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Pay hike

By editor |

This is regarding the report submitted by the 6thAssam Pay Commission. From the partial report made public by the Govt., it is apparent that apart from Grade-IV employees of Assam, no one is going to benefit from it. The so-called experts of the Pay Commission with Mr Bhaskar Barua (retd. IAS) and the Mr H S Das, Finance Secretary of Assam at the helm of affairs, have deliberately recommended a report with lot of discrepancies which may be summarised as follows -


1. Employees of the rank of Junior Engineers, Sub-Inspectors, others who are in the equivalent pay scale of 3490-8100 & 3580-8750 etc. in Assam have been recommended for the pay band 5200-20200 with grade pay 2500 & 2600. The Central Govt. has placed them in the pay band 9300-34000 (earlier scale 5000-8000, 5500-9000, 6500-10500) with Grade pay 4000, 4200, 4600 & 4800. Thanks to Mr Bhaskar Barua & Associates, these sections of employees would now draw a gross amount of Rs.9000-11000 less than their Central counterparts.


2. Before Central Govt. employees were awarded pay hike, all positions in the Govt. of Assam has been trailing by an amount of Rs.1000-5000 in their basic pay corresponding to the Central Govt. employees e.g. Section Officers in Central were in the pay scale 6500-10500 while in Assam it was 5375-10700, Junior Engineers in Central were getting 5000-8000, in Assam it was 3580-8750, Sub-Inspectors in Central were getting 5500-9000 while in Assam it was 3490-8100, Inspectors in Central departments were in the pay scale 6500-10500 while it was 3760-9400 in Assam.


Now, for fixing new pay scales, Assam Pay Commission, like the Central Pay Commission, has recommended to multiply the existing pay scale with a factor 1.86. Since, there was considerable difference of the pay scales in pre-revised state, I wonder how does the State Pay Commission expects to bridge the gap by multiplying the scales with the same factor of 1.86. This factor certainly needs to be increased.


3. The annual increment formula provided by Central Govt. is 3% of Basic pay + Grade pay while the Assam Pay Commission has recommended 1%. Is it the Commission’s plan to bring about parity corresponding to Central Govt. employees when State Govt. employees would trail by 2% each year than the employees of Central Govt. which would have overwhelming repercussions on a service holder’s career?


That and more, it seems that many entry level employees would get lower increments than the existing pattern. For e.g. 3490-8100, 3580-8750 has Rs.90 as initial annual increment. If placed in 5200-20200 with Grade pay 2500 & 2600, their annual increment would be 5200+2500/2600 = 7700/7800. Their annual increment at 1% works out to Rs.77/78 which is Rs.12/13 less than the existing annual increment.


Further, State Civil Services have also been greatly deprived of their rights since most States of our country pay State Civil Services equivalent to the Central Administrative Services.


Furthermore, what is the point in constituting a Pay Review Committee with the same Finance Secretary who was member of the Pay Commission?


This is a nation where legislators increase their own salary & perks simply by thumping on the Assembly & Parliamentary desks; IAS, IPS, Professors, Lecturers, etc. draw equivalent pay scales irrespective of the State they are working or bothering about the financial condition of the States. These are the privileged class of employees in this nation and not any Group-II, III or IV employee as always reported. Grade-II, III & IV employees always find it difficult to make both ends meet. This in turn exacerbates corrupt practices. It needs to be understood that these employees are also part of the common mass and they are tax-payers too. Unless an employee is provided adequate financial benefit at the start of his career, he/she cannot remain honest or turn into an honest person when he gets a decent salary.


The Govt. of Assam should understand that double standards promoted by unscrupulous politicians and bureaucrats are no longer acceptable. Logic, scientific & economic research, equivalence, transparency & goodwill should be the benchmark for recommending better pay & perks in this era of competitiveness, otherwise, the Govt. of Assam should be prepared to witness degradation of quality & more corrupt practices in the coming days.


P.Saikia 9th Bye Lane, Lachit Nagar, Guwahati

Comments

rajkamalbaruah's picture

Submitted by rajkamalbaruah on Sat, 31/10/2009 - 14:31
very well perceived , a man of good intent, all the facts are very relevant,but does anyone care?
hemanta kalita's picture

Submitted by hemanta kalita on Tue, 03/11/2009 - 02:39
Very well calculation. These are boiling in mind of thousands of employees. What the hell these beauracrates prepared.
Bishwanath Majumdar's picture

Submitted by Bishwanath Majumdar on Sun, 08/11/2009 - 14:21
Well, your thinking is very progressive. I like to acclarate it. Formula for anomaly free & equal pay to the central Govt. employee counterpart is Existing Basic Pay X 2.86+Central Grade Pay = new basic pay. Example: 5500x1.86+4200=14430 & 3580x2.86+4200=14440. Please note the difference and try to circulate. Thanks.
rajiv sarmah's picture

Submitted by rajiv sarmah on Tue, 26/01/2010 - 01:18
The logics are very good. It is certain that the state govt. of assam is unable to pay its employees equivalent to central govt. employees as Assam's economic scenario is not so sound. But it should pay all the employees same percentage lower than their central counterparts except the fourth-grades as for livelihood a minimum amount is required for everyone. that will be proper justice for all categories of employees.
one DDO's picture

Submitted by one DDO on Sun, 28/03/2010 - 15:48
My opinion after submitting Paybill: 1) new AE are hAPPY. 2) JE R VERY UNHAPPY TO BE EQUATED WITH CLERKS 3) CLERKS R HAPPY because THEY NEED NOT COME AT 9 AM 4) PEON/DRIVERS R CELEBRATING ... And ME?????...... WHO BOTHERS ABOUT officers LIKE ME?... NEITHER THE CHIEF SECY... NOR MY WIFE.. NO MONEY to BUY OFFICE STATIONERY.. ... STILL.HAVING TO. SLOG WITH REPORTS...MEETINGS...DONATIONS..FIELD VISITS... DHOMKI...FROM DC.. LOCAL. MLA...threat of transfer before every election......AND WAITING ETERNALLY FOR A PAY SLIP FROM THE A.G. FOR SOME PAY HIKE....SO THAT MY SWEET HALF CAN HAVE BALL AT BIGBAZARS... SOHUMS. .PANTALOONS... STill my dear banker friend does not find my salary fit enough for a decent housing LOAN!!! Hail & salute to Pay Commission' Assam, 2009
Sudip Kumar Roy's picture

Submitted by Sudip Kumar Roy on Mon, 05/07/2010 - 02:17
Very well calculation.Is the anomaly committee formed by the Assam Govt.on 6th Pay Commission look in to thiss article?
M Medhi's picture

Submitted by M Medhi on Tue, 05/10/2010 - 21:10
Recommendation of 6th Pay Commission in regard hike of salary is discriminatory because some caders of employee are getting hike much more than expectation while few others much below their expectation. There should have a minimum and maximum limitation on the quantum of hike. I would like to request anomaly committee to take into account of the agrieved employees as they have to approach becuase they are loosing a lot from Pay Commission, on the other hand those who benifitted a lot do not feel to appraoch anamoly committee. Sirs, this is not a losing or winning game, it is soly concerned with the lively hood of the employees. Hoping your consideration.
Shantanu Biswas's picture

Submitted by Shantanu Biswas on Thu, 07/10/2010 - 23:22
Inquity in pay hike is creating ‘White Elephants’ in India----- Till the other day, a lecturer who got a pay package of Rs. 25000/- suddenly gets Rs. 62000/- after implementation of the 6th pay commission by the University Grants Commission. No sooner one joins a university as a lecturer, the person is entitled to Rs. 40000/- and by the time one becomes professor and head of department, one pockets a salary of Rs. 97000/- to Rs. 1 lakh. But what is the justification of such a massive increase in salary. A person who was not performing well as a teacher at Rs. 25,000/- is likely to be even more lazy when his or her salary is more than double, say Rs. 62,000/-. These faculty are not accountable for the students nor are they involved and dedicated like the professors of the bygone days. They cannot inspire students nor think independently nor challenge existing ideas like the professors in the West, nor do they have to prove themselves to the UGC once appointed in a faculty position. They are happy with the thought that they have got a lifelong easy job with very less stress and tension. Most of the faculty in Indian universities and colleges spend their time lazing around and the only thing they do best is to keep the higher authorities in good humour for further promotions and facilities. The UGC has not been able to determine a proper pay package for the private colleges and universities running in the nook and corner of the country. The faculty working in these institutions are no less talented or less deserving. For several reasons, they might not be fortunate to bag a job in a government run educational institution. Though these teachers work for 10 hours, they never get paid beyond Rs. 10,000/-. Most of the teachers in private colleges are paid between Rs. 8000 to Rs. 9000/-. On top of being underpaid, their salary is deducted when they take a leave. They donot enjoy any providend fund facility nor any other added perks. Just as the tax-payer’s money is going waste in having the arrangement called Rajya Sabha, so also ex-chequers money is wasted on paying teachers in colleges and universities. Though there is a massive increase in salary, there is no governing or monitoring body to check the performance of the faculty and staff members who have bagged a job with a government sector undertaking. As a result, like the Rajya Sabha members, college teachers and university faculty have become the ‘White Elephants’ for a country with such disparity in income. India is facing a disparity in income like never before. While some sections in the government service sector is seeing huge hike in salary, other people woking in different areas are struggling to make both ends meet. The government should be able to implement hike in salaries of other professions like the judiciary, lawyers, journalists, editors, or even people working in unorganized sector like the milkman, newspaper hawker, bus drivers etc. if we are to have a society with somewhat equitable distribution of income and peace and prosperity. Revised pay scale should be there for all professions. These people are indispensible for the country and work far harder than our lazy teachers and carefree professors. If the government does not take necessary action in implementing adequate wages and salary scale to people engaged in other professions, there will be further rise in corruption and crime. Already in the last decade, the divide between haves and have-nots have escalated to unprecedented levels in India.

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