Concerned over possible backlash from unions, the Union Cabinet has chosen not to act on the most significant and progressive recommendation of the 7th Pay Commission — that no more pay commissions should be set up and instead a more performance-linked appraisal system must be put in place.
Though it sent the set of recommendations aimed at rationalising the pay structures to the Department of Personnel and Training last week, no deadline or directions for further processing the suggestions were specified. “The reforms recommended by the pay commission are effectively killed … an opportunity to rationalise pays and link them to performance, and introduce meritocracy has been lost,” a top Finance Ministry source told The Hindu .
Wide gapsThe Commission’s report highlighted wide gaps between the pays of Central government employees and their counterparts in the private sector. A study it commissioned found that while a driver in the private sector typically earns around Rs. 12,000 a month, an entry-level driver in government service takes home nearly Rs. 25,000. Similarly, while government doctors with an MBBS degree get Rs. 80,500 a month, their counterparts in the private sector earn only Rs. 50,000. But remuneration of private sector doctors with an MD or MS degree and 15 years experience exceeds that of their counterparts in government: Rs. 3,70,000 per month as compared to Rs. 1,60,000 in the government sector.
Other recommendations forwarded to the DoPT seek to establish parity between the officers of the Indian Administrative Service and the rest of the cadres on both pays and promotions.
