HomeIndia-news 7th Pay Commission: NCM member writes to Arun Jaitley, seeks changes in proposed govt salaries 7th Pay Commission: NCM member writes to Arun Jaitley, seeks changes in proposed govt salaries

In his letter to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, National Commission for Minorities member Praveen Davar said that the minimum pay of Rs 18,000 as recommended in the 7th Pay Commission is “not adequate”, while the maximum pay of Rs 2.5 lakh is “a little too much”. (Source: Reuters)

Contending prices of essential commodities are same for all, an NCM member today urged Centre to increase salary of its lowest paid employees by Rs 4,000 and reduce that of highest paid personnel by Rs 25,000 under 7th Pay Commission to see those earning less are not affected.
In his letter to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, National Commission for Minorities member Praveen Davar said that the minimum pay of Rs 18,000 as recommended in the 7th Pay Commission is “not adequate”, while the maximum pay of Rs 2.5 lakh is “a little too much”.
Davar though said his opinions expressed in the letter, dated July 11, was all personal and did not represent any organisation or group of individuals.
“Prices of essential commodities are equal for everyone. But those paid lower are affected more than those drawing high salaries. It is my personal opinion that the minimum pay in the 7th Pay Commission of Rs 18,000 is not adequate.
However, the maximum pay of Rs 2.5 lakh is a little too much,” he argued. Stating that the ratio of the highest and lowest paid should be ideally 10:1, Davar said, “the minimum pay is increased to Rs 22,000 and the maximum pay is brought down to Rs 2.25 lakhs.Similar modifications can be made in the intermediately pay scales.” 
The move, he said, will not only narrow the gap between highest and lowest paid, but also result in substantially reducing the financial burden on the exchequer.
Davar also criticised the decision to offer steep hike in salary of MLAs in Delhi assembly saying the move has set a “wrong” precedent.
“Why should be anyone paid far above his genuine needs?,” he asked.

Seventh pay commission: A damp squib?

As the NDA government, aims for a double-digit growth trajectory of the Indian economy, a pay hike to almost one crore government employees and pensioners can come handy, as it will push demand. The  7th central pay commission (CPC), submitted its report earlier this year, and finance minister Arun Jaitley welcomed it, terming it ‘historic’. The cabinet accepted the recommendations last month. However, employees are not happy, and have announced plans for a protest strike. 

The recommendations by the justice Ashok Kumar Mathur commission for providing a hike of an average 16 percent increase in pay, 63 percent in allowances and 24 percent increase in pension have failed to create excitement. 

Officers at higher levels getting better increments are worried about the rising inflation. Moreover, they feel their salaries are not at par with those in the private sector. Meanwhile, the low-rung employees and middle-level officers are unhappy with the wages. 

Therefore, soon after the release of the pay commission report, employee unions threatened to go on a nation-wide strike on July 11. Questions have been raised on the calculation of the minimum wage, which as per the latest CPC is Rs 18,000 per month as compared to Rs 7,000 earlier. Almost 33 lakh employees have demanded the minimum wage be increased to Rs 26,000. Undoubtedly, the hike is the lowest in the seven decades.

The strike, though, has been deferred for four months after home minister Rajnath Singh assured them of constituting a high-level committee to look into the demands. A sense of resentment, however, looms over the central government employees, especially among the lower rung.  

Jaitley though maintains that the government employees’ salary is higher than the private sector after implementation of the 7th CPC. 

“We have semi-skilled workers while private sectors have unskilled labour. Trying to establish the co-relation between the two is not required,” says KKN Kutty, president, Confederation of Central Government Employees and Workers. 

“A grade four employee working in a government job hasn’t received enough raise. To their current salary a mere amount of Rs 2,500-3,000 will be added,” says Kutty, who works in the income tax department.

“The calculation of the wages is determined on the basis of the price of 14 commodities, primarily including food items like grains and pulses. In the 7th CPC the price of those commodities has been taken lower than the actual market price. 

“The raise is not as it should be,” says Kutty, citing it as a reason for resentment.

A pay commission comes after every  10 years. During their representations before the 7th CPC, Kutty and other central government employees suggested merging dearness allowance (DA) with basic pay, which could give financial benefits to employees. “This was, however, not considered. When we raised the issue, it was said that the commission had already commenced with the work,” he says.

The report prepared on the basis of a study by the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad, calculated the wages by comparing them with the same in the private sector.

“Priority has been given to the corporates in defining our pay scale. It cannot be a prerequisite for our pay scale. The government should have defined our pay scale on the basis of the Aykroyd formula, which reflects the basic average cost of living in the country,” suggests Shiv Gopal Mishra, convener of National Joint Council of Action (NJCA), a platform of several employees unions.

Mishra, who is also the general secretary of All India Railwaymen’s Federation, however, clarifies that 7th CPC is a positive move to boost the economy. “People will start investing in consumer goods like automobiles and electronics, overall pushing the economy,” he says.

Apparently, the CPC is consumer-sentiment driven. It leads to increase in consumption and savings. “When people get more money, it comes back in the system in the form of taxation. Savings will increase… spending will go up,” Arun Jaitley had said while accepting the 7th CPC report.

“There is no sense of excitement among our officers’ group. Though the government has been citing that it will boost economy, we are worried it will raise the inflation rate,” says a senior official in the ministry of agriculture on condition of anonymity.

The CPC is likely to impact the inflation rate. It stood at 5.77 percent in early July as experts warned of a spike in coming months. Still, a good monsoon and improved economy can cushion the inflationary effects.

But civil servants in higher ranks are worried about it.

“The rising consumer demand will not neutralise the inflation rate instead it will stoke the consumer price index. So, until the next pay commission, which will come after 10 years, we will struggle in dealing with the inflation with our current pay package. Inflation eats away minimum wage each year. Therefore, employees at the lower grades will be at the receiving end,” says the senior official. 

Vijendra, a grade four employee in the horticulture department of Delhi Development Authority (DDA), says, “I am not happy with the seventh pay commission. Last time we received a hike of almost 50 percent and this year it is somewhere between 14 to 25 percent.”

Meanwhile, the CPC in its report has mentioned that it has attempted to provide wages commensurate with a comfortable living, and it aims to promote efficiency, accountability and responsibility in the work culture.

Vijendra, however, wonders if it possible to create such an environment in the years to come. Clearly, he is hinting that high salary does not guarantee better government services in the coming years. 

“The government says they will curb corruption. Is it possible?” Vijendra asks sarcastically.

Sourse:http://www.governancenow.com/news/regular-story/seventh-pay-commission-a-damp-squib

(The article appears in July 16-31, 2016 edition of Governance Now) - See more at: http://www.governancenow.com/news/regular-story/seventh-pay-commission-a-damp-squib#sthash.zUzWHDan.dpuf

(The article appears in July 16-31, 2016 edition of Governance Now) - See more at: http://www.governancenow.com/news/regular-story/seventh-pay-commission-a-damp-squib#sthash.zUzWHDan.dpuf

7th Pay Commission: Hike now only in basic pay

New Delhi: The government is likely to implement soon the new pay structure for central government employees excluding allowances, the compensatory perks for all employees.

Though some central government employees oppose this exclusion, the finance ministry officials said the Cabinet decided to constitute a Committee headed by Finance Secretary for further examination of the recommendations of 7th Pay Commission on allowances including HRA, transport allowance.
The Committee will complete its work in a time bound manner and submit its reports within a period of 4 months, till a final decision, all existing allowances will continue to be paid at the existing rates, they added.
No Dearness allowance (DA) will be paid in the new pay matrix (basic pay) as the existing dearness allowance 125 per cent has been merged with the new basic pay.
A fitment factor of 2.57 will be applied across all levels in the pay matrices. After taking into account the DA at prevailing rate 125 per cent, accordingly, the salary of all government employees will be raised by at least 14.29 % as on January 1. However, the rate of annual increment has been retained at 3%.
The Finance ministry placed the new wage structure in the cabinet on June 29, The cabinet gave nod for the implementation of the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission on pay and pension benefits to 4.7 million central government employees 5.3 million pensioners. It will come into effect from January, 2016.
“The notification of 7h Pay Commission recommendations now will be issued shortly, so the central government employees will get the increased salaries under the new pay matrix from August,” according to the officials.
This means though the new pay structure has been in place since January 1, the central government employees will start drawing the increased salaries from August and the arrears will be paid during the current financial year.
However, there is resentment from Central government employees’ Unions in respect of minimum pay, they are demanding minimum pay Rs. 26,000 instead of Rs 18,000 and 3.68 fitment factor instead of 2.57. The government assured them to consider their demands through a High Level Committee, which will soon be set up and the government will take steps accordingly.
“It’s notification will be issued within one month after the decision of High level Committee coming stipulated time frame i.e. four months.
However, the notification on 7th Pay Commission recommendations, which has been approved by the cabinet, is under process in the Finance Ministry and the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is pressing hard to issue it very shortly,” they told The correspondent.

Supreme Court seeks government’s response on ex-servicemen’s plea on OROP

The Indian Ex-servicemen Movement (IESM) and others have challenged the government’s policy of periodic review of pension once in five years.

Supreme Court on Monday sought the government’s response on a plea of an ex-servicemen’s body seeking implementation of One Rank—One Pension (OROP) as recommended by the Koshyari Committee with an automatic annual revision, instead of the current policy of periodic review once in five years.

A bench comprising Justices Dipak Misra and C Nagappan issued notice and sought the response from the government in eight weeks.

The Indian Ex-servicemen Movement (IESM) and others have challenged the government’s policy of periodic review of pension once in five years, saying such an approach was dilution of the February 26, 2014 announcement by which the revision in pension was to automatically pass on to the past pensioners on an annual basis.

They have contended that five-yearly periodic review did not meet the demand of the ex-servicemen seeking OROP for the service personnel who had retired with same length of service in the same rank.

“OROP is the uniform desire of all three defence services. Ex-servicemen are presently drawing pension that is not consistent with their rank and/or length of service. In fact, some ex-servicemen are even drawing lesser pension than other ex-servicemen who retired with a subordinate rank or (in the same rank) which is unjust and unconstitutional,” the petition said.

It said that the Centre’s February 3, 2016 letter sent to the chiefs of Army, Navy and Air Force on OROP was “unjust, arbitrary and violative of Article 14 and 21 of the constitution.”

The plea sought a direction to the Centre “that the pension of past pensioners be automatically and contemporaneously enhanced, whenever there is any future increase or enhancement in the rates of pension.”

It further said the government should be directed to fix the pension on the basis of highest pension of financial year 2014—15 and not 2013.

IESM in its petition has referred to the December 19, 2011, report of Rajya Sabha’s Petition Committee then headed by Bhagat Singh Koshyari which rejected all reservation advanced by the government while “strongly recommending” OROP.

In its 142nd report, the Koshyari Committee had said, “the Committee strongly recommends that Government should implement OROP in the defence forces across the board at the earliest”.

No clarity in the Press Statements of both Government and NJCA on 7th CPC issues

NJCA need to Clarify the Doubts over 7th CPC Issues

No clarity in the Press Statements of both Government and NJCA on 7th CPC issues
The six days Drama was come to an end yesterday. After the Union Cabinet Approved the implementation of 7th CPC Recommendations on 29th June 2016, a Meeting of NJCA leaders held on the next day on 30th June 2016. After the NJCA Meeting, some Leaders met the Group of Ministers at Home Minister’s Residence. It is said to be an informal meeting, so no any official announcement was made by Govt regarding this Meeting. But NJCA leaders told that GOM assured that they would refer this issue to a committee to review.
The same day, SRMU has declared that the Indefinite Strike is postponed based on the Govt assurance. From that day onwards there was lot of drama going on day to day over the issues of 7th CPC and Indefinite Strike
As per schedule the NJCA Leaders met on 6th July 2016 to decide on future course of Action. But the meeting was ended with a decision to postpone the Strike Action.
Finally, the Six Days confusion come to an end on 6th July after NJCA and Ministry of Finance issued Press Statements.
But Still there is no Clarity in these press statements on the following issues.
1. When will Notification for implementation of 7th CPC recommendations be published?
2. When will the CG Employees get 7th CPC salary.?
3. Why all allowances including HRA and TA referred to committee?
4. When will the revised rate of HRA and TA come into effect?
5. Does the NJCA really believe the proposed committee will recommend to increase Minimum Pay and Fitment Factor…?
6. If they believe so, why didn’t they say anything about the date on which the 7th CPC come into force…?
7. If 7th CPC comes into force from this Month, Does the NJCA believe the Minimum Pay and Fitment factor will be increased after four months?
8. Do the Govt and NJCA assure No Committee will be formed after four months…?
The NJCA has to clarify all these doubts to Central Government employees.

DATED - 07.07.2016

STRIKE IS DEFERRED, BUT THE STRUGGLE SHALL CONTINUE

Finally, the united struggle of 33 lakhs Central Government Employees under the banner of National Joint Council of Action (NJCA) comprising Railways, Defence and Confederation has compelled the totally negative and unwilling NDA Government to negotiate with the staff side leaders. Hon’ble Prime Minister has intervened and directed three Cabinet Minsters viz. Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitly and Railway Minister Shri Suresh Prabhu to hold discussion with the NJCA Leaders on 30^th June 2016. After discussing the demands raised in the Charter of demands, the Ministers assured that a high level committee will be constituted to consider the demands raised by NJCA especially the demand for improving the minimum wage and fitment formula.

As no written communication or minutes regarding the assurances given by Group of Ministers is forthcoming, the NJCA met again and 6^th July and decided to go ahead with the strike decision. Again Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh called the NJCA leaders for discussion on 6^th July and reiterated the assurances already given on 30^th June and stated that the Finance Minister will issue a press statement on 6^th July itself confirming the assurances given by the Group of Ministers. It was further assured by the Minister that the proposed High level committee will submit its recommendations to Government within a time frame.

Accordingly, the Government issued the press statement and after detailed deliberations the NJCA unanimously decided to defer the indefinite strike till the committee finalizes its report. The press statement of the NJCA and the Government are attached.

(M. Krishnan)

Secretary General

Confederation

E-mail: mkrishnan6854@gmail.com

Employees grievances on 7th CPC to be referred to high-level panel

The representatives of the employees unions had earlier conveyed to the Centre that they did not want it to approve the CPC's recommendations on allowances without examining them further

The representatives of the employees unions had earlier conveyed to the Centre that they did not want it to approve the CPC's recommendations on allowances without examining them further
The representatives of the employees unions had earlier conveyed to the Centre that they did not want it to approve the CPC's recommendations on allowances without examining them further
The government on Wednesday said the concerns raised by central government employees’ unions on the recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission would be examined by a high-level committee of secretaries.

Representatives from various unions met Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Rail Minister Suresh Prabhu on June 30. “They had requested that certain issues related to the pay scales and other recommendations of the Pay Commission  to be raised before a committee of secretaries looking into grievances of employees,” a statement said.

“The ministers assured the union leaders that the issues raised by them would be considered by a high level committee,” it said.

On June 29, Jaitley had said that a committee under Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa would be set up to examine the suggestions of the Seventh Pay Commission on allowances. Of 196 allowances, the CPC report had recommended abolition of 52 altogether and subsuming of another 36 into larger existing ones.

The government’s statement did not clarify whether this committee is the high level panel it spoke of.

The representatives of the employees unions had earlier conveyed to the centre that they did not want it to approve the CPC’s recommendations on allowances without examining them further.
http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/employees-grievances-level