Amidst protests by various associations of teachers and government employees over pay anomalies, the State government-constituted Staff Rationalisation Committee (SRC), under retired IAS officer S. Audiseshiah, has sent a questionnaire to all department heads about their functional structure and post-wise number of employees and their salary structure.
The Committee has also sought suggestions for efficient functioning of the department and pointers for cutting down on financial burden to the government.
Report within 6 months
Two sets of questionnaires — one to the Heads of Departments and the other to the Administrative Departments at the Secretariat with 14 and 15 queries respectively — sent by SRC’s Member Secretary M.A. Siddique earlier this week have sought responses from all the departments latest by May 21. “Since the Staff Rationalisation Committee is required to submit its report to the government within six months, it is imperative that the particulars are sent to the Staff Rationalisation Committee on or before May 21, 2018,” the communication stated.
The queries are over the objectives of every department, functional structure, updated consolidated particulars of the posts and revised level of pay with post-wise number of employees and suggestions for curtailing the administrative expenditure.
Speaking to The Hindu , Mr. Siddique said: “We have sought responses from all departments and once we receive them, we will have rounds of interaction with every department before submitting the report.”
Besides queries about the number of sections in every department, staff as on March 31, 2018, number of official communications received in the last three calendar years, the questionnaire focussed on suggestions from the head of the departments.
Suggestions sought
Suggestions have been sought on improving handling of files, possible reduction of stages involved in clearing of files, delegation of powers, implementing e-office, possible merger of various sections within a department and areas where outsourcing or contracting of work can be encouraged.
In its questionnaire, the SRC wanted to know whether any study was carried out on reorganisation or restructuring or rationalisation in the department since 2003, and what were the recommendations and the extent to which they were implemented.
The Committee sought to know the breakup of administrative cost and the staff in every section.
In the budget estimates 2018-19, the allocation for salaries is ₹52,171 crore, and for pensions and other retirement benefits it is is ₹25,362 crore. The implementation of Seventh Pay Commission recommendations has resulted in an additional commitment of ₹14,719 crore per annum.
The SRC was constituted by the State government in February this year to review the staff structure in various departments and to identify non-essential posts to reduce revenue expenditure and identify the categories of posts which can be outsourced or appointed through contract appointment for an initial period as a measure to control expenditure.
