Revenue Officials agitating over 'Raw Deal'

(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

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

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

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

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)