It pays to be a "Babu"

It was meant to hand out sops to government servants ahead of an election year, but the Sixth Central Pay Commission is fast turning into an acrimonious and divisive affair.

Disagreements have been a hallmark of the last two pay commissions, which covered the two decades since 1986, but this time the tone of the protests is more serious.

The armed forces, constituting 42 per cent of the government staff, and the police force, accounting for nearly 37 per cent, which are responsible for the external and internal security of the country, have said that they feel let down by the latest pay commission’s recommendations.

The armed forces have rejected it outright. “There is no question of us accepting the pay commission’s recommendations in their present form,” says a senior army official.

The target of all this ire is the bureaucracy, which comprises 22 per cent of the government. The armed forces feel that the bureaucratic arm is wielding its clout over others and have voiced their disappointment with Minister for Defence A.K. Antony, while ex-servicemen met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

Now Indian Police Service (IPS) officers have joined the chorus, warning that the pay commission has widened the gap between the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and the IPS.

Members of the IPS Central Association met Sonia and Minister for Home Affairs Shivraj Patil, seeking their intervention and pointing out what they claimed were discriminatory proposals.

This dissatisfaction stems from the fundamental change brought about by the Sixth Pay Commission in the way relative statuses will be defined in the bureaucracy. Currently, the basic pay of an officer is used as the parameter for defining the status of the position he holds.

Higher the basic pay, higher is the position. According to the new recommendations, however, the basic pay will not define status. In the scheme that has now been formulated, a grade pay has been defined for the purpose.

A higher grade pay will indicate a higher status. When grade pays are equivalent, higher total emoluments including all special pays will define a higher status.

The pay commission has thus created a select club of 8,000 officers in the highest pay bracket of PB-4, with salaries upward of Rs 52,000 per month. The IAS, which generally witnesses faster promotions, will no doubt form the majority in this club.

Armed forces personnel retire early, while civil servants serve till the age of 60. Besides, career progression in the armed forces is slow and limited.

All IAS officers can become joint secretaries in just 14 years, while only 3.5 per cent of army officers can reach the equivalent rank of major general, and that too, after 33 years of service. Even after attaining the position, an army officer will only serve for another five years before he retires.

The bureaucrat, on the other hand, will enjoy the benefits of the equivalent position for 19 years before retiring. “It is the third battle of the pecking order (after the two previous pay commissions),” says Major General Surjit Singh (retired), adding, “It is difficult to say who will win or lose this struggle, but the nation will definitely lose.”

The IPS Central Association has also expressed concern over the downgrading of the position of state directorgeneral of police (DGP) vis-à-vis that of the state chief secretary.
Bureaucracy
All civil servants can reach the New Pay Bracket 4, which starts at Rs 52,000 per month.
Grade pays for all IAS officers. Since grade pays will now define the status of a position, IAS will benefit.
According to the recommendation, all IAS officers can reach the rank of joint secretary in just 14 years. The IAS witnesses faster promotions.

Armed forces
Only 3.5 per cent of armed forces officers of the rank of major general and above draw Rs 52,000 a month.
Grade pay is available to just 15 per cent of the officers, i.e., brigadiers and above.
It will take an army officer 33 years to reach an equivalent rank of major general. He can serve in the position for just five years before retirement.

Police
Less than a dozen police officials will enjoy parity with close to 200 secretary-rank IAS officials.
Grade pays for all IPS officials is three-four years slower than in the administrative service.
Promotion to the post of inspector general will take 20 years. The deputy inspector general’s post is now functional, not supervisory.


“The pay commission has only formalised the discrimination against the police force and perpetuates a colonial practice that favours the IAS. If the suggestion is to have different pay scales for IPS officers in the states and the Centre, then it should be done for IAS officers as well,” a state DGP told India Today.

Another big anomaly concerns the position of deputy inspector general (DIG) of police, which was earlier equivalent to that of a state commissioner from the IAS, but has now been made equivalent to an inspector general’s.

Even as the police service has demanded that the DIG’s post be put under a higher pay scale, it has been made a functional post instead of a supervisory one.

The army is unhappy with the imbalances in the military service pay, a monthly allowance that has been introduced by the pay commission. The IPS wants a similar police service pay, arguing that its personnel face greater risks—such as threats from anti-social elements—as compared to the other civil services.

Police officials have also been demanding risk-based pay, citing threat to life and injury. Indeed, the police force lost 4,972 officers in the last five years, with 994 casualties and over 8,000 personnel maimed/injured per year. Yet, some of the key proposals by the IPS, including a grant of hardship pay, have been turned down.

There are divisions among the Central police organisations (CPOs) too, with officials alleging that IPS officers are more concerned with their own cadre than the CPOs they head. The IPS Central Association, in a wish-list presented to Patil, has sought parity with the director-generals (DGs) of CPOs, who have been placed in a higher grade.

But as per the commission’s present recommendations, only DGs of the Border Security Force, the Central Reserve Police Force, the Central Industrial Security Force, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police and the Sashastra Seema Bal are in the higher pay band of Rs 80,000.

Another issue is that of grade pay for field postings at the district level. The police association has sought a higher grade pay for IPS officers in the districts so that they are not at a disadvantage as compared to IAS officers like the district magistrate or the additional district magistrate, who now come under a higher grade.

While the battle lines are drawn, it seems that the Government, which does not want any unpopularity creeping into the administrative and police machinery in a pre-election year, will extend an olive branch to calm the men in khaki.

It has already set up a high-level official committee headed by Cabinet Secretary K.M. Chandrasekhar to look into the pay commission report. The prime minister, too, admitted that the Commission may have fallen short of expectations.

“I would like our civil and defence services to be properly rewarded,” he told a gathering of civil servants. A vast majority of his government machinery will be waiting to see if he puts his money where his mouth is.