Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Lesser holidays

Sir,— The article "A fortnight of Sundays" ( April 16 ) suffers from some factual inaccuracies which tend to undermine its objectivity.

The crux of the issue is apparently 202 holidays supposed to be enjoyed by Government employees. Unfortunately, this figure is based on some wrong facts. For Central Government employees, the number of casual leave is eight not 12, the maximum gazetted holidays 17 and medical leave 10 (20 on half pay). If we add 30 earned (privilege) leave, 104 weekly off days and two restricted holidays to this, the total number of holidays will come to 171. About four to five gazetted holidays every year fall on weekly off days (four this year) and the number of weekly off days are allowed during earned/medical leave. Thus, effective holidays will come down to about 156 not 202.

As for the massive pay hike recommended by the Fifth Pay Commission and implemented by the Government, a very strong misconception seems to persist. Suffice it to say that a Central Gazetted officer at floor level, saddled with enormous responsibilities, only gets about Rs. 12,000 a month today even after the so-called massive pay hike. It compares poorly with the compensation officers with equivalent qualification, experience and responsibilities get in the private sector/PSUs.

Pawan Gupta,
New Delhi

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