Armed Forces say that level of work and responsibility shouldered by a Lt Gen is much more than that of a DGP and the two should at least be treated as equals.

“The senior-most DGP in a state has lesser number of people under his command and lower responsibilities than the junior most Lt Gen who will go and command a Corps. It is unfair that the Armed Forces officer will be treated lower than a DGP,” a senior officer said.

Indian Express dated 07/02/09 Delhi edition

Armed Forces reject Pay proposal for Lt. Cols.

2009-01-30T07:29:00.002+05:30

An attempt by Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to resolve the armed forces’ grievances over pay commission proposals has failed with the services rejecting its proposal to grant higher pay only to those Lieutenant Colonels who were in “combat” or “ready-tocombat” roles.

In a letter to the Defence Ministry, tri-services’ Principal Personnel Officers Committee chairman Vice Admiral D K Dewan said the armed forces wanted all Lieutenant Colonels to be placed under the Pay Band-4 including those on deputation to paramilitary and other services.
The letter said that the services and the rules governing them did not make any distinction and that all of the officers were performing combat/ready-to-combat jobs.

Dewan’s letter came in reply to a verbal query from the Defence Ministry on a December 31 PMO note that the government proposed to place only those Lt Cols serving in “combat/ready-to-combat” roles in Army, Navy and Air Force the Pay Band-4 benefits.

The PMO letter had said that those Lt Cols, currently on deputation to other services, would not get the Pay Band-4 scales, but the Pay Band-3 scales recommended by the Justice Srikrishna-led pay commission, till the time they return to their parent cadre.

“Even ships, units, establishments located in peace stations are always in operational readiness”, the letter said.

Noting that the Lt Cols and their equivalents (about 12,000) formed largest percentage of cadre strength with 13 to 26 years of service, Admiral Dewan said deputing them was an “inescapable” necessity in order to maintain a youthful profile of the fighting units.

(Published in Hidustan Times, New Delhi 30/01/09)

New Year Bonanza for Armed Forces

2009-01-02T11:02:00.001+05:30

The Prime Minister’s Office on Thursday approved a separate pay commission for the armed forces. The Seventh Pay Commission for soldiers would be delinked from the civilian pay panel.

The decision comes after a committee, headed by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, submitted its report to review the concerns in the armed forces. The concerns were raised after the Sixth Pay Commission recommended placing lieutenant colonels and equivalent ranks in the Air Force and Navy at a lower pay band than their counterparts in the paramilitary/Group A services and IAS.

The government has also agreed to accommodate lieutenant colonels in a higher pay band (Pay Band 4) and increase their monthly salary by Rs 8000.

The PMO has has approved placing some 12000 lieutenant colonels in pay band 4. However, only lieutenant colonels performing a combat role would receive higher salaries. Another demand accepted by the PMO concerned personnel below officer rank, for whom the government would restore the 70 per cent pensionary weightage.

However, the government has not yet addressed the sweeping discontent in the military’s higher echelons over lieutenant generals and their equivalent being excluded from the higher pay band

PM to clear Demands of Armed Forces

2008-12-22T22:50:00.002+05:30

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is set to clear the demands of the armed forces on the sixth pay commission.

Officers of the Lieutenant Colonel rank will now get Rs. 10000 more than the present salary per month.

As per the new provisions, the three star officers will be at par with Director Generals of Police.

It also makes provisions for retiring jawans to continue to get pension equivalent to 70 per cent of their the last pay the draw.

However, the demand for pay parity between military and civilian officers has been rejected.

A ministerial committee, headed by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, was set up to look into the armed forces' grievance about pay anomalies. The committee, which also included Antony and Chidambaram, was set up by the Prime Minister on September 25 in the wake of deep resentment in the armed forces, who complained that there were anomalies in the sixth pay commission recommendations and that it had lowered the status of their officers.

(As reported by NDTV)

CPC HBA recommendation not implemented yet

2008-12-22T10:43:00.000+05:30

The Economic downturn seems to be delaying the announcement of a new home loan policy for Central Government employees as recommended by the Sixth Central Pay Commission (CPC).

Known as the house building assistance (HBA), it’s a key interest-bearing advance given by the government to its employees to construct/acquire house/flats of their own. The HBA is given to all permanent employees, members of All India Services (IAS, IPS & IFS) deputed to the Central government, public sector undertakings (PSUs) under control of the Centre, international organisations, autonomous bodies etc. The advance is to assist acquiring a plot and constructing a house thereon, building a new house on a plot already owned singly or jointly with spouse, enlarging living accommodation in a house, purchase of a ready built house/flat etc.

According to existing rules, the cost of the house (excluding cost of land) should not exceed 134 times the basic pay (and dearness pay taken together) subject to a maximum of Rs 18 lakh and a minimum of Rs 7.5 lakh. Although this advance is interest bearing, it has an inherent subsidy since interest is has to be paid only after the principal has been repaid and simple interest is chargeable on the advance. The rates of interest, therefore, are somewhat lower than existing market rates.

The Sixth Central Pay Commission in its report said: “It is desirable to provide only for the element of interest subsidy and make available various interest bearing advances to government employees through arrangements with public sector banks. This will not only give the government employee the freedom to approach the specified bank for a loan but would also simplify the existing procedures saving a lot of administrative work which is presently being done in government offices for grant of loans and servicing thereof.” The CPC recommended the government should enter into an agreement with leading PSU banks to extend this facility at pre-determined competitive rates to its employees. The employee shall take the loans/advances directly from the bank with the approval of the sanctioning authority in the government and repay installments directly to the bank.

The Sixth CPC also said: “The eligibility for taking the advances should also be removed because the repaying capacity would, in any case, be consid ered by the concerned bank at the time of pro cessing the loan application. This will also extend to the ceiling of Rs 18 lakh presently prescribed on the cost of house for pur poses of house building advance. Therefore, this ceiling should also be removed.” But this policy has not been implemented till date. The Ministry of Finance in a notification dated October 24 said: “The implementation of the recommenda tions of the Sixth Central Pay Commission relating to interest bearing advances granted to government employees is under consideration of the government. Meanwhile, pending finalisation of the new arrangement, the existing provisions for interest-bearing advances to purchase motor car, motorcycle, scooter, moped and personal computer would continue to be in operation.” But it was silent on the HBA.

(Published in Hindustant Times, Delhi on 22/12/2008)

Revenue Officials agitating over 'Raw Deal'

2008-11-12T10:59:00.001+05:30

(Times of India, New Delhi Edition 12/11/08)

At a time when the government is facing an economic downslide with lower or negative tax collection, it is facing serious unrest in the ranks of departments assigned the job of mopping up resources with thousands of customs, central excise and income tax officials being up in arms against anomalies in their pay scales and bleak promotional avenues.

Thousands of customs officials struck work on Tuesday and took to the streets against the delay in their promotions, in what can set back government’s already difficult task to realise the revenue target. Customs and central excise officials from across the country gathered at Jantar Mantar in the Capital on Tuesday, to march up to barricades raised at Parliament Street police station.

The protest comes even as income tax officials, another revenue gathering arm, have already resorted to a ‘go slow’ to insist on removal of pay anomalies and for better prospects of promotion

There has been no official announcement yet. But officials of the income tax department, sources say, have been dragging their feet on the surveys that are crucial for detecting tax evasions and tax collection. Sources said all field formations of income tax have stopped sending Central Action Plan (CAP) dossiers since August to the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).

The CAP is a vital report generated on a monthly basis that gives a summary of scrutiny assessments, demands raised and collected, arrears collection and manpower deployment, besides helping in collection of data for micromanagement of the economy.

Sources said revenue secretary P V Bhide has called a meeting of all 18 chief commissioners of I-T at North Block on Wednesday to deliberate on the slowdown in the tax collection. With a few CBDT members having already raised the issue of discontentment in the rank and file over the pay anomalies and its impact on the tax mop up, the revenue department boss is likely to address the matter.

The discontentment over the ‘alleged’ raw deal from the 6th pay commission is not only restricted to the IRS cadre officers, but spread even to the ranks of inspectors, superintendents and promotee assistant commissioners who feel they have been ignored. The lower rungs feel discriminated even from their top bosses in the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) and CBDT.

Ravi Malik, an office-bearer of the All-India Association of Central Excise Officers which organised the march, alleged that the higher-ups in the CBEC had deliberately delayed promotions for superintendents and others eligible to be promoted in Group A. “Even when promotions are granted, they are in the Junior Group A level and many of those promoted remain without a posting for a long time,” he said.

Babus' getting first 6th CPC salary today

2008-09-29T07:42:00.003+05:30

Babus' in Delhi are today going to get their first increased salary after implementation of Sixth Pay Commission recommendations. Most of the detpartments have made fixation as per guidelines provided by the Ministry of Personnel. Babus' are laughing all the way to the bank.

As festivial season is near, Corporate sector is eying this increased salary and arears that Babus' are going to get.

Govt. Setup committee for Armed Forces

2008-09-27T17:36:00.001+05:30

The government has finally responded to Army's continued displeasure over the pay hike.

It has decided to form 3-member committee headed by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee. The committee will also have Defence Minister AK Anthony and Finance Minister P Chidambaram as its members.

The proposed committee will look into the grievances of the Armed Forces related to the remuneration being offered to them in the Sixth Pay Commission.

The decision was taken after PM was consulted in the US on the issue.

All pending issues of Army on pay hikes will be addressed and resolved latest by October end.

All service headquarters - Army, Navy and Air Force - will issue notification on Monday to hand out the revised payscale according to the Sixth Pay Commission.

Armed Forces continue with old pay

2008-09-26T21:11:00.001+05:30

Armed forces personnel will not get new Pay Scale in this month's salary.

Protesting against the “anomalies” in their new pay scales, the Defence Forces on Friday (September 26) did not submit their revised salary bills to the ministry's accounts office. By doing so, the Armed Forces have refused to implement the 6th Central Pay Commission (CPC) report as existing “disparities” affected personnel across all ranks. Government sources say that the file forwarded by the Defence Ministry to the Finance Ministry is now with the Prime Ministers Office (PMO). Finance Ministry has expressed its inability to implement demands due to budgetary constraints.

On Thursday (September 25), the government agreed in principle the Services' demand for restoring 70% “extant pensionary weightage” to jawans on the basis of their last drawn pay. But the Armed Forces are cut up with the Finance Ministry over the rejection of their three other demands concerning officers.

The CPC had recommended that the jawans be given 50% “pensionary weightage” and provided an option of lateral entry into paramilitary and central police forces. The Armed Forces wanted the lateral entry scheme to be first approved and implemented by the government before the CPC recommendation on the 50% “pensionary weightage” came into effect.

"We have accepted salaries this month under the old pay scales, as we expect the government to take a quick decision on all our demands soon after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh returns from his US visit on October 1,” a defence officer said.

Defence Minister A K Antony and the three Services chiefs have already represented to the prime minister on the four “core issues” they have with the CPC notification. Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta and Army chief General Deepak Kapoor met Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar and PMO officials yesterday to apprise him of the “anger” among the 70,000 officers over their demands not finding favour with the bureaucracy.

They have also requested the country's top political leadership to decide on their CPC demands and to implement the pay commission notification in abeyance till the issues were resolved. “It is just a matter of less than Rs 450 crore annually if the government accepts the four demands of the Armed Forces, which is not a huge burden on the exchequer,” an officer said.

Among the other demands were placing Lt Colonels and their equivalents in the Navy and Air Force under Pay Band-4 instead of Pay Band-3, Grade Pay to officers from Captain to Brigadiers on par with their civilian counterparts, and placing Lt Generals in the Higher Administrative Grade (HAG) Plus pay scales as the Director Generals of paramilitary and police forces.

(From various news agencies)

Armed Forces Vs. Paramilitary

2008-09-11T11:36:00.000+05:30

A dangerous split between the armed forces and the paramilitary, arising from the revised Sixth Pay Commission report, could have disastrous consequences for joint operations in troubled regions, the military has told the PMO.

Admiral Sureesh Mehta, Navy chief and chairman of Chiefs of Staff Committee, has cautioned the government that the relationship between the two sits on a tinderbox and infighting would "seriously jeopardise" operations.

The revised report has altered the existing parity between the armed forces and Central Paramilitary Forces (CPMF)/Group A services and IAS by retaining lieutenant colonels in a lower pay band than their paramilitary and civilian counterparts. Pay scales have tradition- ally determined status among government officials.

Mehta told the PMO that ascendancy gained by paramilitary would "seriously hamper command and control functions between the army and the Border Security Force/CPMF".

Success of military operations hinge on the efficiency of command and control. After briefing the PM on "core issues" last week, Mehta met finance minister P. Chidambaram and MoS in the PMO Prithviraj Chauhan on Tuesday Military sources said Mehta has told the PMO that perks of higher status given to CPMF/civilian officers, and denied to equally placed service officers, would result in despondency among them. "A CPMF officer whose pay parity was below a lieutenant colonel in the 4th and 5th pay panel reports has been elevated to the pay scale of a Colonel. This will not be acceptable to either the lieutenant colonel or the Colonel," a senior army officer told HT.

Another "serious error" pointed out by Mehta includes exclusion of lieutenant generals and equivalent from the Higher Administrative Grade pay band. Only army commanders and DGPs and equivalent figure in this grade.

He has also sought the intervention of the PMO to provide the HAG+ pay band for lieutenant generals and equivalent holding posts of principal staff officers, director general and controllers in the services.

Points of Friction

Revised pay panel report has altered existing parity by retaining lieutenant colonels in a lower pay band than their paramilitary counterparts
Perks of higher status given to CPMF/civilian officers, not to equally placed service officers

(Hindustan Times Delhi 11/09/08)

Armed Forces grievance to Prime Minister

2008-09-06T08:18:00.000+05:30

In a rare departure, Navy Chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta has taken the Armed Forces grievance on the pay panel to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The Admiral, who is also Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, met the PM late on Thursday night and brought up ‘core issues’ in the pay commission relating to lowering of pay scales of Defence personnel in comparison to their civilian counterparts.

It is learnt that while Mehta visited the PM to brief him on his recent visits to Japan and South Korea, the issue of anomalies in the pay commission that has led to the ‘lowering of status of Defence officers and men’ was brought up at the end of the meeting.

The Navy chief handed over a detailed representation to the Prime Minister highlighting the perceived anomalies and once again sought the intervention of the Union Cabinet to resolve the issues.

The incident may lead to a little embarrassment for the Defence Ministry that had earlier raised objections over a letter written by the Army Chief to President Pratibha Patil over the pay panel.

“The focus was on the core issues of lowering of status of Defence personnel that will infringe on operational aspects in the field where officers will need to interact with their civil counterparts,” a senior officer said.

The main problem being a lowering of parity of Lt Col and equivalent officers with their counterpart in the paramilitary forces. With the new pay panel norms, central paramilitary officers who were till now ranked lower to Armed Forces officers have been placed in a higher pay band.

On Monday, the three service chiefs had met Defence Minister A K Antony and urged him for the intervention of the Cabinet, rather than a committee to consider its demands on the pay panel report.

In a letter to the Defence Minister, Mehta had said any disruption in the existing parities of pay would lead to serious operational problems for the Armed Forces whenever they would need to work along with paramilitary and civilian officers.

The Armed Forces are angry over the ‘degradation’ of officers of the rank of Lt Cols who have been placed in the Pay Band 3, a grade lower than the PB 4 that their civilian counterparts have been given. They have also demanded that Lt Gen rank officers should be put in the new Pay Band of Higher Administrative Grade (HAG) Plus, in which Director General level officers of civil services and paramilitary have been placed.

(Indian Express Delhi edition 06/09/08)

Get ready for Tax now

2008-09-03T10:02:00.000+05:30

For lakhs of central government employees looking forward to receiving 40% of the accumulated arrears on their increased salary next month here’s a dampener. The government has decided to levy tax on the entire amount of arrears — 60% of which will be paid next year — in the current fiscal itself.

For most employees, the decision will virtually wipe out almost the entire 40% arrears to be paid to them this year. Senior bureaucrats will suffer most as their tax will be topped with a surcharge of 10%, on income of Rs 10 lakh and above.
A senior finance ministry official said the surcharge to be paid by officers of the rank of joint secretary and above ranges between Rs 24,600 and Rs 52,500. The impact will be less on the lower grades.

Last month, the Centre had announced an average increase of 21% in salaries of its employees. The hikes, effective from January 1, 2006, would burden the exchequer by more than Rs 17,500 crore annually while the arrears alone account for more than Rs 29,000 crore.

(Times of India Delhi dated 03/09/08)

Resolve disparity say Service Chiefs

2008-09-02T07:15:00.001+05:30

Raising fresh objections to the Sixth Pay panel notification after the Cabinet cleared it on August 14, the three chiefs of the Armed Forces, in an unprecedented move, have written to Defence Minister A K Antony that implementation for officer ranks be “held in abeyance” until their objections are addressed.

Earlier, they had raised two broad objections : higher salary for Personnel Below Officer Ranks (PBORs) and parity with civil servants for officer ranks. While thanking the government for hiking salaries of PBORs, they claim the disparity has only increased between service officers and their civil service counterparts.

Their objections:

Disparity in Pay Bands : The chiefs claim the Committee of Secretaries (CoS) moved the Director rank into Pay Band 4 but retained Lt. Col and its equivalent in other services in Pay Band 3. Earlier, they claim, a Lt. Col got the same pay as an IAS Director and Rs 800 more than a non-IAS Director. Now he gets Rs 14000 less than an IAS director and Rs 11000 less than a non-IAS director.
Disparity in Grade Pay : The CoS agreed to their demand to an increase in grade pay across middle-rank officers but also increased the grade pay of civil servants, thereby retaining disparity, the chiefs say. For example, he Pay Commission recommended Rs 6600 for a civil servant equivalent to a Major who was to get Rs 6100. After review, a Major will now get Rs 6600 but his equivalent in the civil service will get Rs 7600.
Restricting elite list : The new category of HAG-plus (Higher Administrative Grade) includes all DGs and DGPs but only Army Commanders and their equivalents in other services, the chiefs complain. Their demand: all Lt. Gen officers be included in this category. The Defence Ministry is said to have conveyed that the objections are being looked into and a response will be given soon.

(Indian Express 02/09/08 Delhi edition)

Government notifies Pay Commission implementation

2008-08-29T22:45:00.007+05:30

Government of India today finaly notified the implementation of Sixth Pay Commission recommendations. Most of the recommendations have been accepted and recommendations of three holiday, VRS for 15-20 years of service and flexible time are not accpeted. Grade Pay has been increase in case of PB-3 Band and decreased in case of PB-4 Band. PB-4 will now start from Rs.37400 in place of Rs.39200.

The Gazette Notification is available at following address in Hindi and English both. Kindly download it and study it. It has ready reconer for Fixation of the Pay :

http://pib.nic.in/archieve/others/2008/aug/6th_paycom.asp

Also visit http://www.india.gov.in/govt/paycommission.php for Revised CSS Rules, DA, CCA details etc.

An Article by Arun Kumar in Tribune

2008-08-27T21:34:00.004+05:30

As implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission is in its final stage, a good article is written by Mr. Arun Kumar in Tribune dated 27/08/08 on how low the Government is paying to the employees. It is available at http://www.tribuneindia.com/2008/20080827/edit.htm#4. Give you opinion on the points he has raised.

Various States to implement CPC report

2008-08-18T20:44:00.003+05:30

After Union Government its now the turn of various State Government. May states have annouced the implementation of 6th Pay Commission in their respective states. UP, Haryana, Tamilnadu, West Bengal have already announced the implementation. It is hoped the majority of the states will announce the implementation this month itself.

Update (27/08/08) : MP Govt. has also announced acceptance of Pay Commission report.

Cabinet approves pay commission report

2008-08-14T13:32:00.005+05:30

The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved recommendations of Sixth Pay Commission. The pay panel recommendations will come into effect from January 1, 2006.

Arrears will be paid in cash in two instalments, 40 per cent will be paid this year and the rest next year.

Now, minimum basic pay of a government employee has been raised to Rs 7000.

All the details of new approval are available at http://pib.nic.in/archieve/others/2008/aug/r2008081405cab.pdf and/or at http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=41333

Original report is available at at http://www.india.gov.in/govt/paycommission.php.

Decks clear for CPC implementation

2008-08-14T08:32:00.000+05:30

A wage hike higher than those recommended by the Sixth Pay Commission, marginal increase in annual increments and the payment of arrears in cash are some of the sweeteners incorporated in the proposal for Thursday's Cabinet meeting after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s intervention

The new pay package for the 55 lakh Central government employees, to be announced on August 15, proposes a 20 per cent raise over the pay bands suggested by the Commission. The panel in May suggested a gross 40 per cent hike, which means an effective 25 per cent after taxes. “The net jump in pay would be upwards of 30 per cent with the additional increase more for lower grade staff to narrow their difference with the (pay of) senior officials,” said sources.

This raise takes into account the Commission’s miscalculation of the dearness allowance - absorbed in the new basic pay—as 74 per cent whereas it should have been 83 per cent, they said. The proposed annual increment in the basic pay would also be a tad higher than the 2.5 per cent suggested by the Commission.

The Cabinet proposal talks of a uniform 3 per cent raise every year. The current norm is a Rs 500-increase in the basic pay annually within the grade scale.

But what would be music to the bureaucrats’ ears is that the PM has shot down Finance Minister P Chidambaram’s suggestion that the new wage be effective from January 2007 instead of January 2006 because of the heavy run on this year’s Budget. Chidambaram had also wanted that the past dues be parked in the General Provident Fund to be provided as pension after retirement of the employees so that this year’s outgo from the Budget would be limited to Rs 12,500 crore.

But the PM would have none of that. He has ensured that the new pay would be effective from January 2006, as recommended by the Commission, with 40 per cent of the arrears paid in the current fiscal and the remaining 60 per cent next year.

The actual pay-out would come in November after the monsoon session of Parliament in September passes the Finance Ministry’s supplementary Demand For Grant to fund the wage bill, said sources.

What has also been shot down, though by the Committee of Secretaries, is the inclusion of heads of other services in the rank of Cabinet Secretary. The CS will remain primus inter pares, the first among equals, and that position would not be granted to the head of Intelligence Bureau, the three service chiefs or the Chairman Railway Board—as had been demanded.

There would also be no scrapping of Group D personnel (peons in ministries and coolies in Indian Railways). The Commission had suggested that these posts be subsumed in Group C of clerks, fresh induction be stopped and jobs be outsourced.

As for the armed forces, the good news is that military service pay for persons below the officer rank (POBR) would be Rs 2,000 per month. The forces had demanded Rs 3,000 as against Rs 1,000 introduced by the commission.

There would also be a significant improvement in the salaries of Brigadiers as the government has agreed to put them in Pay Band 4 (Rs 39,200-67,000) as against the suggested pay band 3 (Rs 15,600 - 39,100).

For the Indian Police Service and Indian Forest Service, relief would come in the form of abolition of the Deputy Inspector General scale. There would also be no discrimination between Group B and Group A service officers in the form of a differential basic pay at the time of joining, as suggested by the Commission. They would both start at the same scale, as is prevalent now, said sources.

Key Points :

A 20 % raise over the pay bands suggested by the Commission
Uniform 3% raise in basic pay every year. The norm is a Rs 500-increase annually within grade scale
New wages to be effective from January 2006
No Cabinet Secretary rank for Intelligence Bureau chief, the three Service chiefs or the Chairman, Railway Board
Group D personnel to stay (peons in ministries and porters in Railways)
Military service pay for persons below the officer rank (POBR) would be Rs 2,000 per month
Significant hike in salaries of Brigadiers: they move to Pay Band 4 (Rs 39,200-67,000) from the suggested Pay Band 3 (Rs 15,600-39,100)
DIG-scale abolished in IPS and Indian Forest Service

(Indian Express 14/08/08 Delhi Edition)

DoPT preparing note for report approval

2008-08-13T08:10:00.000+05:30

The Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) is working overtime to ensure that the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission are deliberated and approved by the Cabinet on Thursday so that the Prime Minister could announce it on Independence Day.

Sources said that DoPT officials were readying the note for the Cabinet which would retain the Commission’s recommendation of an average 25 per cent increase in the basic pay of the Central government employees, including the armed forces.

However, there would be minor changes from the panel’s advisory with the proposal to introduce the raise from January 2007, as is being pushed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram, instead of January 2006 suggested by the panel.

The wage hike would be available in hard currency from April 2008 with past dues—or arrears—parked in the general Provident Fund to be provided as pension after retirement.

The aim of this exercise is to limit the outgo this year to Rs 12,500 crore, or else Chidambaram would have to shell out Rs 30,000 crore in one go, said sources.

The proposal would also incorporate the wish of the armed forces to improve the emoluments for jawans posted at frontiers by doubling the military special pay to Rs 2,000 per month.

The Indian Police Service and Indian Forest Service would get relief with the abolition of the Deputy Inspector General scale as this position was getting to become a resting place for them thereby delaying their promotion.

There is no mention of the retirement age being raised to 62 years from current 60 years as has been frequently reported in the media, said sources.

The ball was set rolling last Thursday when the Principal Secretary to the PM, TKA Nair, was shown a presentation on the Committee of Secretaries’ approvals on Pay Commission recommendations.

The timing matches with the likely monsoon session of Parliament in September when the Finance Ministry would have to move for a supplementary demand for grant to fund the wage bill.

Defence Minister A K Antony is meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday to take a final decision on the pay hike revision for the armed forces. The meeting, which will also be attended by the Finance Minister, will take a final call on salaries for the armed forces who have expressed their dissatisfaction with the Sixth Pay Commission Report.

Sources said while the main change would be doubling of the Military Service Pay (MSP) for soldiers to Rs 2,000 per month, the pay structure of officers will not be changed much. However, allowances for Lt Gen rank officers posted at Service Headquarters are expected to be increased and brought at par with Commander in Chiefs posted across the country.

Ministry sources said that Antony would also be pitching for an increase in pay over and above the recommendations of the Committee of Secretaries before the PM. The minister is expected to push for an MSP of Rs 3,000 for soldiers due to the hardships faced by them.

(Indian Express – dated 13/08/08 Delhi Edition)

Pay Comm. implementation soon

2008-07-29T08:12:00.000+05:30

Over with the vote in Parliament, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday seems to have cleared the decks for the Union Cabinet to consider the recommendations of a Committee of Secretaries (COS) on the Sixth Pay Commission for Union government employees.

Cabinet Secretary K.M. Chandrashekhar made a presentation on the recommendations of the COS to Singh before the PM left for Gujarat.

It is learnt that the cabinet secretary has listed different alternatives on pay packages with indications on expected burden on pay on the government exchequer. To reduce the burden, the COS has recommended that the arrears to government servant be given from January 1, 2007 instead of 2006.

The government is reportedly keen to announce the new package before Independence Day.

(published in Hindustan Times, Delhi 29/07/08)

Scientist form body to oppose CPC recommendation

2008-05-24T17:55:00.002+05:30

A group of scientists belonging to the Department of Atomic Energy and the Department of Space on friday said the revisions announced by the Sixth Pay Commission have fallen short of their expectations. To add insult to injury, their compatriots in the teaching line and bureaucracy have galloped past them in terms of gross monthly pay, they claimed, adding that this results in huge variations between the salaries between different professionals as they go up the hierarchy.

"While a babu can reach the highest tier, Pay Band IV, within 15 years of service, a scientist would have earned only two promotions after joining as a scientific officer," said S Joseph Winston, a senior scientist at the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam.

Their growing discontent has prompted a group of scientists to band together to form the Confederation of Atomic and Space Scientists/Technologists (COAST), an umbrella organisation that has vowed to take up the issue to the higher authorities.

Both the departments come under the Prime Minister who had earlier assured the scientists of a hike of 40 per cent.

However, the actual revision has only been around 18 to 35 per cent, complained the scientists, adding that the highest hike was limited to the PB IV category.

"While about 50-60 per cent of the bureaucrats fallin the PB IV, the figure for us scientists is only 5 per cent. Most scientists slog in the labs for years together, and retire before they can ever reach the highest pay structure," said Winston, the president of COAST This disparity, said Winston and his colleagues, was a blow to the morale of the scientists who were working on projects of great strategic importance and symbolic value. "There are big investments in the fields of nuclear and space research. It is in these scientific fields where the country proved its might. But when it comes to managing human resources, these shortcomings could have serious consequences. If this situation continues, the country will face a dearth of serious researchers and scientists in the near future," warned Winston, who believes that the Sixth Pay Commission is precisely the sort of policy that causes "brain drain" from premier institutes.

"When there are avenues for them to go abroad and earn manifold of what the Government is offering, none of the 'creamy layer' from institutions like the IITswould come forward to join service here," said a scientist.

(Appeared in Indian Express 24/05/08)

MSP to be doubled to Rs 2000 for jawans

2008-05-01T19:37:00.002+05:30

Jawans set to get a hike beyond Pay panel advice

In the face of mounting pressure from the Armed Forces, the Defence Ministry has asked the Committee of Secretaries looking into the Pay Commission recommendations to double the Military Service Pay (MSP) for soldiers from Rs 1000 to Rs 2000. The MSP will be merged with basic salary and form the basis on which other allowances will be calculated.

With Defence Minister A K Antony putting his weight behind the move, sources said, the suggestion is likely to be accepted as informal consultations have already happened among relevant officials. The issue will be elaborately discussed and firmed up when the three service chiefs meet Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrashekhar, who heads the CoS, over lunch on May 5.

While the Armed Forces were keen to treble the amount for certain categories among personnel below officer rank (PBOR), sources said, the hike in MSP along with other allowances will make up for a “healthy” salary. Moreover, the CoS will submit the report to the Cabinet which can consider further review in case finances permit.

The pay panel, it may be recalled, had suggested MSP of Rs 1000 for PBORs — there are 13 lakh PBORs — and Rs 6000 for officers up to the rank of Brigadier. Sources said there will be no revision in the MSP recommendation for officers even though the Armed Forces are keen on extending MSP to officers beyond the rank of Brigadier.

However, some of the other demands related to pay parity among senior officers and their counterparts in the civil is likely to get a favourable view. The pay panel recommendations have caused a strong protest from within and among the Armed Forces. Former Army Chief Gen N C Vij, who now heads the National Disaster Management Authority, even wrote to the Prime Minister expressing anguish and making demands for revising the suggestions.

(Appeared in the Indian Express on 01/05/08)

Saperate Pay Scales for Armed forces

2008-04-24T06:24:00.002+05:30

Concerned over officers leaving armed forces for lucrative employment in private sector, the government is looking at delinking pay scales of defence forces with those of central government employees.

The demand for delinking payscales, raised by armed forces and lawmakers, ''will be looked into,'' Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju said replying to supplementaries during Question Hour in Rajya Sabha.

Officers, particularly in the non-select rank who lead soldiers on the ground, leaving armed forces for lucrative employment in private sector was a matter of concern but not alarm, he said.

Committee of Secretaries to study CPC recommendations.

2008-04-11T17:10:00.001+05:30

The government on Friday announced the constitution of a high-level official committee of secretaries to study and review the report of the Sixth Pay Commission.

The committee will be headed by the Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar and has been directed to submit its report to the Cabinet at the earliest possible.

The 12 member committe will comprise secretaries of ministries of home, defence, revenu and expenditure, department of post, security, deputy CAG and financial commissioner and member secretary of the Railway Board.

The committee will mainly function as a screening committee for the pay panel's report and submit its final recommendations to the Cabinet for approval.

The Government has already constituted a committee headed by Finance Secretary D Subbarao to look into the grievances of armed forces and IPS officers.

Government Assures Service Chiefs

2008-04-05T08:14:00.000+05:30

Yielding to sustained pressure from the Armed Forces, the government on Friday assured the service chiefs that it was ready to look into their genuine grievances on pay scales recommended by the Sixth Pay Commission.

Following a meeting of the three service chiefs with the members of the Sixth Pay Commission on Friday, Defence Minister AK Antony asked the Army, Navy, and the Air Force to submit a list of their anomalies which can then be discussed with the Finance Ministry.

Antony was also present at the hour-long meeting, which was attended by Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major and Vice Chiefs of Army and Navy, besides Defence Secretary Vijay Singh.

The meeting, held at Antony's insistence, was the result of two rounds of presentations made by the armed forces before the Defence Minister pointing out anomalies in the pay commission report and demanding more salaries for soldiers and increase in allowances.

At the meeting, Air Chief Marshal Major, speaking on behalf of all three wings of armed forces, made a strong plea for increasing the special pay for soldiers below officer ranks to Rs 3,000 from Rs 1,000 as recommended by the pay commission.

Pay commission officials said the ‘‘existing edge’’ of armed forces personnel over their civilian counterparts had ‘‘not only been maintained, but also suitably enhanced’’. The concept of ‘‘military service pay’’ (MSP), under which Rs 6,000 per month will be given to officers up to Brigadiers and Rs 1,000 to jawans, NCOs and JCOs, for instance, will help in enhancing the edge. In fact, said the commission officials, 61% of the expenditure of the new recommendations will accrue to armed forces, which constitute 40% of the total number of central government employees, apart from the Railways.

Nonsense, say the armed forces. ‘‘We are not looking for an ‘edge’ over our civilian counterparts. We want compensation for the hardships of our service lives. Moreover, there should be parity of pay for the length of service between IAS and armed forces officers,’’ said an officer.

Added another, ‘‘We owe it to the soldiers we command that they be given at least Rs 3,000 as MSP. It’s actually unfair that officers will get Rs 6,000, while all the other ranks will get only Rs 1,000. The MSP should be graded.’’

Overall, the armed forces want at least a 40% hike over what has been proposed by the pay commission to ‘‘attract and retain talent’’ in their fold.

(Based on reports published in Times of India and Indian Express on 05/04/08)

Scientists want equal treatment

2008-04-04T08:01:00.001+05:30

Now Scientists have come out in the open against the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission. A delegation of scientists, led by M K Bhan, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, on Wednesday met Cabinet Secretary to point out the anomalies in the pay panel recommendations.

Sources said the main concern of the scientists was that the commission had sought to perpetuate a disparity between the scientists working for DRDO, ISRO or Department of Atomic Energy and those with the Department of Science and Technology or Department of Biotechnology. "It is like saying that a physicist or a nuclear scientist is above those working in the area of vaccines," said a senior scientist, not wishing to be named.

The scientists said a favourable promotion policy in organisations like Indian Space Research Organisation has ensured that there are plenty of scientists in higher grades like G and H in these places. On the other hand, DST or DBT has very few scientists in grade H, which is equivalent to the rank of an additional secretary.

"ISRO has additional scales at the senior level with designations like distinguished scientist and outstanding scientist which are not available in DST or DBT," said another scientist.

"We had been asking for an equal treatment irrespective of institutions. But the Commission has not addressed these issues," he said, pointing out that scientists in Department of Atomic Energy were also entitled to additional perks.

(Indian Express 04/04/08)

CPC members to meet Service Chiefs

2008-04-04T07:45:00.000+05:30

After making two rounds of presentations to Defence Minister A K Antony pointing out anomalies in the Pay Commission report, the service chiefs will now get a lowdown by the commission itself to "remove misgivings and doubts" about pay hike recommendations.

The service chiefs - who have drawn up a joint proposal demanding more salaries for soldiers, an increase in allowances and a better deal for middlerung officers - will meet key Commission officials on Friday for a detailed briefing. Besides the top Armed Forces brass, senior ministry officials are also ex pected to take part in the meeting.

Sources say the meeting has been called on Antony's insistence as he wants a clear view on the issue before taking up the Armed Forces' case for a "better deal".

"The meeting is being held to remove some misgivings about the Pay Commission to the service chiefs. Defence Ministry officials will also take part in the meeting," a senior official said.
On Tuesday, Antony was presented a joint memorandum, drawn up by the Chiefs of Staff Committee, pointing out "major anomalies" in the salary structure and seeking better salaries for soldiers and middle-rung officers and a rational hike in allowances.

The memorandum proposed major changes in the special Military Service Pay (MSP) introduced in the Sixth Pay Commission. The services have demanded that the special pay should be equated to the basic salary and be decreased progressively with seniority. The panel has fixed Rs 1,000 as MSP for all soldiers and Rs 6,000 for officers.

The other major issue was increases in special allowances for soldiers posted in harsh terrain, active field areas and on counter-insurgency duties. While the panel had recommended doubling of existing allowances for counter-insurgency areas, Siachen postings and high altitude duty, the services have asked for a rational view on the hikes in view of tough service conditions.

(Indian Express 04/04/08)

IPS Officers also unhappy

2008-04-04T07:40:00.000+05:30

The perceived disparity between the Indian Police Service and other All India services, particularly the Indian Administrative Service, in the Pay Commission recommendations has found an echo at the highest levels of the Government.

A detailed presentation made by top IPS officers has pointed out that the IPS is no longer a Group A service by the looks of it. And the Sixth Central Pay Commission recommendations will create further stagnation at the middle level of the service that is at the forefront of the battle to tackle threats to internal security, they have claimed.

The message has been conveyed to the highest levels, including the Prime Minister's Office, the Union Home Ministry and the Department of Personnel and Training.

As per the proposed pay scales, an IPS officer will earn nearly Rs 65 lakh lesser than an IAS counterpart after 30 years of service, the presentation has argued.

The presentation has made the following points as well: An IAS officer will reach Joint Secretary scale at the Centre in 14 years; his IPS counterpart will reach the corresponding Inspector General level almost six years later; a Director General of Police in a state will need at least five to six years of residual service to reach the maximum scale of Rs 71,270. Moreover, not only has the "anomalous" post of the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) not been abolished, officers at this level will actually earn less than earlier - they have been put in the Rs 15,600 scale from the existing Rs 16,400.

Grade Pay is another anomaly that has been brought to the notice of the Government. In a district, the Superintendent of Police (SP) will be at a disadvantage not just in comparison to the District Magistrate but even the Additional District Magistrate in many cases, IPS officers point out.

The IPS group's disenchantment with the Pay Commission report does not end here. "Internal security is such a grave matter but it finds mention only three or four times in the report," a senior officer pointed out.

(Indian Express 04/04/08)

Services to make new Proposal

2008-04-01T08:19:00.002+05:30

With resentment in the ranks over the pay panel recommendations, the armed forces have drawn up a joint proposal demanding more salaries for soldiers, an increase in allowances and pointing out "major anomalies" in the salary structure.

The joint memorandum, which will shortly be presented to Defence Minister A K Antony, has been drawn up by the Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC) and emphasises the need for better salaries for soldiers and middle-rung officers.

One of the key contentions is that in the new recommendations, almost all armed forces personnel have been shifted to a lower salary grade compared to civilian officers of comparable service and experience.

To address this, the forces have proposed major changes in the Military Service Pay (MSP) - a new concept introduced in the Sixth Pay Commission to give armed forces an edge over others.

While the panel has fixed Rs 1,000 as MSP for all soldiers and Rs 6,000 for officers, the services have demanded that the special pay should be equated to the basic salary and be decreased progressively with seniority.

For entry-level soldiers, the armed forces have asked an MSP of 60 per cent of the basic pay which would progressively decrease to 40 per cent of basic till the seniormost level. This, officials say, will give entry level personnel incentives as well as cater to the aspirations of mid-level officers.

Another major issue brought out in the proposal is increase in special allowances for soldiers posted in harsh terrain and operationally active areas. In all cases, including allowances for counter-insurgency areas, Siachen postings and high altitude duty, the pay panel has recommended doubling of existing scales.

This has been deemed unfair by the services and they have asked for a rational rather than ‘arithmetic' view on hikes considering tough service conditions.

The services have also demanded that their pay bands should be delinked from the civil services due to different promotion structures and shorter service period. Contending that majority of the personnel never reach the higher pay band in their career, the forces have asked for new pay bands.

The forces want to do away with the concept of a single pay band for personnel below officer's rank and two pay bands for officers and have demanded three pay bands each for officers and soldiers.

The joint proposal also flatly rejects a recommendation by the pay panel for the lateral movement of short service commission officers and Per sonnel Below Officer Rank (PBOR) to paramilitary organisations like CRPF and BSF.

Considering that the recommendations have not solved the officer retention problem of the forces - as many as 14 Colonel-level officers handed in premature retirement applications to Defence Hqs within five days of the report - the services have expressed their keenness on speedy amendments to arrest "demoralisation down the ranks".

(Published in Indian Express on 01/04/2008)

Service Chiefs to meet Minister

2008-03-27T07:38:00.003+05:30

With anger mounting over the ‘‘raw deal’’ given to them by the Sixth Central Pay Commission, the armed forces are planning to petition the government to ensure officers and jawans get better pay packages than the ones recommended. The matter is likely to be raised when Admiral Sureesh Mehta, General Deepak Kapoor and Air Chief Marshal F H Major meet defence minister A K Antony on Thursday.

Admiral Mehta said, ‘‘There are always anomalies in the pay commissions, which need to be corrected. We will take it up directly with the pay commission.’’ General Kapoor, in turn, said, ‘‘We are studying the proposals... We will come out with cogent suggestions to the defence ministry. There is always scope for improvement in everything.’’

While the recommendation for a special ‘military service pay’ (MSP) has been welcomed, the huge difference between Rs 6,000 as MSP for officers and only Rs 1,000 for jawans, NCOs and JCOs has attracted sharp criticism.

(Based on News Paper reports)

Unions preparing demonstration

2008-03-27T07:29:00.003+05:30

Two days after the Sixth Pay Commission submitted its report to the Finance Minister, employee unions organised demonstration and preparing for more demonstration against the recommendations.

The Confederation of Central Government Employees (CCGE) dubbed the report “totally unacceptable”, the CSSS Gazetted Officers’ Association (CSSSGOA) called for a review as “there are unreasonable differentiations made between the same running pay bands and even the instrument of grade pay has not been able to neutralise the impact”.

The Central Secretariate Non-Gazetted Employess Union organised a demonstration out side Krishi Bhawan on Wednesday terming the recommendations as betrayal of the right of the workers. "We are just getting 10.4 hike which is totally unjustified" said Dalip Singh, general Secretaty of the union.

“The alarming level of growing disparity can be seen between the recommended pay scales. After having a look at the minimum Rs 2,550 (total Rs 5,740) and the highest pay (Rs 90,000), we find that the minimum is only about 6.4% of the maximum,” CSSSGOA president R S Rawat said in a draft memorandum prepared for employees’ preview. “Therefore 1:12 (minimum-maximum pay ratio) is not a reasonable formula when tested on democratic principles of equity, justice and good governance.”

(Based on News Paper reports)

CPC report dissapoints employees

2008-03-26T06:36:00.001+05:30

Now that the Sixth Pay Commission report is submitted to the Government and the complete report is available at http://www.india.gov.in/govt/paycommission.htm, at least wait time for report is over. Only implementation part is required. Now since every point is clear, reading the comments in this blog, it seems that most of Central Government Employees are not satisfied with the report. Most of the Group C & D employee are feeling let down. Only Senior class A officers got good pay, but even that is very small compared to corresponding Private Sector pay packaets of Senior Managers/MDs. There are many shocker in report for employess.

Even media, which till yesterday was making noise about increase in the pay in the range of 40%-60% is now realising that the actual increase is much less than that. Times of India , Dainik Jagran and Indian Express have come up with stories of this nature in today's edition.

Pay Commission Report Details

2008-03-24T14:16:00.001+05:30

The Sixth Central Pay Commission submitted its Report to the Government on 24th March, 2008. The Report and main highlights can be viewed through the following links:

Pay Commission Submits Report

2008-03-24T11:41:00.002+05:30

Over 4 lakh central government employees are now a step closer to getting higher salaries.

The much-awaited report of the sixth Pay Commission has been submitted to the finance ministry by Justice Srikrishna who heads the commission.

Details are yet not available.

(Source : www.ndtv.com)

Times of India report

2008-03-21T07:21:00.000+05:30

Like earlier reports and same salary prediction patterns, Times of India has also predicted upto 42% without HRA and upto 52% with HRA hike in the salary of Central Government Staff. It has predicted that the final report will be submitted on Tuesday. Read full report here.

42% hike in salary : Indian Express

2008-03-19T11:51:00.001+05:30

There will be 42% hike in the salary, reported Indian Express Delhi edition today. It has predicted report will be submitted tomorrow i.e. 20/03/08.

Key point of the Indian Express report:

Number of salary grades will be pruned to 18 from the existing 33,
Salary proposed is 35 to 42% higher than what each employee currently gets, inclusive of dearness pay and dearness allowance.
The house rent allowance will become city-specific with those living in metros getting the full 30% of the basic salary. But for other towns, the HRA could be capped at 15% of the basic salary.

Read full report at http://www.indianexpress.com/story/286200.html

Report after Holi : Times of India

2008-03-19T11:05:00.001+05:30

Time of India has predicted in its report that the final report of the CPC is ready and will be out any day after Holi.

Lakhs of central government employees will know their new salary scales any day after Holi as the Sixth Pay Commission is almost ready with its final report, subject to some possible changes in the wake of formal or informal interactions with finance ministry.
   Commission sources, however, remained tightlipped on the quantum of salary hike. “It is a closely guarded secret at our highest levels and may undergo last-minute changes,” they said.
   The sources, however, indicated a “moderate” jump despite the soaring hopes of most government employees — ranging from 20% to 120% of their present gross emoluments — when corporate salaries are at an all-time high. “The finance minister has said that ‘legitimate expectations’ of government employees would be met. The commission, in consultation with the finance ministry, has to ensure that their definitions of ‘legitimate expectations’ do not clash. This, because the money, after all, will be provided by a tight-fisted finance ministry,” the sources said.
   The new scales would also decide the emoluments of defence and paramilitary forces, besides post-retirement benefits of all employees and officers, including the pension they would draw. That the countdown has begun was indicated in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday when minister of state for finance, P K Bansal, said that no proposal for grant of interim relief to the employees was under government’s consideration. The government has recently hiked the employees’ DA from 41% to 47%, calculated on their basic pay taken with 50% (of basic) merged dearness pay.
   Figures apart, the commission has taken the help of three leading institutes to work out exhaustive compensation and pension regimes. IIM-A has done a study on the feasibility of performancerelated pay (PRP) to government employees while XLRI-Jamshedpur has advised on the total cost incurred by government on its employees in all grades (equivalent of the corporate cost-to-company).
   The third study, done by Institute of Social and Economic Change (Bangalore), has focused on the government’s oft-stated principle of reducing its post-retirement liabilities in the “long-term”.

(Published in Time of India dated 19/03/08 Delhi edition)

Interesting questions about efficiency

2008-03-18T18:26:00.000+05:30

Lakhs of Government employees are waiting patiently for the final report of the Sixth Pay Commission as it's report is shortly going to handed over to the Government. Government employees are genuinely under paid and they are hoping for good increase in their wages. A reader of this blog has raised some quaetions about efficiency in the Government departments by commenting in an earlier post We must scrap Pay Commissions. The reader has send some interesting question, which I think should be discussed openly. Here is the comment send by reader :

I have few questions about payment to government servants and subsequent
increments including pay commissions.
What is in it for the end customer : the citizen of this country, who pays for these pay hikes and is sick of the government servants?
What is the out put of a government servant compared to a similarly paid person in private sector?
Why do we need so many government servants?
What value does a government servant provides to his/ her customer : the ordinary citizen on the street? Ask the customer and not the government servant.
Will VI pay commission implementation improve the quality of services and governance provided by government servants?
What is the present quality as perceived by a citizen?
What is the targeted quality? What is the time frame and what are the trends to be observed?
If the quality is not achieved with in the time frame, will the pays be rolled back and recoveries made from the pays of the government servants?
Who will be held responsible and punished for the fall, if the quality improvement fails?

I think these are intersting and important questions and should be discussed.

CPC report on 31 March 2008

2008-02-29T12:50:00.003+05:30

Sixth Pay Commission will submit its report on 31st March 2008 as stated by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram in his Budget speech. He hoped that the pay commission report will fulfill the expactations of lacs of Central Government Employees.

He also proposed to change the Income Tax rate in view of the Sixth Pay Commission report. It will also benfit the employees. New rate of tax slabs are as follows:

0 - 1.50 lac : Nill Tax (1.80 lac for woman)
1.50 lac (1.80 lac for woman) to 3.00 lac : 10%
3.00 lac to 5.00 lac : 20%
5.00 and above : 30%

All eyes are on the Budget

2008-02-28T23:55:00.003+05:30

Everybody is waiting to see the allocation of fund in this Budget towards additional liability to the Government for anticipated increase in the salary of Government employees after Sixth Pay Commission recommendations.

Earlier this week, the Railway Budget has made and ad hoc provision of Rs.5000/- crore for 2008-09 to meet the additional liability towards employees and pensioners in anticipation of the Pay Commission's recommendations.

Not much impact to State Governments

2008-02-28T11:44:00.000+05:30

The Planning commission does not foresee any significant disruption on account of increase in salaries of state government employees.

'I don't think that this disruption is going to be all that cruicial,' Planning Commission Dy. Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said to the Hindustant Times on the possible impact of the adoption of the Sixth Pay Commission award by state government.

Pointing out that blind adoption of the Pay Commission's award by the state government was not a good idea, Ahluwalia said Pay Commission were constituted once in 10 years and the states can do many things to neutralise the impact.

The government, he said was made to effect a big increase in salaries of its employees at the end of 10 years as the dearness allowance does not adequately take care of inflation. 'So at the end of 10 years, the government will be benefitting from a squeeze in real pay because the DA was never enough, so you have a big increase,' he said.

Report soon says TOI

2008-02-20T10:57:00.002+05:30

The long wait of lakhs of central government officers and staff is about to end as the Sixth Pay Commission is expected to finalize its report ‘‘very soon,’’ well before its term ends on April 4.

Even before the pay panel submits its recommendations to the government, the first indication of what is in store for officialdom could be available in 10 days’ time when finance minister P Chidambaram makes his Budget speech. Since the employees’ fortunes are almost certain to be touched upon, the commission is keeping its recommendations a closely guarded secret, although speculation on the quantum of salary hike have ranged from a moderate 30% to a highly optimistic 165%.

Apart from his speech itself, the actual allocation by the finance minister under the head: salaries and pensions, may well be another indicator of what is in store for employees. But even before the February 29 Budget, the Rail Budget, commission sources said, could come as an eyeopener as well as the ‘‘profitmaking’’ railways is looking for ways to meet its expected salary and pension bill of Rs 9,000 crore in the light of possible salary changes and a tight-fisted finance ministry.

A pre-Budget meeting of the commission is being awaited and this could be scheduled to consequently enable the finance minister to make a mention of possible hikes for lakhs of employees, including those in defence and paramilitary forces. Sooner or later, the state governments across the country revise salary structures of their employees in accordance with what is accepted at the Centre.

Commission sources did not rule out a pre-Budget formal presentation before Chidambaram but added that the panel was ‘‘unlikely’’ to make a mention of any change in the present retirement age of 60 years.

‘‘There are two distinct processes — the commission recommending a salary structure and the government accepting the proposals. The commission has interacted with a large range of players, held wide-ranging meetings, received petitions and paid visits to different parts of the country. The outcome of this prolonged process would be reflected in the recommendations,’’ the sources said.

‘‘There are two distinct processes — the commission recommending a salary structure and the government accepting the proposals. The commission has interacted with a large range of players, held wide-ranging meetings, received petitions and paid visits to different parts of the country. The outcome of this prolonged process would be reflected in the recommendations,’’ the sources said.

Appeared in the Time of India, Delhi edition on 20/02/08

No equality in allowance with Centre in UP

2008-02-15T07:44:00.000+05:30

UP Government said on wednesday in the Vidhan sabha that allowances of the State government employees can not be equal to the Central Government employee in UP. Therefore, the question of merging 50% of DA in the basic day does not arise. Finance Minister Mr. Lalji Verma in a written reply to question of Mr. Sudhir kumar of Samajawadi Party said that the economic condition of the state is not in position to bear this additional burden and hence HRA, CCA etc. can not given equal to the central government employees.

Financial Express estimates 150% hike in pay

2008-02-12T06:24:00.000+05:30

A news article of the Financial Express predicts 150% hike in the salary of Government Employee by Sixth Pay Commission.

Fine points of the reports are :

Pay Commission expected to submit its report next week.
Basic salaries are likely to rise by over 150%
Section officers will get a starting basic salary of Rs 20000, while their department heads, joint secretaries, would get a fixed basic salary of Rs 60000 a month.
Secretaries to the government would earn a fixed salary of Rs 75000 a month. A cabinet secretary’s monthly salary would also be fixed at Rs 80000.
Government officials will continue to retire at 60 years and will now retire on December 31 of the year they reach age 60.

The points seem same as earlier published by Dainik Jagran. You can read full article here.

Voice of a concerned Employee

2008-02-09T16:37:00.000+05:30

This is a comment appeared in the post How much increase do you expect? It has raises some issues. So I thought this comment should be used in post to draw your attention as it reflects a concern voice from within Government employee circle.

If the pay is low, there are several reasons - low performance, low accountability and high corruption. I'm a Gr.B officer in the (infamous) Central Excise and Customs Dept. and my personal experience is that on an average almost 90% of employees in the service - from Gr.A to Gr.D, are corrupt i.e. they have accepted some kind of illegal monetary or other gratification at some points of their service life, influencing their working or affecting revenue collection. What is most worrisome are the attitude of the new IRS officers. In a recent batch of IRS officers only two among the 24 or so new recruits posted in my area has any sort of integrity. A few of them in fact openly cite the high investment they had to do in order to make to this grade, to justify their actions. Direct recruit Inspectors are no better with 99% of them resorting to corruption within 5 years of their joining.

The second problem is the lack of performance. It is well known that in the govt. sector, the person who works better is made to work more. Ultimately this results in some people getting away without doing any work while others are over burdened. This is mostly the problem in the cadres of Group B and below. Among the Group A officers this problem exists, albeit in a different manner because it does not affect the fellow Gr. A officers but those below him/her. It is said that Gr.A officers get salary for taking decisions because they are not supposed to work in the field level. Often many officers actually shy away from taking decisions - either by dilatory tactics or by making the junior officers put up proposals and only countersigning the same. In case of trouble I have seen many Gr.A officers escape responsibility saying that the lower rank officer misled them. Giving verbal directions to lower level officers and juniors is another way of shrugging off responsibility. Some of them take particular exception if a lower ranking officer subsequently try to get a written order. Gradually this adversely affects the sincere workers, who get the impression that they are being penalized for working hard, particularly since there is no effective carrot and stick policy for good/bad work.

As always, the level of accountability in a govt.organization is much less for all grades of officers compared to their private counterpart. The ACRs have ceased to be an effective instrument, except perhaps at the Gr.A level where it is often used for vindictive purposes.

All these issues prevent a govt. dept from performing at its optimum level. More officers are required to do the job which could have been done with much less. The lack of performance means delay in fulfilling the targets and the sincere workers getting dejected due to work pressure and lack of any effective system of accountability, rewarding a good performance and penalizing bad performance.

Similarly, although internally everyone knows who is an honest officer and who is not, there is no effective mechanism to give boost to honesty and punish the corrupt. The present system of passive vigilance administration has lost its edge due to its misuse or inertness. The overall depressing scenario and all pervading corruption has led to many once-honest officers resorting to corruption after working many years of service with integrity.

Thus, it is not only the pay structure that is needed to be improved. Nor will a sole emphasis on pay boost the performance in the government sector. Instead of a pay commission, there is need to set up a Government Services Reforms Commission to investigate and address the core problems and find a long term solution and the pay related issues could be one of the terms of reference of such a Commission.

News in Hindi Paper 'Jagran'

2008-01-29T07:35:00.000+05:30

Hindi Daily 'Dainik Jagran' has come up today with a news about probable increse in the pay of the Central Government employee. According to its news article increase will be around 3.2 to 3.3 times of the current pay. 6th CPC is going to give better pay and facilities to senior officers. Pay commission wants report to be implemented from January 2006.

News Paper reports suggests that the salary of the officers of Join Sec. will be around 60 thousand and for Additional Secretary it will be 70 thousand. Officers of the Secretary will get 75 thousand while Cabinat Secretary will get salary around 80 thousand. Apart from this increase HRA will be around 40% of the basic pay.

One more recommendation is to change of name of the junior level posts. Commission wants name of post of the LDC and UDC to be changed to Junior Executive and Executive respectively.
If this report is to be believed, one thing becomes sure that there will be no further increase in the pay of President, Vice President and Governers and Government is having inside news of these recommendations therefore Government increased salary of President to Rs.one Lac.

This news can be read in Hindi here.

Another pay hike for President?

2008-01-15T08:16:00.000+05:30

Reports in the media suggest that there could be a second hike for the salary of President, Vice President and Governers etc. if the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission push the salary bar of the government officials above the President or Governers. It is to be recalled that President/ Vice President and Governers etc. got last week a good pay hike. This hike will come into force after the relevant law will be passed out by parliament. So the chances of getting salary more than a lakh for senior bureaucrats is doomed , because of the convention that since government officers serve on presidential pleasure, their salary cannot exceed that of the occupant of Rashtrapati Bhawan. Sources in the Reports suggests that this hike for the Presdient and Governers is an interim measure and once the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission comes, there may be another hike if needed.

This last week hike had sugggested that the salary of the Government Officials will not be much as was anticipated, so this proposal of another hike in salary of President, Vice President etc. will keep Babu's in good anticipation mood as they may expect a good hike in the salary around one lakh for the top posts and relative increase for lower cadres.

No increase in Retirement Age - Government

2008-01-01T00:16:00.000+05:30

Government today denied that there is any proposal to increase the retirement of the Central Government Employees.

Following is the text of the Press Statement issued by the Department of Personnel & Training, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions today, to clarify that there is no proposal before the Government regarding raising the retirement age of Central Government employees from 60 years to 62 years :-

“Attention of the Government has been drawn to reports appearing in some
sections of the media regarding raising the retirement age of Central Government
employees from 60 to 62 years. In order to put at rest all such speculations, it
is clarified that there is no such proposal before the Government.”

Retirement issue sent to CPC : FM

2007-11-24T09:30:00.000+05:30

Finance Minister P.Chidambaram informed the Lok Sabha on Friday (23/11/2007) the the Sixth Central Pay Commission (CPC) is expected to give its report before 4th April 2008. Finance Minister said that while the specific issue of retirement age did not figure in the terms of the Pay Commission, the government, however, had forwarded references of the matter to Pay Commission for examination. Altlthough the Pay Commissionm, set up last year has not been asked to consider the issue of raising the retirement age from 60, the commission is assessing existing and future liabilities for government on pay and pensions over next 3 to 4 decades. To ensure that the state governments are able to take the impact of any wage revision, the Pay Commission has also sent a questionnaire seeking details on several counts.

Debate on for Unified Civil Service

2007-11-20T23:01:00.001+05:30

There is no unanimity between different Group-A central services and associations representing the All India Service officers (IAS/IPS) on whether a Unified Civil Service will suit India better.

The Sixth Central Pay Commission had sought response from different services on the case for a unified civil service by merging all Central (both technical and non-technical) and All India Services and whether there should be two distinct streams, one embracing all technical services and another for non-technical services.

The Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise) and the Indian Information Service associations supported the idea of unified civil services.

The IRS (C&CE) in its memorandum submitted to the Sixth Pay Commission has said "The recommendations of the IRS (C&CE) is to request the Pay Commission to recommend to constitute a Unified Civil Services pool or an Integrated Management Pool, by empanelling officers from various participating Group 'A' services to fill up posts of Joint Secretaries and higher level posts in ministries/departments of the center. The Government could lay guidelines, uniform for all services and conduct a screening by the UPSC."

The Indian Information Service Group 'A' Officers' Association has responded saying "There is a case for unified civil service. All those who come through the common civil service examination conducted by UPSC, be merged to a single service. This is the first step to end disparity among services and render equal treatment to all the services."

The Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax) differs from the IRS (C&CE) on the issue.

The IRS (IT) Association has said "In the age of specialisation or super-specialisation, the case for a unified civil service would be difficult to support. In fact, it is more important to end the glaring inter-service disparity and monopoly of one service over senior positions irrespective of the suitability of officers of that service for the post."

The Indian Administrative and Civil Service (central) association has recommended saying "There cannot be a complete unified civil service system. in fact, such an attempt will blur the focus from the IAS."

(Published in Hindustant Times on 19/11/2007)

Interview of Justice B N Srikrishna Chairman CPC

2007-10-28T23:12:00.000+05:30

Justice B N Srikrishna, Chairman Sixth Central Pay Commission has givev an Interview to the magazine 'Gfiles' which is exclusively devoted to the 'Babus' published by http://www.indianbuzz.com/ . We have got permission to reproduce this interview for our readers.

"Shape up or Ship Out is our Mantra, Chairman Sixth Pay Commission Justice B N Srikrishna "

Q. What terms of reference were provided to the Sixth Pay Commission?
A. Our terms of reference were to focus on good governance as also to ensure the bureaucracy can be spruced up to provide cutting edge administration. We would be interested in seeing how these qualities can be achieved in the day-to-day administration of the country. Our objective is to effect rationalization of existing structures and work out a pay package that will promote efficiency and productivity.

Q. What is the methodology being used by your team?
A. We believe performance should be incentivised. While we are not depressing pay or giving negative performance incentives, the approach of this Commission is that most of the growth in emoluments should come in form of performance related incentives that are over and above the normal pay. The underlying idea is that good performances must also carry pecuniary reward. Any growth in the compensation should come on account of better productivity. All future growth should be attributable only to better end results with non-performers being denied any growth. Shape up or Ship Out is our mantra. We are presently working out the parameters on how such a policy can be implemented.

Q. This will obviously cause a lot of heart burn?
A. Rewarding performers will inspire employees to perform better which can only result in better delivery for the common man. Only non-performers will be unhappy with such a dispensation. With the right incentives, the bureaucracy can be enthused to give ever improving results. The question to be asked is why a private company provides results whereas this is not the case within the government. We keep talking about making India a super power with growth rates exceeding nine per cent. To bring this about, every aspect of the nation needs to gear up to achieve these results. We cannot have a BMW engine attached to a khatara gadi. I’m an optimist. I believe ki yah kyoon nahi ho sakta hai.

Q. A performance mantra for the central government employees is bound to impact the state government employees also?
A.This is bound to have a ripple effect on state governments also. The State governments should also benefit in terms of better delivery as they cannot give, give, give all the time without expecting better performance. What this will translate into will be more discipline, more conscientiousness and extreme accountability from their employees. The employee must be able to account for every rupee that the government spends.

Q. Is the Sixth Pay Commission going to advocate a hire and fire policy for government employees?
A. The terms of appointment of existing employees cannot be changed to their disadvantage. What the Government can do is to adopt a contractual approach for hiring of government employees for specific jobs at certain levels. It is a logical corollary for ensuring better performance that needs to be looked at. The spirit of competitiveness in the world of trade and commerce must be introduced in governance.

Q. How will contract jobs work for defence service officers?
A. I am not suggesting all government servant jobs should be made contractual. I believe that many posts can be identified for contractual appointment, especially at a higher level or those requiring special skills. It does not imply that majority of posts would be on contract but that for some top level posts above a certain level Government should have the choice of the best talent available.

Q. How much more will the recommendations of the pay commission cost the exchequer? The public are fed up of government servants being paid more and more for non-performing?
A. The successive Pay Commissions have increased salaries of the employees. We believe that every rupee being paid to central government employees is coming out of taxes being paid for by the common man. Each time they received a pay hike, the taxes go up accordingly. Every time a small section of society is placated, the man-on-the street (who pays for this) is going to get upset. Hence, any increase should result in better delivery to the common man. We are working towards achieving this end. We are also trying to ensure that the additional burden on the government is well within its means. We are also well aware of the fact that Central employee salary hikes are bound to have a spiraling effect on state governments who will also be forced to increase salaries even though some of them are already (financially) in a bad shape and are facing deficits. The impact of our recommendation on State governments is also included in our Terms of Reference.

Q. Most of their money is spent on paying salaries?
A. The exact proportion would vary from State to State. As per the information available with us, out of 20 State following the Central pay scales, 14 States are in a comfortable fiscal position. If the citizen gets every rupees worth, we are working towards an ideal government.

Q. Where are the states going to raise the money from?
A. These recommendations are not binding on the states. Infact, these recommendations are not binding on the central government – it is within their discretion to accept or reject. Pressure from the unions forced the government to further enhance salaries beyond what had even been recommended by the Fifth Pay Commission. That is one of the main reasons why states like Kerala and Maharashtra went in the red. Maharashtra has just recently managed to come out of its deficit.

Q. Are government pay scales going to be made at par with private companies?
A. There is the general expectation that government pay scales be brought at par with salaries in the private sector. It will not possible to match private sector salaries. Boys coming out of school are getting salaries of over Rs one lakh per month and more. We have to look into this whole issue to see how much parity we can achieve.

Q. There is a strong rumour that salaries of government secretaries going to be made Rs one crore and more?
A. (laughs) I don’t think too much credence should be given to rumours. All sections are demanding a substantial increase (in salaries).

Q. Has the Finance Ministry instructed you to work within the framework of the budget or will your exercise end up being open-ended?
A. We have to keep the financial implications of our recommendations in mind. What is the comfort level of the Finance Ministry going to be ? Can they afford our recommendations or not. There is no point in recommending an increase of Rs 50 when all they can afford is Rs ten.

Q. You must be facing pressure from all quarters to increase salaries. How are you coping?
A. There is no doubt that everybody wants a larger slice of the cake – the question of course is just how much more can be given. I’m working with a team of efficient people who are doing most of the work. I guide them wherever it is necessary in that sense it is not very different from judicial work. Wherever there are conflicting interests, I step in to try and hold the balance.

Q. By when do you expect to make these recommendations?
A.The Sixth Pay Commission recommendations should be out by next March-April.

Q .If government employees have contractual jobs, how will they receive pension benefits?
A. Persons on contract would be entitled to a higher compensation package and not to pension for the contractual period. Those employed prior to 1/1/2004 would continue to get pension. Those employed on or after 1/1/2004 will continue to be governed by the New Pension Scheme.

Q. India is a complex country with different political interests. Do you see your recommendations actually being put into action?
A. My job ends the day I submit the report. I am looking at the whole situation objectively and on that basis will make my recommendations. How the government puts these recommendations into action is not a concern of mine.

Based on this interview in the 'Gfiles', the Yahoo Business News has also made a news article. Read it here.

Taxmen want corporate salaries

2007-10-15T22:45:00.001+05:30

Encouraged by an unprecedented 40% growth in direct tax collections, the income tax officials have sought salaries at par with corporate sector from the Sixth Pay Commission.

"In order to have the best minds in public sector the pay scales and perquisites should be at par with private sector" income tax employees said in their representation to the pay commission, which is expected to submit its report to the government early next year.

Referring to high salaries of tax officials at international level, the IT department officials said though a well-paid bureaucracy may not eradicate corruption, it would certainly remove the perceived feeling of discrimination.

"There is no full neutralisation in respect of HRA anywhere in the country" the IT officials said. They have also reportedly asked that annual confidential reports be made open documents.

Sources said over 60 Class-I officials have already left the IT Department, which is facing shortage of staff due to restrictions on recruitment and unremunerative salary packages in comparison to the private sector.

The officials who left government service to join private consultancy firms or corporates are earning more than double the salaries then their counterparts in the department.

Although Finance Minister P.Chidambaram has announced one per cent incentive to the tax employees out of tax collections over and above the budget target, and said over 7000 posts would be filled, the IT Department is losing revenue due to shortage of competent staff, the source said.

They said though government is ready to pay better salary packages to the tax employees, it will wait for the recommendations of the Pay Commission.

Since it was hopeful to surpass the budget target of tax collection at the Rs.548000 crore in 2007-08, it would not find it difficult to pay high salaries to attract better talent in the tax department, they said.

(PTI news published in News papers 15/10/07)

Another News Item about CPC

2007-10-12T23:30:00.001+05:30

These days Newspaper across the country, publishing News item about Six Pay Commission and its recommendations. Speculative reports about how much increase in the pay of the Central Government Employees will be as well other allowances and other effects are being continuously published. After Deccan Herald and Malayala Manorama in Kerala, its now turn of the Hindi News Papers Amar Ujala and Rajasthan Patrika. Amar Ujala has published a special report yesterday and Rajathan Patrika has published article on the same line today. These News item in Hindi News Papers only confirm various information already in the circulation among employees. Some of the Fine prints of the reports are :

Retirement Age is going to be 62 years
Basic salary will be increased by 100-150%
Net effect will be 30-40% only
Lowest salary will be more than Rs.10000
Government has asked the commission to give its report early
Child Education allowance will be Rs.200-300
HRA increased by 15% i.e. 45%
Less Government Holidays
Six day week office working
Pay of Cabinet Secretary will be One Lac

Till final report comes, you will see more and more such News Items in various news paper.

Read Amar Ujala news article at http://www.amarujala.com/Vishesh/detail.asp?newsid=4962518

Many pay-scale charts in circulation

2007-09-24T07:56:00.001+05:30

These days many charts for new Pay Scales are in circulation in the world of Government Employees. I have received some of the such charts where new proposed pay scales are listed. One such Pay Scale chart already posted on this blog earlier. After seeing all these charts, I have come to the conclusion that all these are imaginary work of fun loving Babus'. These new proposed pay scales are contradicting each other. Some current pay scales are missing in these charts. These Pay Scales are prepared with the assumption that Six Pay Commission will give new Pay Scale by 2.5 times to 3.4 times of the current Pay Scales. So, just to have some fun, people are preparing imaginary pay scales and circulating. Till final recommendations of the Six Pay Commission comes, several more new charts with proposed pay scales will be in the circulation.

Only Government can decide on pay Commission : SC

2007-09-04T10:24:00.001+05:30

While Government employees waiting anxiously for the Sixth Pay Commission's report, the Supreme Court (SC) has held that it is the sole discretion of the government to accept or reject the recommendations of such commissions and court can not order their implementation.

A bench headed by Justice H.K. Sema said "Although the Pay Commission is an expert body, the state in its wisdom and in furtherance of its valid policy may or may not accept its recommendations"

The bench upheld an appeal filed by the Central Government against the order of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) and the Calcutta High Court, directing the government to give increased pay scales with retrospective effect and merge certain cadres of typist with the clerical staff in the Indian Railways. The High Court and the CAT had passed the orders on a batch of petitions by typist who wanted the higher scales on basis of the recommendations by the Fifth Pay Commission with effect from 1993, instead of from 2000 as decided by the Central Government.

The Central Government had agreed to implement the higher pay scales for a cadre of typists from 2000. The decision was based on recommendations made by the Anomalies Committee.

This ruling of SC has clarify that the Government has every right to accept and reject the recommendations of the forthcoming report of Six Pay Commission.

No Interim Relief for Central Govt. Staff

2007-08-15T22:32:00.000+05:30

Finally it is clear that there will not be any Interim Relief (IR) to the government employees.

The Sixth Central Pay Commission does not intend awarding an Interim hike (IR) in salaries of Central Government Employees, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram told the Rajya Sabha today (14/08/2007).

In a written reply, Chidambaram said that the commission has informed the Government that it expects to submit its final report within the stipulated date of April 4, 2008.

No interim report has therefore been contemplated.

This blog has already predicted earlier that there may not be any IR for the employees.

Supreme court Employees covered in 6 CPC

2007-08-04T23:06:00.000+05:30

New Delhi : 2/8/07

The Centre on Thursday said salaries of Supreme Court employees will also come under the purview of the Sixth Central Pay Commission, which is set up to review the wages of government staff.

"The Union Cabinet has given its approval to amend the terms of reference of Sixth Central Pay Commission that will now cover the employees of the Supreme Court while making recommendations," Minister of Information and Broadcasting Priyaranjan Dasmunshi told reporters after the Cabinet meeting.

Constituted last year, the four-member Commission has been asked to submit its report within 18 months. Also, it has to look into the desirability and need to sanction interim relief, if any, till the time its recommendations are submitted and accepted by the government.

BSF Presentation to CPC

2007-07-31T22:27:00.000+05:30

Recently, while surfing the internet, I found a web page exclusively for BSF's demand and presentation to the Sixth Pay Commission (CPC). This page has a presentation and suggestions made by the DG BSF to the CPC and I found it very interesting and informative. It has some facts which probably none of us might be aware of. The best part is the page is the 101 point recommendations to the Sixth Pay Commission by the BSF. Some of the points are very interesting and applies to other categories of the employees also. It also has employees perception survey and a questionnaire about the hardship of the policemen face.

Visit this page here.

IR before Diwali?

2007-07-31T21:59:00.000+05:30

There are speculations in media that there may be some Interim Relief (IR) to the Central Government Employees before comming Diwali. Recently a news article has come in the Hindi Daily "Dainik Jagran" about this development. If this report has something correct in it then it may be good news to the lakhs of Central Government employees eagerly waiting for IR. This report gives indication of employees getting at least Rs.1000/- as IR. It is clear from this report that there is some thinking going on in the Government to give IR to the employees.

The scanned copy of this news paper article is available here.

States want Center to bear financial burden

2007-07-08T20:30:00.001+05:30

States have responded to the Six Pay Commission's (CPC) questionnaire to the states about the financial impact of any pay hike of Government employees on the states.

The questionnaire has sought to know the impact of accepting the recommendations of the Fifth CPC on the finances of the state Government. The questionnaire has also sought to know whether the state government has set up any Pay Commission for considering the salaries of its employees either in the past or currently.

Some of the States has responded to this questionnaire, and want that Center should bear the burden of any Financial burden, which may arise with the acceptance of the recommendation of the Six Pay Commission. For example, Orissa Government is of the view that any financial implications arising out of the increase in salaries and allowances of the Government employees should be borne by the Center. This view is endorsed by many states at the meeting of state finance ministers. Majority of the state gone nearly bankrupt due to the recommendations of the Fifth Pay Commission and with great difficulty, states have achieved and economic turnaround and there is fear that any increase in salaries and allowances of government employees can shatter the government's finances.

States have been asked by Six CPC to send data for the past five years on the expenditure incurred on account of salaries, allowances and pensions of state state government employees, employees of local bodies and autonomous organisations.

Scientists Leaving DRDO

2007-06-14T17:03:00.000+05:30

A news article in Indian Express dated 14/06/2007 has reported that there is a shortage of the Technical persons in the DRDO as Scientists are leaving to the greener avenues available in the Private Sectror. More than 300 Scientists and Technical staff has left DRDO in the year 2006.

Therefore, DRDO has made a presentation to the Sixth Pay Commission that the condition of working should be made better so that Scientist may stay for longer time say 15 to 20 years as DRDO projects are for longer duration.

Complete new article can be read at http://governmentjob.googlepages.com/IE140607.pdf

More Army Officers wants to leave

2007-06-07T23:18:00.001+05:30

According to the some reports in media, if recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission are not up to the expectations of the Officers in the Armed Forces, there will be a problem of shortage of officers and staff in all 3 Armed forces and to the security of the country. Thousands of officers in the forces are ready to apply to leave the service of the armed forces if salary is not raised up to satisfactory level.

According to the reports, high placed sources in the Army has said that in Army itself, around 1000 to1500 officers from the rank of Lt. Col to Col. level can resign. Some of the desperate officers are just waiting for the final report of Sixth Pay Commission only, so that they can decide. Army requires at least 46 thousand officers, where only 35 thousand are serving currently, so there is a shortage of 11 thousand officers. So if some of these officers, specially young and experienced officers, leave the forces then there will be a big blow to the army. It would have been more shortage if the recommendations of the Ajay Vikram Singh Committee would not have been accepted. Young Officers are more prone to resign and wants to leave.

The recommendation of the Sixth Pay Commission are being seen as "Time Bomb" in the forces, because if salary is increased up to the mark, then it is ok, otherwise there will be a rise in the resignations. This situation is same for Scientist and Technical manpower of the civil organisations also.

To deal with this situation, the resignations of the officers will be rejected as has happened in the Air Force. More than 250 pilot left Air Force in just one year, so now pilots are not allowed to leave. For the last 2-3 years, there is a spurt in the attrition rate in the Army. Those officers who think that there will not be much increase in salary by the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission or salary will not be increased up to their desired level, wants to leave Armed Force as of now so that if their resignation would be accepted. The number of officers who wants to leave army in the year 2006 rose to 811 in comparison to the year 2004 when 436 officers applied to leave.

Create Saperate pay commission for forces : Parliament Committee

2007-05-06T17:56:00.000+05:30

Permanent Parliamentary Committee on defense matters has strongly recommended saperate Pay Commission for the Armed Forces.

Committee has said that Armed Forces are fighting against Terrorist activities, insurgencies and dangers from within and outside the country, besides giving support in the natural disturbances, therefore a saperate pay commission is required to be created for the forces. According to the Committee, there were many anomalies in the recommendations of the Fifth Pay Commission for armed forces. For example, pension of Major General was less than Brigadier, not only this but the pension of the Jawan (Sainik) was recommended less than the pension of peon of the Central Government. So, Fifth Pay Commission totally neglected the need and the aspirations of the Armed Forces. Fifth Pay Commission did not pay attention to the problems of the Armed Forces personnels like promotion avenues, living away from family for a longer time, Difficult conditions and danger to the life etc.

According to the Parliamentary Committee, the recommendation of last pay commission has made services of Armed Forces unattractive to the brilliant young men of the country. Because of this, number of Officers in the forces has reduced. In the Army, more than 2000 officers has requested to leave the Army from 2001 to 2004 only. It comprises application of 2 Lt. General, 10 Major General, 84 Brigadier Position of Air Force is more alarming, where most of the pilots want to leave. But on the other hand very few IPS and IAS has left the service.

In the Sixth Pay Commission, no member is included from Armed Forces. Therefore, Parliamentary Committee has decided to make Sixth Pay Commission aware of the service condition of the Armed Force.

40 percent jobs may be cut

2007-04-23T23:19:00.001+05:30

Sixth Pay Commission may recommend reduction in the work force by 40% to compensate the probable increase in the payments to the employees.

According to a news published in the Dainik Jagran News Paper, Center for Economic Studies and Policy, which is going to give its report to the Pay Commission, finalising its suggestions that the employee strength should be reduced. Sixth Pay Commission has enthrusted the responsibility to the Centre to study the various financial implications for Terminal Benefits to the employees, in which analysis of the the financial burden on the Government in present and for the the coming 2-3 decades is to be done and to suggest the ways to come out of the the financial mess after implementing the recommendations of the pay Commission are included.

The Centre is of the opinion that financial burden on the government after implementing the possible increase in the salaries can be nullified by cutting employee strength by 40%. Additionally, specialists of the Centre are in the favour of reducing specialist jobs in the Government. They want to abolish the vacant posts in the government. Centre has not finalised its opinion about the nature of the posts to be abolished. Specialists of the Centre will give its report to the Pay Commission with some examples. It will be clealy mentioned that if only the recommendations of the improvement of the financial increment are accepted then it can be disastrous. According to the sources of the Centre, some State governments have directly approached the Centre and given it opinion.

Double our salary, asks forces

2007-04-19T08:32:00.000+05:30

A news article has been published in the The Times of India dated 18/04/2007, which says that Security forces wants inclrease of at least double in the salaries, giving reasons "High Risk, Trauma and Turbulence of Services".

the exceprts of the articles are here.

Armed Forces are seeking a hike of over 400% in their salaries and allowances from amounts fiexd by the 5th Central Pay commission, wchich came into ieefect on january 1, 1996."

Since 1996, our salaries have gone up by almost two times, with 50% of the DA being merged with the basic pay and other things. Hence we are looking for a hike by another 200%, roughly double of what we are getting now", said a Fauji.

The three Service chiefs made a joint presentation to Defence minister A K Antony for recommendations to be made to the 6th CPC. Seniors officers say that they have come up with "a mathematical formula" for the pay hike, keeping the country's GDP growth and the rise in the prise index in mind.
Armed forces are pressing for a hike of "4 to 4.5 times" in the 6th CPC over the 5th CPC, with a special "military servicce pay" for the hardship they face.

The armed force are also looking for the implementation of the long-sought one-rank one pension principle, which every political party promises in the run-up to elections but the junks soon after.

The main contention of the armed forces, who are finding it difficult to attract bright youngsters to join as officers due to "poor pay packages and hard lives" is that they deserve to be treated better since teir terms and conditions of service are totally different from other government jobs.

Link : See original articel in ToI here.

DRDO seek four times salary hike

2007-04-19T08:18:00.001+05:30

According to a news article published in the Daily Hindustan Times dated 19/04/2007, The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) expects a 400 percent hike in the salaries of the scientists from Sixth Pay Commission to check the rising attrition and to attract talent.

This is the content of article, which I am reproducing here.

In presentation made to Defence Minister, A.K. Antony, DRDO raised demands including "intellectual capital" pay, enhancing study leave from three years to four years and a provision for sending scientists abroad to attend international conferences every two years.
Arresting the exodus of its best brains - over 1400 scientists have quit the DRDO in the last 10 years - has surfaced as big challenge for the organisation. Attrition was particularly high last year when 501 scientists left the DRDO. Led by its head and scientific advisor to the defence minister, M. Natarajan, the DRDO pressed its case for more incentives showcasing the "impressive qualifications" of its scientists in the presentation.
DRDO has sought a share of monetary benefits accuiring from commercialisation of products for scientists, apart from a special incentive for papers published internationally.
In its 14th report tabled in the Parliament last month, the Standing Committee on Defence had advocated formulating a comprehensive national policy to recruit and retain talented scientists.
"The government will have to loosen its purse string for that", a scientist said.

It is clear that at lesat 400% hike is sought by Scientific organisations as salary has been almost double from 1996 so only 200% more required to be increased.

Link : Kindly see original article in HT here.

IR Unlikely

2007-04-09T22:23:00.000+05:30

It is learnt from our sources that there may not be any Interim Relief (IR)(as some of you may be waiting) because the Sixth Pay Commission is expected to give its report within this year.

Commission is going to get reports of various studies being done by Management experts and various institutes sometimes in the second part of this year and these reports may be included in the final report of the Commission. This report is exepcted to be submitted to the Govt. at the end of this year. Therefore, it is unlikely that the IR may be announced by the Government.

Pay commission wants to punish Balck Sheeps

2007-04-03T23:06:00.001+05:30

According to a article published in Hindi Daily 'Dainik Jagran', Sixth Pay Commission is considering concept of 'Performance based Salary'. Six Pay Commission can be little tough for pay increment hopeful Central Government employees. In the Performance base Pay structure, pay can be reduced for non-committed and irresponsible employees. Pay commission is consulting Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad in this regard.

It is first time in the history of Pay Commission, that a Management Institute is being consulted for fix the responsibility of the employee for their work. IIM in its part has constituted several team, which are visiting various Central Government Ministries and analysing working pattern and salary structures of the visited Ministry. According to the report, these teams may suggest financial fine for non-performing employees.

The IIM teams may give its recommendations at the end of the June after studying all aspect of Pay structures based on the performance of the employees. Pay Commission will decide how to incorporate these recommendations in its final report.

Sources says, teams of Management experts from IIM wants to adopt Corporate Culture in the Ministries to improve the capabilities of the employees of the various Departments and Ministries. They want that while performing and responsible employees should be rewarded, those who are non-performing should be punished as well. IIM teams have discussed these matters with employees and officers in the ministries. Management experts are of the opinion that employees should have the fear of losing some thing if they do not perform well.

According to the report IIM experts have not reached the conclusion whether concept of 'Performance base Pay' should be introduced at the top level or should be implemented for all classes of the employees.

Our sources in the Ministries have also confirmed that IIM team are visiting their Ministries these days.

Link : Article published in 'Dainik Jagran'

Commission study on terminal benefit to employees

2007-03-07T14:13:00.000+05:30

As mentioned earlier by this blog that Six Pay Commission is taking various case studies before comming to any conclusion. The Commission is now studying the various Terminal Benfits of the Central Government Employees to study Long Term Measures for Achieving Reduction in the Liability of the Government towards Terminal Benefits of Central Government Employees.

The study is being conducted by the Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore and is expected to be completed within a period of 7 months by September 2007.

Complete detail is available at http://india.gov.in/govt/cpc_studies.php#3

Babus' having new pay scale charts

2007-02-23T15:19:00.000+05:30

lo! Pay Commission is still discussing with various organisations and studying various reports and meanwhile Babus' in the departments are having a ciculation of imaginary expected New Pay Scales from Sixth Pay Commission. We have received one such copy from our sources and putting this for you to download and see it your self.

Pay Commission Studies the cost to the Govt.

2007-02-16T20:46:00.000+05:30

As mentioned earlier by this blog that Six Pay Commission is taking various case studies before comming to any conclusion. The Commission is now studying the Estimate of the the Compensation Package for Government Employees and the Cost to the Government. The aim of this study is to assess the total cost incurred by the Government for Government employees in various grades and sectors. The study will take into account salary, various allowances as well as the other benefits provided by the Government to their employees.

This study is being conducted by the Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI), Jamshedpur.

The Terms of Reference and methodology is available at http://www.india.gov.in/govt/cpc_studies.php#2.

Wait more for IR

2007-02-03T13:36:00.001+05:30

Entire January of new year 2007 has been passed and no signal from Government side about interim relief to the employee. Central Govt. employees are eagerly waiting for IR. Our sources has informed that there is some file movement in the Ministry, but no action has been taken yet. Meanwhile there are many rumours regarding IR are floating around in the employee circle :

that there will be IR @10% of the Basic Pay.
that there will be a flat Rs. 1000/- IR
that IR will in the two groups viz. Rs.1000/- and Rs.2000/- flat depending upon the category of the employee/officers.
that total IR will be 10-20% of the Basic Pay for the entire term of Six Pay Commission, so Govt. will give this IR in phases and first phase will have 7.5% of the Basic Pay.

Insiders say that chances are more for the number 3 rumour.

But it has emerged that no IR is comming before end of March or early April. Since inflation is rising more that 6%, Govt. has to give DA also to the employee at the higher side, so for IR Govt. has make arrangement in the budget itself.

Give incentives to Scientists - PM

2007-01-11T22:22:00.000+05:30

India's top sceintists last month rang alrm bells, pointing the steady attrition of scientists from Government institutions to the the private sector.

Responding the crisis Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday advocated incentivising research productivity of scientist and greater freedom for the bright young sparks.

"We can consider incentive payments related to the research productivity of scientists measured in terms of a variety of criteria" Singh added at a meeting of the CSIR Society on Wednesday. The PM also called for a review of the efficacy of the existing arrangements that provides for handling consultancy project and selling intellectual property right.

"Talent in today's world is very mobile" he acknowledged, noting the "concern" among leaders in the science and technology community about attrition of scientists to the private sector.

The PM's prescription went deeper into problems afflicting research in the country. For, one he made clear that scientists playing the role of administrators at research institutes may not always be a very good idea and suggested "managerial reform" at CSIR as well as other universities.

This also shows growing opinion among leaders and scientific community that Scientists should get some thing special by the Sixth Pay Commission.

Pay Commission started studies

2007-01-06T01:36:00.000+05:30

It is learnt that the Sixth Pay Commission has initiated the studies for reaching some conclusion in the pay related matters. Floowing studies are being taken right now:

Study on Feasibility of Performance Related Pay (PRP)-
Study on Compensation Package
Study on Terminal Benefits of the Central Government Employees

The first study is being done by by Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A). It is to be recalled that one of the member of the commission is Prof. Ravindra Dholakia, who is from IIM-A. We will go through these studies in the comming months.

Fill Questionnaire now

2006-12-29T07:32:00.000+05:30

As already stated here that Pay Commission has invited public views and a questionnaire has been prepared by the Commission in this regard which has to be filled up and to be send to the sixth pay commision till 31st December, 2006.

This last date is now some days away and those of you have not submitted it till now, kindly fill this form and submit now. If you have a view or you want to express yourself regarding pay related issues then it is a good opportunity. If all of you reply then your voice will be heard in the Pay Commission, otherwise you may miss an opportunity.

National Informatics Centre (NIC) has developed an online version of this questionnaire for the Pay Commission which can be filled up online, this can be filled up in bits atnd peaces and you can take you time to think about any particular question. But you have to register first at the http://india.gov.in portal. You can click on the image and you will be redirected to the online version.

Pay Commission Studying Economic Condition of States

2006-12-26T16:52:00.000+05:30

According to the a news article published in the 'Dainik Jagran', the Sixth Central Pay Commission has started an exercise to learn about the fallout of the implementations of Fifth Pay Commission recommendations in the states after getting inputs from the Central Government about this. States got nearly bankrupt after the implementations of the Fifth Pay Commission and Central Government had to intervene and had to help the states to recover from the economical draught.

The Sixth Pay commission is setup to revise the pay scale of the Central Govt. employees only and its recommendations are implementable to the Central Govt. employees only and for those who are under the control of the Central Govt. States are not bound to follow the recommendations of the Central Pay Commission. But by the convention, State Govt. increase pay of their employees on the pattern of the Central Government pay scales. Therefore, Pay commission is alert this time in regards to the implementation of its report by the states.

As per the story, the Pay Commission has asked the states for important information. A questionnaire has been sent to the states in which details of the effects of the fifth pay commission in total and on per years year basis has been asked.

In the questionnaire, apart from the overall impact, expenditure on the pay, allowances and pensions for last five years, GroupWise no. of employees and pensioners in the local bodies, Government and autonomous institutions has been asked. The states are also to tell whether they have made a law for the fiscal deficit or not. The states has to provide position of the balance of the fund, income and expenditure statement and advance analysis of treasury from the year 2007-07 to 2015-16. The pay commission is doing all this exercise to avoid the same conditions at the time of the implementation of the fifth pay commission.

Fifth pay commission was setup in the year 1994 and its recommendations were implemented from the January 1997 and after the implementations in the year 1997, the states face acute shortage of the fund as around 90% of the revenue started to consumed by the pay bills only. In the year 2000 some 13 states were not in position to provide salary to their employees. At that time central government had to help the states financially.

Source : Dainik Jagran

Defence Ministrer wants more pay

2006-12-23T12:05:00.000+05:30

Banagalore 22/12/06

Worried over brain-drain, Defence Minister, Mr. A.K. Antony on Friday said the Government will urge the new Pay Commission to hike the salaries of employees of the armed forces and scientists of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)

It is to be recalled that recently it was disclosed by the Army and Air Force that there is a huge shortage of the officers and those officers in the service are demanding to leave the forces and want to work for corporate. Except for the love to the country and dedication to work directly to the country nothing else is attractive about the armed forces to join. Bright young students of the Universities are joining corporate world for better opportunities and pay packaets.

It is not clear whether Minister wants more pay for Scinetists of the DRDO only or he wants more pay for scientists of all other 500+ scientific organisations.

The statement of the Minister also reflect that somewhere in the Governemnt corridor it has been learnt that to attract best tallent, pay structure and service conditions has to improve.

India must pay for good governance

2006-12-05T17:02:00.000+05:30

Many of this blog readers has asked me to include this brilliant artivle by Sh. Sumit K. Majumdar, plulished in the Hindu Business Line dated June 23, 2006. I am reproducing the same article here to read be all. This is certify that the original artivle was posted in the Hindu and I am just reproducing with thanks.

India must pay for good governance

Sumit K. Majumdar

In the last 25 years, civil service salaries have risen substantially. Yet, they are no comparison to private sector wage levels that have risen a hundred times in the same timeframe. The price of such disparities is psychological dysfunction among civil servants who are capable and highly motivated. India cannot short-change good governance. The prognosis for India's governance looks bleak, as good candidates for superior civil service jobs seek alternative careers.

Pegged at extraordinarily generous rates by Lord Cornwallis so as to eradicate corruption indulged in by the employees of East India Company, the salary scales of civil servants provided the motivation for generations of British and Indian men to seek employment in India's civil services.

The Indian Civil Service (ICS) was one of the best-paid jobs on earth. In 1805, a Collector of Madras Presidency was paid Rs 2,500 a month — a gigantic sum by today's standards. If prices have risen by 200 times in the last two centuries, then that salary today is worth at least Rs 500,000.

As late as 1980, when the last serving ICS officer, N. K. Mukherjee, retired as the Cabinet Secretary, his monthly salary of Rs 4,000, though having stayed static for that level of appointment for two centuries, was adequate. Private sector salaries were such that senior functionaries were paid about Rs 10,000 a month. In the last 25 years, civil service salaries have risen substantially. The Cabinet Secretary is now paid ten times what his previous generation counterpart was. Nevertheless, what has risen more substantially is the level of salaries paid in India's private sector. They have risen by a hundred times in the last 25 years. The wage disparity is huge and has psychological consequences.

Facts from Yesterday

In 1947, a mid-level District Collector would have been paid Rs 2,000 a month while his Commissioner would draw Rs 3,500. The Chief Secretary of the Madras Presidency would be paid Rs 3,750. An ICS Member of the Governor's Executive Council would be paid Rs 5,000 a month, while the Governor of UP was paid Rs 10,000. For 1947, these were large sums.

At that time the Reserve Bank of India Governor was paid Rs 7,500 a month, while a Secretary and Treasurer of the Imperial Bank, the precursor of the State Bank of India, was paid Rs 4,000. Comparably, the best private sector company would pay its general manager Rs 5,000 and its Managing Director Rs 6,000 a month. Government pay was outstandingly handsome.

Some Facts Today

Today a 35-year-old District Collector is paid Rs 20,000 a month, a 50-year-old Secretary to a State government gets Rs 34,000 and the Chief Secretary Rs 38,000. The RBI Governor and the SBI Chairman do just a bit better at about Rs 44,000.Now, look at private sector salaries. A brand new graduate joining a call centre gets Rs 20,000, while a 30-year-old Systems Analyst is paid Rs 60,000 per month. What will motivate youth to join in national governance?

At upper levels the situation is extraordinary. A private sector general manager is paid Rs 300,000 a month. Compare the salary of his college mate who got into the IAS. But look at the disparity between the salary of an Executive Director of a private sector bank, probably paid about Rs 10,00,000 a month, and that of the RBI Governor.

Or, for that matter between that of the CEO of a private sector company, probably paid Rs 15,00,000 a month, and that of the Chief Secretary of a State. In the financial sector the disparity ratio is over 20; in the last case the disparity ratio is 40!

Challenges of Economic Emancipation

In the last decade India has embarked on a journey of liberalisation in which the role of market is absolute. The private sector salary rates represent the forces of demand and supply. Price and wage controls cannot be resorted to because the capping of private sector wages leads to retardation of incentive to work. Controls have dysfunctional consequences, as witnessed for a major part of India's contemporary history. The supply side revolution, well under way, will be stopped in its tracks if controls are applied. Yet, as British mathematician-philosopher Alfred North Whitehead had remarked: "The major advances in civilisation are processes, which all but wreck the societies in which they occur." The runway wage inflation in the private sector, reflecting the working of a free-market economy, can have dysfunctional consequences and wreck the process of societal evolution. With that the quality of governance would go downhill. The question is how much is to be paid for good governance? Very large amounts. Lord Cornwallis had recognised this in the 1790s. How do we handle the conundrum today? If today's civil servants are paid a tenth or less of what their private sector colleagues earn, who can blame them if they are de-motivated?

If India wants good governance it has to pay for it. If, following the efficiency wages hypothesis, low wages will attract only unworthy candidates. Thus, the prognosis for India's governance looks bleak, as good candidates for superior civil service jobs seek alternative careers.

Pay Commissions

Initial thoughts on a pay commission would be that its report would be simple. It would simply increase all government sector salaries at least ten times. While that would be easy, it would be disastrous for the government that would disappear under its fiscal obligations.

The burden of supporting several million employees at vastly enhanced rates of pay is a recipe for disaster. Yet, this potential liability has to be met head-on and budgeted for. A way out is the significant shrinkage of employment in Groups B, C and D. This would be impossible for reasons political.

A pay commission could also recommend that a large fund be set up to implement golden handshakes; this amount be treated as an investment and accordingly budgeted for. The subsequent reduction in manpower would lead to significant savings.

The next Pay Commission should address the disparities in salaries. It also needs to increase by a factor of at least ten the salaries of Group A employees. Even then the senior civil servants will be earning a third or half of their private sector counterparts. It must deal with the re-structuring of the government machinery.

The price of wage disparities is psychological dysfunction among civil servants who are capable and motivated. As the supply of capable and motivated civil servants dwindles, the price could be anarchy. Serious thought must be given to the question of how much India pays for good governance.

(The author is Professor of Technology Strategy, University of Texas at Dallas. He can be contacted at majumdar@utdallas.edu)

Source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/06/23/stories/2006062300891100.htm

Pay Commssion asked to give report ealry : Chidambaram

2006-11-25T16:01:00.000+05:30

25/11/2006

The Finance Minister Sh. Chidambaram has said in Loksabha that Sixth Pay Commission has been asked to give its report as soon as possible. He said that the power to take decision regarding 'interim relief' has been vested with the Pay Commission itself and any decision regarding the interim relief will be taken by the Pay Commission itself. The Finanace Minister denied in Loksabha that Sixth Pay Commission is setup late in comparison to the Fifth Pay Commission. He said that normally pay commissions are setup after a gap of 11 to 13 years and Sixth Pay Commission is setup just after 12 years of the last pay commission i.e. Fifth Pay Commission.

Six Pay Commission Address

2006-11-04T08:44:00.000+05:30

Following is the address for communication to the Sixth Pay Commission.

Sixth Central Pay Commission2nd Floor, ICADR Building ,Plot No.6, Vasant Kunj Institutional Area, Phase IINew Delhi-110070.

or at:

PO Bag No.001, Vasant Kunj Post Office, New Delhi-110070

E-mail : sixth.cpc@nic.in

Pay Cmmission invites public views

2006-11-04T08:22:00.000+05:30

Suggestions & Comments invited

Six pay commission invites all interested persones, including members of the public, poeple's representatives, consumer assoicaitions, staff assosiations, State/UT Governments, Ministries/Departments are invited to send their views to the Commission by 31 st December, 2006.

A questionnaire has been prepared to facilitate response on the items of specific interest to the Commission. The same can be accessed at the above mentioned web sites. In the meantime, you may download the questionnaire from http://india.gov.in/paycommision.php page and submit the same at sixth.cpc@nic.in

by post at the following address:

Sixth Central Pay Commission2nd Floor, ICADR Building ,Plot No.6, Vasant Kunj Institutional Area, Phase IINew Delhi-110070.
or at:

PO Bag No.001, Vasant Kunj Post Office, New Delhi-110070

Interim Relief by Next year?

2006-11-01T14:35:00.000+05:30

Will the much awaited Interim Relif be announce by next year? Yes, it seems that this will be announce early next year because Government has enthrusted the Sixth Pay Commission to annouce any Interim Relief if it wants to provide any interim relief. It will take around 2 months for Pay Commission to have a proper secretariat and proper data to decide on interim relief. Therefore, there are chances that interim relief may be announce by the ealry next year.

Constitution & Terms Of Reference of Pay Commission

2006-10-06T10:01:00.000+05:30

Thursday 5 October, 2006

Government of India has announced constitution & terms of reference of the Sixth Central Pay Commission. In a notification issued by the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance here today, the Commission will comprise of the following: -

Chairman - Mr. Justice B.N. Srikrishna
Member - Prof. Ravindra Dholakia
Member - Shri J.S. Mathur
Member-Secretary - Smt. Sushama Nath

The terms of reference of the Commission will be as follows: -

To examine the principles, the date of effect thereof, that should govern the structure of pay, allowances and other facilities / benefits, whether in cash or in kind, to the categories of employees consisting of : (i) Central government employees – industrial and non-industrial (ii) Personnel belonging to the All India Services (iii) Personnel belonging to the Armed Forces (iv) Personnel of the Union Territories (v) Officers and employees of the Indian Audit and Accounts Department; and (vi) Officers and employees of the regulatory bodies set up under Acts of Parliament.
To transform the Central Government Organisations into modern, professional and citizen-friendly entities that are dedicated to the service of the people.
To work out a comprehensive pay package for the categories of Central Government employees mentioned at (A) that is suitably linked to promoting efficiency, productivity and economy through rationalization of structures, organisations, systems and processes within the Government, with a view to leveraging economy, accountability, responsibility, transparency, assimilation of technology and discipline.
To harmonize the functioning of the Central Government Organisations with the demands of the emerging global economic scenario. This would also take in account, among other relevant factors, the totality of benefits available to the employees, need of rationalization and simplification thereof, the prevailing pay structure and retirement benefits available under the Central Public Sector Undertakings, the economic conditions in the country, the need to observe fiscal prudence in the management of the economy, the resources of the Central Government and the demands thereon on account of economic and social development, defence, national security and the global economic scenario, and the impact upon the finances of the States if the recommendations are adopted by the States.
To examine the principles which should govern the structure of pension, death-cum-retirement gratuity, family pension and other terminal or recurring benefits having financial implications to the present and former Central Government employees appointed before January 1, 2004.
To make recommendations with respect to the general principles, financial parameters and conditions which should govern payment of bonus and the desirability and feasibility of introducing Productivity Linked Incentive Scheme in place of the existing ad hoc bonus scheme in various Departments and to recommend specific formulae for determining the productivity index and other related parameters.
To examine desirability and the need to sanction any interim relief till the time the recommendations of the Commission are made and accepted by the Government.

The Commission will devise its own procedure and may appoint such Advisers, institutional consultants and experts, as it may consider necessary for any particular purpose. It may call for such information and take such evidence, as it may consider necessary. Ministries and Departments of the Government of India will furnish such information and documents and other assistance as may be required by the Commission. The Government of India trusts that State Governments, Service Associations and others concerned will extend to the Commission their fullest cooperation and assistance.

The Government of India have been considering for some time past the changes that have taken place in the structure of emoluments of Government employees over the years. Conditions have also changed in several respects since the last Pay Commission made its Report in 1997. The Commission will make its recommendations within 18 months of the date of its constitution. It may consider, if necessary, sending reports on any of the matters as and when the recommendations are finalized. The Commission will have its headquarters in Delhi.

Please see the Gazette notification here.

UP Govt. for speedy consultation of Pay Commission

2006-09-16T11:03:00.000+05:30

UP Government has given answer to a question in State Assembly that Government will decide early on Sixth Pay Commission recommendation as and when received from the the Central Government.

In a reply to the question by Mr. Jagdambika Pal in question hour, the State Minister for Finanace , Mr. Shahid Manjoo said that right from the year 1986 the the salaries to the employees are being given at par with the Central government. After 4th Pay commissions recommendations in the year 1986, in the year 1988 Government decided to accept the recommendations. And in ctober, 1997 Government setup a state Salary Committe whose recommendations were accepted by the Government. So as and when the Sixth Pay Commission's recommendations will reach to the State Government, the Govt. will decide accordingly.

Interim Relief Rumour

2006-09-12T13:52:00.000+05:30

It is a very strong rumour in the Babu circle (Babudom!) that Government is planning for a 10% interim relief alongwith Notification of constituation of Sixth Pay Commission. Some rumour say interim relief will be 5%. But I think it is the Babu's wish list and they want that some interim relief should be announced, therefore this rumour is gaining ground.

Government Constituted Sixth Pay Commission

2006-09-05T10:27:00.000+05:30

September 02, 2006: True to the Media reports Government finally constituted the Sixth Pay Commission and Former SC judge Sri Krishna to head pay commission.

The Government on Saturday appointed former Supreme Court judge Justice B N Srikrishna as Chairman of the Sixth Pay Commission that will go into revision of wages for 33 lakh Central government employees. An official announcement said the pay commission would have three other members, apart from its Chairman.The members are -- IIM professor Ravindra Dholakia, former additional secretary budget and member secretary of Expenditure Reforms Commission J S Mathur and S Nath, who will be the member secretaries of the pay panel.

Srikrishna, a former judge of the Bombay High Court, had headed the inquiry commission that went into the Mumbai communal violence in 1993 in the aftermath of Babri Masjid demolition.The Cabinet cleared the proposal for setting up the sixth pay commission in July.

The fifth pay commission was also headed by a former Supreme Court judge, Ratnavel Pandian. As per the Cabinet decision in July, the three-member sixth pay commission will be given 18 months to submit its recommendations. The commission will also examine the need and quantum to sanction interim relief to the employees.

The Cabinet decision to set up the sixth pay commission came five months after the announcement by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in this regard. The Centre had consulted the state governments, of which 16 had sent comments.

While BJP-ruled Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh totally opposed its setting up, six other states -- Karnataka, Assam, Tripura, Orissa, Manipur and Nagaland -- wanted the Centre to share the burden, Parliamentary Affairs Minister P R Dasmunsi had said after the Cabinet meeting.

The previous fifth pay commission, which was implemented in 1996-97, cost the exchequer additional Rs 17,000 crore yearly and had put a heavy burden on states, forcing the then finance minister to come out with a financial package to bail them out.

The sixth pay commission is widely expected to cost Rs 20,000 crore to the Centre's exchequer annually. The prime minister had, however, said the move would not hurt the fiscal situation and cause apprehension among foreign investors.

Justice Srikrishna is Chairman for Pay Commission?

2006-09-02T16:20:00.000+05:30

There is strong rumour and media speculation about decision of Central Government to appoint Retd. Justice Sri Krishna as Chairman to the Sixth Pay Commission. It is reported in the media that Government has decided to appoint him and other member of the commission will be decided later with consultation to the Justice Sri Krishna.

Notification about constitution of the Sixth Pay Commission is expected soon and it is learnt that the name of the Justice Sri Krishna is refered by Chief Justice India Sh. Sabharwal.

Pay Commision History

2006-09-01T15:18:00.000+05:30

Pay Commissions are periodically constituted to examine various issues such as pay and allowances, retirement benefits, conditions of service, promotion policies, etc. of the Central Government employees. There is no stipulation regarding any specific time period for constitution of a Pay Commission for Central Government employees. Till now five Central Pay Commissions have been constituted whose details are as below:-

First Pay Commission

Date of Appointed : May, 1946
Date of Submission of Report : May,1947
Financial Impact (Rs. in Cr.) : NA

Second Pay Commission

Date of Appointed : August, 1957
Date of Submission of Report : August 1959
Financial Impact (Rs. in Cr.) : 39.62

Third Pay Commission

Date of Appointed : April, 1970
Date of Submission of Report : March, 1973
Financial Impact (Rs. in Cr.) : 144.60

Fourth Pay Commission

Date of Appointed : June, 1983
Date of Submission of Report : 3 Reports submitted in June, 1986; Dec. 1986 and May, 1987
Financial Impact (Rs. in Cr.) : 1282

Fifth Pay Commission

Date of Appointed : April, 1994
Date of Submission of Report : January, 1997
Financial Impact (Rs. in Cr.) : 17,000

Thus successive Central Pay Commissions were set up in the past at intervals of 10 to 13 years. The last Central Pay Commission was constituted in April, 1994.

Source : Press Information Bureau, Govt. of India

MP increase their own salary

2006-08-29T16:29:00.000+05:30

Recently MPs in Parliament increased their own salary. This is unique in the sense that MPs are only people who can increase thier own salary. Parliament has unanimously pased a bill to increase hefty amount in MPs salary and other expenses. Only token opposition was done left parties MPs.

Whenever DA is increased by the Government, it is a ritual to call the increase in DA as 'Additional burden' by Hon. Finance Minister and in every year budget ever Finance Minister rememenrs at least once that how badly economy has been after Fifth Pay Commission, but no a single word is said by anybody when MPs increase their salary. Now Govt. did not mentioned how much burden it cost to the nation.

How much increase do you expect?

2006-08-03T15:49:00.000+05:30

How much should be the increase and what should be given?

As you are aware that Government has decided to setup the Sixth Pay Commission. Now you may be thinking about how much should be the increase in your wages or what will be the recommendations of the said commission? So let us have a comment of you that what do you think should be the minimum increase in the pay or what should new to be done by the commission for example should the transport allowance be linked with the index of cost of Petroleum products?

So give your comment by clicking link below and let others also view your comments. By the time commission starts working we may have good opinion about what should be done.

Sixth Pay Commission may derail Economy

2006-07-28T17:21:00.000+05:30

'The Fifth Pay Commission (set up in 1994) recommendations resulted in a Rs 530 billion payout by the government. The next (sixth) pay commission would effectively wind up Indian sovereignty.'
-- Arun Shourie, former Union minister for divestment, statistics and programme implementation

In an interview to the www.rediff.com the former Union ministerSh. Arun shourie has opposed the setup of Sixth Pay Commission.

Read full interview here.

We must scrap Pay Commissions

2006-07-28T17:09:00.000+05:30

'We must scrap Pay Commissions'

Bibek Debroy, secretary general, PHDCCI

July 24, 2006

Last week, the Manmohan Singh Cabinet set up the Sixth Pay Commission that will determine the wages of central government employees for the next 10 years.

India Inc has reacted strongly to the constitution of the new pay panel. Apex business bodies like the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII); the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI); and the Punjab, Haryana and Delhi Chambers of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) argue that the new pay commission recommendations, when implemented, would stifle the country's economic growth.

The Fifth Pay Commission was set up in 1994. And when it was implemented in 1997, it created an additional burden of Rs 17,000 crore (Rs 170 billion) per year on the government's finances. Many state governments couldn't bear the burden of the hike at the time, forcing the central government to devise a financial bailout package for them.

So, why did the government hastily set up the Sixth Pay Commission? One expert who has voiced his concern on the new Commission is Bibek Debroy, secretary general, PHDCCI.

A wellknown economist, Dr Debroy served till last year as the director of Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies in New Delhi.
In an exclusive interview with rediff.com Managing Editor George Iype, Dr Debroy explains how damaging can the Sixth Pay Commission be for India.

Why do you think Prime Minister Singh decided to set up the Sixth Pay Commission?

That is something that the government has to answer. But the irony is that the government has set up the Sixth Pay Commission without implementing the recommendations of the Fifth Pay Commission. There were many measures that the Fifth Pay Commission had recommended: like downsizing the government and going forward in administrative reforms.

While recommendations on downsizing and wage increases linked to productivity were ignored, the increase in wages and salaries was implemented. Sadly, the government implemented the recommendations pertaining only to wages and salary hikes.

The state governments have also followed suit. The result was that the Fifth Pay Commission recommendations completely ravaged the finances of the central and state governments.

What will be the effect of the Sixth Pay Commission?

We do not know what will be the recommendations of the new Pay Commission. But I am sure it will increase inflation and stifle economic growth. Also, once the impact on states and other quasi-government bodies is factored in, the Sixth Pay Commission will cost 1.5 per cent of GDP, something India cannot really afford.

This represents regressive transfers from the poor of the country. The poor pay through higher taxes for a salary budget that could have been spent on physical and social infrastructure.

Do you think setting up the new Pay commission is a regressive move?

Yes, it is a regressive move. First of all, where does the money come from to give higher salaries to millions of government employees? The Pay Commission recommendations on salary increases benefit 4.2 million central government employees, and 20 million state government employees when the recommendations eventually trickle down to states. But this hike is paid for by the 380 million who work outside the government.

Soon after the implementation of the Fifth Pay Commission in 1997, the government had set up the 10th Expenditure Reforms Commission. It had also suggested that downsizing the government was the most urgent issue. What happened to that recommendation?

Look, a number of commissions like the last Pay Commission and Expenditure Reforms Commission had recommended downsizing the government. But nothing has been done on this front for long. Ironically, the central government claims that its workforce has reduced in the last few years. But it is all a sleight of hand.

The corporatisation of the BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd) reduced the workforce in good numbers. But that is not the 'means' under which the workforce should be reduced. Actually, the number of employees in the government -- the central government and the states -- has not reduced.

Do you think autonomous bodies under the government are also eating into the exchequer? It is said there are more than 300 autonomous bodies under the central government and their cost of operation every year is around Rs 8,000 crore (Rs 80 billion).

All these autonomous bodies should be turned into self-financing bodies. They should only be given some capital expenditure to run.

Do you think there is political pressure behind the setting up of the Sixth Pay Commission? Especially from the Left parties?

Setting up the Pay commission was a collective political gambit. It is not just the Left parties alone that wanted the Commission. In fact, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had announced the setting up of the commission in February without consulting the state governments. There was a consensus that the central government must consult the states before setting up the crucial commission, because if pay hikes are implemented for central employees, naturally the states have also to raise the salaries.

But only after the central government announced that it is setting up the Commission, did it start consulting the states. I think it is a political game by the Congress party itself. Maybe they are looking at elections in 2009. They may be thinking that it will favour them politically it they can execute the Sixth Pay Commission before the next general election.

Do you need India needs such commissions?

What is the need for a Pay Commission? It has an archaic model up. It was first set up in 1956. Since then we have religiously continued setting up the Pay Commissions! It is high time India scraped the system of setting up Pay Commissions. If public sector undertakings want to increase salaries to their employees, let them do it. Let us set up a collective bargaining mechanism instead.

What do you mean by collective bargaining?

Government employees do not come under the purview of either the Trade Union Act or the Industrial Dispute Act. Rule 7 of the Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1964, prohibits government employees from going on a strike. It effectively means that government employees do not have collective bargaining power which is available to workmen in other industries and in the private sector.

I feel government employees should be given collective bargaining rights. This will help them to argue for a wage hike in accordance with their performance and calibre and they can actively negotiate with the government as a matter of right.

The government should facilitate this by amending the Trade Union and the Industrial Dispute Acts. This will ensure that there would be no need for further pay commissions from time to time.

(This interviews was published in www.rediff.com and taken with thnaks)
Published at http://inhome.rediff.com/money/2006/jul/24inter1.htm

Govt decides to set up sixth pay commission

2006-07-25T12:47:00.000+05:30

Govt decides to set up sixth pay commission

NEW DELHI: In a heart-warming gesture to lakhs of Central Government employees and pensioners, the Union Cabinet on Thursday gave its nod for setting up the Sixth Pay Commission with an 18-month tenure to submit its recommendations on wage revision.

Implementation of the recommendations of the yet-to-be-constituted three-member Commission, to be announced by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the next few days, is likely to cast an additional annual burden of about Rs. 20,000 crore on the Central exchequer, considering that the financial impact of the previous Commission was Rs. 17,000 crore.

Announcing the Cabinet's decision entailing far-reaching financial and political implications in view of the percolation effect on the States, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi told newspersons that the Commission, like the previous five, would examine issues such as pay and allowances, service conditions, promotion policies, retirement benefits, inflation and standard of living of the Central staff.

"The Commission will also examine the desirability, need and quantum of interim relief, if any," he said.

Mr. Dasmunsi said the precise terms of reference of the Commission would be announced at the time of its constitution. It would comprise a Chairman in the rank of Minister of State, one part-time Member and one Member-Secretary in the rank of Secretary or Additional Secretary at the Centre.

The Minister pointed out that the decision to set up the Commission — five months after the Prime Minister's announcement — was taken keeping in mind the "long-standing demand of the employees and the opinion of State Governments" although the Twelfth Finance Commission advised doing so on a regular basis.

Of the 16 States that responded to the UPA Government's queries on the proposal, only two BJP-ruled States — Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat — were against the move, while Karnataka, Orissa, Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, Nagaland, Tripura and Manipur sought financial assistance for implementing the recommendations, said Mr. Dasmunshi. Mr. Dasmunsi said the views of the State Governments were sought primarily because once a decision was taken on salary revision for the Central staff, the States were expected to face similar demands from their employees.

The Twelfth Finance Commission, headed by former Reserve Bank of India Governor, C. Rangarajan, disfavoured setting up of such pay panels at regular intervals as the Fifth Pay Commission's report, when implemented in 1996-97, plunged most of the States in serious financial crisis.

The burden was so heavy that the then Finance Minister had no other option but to come out with a financial bailout package.

Even the Economic Survey 2005-06 had advised the Centre to remain vigilant and exercise caution in this regard. It noted that on the implementation of the Fifth Pay Commission's recommendations the general fiscal deficit rose each year to touch a peak of 9.9 per cent in 2001-02. The Government needs to "avoid a repetition of a similar deterioration [of fiscal situation] in the medium term," the Survey said.

However, the Prime Minister had commented that the Pay Commission issue would not hurt the fiscal situation.

The Finance Ministry had also assured that efforts would be made to see that the increased wage burden was reasonable, appropriate and affordable and in consonance with modern requirements.