Pay Packages of Group 'A' Officers and above - Suggestions for Sixth Central Pay Commission

Some of the Questions for the Government Policy Makers:

--Who are the people who join Indian Civil Services?

--During the last five years, how many students from IITs and IIMs have joined Indian Civil Services?

--Have government noticed that earlier the brain drain was happening outside India mostly to US, UK, Australia, New Zealand and other western European countries but now most of the talented people are joining MNCs even within India?

--Why these people are not joining the earlier most sought after service i.e. Indian Civil Services?

--Do you know what is the difference between the pay package that a new ICS appointee gets and an MNC appointee gets?

There is a big hue and cry about the appointment of the Sixth Central Pay Commission. The corporate India is scared that, the pay revision for the ‘Baboos’ will derail the economy altogether. On the other hand the government employees complain that the present salary and other emoluments are not sufficient for leading a decent life, especially in the post liberalization era of high pay packets.

On a realistic analysis, it can be seen that, the main problem in the Government service is that compensation at the senior levels is highly uncompetitive. In the Group 'A' level, where the officials have to take important decisions, which affects the welfare of the general public, and implement important schemes and programs, for the development, and growth of the nation, there is indeed a need to recruit the best available talent. The civil service in India has always been manned by the cream of the talent. The recruitment by UPSC is known to be the toughest in the world, and the training provided is considered as among the best. Even in spite of that there are complaints from many corners that the bureaucracy in the country is not efficient and is slow paced.

Are They Inefficient?

The actual problem in fact is, not with the quality of manpower, but with the system and procedure which is unnecessarily complicated, and which can only be addressed by administrative reforms. It is not correct to blame the officers or question their efficiency or integrity, for delays or hurdles in delivering, which in fact is mainly due to the administrative system, which needs to be thoroughly modified. Of course there is a question of attitude also, which can be improved by steps including betterment of working conditions. In fact Government officers themselves are the most affected victims of the system. A good example is the Pay Commission itself. Pay revisions for the government employees are due once in ten years. The Fifth Pay Commission had stated that the Sixth Commission be appointed by 2003 so that new pay scales could be made effective from 1.1.2006. The Sixth Commission was set up in October 2006 only, ie, ten months later to the date on which the revision should have actually been implemented! The Commission has been given a time frame of 18 months to submit their report. The Fifth Commission has taken 33 months to submit their report. Even if the present commission submits its report within time, it takes several months for the Government to take a decision. Who is to be blamed here, - the employees, who are at the receiving end?

It is to be noted that, not too long ago, the salaries in the private sector was not as attractive as they are now. Many of the serving government officers have joined the service when they were having other options also. They should not be punished nor made to regret for having chosen to become a public servant than serving some ‘only profit’ motivated private enterprises. The Govt. official also have to live, bring up and educate his children among those who are employed in the private sector or well paid public sector organisations. At present for even a Group ‘A’ officer it would be difficult to afford to send his child, to an IIM or any other premier institute, which is sponsored or established by the Government itself, whereas those who being less competent were not able to make it to the Civil Services, and hence joined the public or private sector, would be able to provide quality education for their children.

Regarding other benefits such as promotional avenues also, the private sector, has emerged as much more attractive. In the private sector (especially in software, banking, Telecommunications, Insurance etc.) a qualified employee gets promoted to the next level in about three years, whereas in the government the same takes many more years. This will definitely demoralize the presently serving officers, and would fail to attract the cream of talent to join also. In fact there has been only a reduction in the facilities provided to the Govt. employees. Suspension of LTC a few years back is an example. For the new entrants to the service, even the pension, which was once considered as an attractive factor in the Govt., has been made contributory, resulting in an actual decrease of 10% in the net salary. Even their savings through the Provident Fund attracts 1.5% less interest, than the private sector. (The govt. incurs huge loss to provide for this higher interest to the private sector). Moreover, the salary of the Govt. employee is as such subject to income tax, whereas in the private sector, they split the salaries in to components and reimbursements so as to avoid income tax to the maximum.

The bureaucracy being adequately paid is, in fact, in the interest and for the welfare of the large sections of the community, and promotes equity and social justice, for the reasons including the following:

a) It is the Govt. machinery, which has to formulate and implement schemes and programs for the welfare and benefit of the larger community. Hence it is necessary that the Govt. machinery be manned with people with ability and quality.

b) Govt. provides and ensures employment opportunities for the talented among the under privileged sections including SC/ST, OBC, physically handicapped, etc. The well-paid jobs in the private sector, by and large are accessible to the convent / public school educated elite layer of the society. There are no prescribed criteria for the recruitment in to the private sector employment. So the Govt. sector remains the only avenue available for the children of the ordinary man, to come up in life by one’s own effort. If salaries in the Govt. are not made at par with that of the private sector, it only adds to widen the gap between the elite and the poor sections of the society.

c) Being underpaid would demoralize the public servant, which in turn would slow down the process of development.

d) An adequately paid civil service would be less or not corrupt, which again is beneficial for the community.
The present scenario:

A Group ‘A’ officer at the entry level, at present is appointed on a basic pay of Rs. 8000/ per month. Apart from that he gets paid dearness pay (DP), Dearness allowance (DA), Traveling Allowance (TA), House Rent Allowance (HRA) and City Compensatory Allowance (CCA) if applicable. The sum total of the salary and all these components per annum will be around Rs.200,000/- for an officer posted in a major city, which is meager, by any standard, and which is less than the entry level pay of an employee of average caliber in the private sector.

CCA at the highest rate today is Rs. 300/- only, which provides an amount of less than Rs.10/- per day for a family in cities including Mumbai, Delhi, and Bangalore, where the cost of living is very high compared to other towns and villages. The CCA for different cities will have to be increased at least six fold of what it is today. There is also a need for changing the basis of classification of cities. City living cost is directly related to factors including the general income of the residents, price of petroleum products in that city etc. A very good example is Bangalore, the Software capital of India, where very high salaries are paid to people in the software and related fields, which constitutes a large section of the residents. Naturally the pay in other private sector areas also is on the higher side in that city. Apart from that, the price of petroleum products in the city is also among the highest in the country, resulting in a corresponding increase in the cost of living. But very recently only the Government increased CCA in that city to Rs. 300.

HRA even at the highest rate of 30% of the present pay scales are not enough for a decent accommodation. Again if Bangalore is taken as an example, the HRA provided for, is only 15%. In fact the average actual house rent in that city is much higher than that of some other cities where HRA is 30%. A direct recruited Group ‘A’ officer in Bangalore will get an HRA of Rs. 1800/- per month (15% of basic pay + DP) only, with which it is not possible even to get a one room accommodation with the least minimum facilities.

The TA paid to the Group ‘A’ officers is only Rs.800 per month. If the officer is residing within 1 km from the office he is not entitled for TA at all. The present rate was fixed a decade ago when average cost of petrol in the country was less than Rs. 20 per litre whereas now the same is more than Rs.50. The amount then was sufficient for buying more than 40 litres of petrol whereas the same will not be now enough for transportation to office by ordinary bus, in cities like Bangalore. TA necessarily needs to be linked with cost of petrol.

Another example is the medical benefits provided under the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) on medical insurance basis on payment of a monthly subscription. You have to undergo a long course of torture under the present system if you are to avail the facilities. The long queue in the CGHS dispensary which then refers to a government hospital to a specialist. After much of visits to a government specialist, the hassles of various medical tests, getting the dates for the reports of such tests, final diagnosis which invariably takes lot of time and the time by which final treatment starts is anybody’s guess.

Attractive Pay Needed at Group ‘A’ Level

If the central civil service is to remain efficient, there is need to provide very good remuneration and working condition for the officials at the Group ‘A’ level which shall be at par with the private sector. Another factor to be considered in devising a reasonable remuneration package for Govt. officers is the pay structure in public sector organizations like ONGC, Reserve Bank, Nationalized and public sector Banks, SEBI, and the oil companies. It is a fact that the selections to these organizations are easier compared to selection by UPSC. Most of the officers of these organizations have joined them on their failure to get through the civil service and other UPSC examinations. There is need to make at least the Group ‘A’ services, if not higher, at least at par with the pay and other emoluments provided by the best of such organizations. Even a 100% increase on the present gross salary would not be at par with the private sector and would fail to attract the best talent. However considering all other aspects including the paying capacity of the Government a 100% increase along with other facilities for Group ‘A’, officers can be termed as just and reasonable. A minimum and reasonable increment of 10% of Basic pay per year is to be provided defining also the number of years to be normally served in that scale on the expiry of which the employee will have to be, if not promoted to the next higher position, at least entitled to draw pay at the next higher scale. For a Group ‘A’ officer the span of tenure to be served in the entry level should not be made more than four years.Apart from that all Group ‘A’ officials should be made entitled for:

1. Reimbursement of cost of petrol (or any other fuel) at specified eligible quantity, in lieu of payment of TA component in the salary. Even nationalized and public sector banks provide this to their officers At the entry level the officer should be eligible for cost of 50 liters as applicable in the city of his posting.

2. Air travel eligibility in economy class on official and LTC tour. At present a central government officer posted in south will have to spend six days in train to attend a one-day conference at New Delhi.

3. Rent free BSNL land and mobile phones, Lap top computers and Internet connection. This is especially important as Group ‘A’ officers are supposed to be on duty round the clock.

4. Medical facilities to include consultation in recognized private hospitals.

5. Entitlement to stay in good quality hotels on tour. The condition is pathetic at present. Hotels can be specially recognized in each place for this purpose on contractual rates.

6. At present like all other employees, Group ‘A’ officers also are entitled for LTC to hometown, with family, only once in two year block. Group ‘A’ officers are liable to be transferred to any place in India. Hence Group ‘A’ officers may be provided this facility once every year.

7. The government needs to purchase/lease housing for Group ‘A’ officers.

8. Other further incentives to match (to the minimum level at least) those provided by private sector. Some suggestions:

a) Entertainment allowance.
b) Facility to travel abroad to any one of the specified countries (as can be arranged as special packages each year in association with national air lines) or on any luxury train such as ‘Palace on Wheels’ in lieu of one ‘LTC to anywhere in India’ in the entire career subject to minimum specified years of service, and other conditions.

Comparison with State Governments pay

The central government service has always been and should always be above all other Government or local body services. People with much more competence only are able to get through the recruitment process in all levels of the central service, when compared to state or other such services This difference will always reflect on the pay structure also. Moreover, all important and key positions in the state administration are manned by officers of central services such as IAS, IPS, IFS, who also are the beneficiaries of the central pay revision. However more avenues may be provided for qualified employees with sufficient service, from the state services for deputation (and absorption also) into Central services.

Another point to be considered is that, unlike the state government and other employees, the central Govt. employees are liable to be transferred and posted at any where in the country. This causes them much difficulty financially and in other ways. The studies of their children are most affected, and for reasons related to that, quiet often the employee will have to stay apart from family again causing much expenses as he has to provide means for two households, apart from personal difficulties and emotional issues.

Special Provisions for Professionals

Scientists, Doctors, Engineers, Lawyers, CAs, and other professionals wherever such professional qualifications with previous experience are prerequisite for applying for the post should be paid a special allowance similar to Non Practicing Allowance, now paid to doctors only. Otherwise it will be difficult to retain or attract talented professionals to Government service.

Special Incentives To Promote Social Welfare

The Government should set an example by itself as a model employer by providing special incentives to its employees, to promote social welfare, family planning, communal harmony and national integration.