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Showing posts from May, 2008

Scientists need better pay for better output: Natarajan

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), celebrating 50 years of its establishment this year, Monday put across the message that its scientists were not immune to market forces and needed better remuneration. "The scientific temper, while being lured by technology challenges, is not immune to the world outside. The phenomenal remuneration package of India's private sector is a powerful inducement in drawing away the scientific talent from government establishments," M. Natarajan, scientific advisor to the defence minister, said here on the occasion of World Technology Day. "The Sixth Pay Commission, which we hoped would address this aspect, has not met the expectations of the scientists and technical staff. In our view, the government must provide special packages to attract, retain and reward scientific and technical skills. "Putting research labs in the same category as other administrative organisations will not be fair and might damage th

Government to look into batmen’s complaints in army

The government is viewing seriously complaints from soldiers serving as batmen for senior officers as part of a tradition begun during the British Raj. The army accounts for most of the nearly 35,000 soldiers who are attached to officers ostensibly for the upkeep of their service weapons and uniforms. In reality, however, they end up as domestic orderlies. This, the soldiers and their families say, causes all the problems. Called ’sahayaks’ (assistants) in the Indian Army, they allege that they get poor quality uniform, their promotions are often delayed and that seniors often humiliate them. The soldiers say that this offends their sense of dignity. Although the Sixth Pay Commission has recommended the abolition of the sahayak system in the paramilitary forces, the army finds these soldiers indispensable. A hawaldar told IANS on condition of anonymity: “Our problems are many. We put in long hours but still there is no dignity for us. The officers abuse us at times asking us to do

News Pay bands and Relative status

The Sixth Pay Commission's controversial recommendations are creating more heartburn now that the fine print has been analysed. It will bring about a fundamental change in the way status is defined in the bureaucracy. Currently, basic pay is the parameter to define the status of a position. A higher basic pay means a higher position. If the Srikrishna Commission report is implemented, the grade pay, instead of basic pay, will define the status of a position. When the grade pay is equivalent, higher total emoluments including all special pays will define a higher status. Significantly, the commission has converted all the eight pay scales applicable to the IAS with a corresponding grade pay. So, in PB-3 for example, the grade pays of Rs 6,500, 7,500 and 8,300 have been created which are exclusive to the IAS. Representative associations of other services perceive a pro-IAS bias to reduce the status position of all other all India services by a staggering 40 per cent with only t

Call to hike paramilitary pay

Demanding "equal pay for equal work" vis-a-vis defence personnel, a group of ex-paramilitary personnel has - on behalf of over 7.5 lakh jawans and officers in CRPF, BSF, CISF, ITBP, SSB and Assam Rifles - sent a memorandum to the Union home ministry, asking it to end the "discrimination" which, they say, is quite "demoralising" for the forces fighting terrorism and Naxalism across the country. The group has also decided to take to the street highlighting the anomalies in the sixth pay commission recommendations which, it thinks, should be addressed immediately. In the memorandum to Union home minister Shivraj Patil and home secretary Madhukar Gupta, the All India Ex-Paramilitary Personnel Association said that there should not be any disparity between army and CPMF personnel as the latter had an equally hard job in violence-hit and insurgency-prone areas in J&K and the north-eastern states. Putting the case of paramilitary personnel forward, the ass

Prospects of enhanced pay appears to brighten for armed forces

Prospects of an enhanced pay package for the armed forces personnel appeared to brighten on Tuesday after a crucial meeting of the three service chiefs with the empowered group of secretaries headed by Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrashekar. Though no official word was available, the three chiefs -Admiral Sureesh Mehta of Navy, Air Chief Marshal F H Major and Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor- are understood to have apprised the members of the empowered committee of widespread dissatisfaction in the armed forces rank and file over the Sixth Pay Commission Report. The armed forces have pressed for a 100-200 per cent hike in the newly introduced Military Service Pay for personnel below officer rank and its payment with the retrospective effect from January 1, 2006. The forces are also seeking rectification of what they see as an "undermining" of status and lowering of pay-scales including grade pay of middle ranking officers from Captains to Brigadiers. The armed forces in thei

Military chiefs meet cabinet secretary over pay panel

The three Services chiefs Tuesday met Cabinet Secretary K.M. Chandrashekhar over their demands for revision of a pay panel’s recommendations relating to the armed forces personnel. “The three Services chiefs discussed the Military Service Pay (MSP) for PBORs (Personnel Below Officer Rank) with the cabinet secretary, among other issues,” an army source said. Navy Chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta, Air Chief Marshal F.H. Major and Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor and senior officials discussed the “anomalies” in the pay packages of armed forces personnel. The meeting, earlier scheduled for Monday, was postponed to Tuesday. The cabinet secretary will now forward his views to the cabinet, said an official. The Sixth Pay Commission, headed by former Supreme Court Justice B.N. Srikrishna, has recommended a 40 percent across-the-board pay hike for armed forces personnel, doubling their allowances and MSP for officers up to the rank of brigadier and equivalent, as also for PBORs. Apart from push

Military chiefs to meet cabinet secretary over pay panel

The three Services chiefs are likely to meet Cabinet Secretary K.M. Chandrashekhar Tuesday to decide on their demands for revision of a pay panel’s recommendations. “Among other issues, a decision is in the offing on the Military Service Pay (MSP) for PBORs (Personnel Below Officer Rank),” an army source here said Monday. Besides Navy Chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta, Air Chief Marshal F.H. Major and Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor, the meeting would be attended by senior officials to go into anomalies in the pay packages of armed forces personnel. The meeting, earlier scheduled for Monday, was postponed to Tuesday. The Sixth Pay Commission, headed by former Supreme Court Justice B.N. Srikrishna, has recommended a 40 percent across-the-board pay hike for armed forces personnel, doubling their allowances and military service pay (MSP) for officers up to the rank of brigadier and equivalent, as also for PBORs. Apart from pushing the case for PBORs, the Services chiefs had pointed out tha

Revised pay package for armed forces to be finalised tomorrow

A revised pay package for the armed forces personnel including enhanced Military Service Pay for those below officer rank would be finalised at a crucial meeting to be chaired by the Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrashekar on Tuesday. Besides the Cabinet Secretary, the Navy Chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta, Air Chief Marshal F H Major and Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor would attend the meeting. The meeting would also be attended by other secretaries in the empowered group of secretaries set up by the government to go into anomalies in the pay packages of armed forces personnel. The meeting was scheduled to be held on Monday but was put off till Tuesday, official sources said. Meanwhile, Defence Minister A K Antony said on Monday that there was no ''large scale'' departures from the services despite the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations not coming up to their expectations. ''Army personnel are allowed to leave service on account of various reasons like suppression

Navratna and mini-ratna public sector companies may get freedom to set non-monetary perks

Navratna and mini-ratna public sector companies, which have long suffered attrition, may now have reason to cheer. The government is planning to give these companies complete autonomy in deciding the perks and bonuses of their employees. The second pay revision committee for central public sector enterprises (CPSEs), which is giving final touches to its proposals, is likely to ask the government to make necessary amendments to ensure this. The panel would come out with its recommendations on May 31. The suggestions would affect 4 lakh employees directly and about 17 lakh indirectly. CPSEs, however, would not get the freedom to decide the pay scales of their employees. “The committee feels profit-making CPSEs should have the freedom to decide incentives for their employees. This would help them retain talent and stave off poaching by the private sector,” said a government official involved with the move. Central PSEs currently have the freedom to decide non-monetary perks such as housi

Give the forces their due

One had occasion to meet the legendary J R D Tata just once, in the late 1970s at a social occasion in Delhi. In his characteristically gracious yet witty manner, he regaled the dinner-table with snippets from his interaction with the capital's babudom, of having to wait all day in a stuffy outer room, in vain, to meet with an exalted joint secretary in the industry ministry. "The powers that be in Delhi have neither the time nor respect for the honest industrialist" he said and wondered when this attitude would ever change. The attitude of Delhi changed, but only after the jolt of the BOP (balance of payment) crisis of 1991. India was fortunate that it had an astute prime minister in Narasimha Rao, assisted by an able finance minister, Manmohan Singh, and his team of hard-core economic and finance professionals. As always, the Indian elephant revealed its innate resilience and responded when pushed to the wall. The stifling licence-permit raj was dismantled and the busi

Army goes public with pay protest

The army has formally signalled its disappointment with the sixth pay panel’s recommendations, marking a rare occasion in which it has chosen to speak trade union language and go public with its protest. So far, the armed forces’ dissatisfaction was made known through retired personnel and/or off-the-record briefings, but now the entire top brass of the army meeting in a commanders’ conference chaired by the chief, General Deepak Kapoor, has chosen to voice its opinion. The observations come even though Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and defence minister A.K. Antony have said there was a case for better salaries for armed forces personnel. “Exclusive sessions (in the commanders’ conference) were earmarked for intense deliberations on the aspects of shortfall in the authorised strength of the army’s officer cadre and the recommendations of the sixth central pay commission,” the army said in a statement here today. “Both these issues have serious impact on morale and motivation of the

Jawans set to get a hike beyond Pay panel advice

In the face of mounting pressure from the Armed Forces, the Defence Ministry has asked the Committee of Secretaries looking into the Pay Commission recommendations to double the Military Service Pay (MSP) for soldiers from Rs 1000 to Rs 2000. The MSP will be merged with basic salary and form the basis on which other allowances will be calculated. With Defence Minister A K Antony putting his weight behind the move, sources said, the suggestion is likely to be accepted as informal consultations have already happened among relevant officials. The issue will be elaborately discussed and firmed up when the three service chiefs meet Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrashekhar, who heads the CoS, over lunch on May 5. While the Armed Forces were keen to treble the amount for certain categories among personnel below officer rank (PBOR), sources said, the hike in MSP along with other allowances will make up for a "healthy" salary. Moreover, the CoS will submit the report to the Cabin

Sixth Pay Commission - Public View

This is opinion from many sources - 1.There is no performance system adopted. 2.Pay for performance is in vain. 3. secretaries of GOI will decide the fate of Defence Forces and fate of all in general - thats really abusive. Lower cadre employee have no right in this decison making. Abusive to them. 4. Pvt Sector employee says Sixth pay commission is bane for country. Gov people doing nothing. 5. Economist says Gov may suffer inflation, large burden, 5 years slow. Because all state Govs also implement the same pay commission. How this money come. 6. pay commission must have a democratic setup comprising representation of all category of staff 7. its waste of time and resources....till now each n every govt. employee understood the CAKE they got into there mounth after such a hype in media by pay commission..no one is going to believe such cheap tricks by UPA govt. to make there seats strong in parliament....they will also get there part of CAKE in upcoming elections.... 8. You want t