April is almost on us, and
heartening news about the implementation of the 7th Pay Commission
is also coming in, though the proposed increase in pay is not heartening
especially for Grp-B & C employees.
Staff side first meeting with the
Empowered Committee is over. It was stated that the 7th Pay Commission will result in
the increase in salaries of only the IAS, IPS, IRS and other services’ officers
while Group B and C, who constitute 85 percent of all central government
employees, will have no such benefit.
Resentment was expressed about the propaganda
that the pay hike will be around 30% for all central government employees.
Central government employees’
associations demanded that the government immediately review the scale keeping
Rs. 26,000/- instead of the proposed Rs.18,000/- as employees’ minimum pay.
The proposed pay scale increased the
pay gap between the minimum and maximum from the existing 1:12 to 1:13.8. While
the earlier pay commissions were successively reducing the pay gap from the 2nd
Pay Commission 1:41 to the 6th Pay commission 1:12.
The Seventh Pay Commission has
recommended for raising minimum pay to Rs 18,000 per month from current Rs
7,000 while the maximum pay, drawn by the Cabinet Secretary, has been fixed at
Rs 2.5 lakh per month from current Rs 90,000, which will be effective from
January 1, 2016.
Major
concerns expressed by JCM Staff-side were as under :
(i)
The minimum pay of Rs. 18000/- p.m.
recommended by the Commission is on lower side and needs to be revised upward
by taking into account the prices of commodities as on 01.07.2015 and
appropriately factoring in for social obligations & housing.
(ii) New Pension Scheme should be done away
with. Persons governed by the NPS are deprived of Family Pension and do not
have provision of provident fund. As a result they are at a disadvantageous
position as compared to the persons governed by the old system.
(iii) Recommendations on allowances need to be
properly examined before taking a decision.
(iv) Fixed Medical Allowance should be
increased from existing Rs. 500 p.m. to Rs. 2000 p.m. as majority of cities are
not covered under CGI-IS and people residing outside the CGHS covered area are
unable to meet their medical needs with meager amount of Rs. 500 p.m.
(v) Recommendation regarding withdrawal of
non-interest bearing advances may not be accepted.
(vi) Outsourcing of services should be
discouraged as the contract workers are being exploited by contractors and at
the same time the service delivery is being compromised due to inefficiency and
lack of accountability of low-paid contractual staff.
(vii) Enhancement in contribution towards Group
Insurance Scheme, is not justified as this would reduce the actual increase in
take home salary considerably. If the rates are to be raised, the Government
should bear the insurance premium.
(viii) The recommendation regarding grant of only
80% of salary for the second year of Child Care Leave need not be accepted as
this would deter women from availing of CCL, which was introduced as a welfare
measure.
(ix) Annual increments be granted @ 5% instead
of existing 3% and increments may be granted on two dates viz., 1st of
January and 1st of July of every year as in the present system of
grant of increment on 1st July of every year, employees
joining/promoted after 1st January, who do not complete 6 months services
as on 1st July, have to wait for up to 18 months for grant of
increment.
(x) The Commission’s recommendation of
downgrading the Assistants of Central Secretariat for bringing in parity with
their counterparts in the field offices is not appropriate.
(xi)
Recommendation regarding PRIS need
not be accepted as no scientific mechanism has been devised to assess the
performance of employees and the same could encourage favoritism, etc..
The
associations further stated that an amicable and mutually negotiated settlement
of minimum pay is necessary as “non-acceptance would further cause resentment
in the central government employees.
The associations already made their
stand clear before the government to go on strike from April 11 if the demands
are not considered and no amicable settlement happens.
Be prepared for the strike from
11-April-2016, along-with central government employees associations.
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