Taming of The Bureaucracy - A Tectonic Change

Silently yet determinedly in the last two years, the shape of the steel frame has been getting moulded at the Government of India level. ‘How Bharatiya has been the Indian Bureaucracy,’ ever since the Modi government was formed.

My initial feeling was that the changes brought about are at best piece-meal. It persisted until I got first-hand taste of the silent yet titanic change a few days back when I saw the empanelment list for Additional Secretary of my batch officers in IAS. I was taken aback to know that out of about 102 officers of 1988 IAS batch, only about 40 figured in the said list. My surprise was over the radical weeding out of more than half of them. It was a radical shift from the past where about 90 percent of those who joined early could easily aspire to retire as Secretary to the Government of India. Not any more.

Changes unleashed at the top level bureaucracy, when the new regime took over at the Centre, were at a small level of ensuring office punctuality irrespective of rank, which graduated to keeping track of frequenting IAS officers to golf clubs in Delhi, to posting non-IAS officers to assignments held traditionally by IAS officers, to weed out the rotten eggs through the traditional mechanism of compulsory retirement in good numbers, and it climaxed at unheard performance based mid-term transfers at the level of Joint Secretaries. All these new changes were at best piece-meal, because they did not attempt to alter the fundamental character of Indian bureaucracy. As a result, I heard how reluctant were officers increasingly becoming in joining the government of India. They felt the changes will not affect those who stay back in states.

But the radical-most of all is what started two years back, and it affected each, irrespective of one’s placement in state or the Centre. The Government of India made a move to shortlist names of IAS officers for senior most empanelment based on what is known today as the 360-Degree Review. It is an out of box appraisal system to select, promote and even punish officials. It has changed the rules played hitherto in that each officer’s suitability to hold the senior-most post is judged not only by what his immediate seniors hold for him/her. He/she is judged today by what the juniors, peer group, or even social circles think of him/her besides his immediate superiors. This essentially reduces the reliance on annual confidential reports as the key basis for short-listing and empanelment. This, in turn, has a significant bearing on the final selection of a bureaucrat to a top job.

The striking fact about the radical most shift is that its mechanism is the least revealed to even those who are part of the system. Surprisingly, the names of three retired secretary–level officers is a tightly guarded state secret, not known to an ordinary senior officer.

As a result, over the past three years, this new system has slowly unhinged certain basic assumptions in a bureaucrat's zone of maneuverability-like lobbying the minister concerned for a job in his department, or even other top bureaucrats.

This is not to say that any of these methods has turned obsolete. But their effectiveness, or ‘rate of return’, has sharply dropped. While some of it has to do with the erosion of coalition era multiple power centres, the simple fact is that new rules have replaced old rules. It is feared that grounds are prepared that in few years from now, more than half of the Secretary's level post in the Government of India will be held by private sector experts.

360-Degree System

It’s said that so devoted is the prime minister to the 360-degree system that he doesn't even want himself to be exempted. He has reportedly chosen to drop names forwarded from his office if they don't pass the 360-degree test.

Three questions arise: What is this review? How is it done? And why is it so important to GoI?

A way had to be found to counter a decade of Congress rule in which the bureaucracy held sway, allowing for long-lasting loyalties to be cultivated across services and beyond retirement barriers. For new equations to be built, old ones had to be disrupted.

But how? After all, lines and rows of batches-cum-cadres seemed well sorted with a string of ‘outstanding’ reports and recommendations. There was no way that they would fail the existing evaluation and selection system, unless there was outright political high-handedness, which would have invited avoidable bureaucratic opprobrium.

Then there was the mandate against corruption. This provided the perfect setting for a systemic overhaul by a newly elected political leadership. This is also the reason why GoI could carry out more senior bureaucratic reshuffles than usual in the past three years.

It was in this context that the 360-degree system was put in place. What does it mean? Quite literally, like in many corporates, it amounts to conducting a holistic evaluation across talent, skills, social and personal parameters instead of simply looking at filework. In bureaucracy, this meant don’t go by confidential reports alone. GoI’s highest echelons were convinced that this system had been rigged, and that many officers were not making it to the shortlist because they had one ‘outstanding’ less than the other. Few important calls were made.

One, all eligible candidates, regardless of their average performance on their appraisals, will be considered for this assessment. Two, the minister’s recommendation of the post being filled will not override the outcome of the 360-degree process. And three, integrity will also be assessed by way of reputation, not just by a Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) clearance.

A Tightly Held Secret

So how is the process conducted? The exercise is a tightly held secret conducted by three retired secretary-level officials. They have been appointed for a two-year period, subject to health considerations, and their identities are supposed to be classified.

This group is expected to work pretty much independently, sharing all the cadres among the three, collecting information from myriad sources in an unsuspecting, unassuming manner, figuring out the general reputation of the officer among subordinate staff, paint an overall perception picture on integrity, besides making any other relevant observations. At the same time this group wouldn't be made aware of the job an officer is being considered for. Now, whom they talk to, and whose views count is still more or less a grey area. But what we know is that this report is placed before a panel headed by the Cabinet secretary in case of secretary-level appointments, and the establishment officer, who heads the panel for joint secretaries. Both panels have PMO representations.

All other inputs, including intelligence reports and ministerial recommendations, are on the table. But the contents and conclusion of this report have a definitive bearing. The recommendation of this panel is largely final. In other words, the measure of perception and reputation has come to matter more, regardless of what appraisal reports say. And while that may give a second chance to many who have lost out in their careers for the wrong reasons, the system has also introduced new variables, including subjective elements, that have drastically altered the field of play.

This bold article on Indian Bureaucracy is by Uday Sahay, A former IPS officer

7th Pay Commission: NFU dream of paramilitary to end; MHA moots withdrawal of tag

The home ministry is working on a proposal to do away with the 'organised services' status, which ensures timely promotion and salary hike of officers, and subsequently reject the demand for additional monetary benefits to officers of paramilitary and defence forces.



The home ministry is working on a proposal to do away with the 'organised services' status, which ensures timely promotion and salary hike of officers, and subsequently reject the demand for additional monetary benefits to officers of paramilitary and defence forces.

At a high-level meeting chaired by Union home secretary Rajiv Mehrishi recently, it was mooted that as government officers were already enjoying "very high salaries", such a non-functional upgrade (NFU) should be reviewed and withdrawn in consultation with the 7th Central Pay Commission (CPC).

The meeting was held in the backdrop of a recent Supreme Court directive asking the Centre to re-think on giving monetary benefits to Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) such as CRPF, BSF, ITBP, CISF and SSB as was done in case of 'organised services', including the IAS and the IPS.

The apex court had in April this year asked the Centre to frame a response in this regard after it heard a batch of appeals, including one filed by the Centre against the Delhi High Court's September 2015 verdict asking it to consider all paramilitary forces as 'organised services'.

The high court had said officers of CAPFs should be given the benefits including non-functional financial upgradation, earlier available to 'Group A organised services', from 2006 in terms of the 6th Pay Commission.

Under NFU, if all officers of a particular batch cannot move up the ladder owing to lack of vacancies but only one does, the others will automatically get financial upgradation like the one who has been promoted.

"It was suggested that selective application of NFU is unsustainable, unjustified in view of the very high salaries in government and should therefore be withdrawn in accordance with the majority opinion of the CPC," the minutes of the meeting, accessed by PTI, said.

The meeting was attended by the chiefs of the CAPFs besides officers from the ministries of home and finance and the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).

"It was reiterated that the only long-term stable solution would be to withdraw NFU from all services, failing which, not only this case be lost, but it would spiral into a similar demand from the armed forces," the note said.

Senior CAPF officials said the move is aimed at "scuttling" the better chances of the cadre officers of these forces who are deployed in some of the most difficult and hard areas at the borders and in the hinterland countering Naxals, insurgents and terrorists.

"While the political leadership of the country has said that services of the armed forces and CAPFs are among the toughest and steps are being taken to make their services better and remuneration commensurate to their hard work, the bureaucracy is bent on depriving them these benefits owing to their vested interests," a senior officer in a paramilitary force said.

During the hearing in the apex court, Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar, representing the Centre, had told that if the paramilitary forces were declared as organised group 'A' services, there cannot be any deputation and no one from the Indian Police Service (IPS) cadre could come on deputation to these forces.

"All the CAPF chiefs who are part of the panel to draft a reply to the Supreme Court directive are IPS officers. The conflict of interest is apparent?" another officer said.

The IPS officers form the core of the senior leadership of these forces and there is a division between them and the cadre officers for occupying the command positions in CAPFs.

The home ministry meeting was informed by the DoPT official that there are no "consistent parameters" for granting NFU to various services and hence the same was difficult to accept and implement for the CAPFs too.

The apex court had said it perceives that the CAPF personnel were grieved by the non-grant of 'equal pay for equal work', a benefit granted to the organised services, and if the conferment of monetary benefit can assuage their grievance, the government might think over it, the bench comprising Justices Dipak Misra and M M Shantanagoudar had said.

The bench had granted 12 weeks to the Centre to deliberate upon the issue and the next hearing is scheduled for August 9.

by the kind courtesy of 

http://zeenews.india.com/personal-finance/7th-pay-commission-nfu-dream-of-paramilitary-to-end-mha-moots-withdrawal-of-tag-2003902.html

Sukma Maoists attack and where are we going wrong: Replace high-level IPS officers in Naxal belt with hardcore cops

By Prakash Katoch

The brutal attack by Maoists on 24 April in Chhattisgarh's Sukma which killed 25 CRPF personnel and injured several others was one of the deadliest attacks in recent times, though smaller than the massacre in April 2010 when Maoists killed 76 CRPF men.

The Maoists walked off with 32 assault rifles (mix of AK and INSAS), an assortment of rifle magazines and ammunition, 22 bulletproof jackets, two binoculars, five wireless sets and one metal detector. It was reported that the team of 99-strong CRPF men, which was out to provide protection for road construction, was attacked by 300 "left-wing extremist" and the firefight continued for at least three hours. There are claims that 10-12 Maoists were killed but no bodies were found. Another report said that the 99-member CRPF patrol team was attacked when they were preppin gto have lunch, obviously without ensuring protection.

It may be recalled that on 11 March this year, Maoists attacked another CRPF column at Bheji (Sukma) and by the time the an hour long assault ended, Maoists had killed 11, injured five (one succumbing to his injuries taking the death toll to 12). Reports had quoted officials as saying that the Naxals also looted ten weapons and two radio sets from the killed men, officials said.

Former home secretary in 2015 LC Goyal had said that an Army cantonment should be established in the Bastar region, as if that will be the silver bullet to tackle the issue. Media lapped up this revelation. However, the public is unaware of the fact that Chhattisgarh alone has some 45 battalions of Central Armed Police Forces (BSF, CRPF, IRB etc), a force equivalent of five times the Infantry Divisions or two times the Corps of the Army.

Goyal, in the report, did not disclose the plan that he, as a former home secretary, had drawn up to deal with the Maoists issue? Another home secretary who delivered a talk at a prominent think tank in New Delhi responded to searching questions cursorily and peremptorily, not once mentioning that the MHA is 'accountable'. He was also repeatedly asked why the Control of Borders was being handled by the police and is not given to Army similar to the Control of the Coast given to Navy, to which he had no answer.

One can hear statements time and again from the home ministry that additional forces can be allotted to the states, as required. But should the responsibility and accountability of MHA end there when the Maoists problem spans multiple states? With CRPF designated as the main counter-insurgency forces, why does the home secretary not recommend that the police academy in Hyderabad shift to the Naxal belt rather than recommending an army cantonment in the region?

In fact, much of the problems of the insurgency areas would be better addressed if the police academy is moved to Bastar and the IAS academy to the Kashmir Valley. Incidentally, a decade-old proposal for locating Army and Air Force elements at Bilaspur (Chhattisgarh) that had been agreed upon has not fructified because the state only made available part of the land required and MHA took no interest in the issue.

Surprisingly, the media has never highlighted the woes of the Central Armed Police Forces. With the strong IPS lobby, very few officers from the CRPF and BSF get promoted and seldom get to the rank of Additional Director General (ADG), as the bulk of the appointments at this level too are held by IPS officers despite it being grossly disproportionate given the strength of individual CAPF.

So, the Director General of CRPF actually is an IPS officer who has not come through grassroots of the CRPF, leave aside any experience of operating with the jawans in insurgency areas. This, as per veteran CRPF officers, is the main reason why the manning, training and equipping of this force has been suffering.

The government must look at these issues seriously and the MHA must get into the act. The Home Minister should consider sending MHA bureaucrats to go and live with the CAPF (not as state guests) in Bastar region by rotation to get first-hand experience of the issue.

This could actually be standard operating procedure that all bureaucrats posted to MHA must go through this experience. Much of the army's requirements in Siachen Glacier were met after Defence Minister George Fernandes sent MoD bureaucrats to Siachen.

Hundreds of CAPF battalions have been raised and there is no reason they cannot deal with internal security issues. They must perform and be 'made' to perform, and most importantly, dominate the Dandakaranya forest, where an occasional foray and chest-thumping are useless.

The home ministry must get into the act rather than bureaucrats looking over the shoulder towards the Army, and help our enemies in getting the Army sucked in here too. Wouldn't it surprise the public to know that the manpower strength of the police and central armed police forces is much more than that of the military?

A Maoist document titled Urban Perspective: Our Work in Urban Areas (UPUA) says, "At present the revolutionary movement is advancing in a vast belt of people's war encompassing the extensive areas of Dandakaranya, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar-Odisha border, north Telangana and Koel-Kaimur. We will be able to build these areas into contiguous areas of armed struggle with each area influencing the other."

Linked with recent events, they indicate that the critical phase of attacking the political fabric of Indian democracy has already begun. The issue needs to be viewed even more seriously considering that the brain of the Maoists ideology is in Beijing, they are receiving focused support from both China and Pakistan, and their over-ground elements are cloaked as intellectuals and social activists, even participating freely in seminars and debates in New Delhi. They too are very much Maoists and must be treated as such.

The author is veteran Lieutenant General of the Indian Army.

by the kind courtesy of 

http://www.firstpost.com/india/sukma-maoists-attack-and-where-are-we-going-wrong-replace-high-level-ips-officers-in-naxal-belt-with-hardcore-cops-3404956.html

Rs 5,000 crore package for Centre's pensioners after MCD polls

Sidhartha 

The revised pension will be taken up by the Union cabinet along with issues related to the pay of central government employees. The revised pension scheme has been finalised and the cabinet may clear it next week, said a source.

The government is set to clear a Rs 5,000 crore package for pensioners after Sunday's municipal elections in the capital to address their concerns related to the award of the 7th pay commission for central government employees and seniors.

The revised pension will be taken up by the Union cabinet along with three-four issues related to the pay of central government employees, even as a committee headed by Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa finalises its recommendations for allowances for government employees, including an increase in the house rent allowance (HRA). The panel is expected to submit its recommendations next week but there are indications that the change in allowances may not take place immediately.

"The revised pension scheme has been finalised and the government has postponed a decision due to the code of conduct for Delhi municipal elections. The cabinet may clear it next week," said a source, who did not wish to be identified.

The pay panel had recommended an increment-linked pension formula along with the option for multiplying the pension based on the six pay commission's recommendations by 2.57. To quickly implement the suggestions, the government opted for the second option as the increment-linked pension model was seen to be difficult to implement. This has created a situation where those who retired by December 31, 2015 are receiving a lower pension compared to someone who retired a month later. For instance, someone who retired as a secretary before January 2016 is getting a pension of Rs 1.02 lakh compared to Rs 1.12 lakh for someone who retired at the end of the month.

Now, the government is looking at two options -- one is to move to a new "modified parity-plus" formula, which links the pension to the salary drawn by someone who is at the same rank. The other is a formula based on the multiple of the sixth pay commission-based pension. A sources said the factor of 2.57 is also being changed to make the pension more attractive. "Basically, there will be two options for a pensioner and the formula that ensures a higher payout to the seniors will be given," explained a source.

By the kind courtesy of

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/rs-5000-crore-package-for-centres-pensioners-after-mcd-polls/articleshow/58288896.cms

Career Path of IAS Officers

By  Prafull

IAS is a hierarchical service and is probably the only service that offers assured career path of IAS officer and the progression in state, central government ministries and departments. Their duties are regulatory in nature like law and order, enforcement of rules and general administration, etc. The variety of experiences that of the IAS undergo during their career may be unmatched in any other career service in the world.

The government of India fixes the salary of all Civil Servants. The salaries depend on the officers rank at which they are posted. Apart from the salary, the officers are entitled to government accommodation and some of them get official transport with driver and other facilities like medical etc. More than the salary, it is perks and the power associated with Civil Servants that attract many of the bright students to it.

Here it goes with the Career Path of IAS Officer.

 

Training for 1 year

 

The newly recruited IAS trainees are called at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) for training after having successfully negotiated the gruelling Union Public Service Commission recruitment process. It is situated at the hill station Mussoorie, Uttarakhand. Here the career path of IAS starts. The Mussoorie training starts with a foundation course in common with other Central Services. The training is hard. There are studies and physical exercises too. The training ends with a long all-India educational tour called “Bharat darsan”. During this tour the officer trainees see various parts of the country and also how the Army, Navy and Air force of the country work.

Probation Period for 2 Years

 

In the career path of IAS, after training, the IAS officers are sent to their cadre regions on probation for a couple of years. When an IAS officer joins the State, he is placed as a Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) and it is the 1st posting of an IAS officer after probation period at the Sub-divisional level of a district. The SDM is the administrative head of a sub-division blocks.

In some states this has meant an assignment as Additional Deputy Commissioner/Additional District Magistrate, or Project Director of District Rural Development Agency, or Chief Executive Officer of Zila Parishad. Thereafter,comes one’s first promotion from the junior scale.

Junior Time Scale

 

In the career path of IAS, the newly recruited IAS officer starts at the Junior Time Scale salary i.e. in the scale of 15600 with Grade Pay 5400. So, the starting basic is 21000. There is also DA (Dearness Allowance) above the Basic Pay which is now 107% of the basic. The officer stays in the Junior Time Scale for 4 years.

Senior Time Scale

 

After 4 years of service life, the IAS officer is promoted to Senior Time Scale with Grade Pay 6600. The officer gets two extra increments during this scale up gradation. He is given various types of posts like that of the Additional District Magistrate (ADM), CEO, Zilla Parishad or Chief Development Officer at this stage.

 

Junior Administrative Grade

 

JAG officers get Rs 7600 as grade pay in the scale of Rs 15,600-Rs 39,100. An IAS is promoted to this scale after 9 years of service. He also gets two additional increments.

 

After serving 2/3 years as the ADM, the officer is selected as the District Magistrate / Collector of a district. The collector looks after the development and law and order of the district. The post has wide visibility, power and status.

Some of the officers are posted as a Joint Secretary of a ministry of the state. The Joint Secretary is a very important position to hold. If an officer goes to central deputation then he is given director post of a department.

Selection Grade

 

The officer again gets two extra increments before being promoted to the next higher scale of pay, Selection Grade (Rs. 37,400-67,000 with GP 8700) after 12 years of service. He or She may remain a DM in the district or can become a Special Secretary of a Government department.

Super Time Scale

 

An IAS gets Super Time Scale (Rs. 37,400-67,000 with GP 10000) after 16 years of service. He /She will get the post of an Additional Secretary or Secretary of a department of a State Government. He may also become a divisional commissioner in field posting. In the Central Government, an officer of that seniority can get the post of the Joint Secretary of a ministry of the Government of India.

Higher Administrative Grade

 

With the selection in Higher Administrative Grade or HAG, an officer is entitled to draw a basic in the scale of Rs.67000 to 79000. An officer should have an experience of 25 years to go to this position.

In states, an IAS of this grade can become a Principle Secretary of a department. If the officer works in the Government of India, then the rank will be of an Additional Secretary.

Apex Scale

An officer with a minimum experience of 30 years can get the Apex scale i.e. the fixed basic salary of Rs. 80,000. The Secretaries of various departments of the Central Government gets this scale. The Chief Secretary of a state also gets this scale.

Cabinet Secretary Scale

 

The Cabinet Secretary is the highest position of a government employee in India. There is always only one Cabinet Secretary in the Central Government. He draws a fixed basic pay of Rs. 90,000.

by the kind courtesy of

https://ias.org.in/2016/03/career-path-of-ias-officer.html

7th Pay Commission Latest News: Committee of Secretaries on Allowances to announce interim awards to appease employees and pensioners

As of January 1, 2016, the salaries and allowances of all pensioners was raised by 14.3 per cent, according to the recommendations. However, employees and pensioners found the raise paltry.

Even as thousands of pensioners have registered their protest against the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission, saying that the increase suggested by the panel was measly, the government is scrambling to appease them with interim awards. The two committees set up to look into the anomalies in pensions and allowances are expected to announce some compensation for the pensioners, in an attempt to blunt the criticism. The review report of the panels is expected to be submitted in the next 10-15 days. The report that seeks to revise the allowances, will be submitted to the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

“They are expected to announce some interim award. The government will consider them,” a senior government official told Times of India, on condition of anonymity. After scores of pensioners and government employees slammed the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission, saying that the increase was not enough, some employee associations raised the demand for a revision. On July 22nd, the government constituted a committee comprising Finance Secretary as Chairman and Secretaries of Home Affairs, Defence, Health and Family Welfare, Personnel & Training, Posts and Chairman, Railway Board as members. The committee was to look into the recommendations regarding allowances of government employees and their dearness allowance. 

As of January 1, 2016, the salaries and allowances of all pensioners was raised by 14.3 per cent, according to the recommendations. The salaries and allowances of those in the upper bracket were raised by up to 23 per cent. The recommendations of the Commission were approved by the Cabinet in June 2016, with the assurance that all arrears and raise in salaries will be applicable for the same financial year, that is, 2016-17. Over one crore employees will benefit from the recommendations, amongst which, 47 Lakh are central government employees, and 53 Lakh pensioners. Of this, 14 Lakh employees and 18 Lakh pensioners belong to the defence forces.

Following protestations from the employees, two panels were set up to look into allowances and pensions, and the panels were instructed to submit their reports in four months’ time. Once the report comes in, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will take a call on whether to implement the changes or not. Sources had earlier revealed, “The committee has been asked to submit its report within four months. Its two meetings were held on August 4 and September 1 respectively. The recommendations of the committee would have to be submitted to the Finance Minister within 10-15 days. After assessment, this would be submitted to the Cabinet.” 

Speaking on the subject, Jaitley had earlier said in the Rajya Sabha, “As far as allowances are concerned, 51 have been abolished while 37 have been subsumed. As the measures are radical in nature, even the employees’ unions have given their suggestions in the matter and therefore a special committee has been formed to look into it. Whatever the committee decides, it will go to the Cabinet.” The 7th Pay Commission awards have added an additional burden of Rs 1.02 lakh crore to the exchequer. Central government employees and pensioners have already got their revised salaries along with arrears, on August 31.

Courtesy: http://www.india.com/news/india/7th-pay-commission-latest-news-committee-of-secretaries-on-allowances-to-announce-interim-awards-to-appease-employees-and-pensioners-1464575/

Centre to empower common man to punish corrupt babus

The move comes after a Supreme Court judgement said there is no provision in relevant laws which bars a citizen from filing a complaint for prosecution of a public servant who is alleged to have committed an offence

In a first, the Centre has decided to empower common man to seek prosecution of corrupt IAS officers.

The move comes after a Supreme Court judgement, in the case of Subramanian Swamy versus former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and others, saying there is no provision in relevant laws which bars a citizen from filing a complaint for prosecution of a public servant who is alleged to have committed an offence.

Following this verdict, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) is in receipt of requests from private persons seeking sanction for prosecution in respect of IAS officers without any proper proposal and supporting documents. 

It is observed that such requests, as are received from citizens are more in the nature of complaints sans any supporting details, evidence, which can at best merit inquiry of substantial facts as are evidenced i.e such requests are without any proposal and supporting documents, the DoPT said in a draft guidelines issued today.

Keeping in view the basic parameters and requirements for cases received from investigating agencies, it has been decided to streamline the procedure for handling the requests for prosecution sanction received from the private person, it said.

"A proposal from a private individual seeking sanction for prosecution of an IAS officer serving in the state government may be routed through the concerned state government as such state government is best placed to provide basic inputs as regards the alleged misconduct of the concerned public servant who is or was working under its administrative control.

"In case a proposal is received directly by DoPT by such private individuals, will be forwarded to the state governments for the preliminary examination by such state government vis-a-vis the relevant records," it said. If there is a prima facie case against an IAS officer, the state government should prepare a detailed report and consider obtaining version of the concerned officer.

Such report alongwith all relevant records and evidence should be forwarded to DoPT (which is the cadre controlling authority for such officers) with the approval of the competent authority there, the proposed guidelines said. 

In case the concerned state government after examination of relevant records and other evidence is of the view that prima facie no case is made out of any alleged misconduct which may constitute an offence under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, it shall inform the person who has made the request for sanction for prosecution about it, the DOPT said. 

In case a prima facie case is made out, the same will be treated as a proposal as per existing procedures to initiate action for processing the matter for decision of the competent authority, it said. 

All state governments and central government ministries have been asked to provide their comments on the proposed guidelines by August 12.

"A period of three months for disposing of such proposals would commence from the date of receipt of complete proposal with all relevant material and the aforesaid report from the concerned state governments," the DoPT said.

A total of 4,926 IAS officers are working across the country as against its total sanctioned strength of 6,396.

The apex court had in its judgement given in 2012 observed that "if the competent authority is satisfied that the material placed before it is sufficient for prosecution of the public servant, then it is required to grant sanction. 

"If the satisfaction of the competent authority is otherwise, then it can refuse sanction. In either case, the decision taken on the complaint made by a citizen is required to be communicated to him and if he feels aggrieved by such decision, then he can avail appropriate legal remedy".

It was also observed by the Supreme Court that "At the same time, we deem it proper to observe that in future every competent authority shall take appropriate action on the representation made by a citizen for sanction of the prosecution of a public servant, so as to identify and obviate the areas causing delays in processing of such proposals ...".

In actual fact the move may never be successful due to hood winking and inordinately delayed action or no action at all, since the babus will themselves sit in justice of each case. So, a futile move by the government.

7th CPC: Arrears of salary hike under 7th Pay Commission to be paid in August

The central government is trying to balance out the burden of the 7th pay commission payout on the exchequer. As per reports, though the salaries of the government employees will be paid in July as per the 7th Pay Commission recommendations, the arrears from January 2016, will be disbursed only August onwards.

Implementation of new pay scales recommended by the 7th Pay Commission headed by AK Mathur estimated to put an additional burden of Rs 1.02 lakh crore, or 0.7 percent of GDP, on the exchequer in 2016-17, government has said. 

“7th Pay Commission: PMO not insensitive to higher payout for central govt employees” 

The recommendations of the Pay Commission will have bearing on the remuneration of 47 lakh central government employees and 52 lakh pensioners.

There are reports doing the round that government will payout arrears of only the salary component and not allowances. 

The employees are anticipating at least Rs 24,000 take-home salary per month.

In a meeting with the  BJP's  labour  wing  Bharatiya  Mazdoor Sangh, Jitendra Prasad, Union Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, had told the delegation that government would positively look into the demand of the central government employees. "The minister said we will consider the proposal of minimum pay of 24,000”, said Pawan Kumar, Regional Organizing Secretary.

http://zeenews.india.com/business/news/economy/7th-cpc-arrears-of-salary-hike-under-7th-pay-commission-to-be-paid-in-august_1885788.html

Central govt employees say no unilateral decision on salary hikes under 7th Pay Commission acceptable

The central government employees lead by the National Council (Staff Side) Joint Consultative Machinery would like to have more say in the way their monthly salaries and allowances are shaped up by the Empowered Committee of Secretaries.

 

The Union Cabinet had, on January 13, given approval for setting up an empowered committee of Secretaries under the Cabinet Secretary to process the recommendations of the pay panel. The empowered committee has even invited the Joint Consultative Machinery (Staff side) to understand their view point, but the central employees union needs a bilateral negotiation on the matter.  

"Neither did the Government side make any commitment on any demands, nor did they indicate in the minutes that further discussion will be held with the staff side to arrive at a negotiated settlement on each demands. It seems that the Modi Government is moving ahead to issue unilateral orders taking the staff side for a ride", said M Krishnan, Secretary General of the central government employees confederation.

The employees are leaving no stone unturned to extract the highest pay out under the 7th CPC, "The staff side on the other hand has taken a position that if unilateral orders are issued, without taking the staff side into confidence, the NJCA shall go ahead with the indefinite strike from 11th July 2016 as already informed to the government", added Krishnan.

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Cabinet Secretary’s panel on 7th CPC to have key meeting on June 11; salary hikes unlikely to come in July

The Empowered Committee of Secretaries (CoS) headed by Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha processing the report of the Seventh Central Pay Commission is expected to meet on June 11 to finally wrap up its report on the remuneration of government employees.

It is reported that the secretaries panel will finally hear out all the stakeholders, including the Central ministries and Departments, and finalise its report, which will be handed over to the government on June 30.

Sources added that even the Prime Minister's Office is keen on a favourable pay hike for the central government employees, so the panel is likely to recommend a minimum salary at Rs 24,000 and the highest salary at Rs 2,70,000.

The 7th pay panel headed by AK Mathur had recommended the minimum salary at Rs 18,000 and maximum salary at Rs 2,50,000.

Sources added that the government is exploring options for meeting the additional payout over and above what was recommended by the 7th pay panel. The payout could be substantial with salary hike and arrears adding up to a Rs 1.02 lakh crore burden on government finances.

However, it seems that the government employees will have to wait more for the salary hike. Once the report moves from the table of the empowered group of committee to the cabinet, it is likely to take another month before the notification on pay hike will eventually come.

Even the Finance Ministry is keen that higher salaries reach government employees just before the festive season starting mid-August, as spurt in consumption during the festive period will have a domino effect on the economy.

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Discontinue the Practice of Appointing Pay Commissions every 10 years

Discontinue the Practice of Appointing Pay Commissions every 10 years – According to Mathur, this could be avoided if a system of annual salary hikes — as in the private sector — is implemented for government staff as well.

The Centre could discontinue the practice of appointing pay commissions every 10 years to suggest salary revisions for its staff, justice AK Mathur, chairman of the Seventh Central Pay Commission (7th CPC), said. Instead, he said, the government could have a mechanism for annual increment in salaries, taking into account all aspects including the consumer prices. While the dearness allowance offsets the impact of retail inflation on the salaries of government employees, the salary increases are now accorded by way of the pay commission-awarded “fitment” factor and annual increment.

Since pay commission awards come once in 10 years, the two to three years subsequent to each award tend to be fiscally stressful for the government — the latest instances are FY09 and FY10, years when the Centre’s fiscal deficit exceeded 6% and states too suffered major blows to their finances.

According to Mathur, this could be avoided if a system of annual salary hikes — as in the private sector — is implemented for government staff as well. “The government should review the matter (salary of its staff) every year looking into the data available to it and based on the price index,” he told.

The 7thCPC, which submitted its report to the government on Thursday, has proposed an increase of 23.55% in the pay (salary and allowances) of central government employees and similar increase in pensions, which will become effective from January 1, 2016. The additional payout is projected to be Rs 1.02 lakh crore in FY17, or 0.65% of GDP, making it difficult for the government to reduce the fiscal deficit by 0.4% to 3.5% of GDP in the year. India Ratings in a note said the actual impact of the 7th CPC award could be higher at Rs 1.27 lakh crore after taking into account the arrears for three months (January-March) as the implementation will be from April 1, 2016.

Concurring with the Mathur, India Ratings chief economist Devendra Pant said the huge salary revision after the 6th CPC award came at a time when there was a global slowdown and the impact was severe on the exchequer for the initial two years. “A formula needs to be developed by the government to implement salary revision in every two or three years,” Pant said. The formula can take into account benefits like fitment and annual increment, besides DA given in the present pay commission format. If periodic revision was applied, the cumulative impact of Rs 1.02 lakh crore of the 7th CPC would have been spread over several years, rather than primarily in FY17 and FY18, providing the government with better absorbing capacity. The pay commission recommendations also put huge burden the state governments, PSUs and central universities, which take their cue from the commissions and undertake similar pay revisions.

Mathur said that the 7th CPC should take credit for timely submission of report which avoided the need for the government to pay massive arrears unlike in the case of the 6th CPC award (which came 31 months after the due date).

Mathur said the recommendation for a virtual one-rank-one-pension scheme for both the civilian and armed forces was one of the most important recommendations of the panel. “It will be difficult for the government to go back on this,” he said. He said the commission did not consider the OROP announced by the government for armed forces earlier this year as it was not part of their mandate.

Mathur said the panel’s recommendations were in consonance with of the financial position of the government conveyed to it and hence, “the present dispensation that we have given, I think the government will be more keen to accept”.