Chapter 3.2 of the Report deals with All India Services. The three All India Services namely Indian Administrative Service (IAS) , Indian Police Service (IPS) and Indian Forest Service (IFS) owe their origin to the mandate given to the Parliament under Article 312 of the Constitution. The recruitments for IAS & IPS are made by UPSC based on competitive examinations held annually. The Recruitment for IFS is made through separate All India Examination. The Commission’s report has given due appreciation to the importance of All India Services and observed that innovative measures are necessary for ensuring that these services are able to deliver to the best possible extent.
The Commission has observed that the supremacy of IAS over the other All India Services has to continue as per the trend which started from the times when the First Central Pay Commission submitted it’s report. It has noted that the Fifth CPC had also held the same views in this context. While coming to this conclusion it has taken note of the wide ranging exposure to challenging assignments that the officers of this service experience over their career.
Regarding the competition with private sector salaries the Commission’s observations are that despite the difference in pay package the IAS due to it’s unique status in the scheme of governance continues to draw the best talents. A large number of young men and women who join the service are professionally qualified and have in many cases given up economically rewarding jobs to join IAS because of the challenges and prestige attached to the service. The IAS officers have been given an edge in the pay scales at the entry stage in view of the tough and challenging atmosphere that they have to encounter from the initial stage of service. The edge given by the Fifth CPC in different pay scales had in monetary terms ranged from Rs.650/- to Rs.800/-. In the recommendations for the Sixth CPC the grade pays recommended for IAS have been made slightly higher in comparison to grade pay for other services by Rs.400/- for Senior Time Scale, Rs. 900/- for Junior Administrative Grade and Rs. 700/- for NFSG (Non functional Selection Grade). The benefit would continue throughout their career due to proposed nature of pay scales known as pay bands.
For the Indian Police Service a major recommendation is for up gradation of posts of Director Generals (DGs) in all the five Central Para Military Forces (CPMFs) to revised scale of Rs. 80000/-. The Commission feels that this step would ensure continuity in the Services and create an atmosphere conducive to planning for long term reforms in these forces . For the Indian Forest Service (IFS) up gradation of similar nature has been recommended for the Post of Director of Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy (IGNFA).
The most popular demand raised by the IPS was for removal of the post of DIG which is covered by Super Time Scale of Rs.16400/-.Commission noted that the post of DIG is a functional post in most of the States as well as in CPMFs. In several States the range is headed by DIG. It has recommended that the post be continued. The officers in the Forest Service had made a similar demand for the Post of Conservator of Forests. The demand has been found unacceptable on similar grounds. Commission has also recommended that the relative hierarchical structure recommended by the previous CPC should continue in the IFS.
Cursing the Darkness 
Maintaining the supremacy of the IAS and in fact increasing its hegemony is anachronistic particularly when domain expertise is found increasingly important with introduction of more and more technology in routine tasks of administration. The Questionnaire circulated by the VI CPC had kindled hopes of examining objectively the efficacy of this colonial legacy of a superior but essentially generalist service have been dashed. You can perhaps one day make the politicians agree to a code of restraint but there is no hope in the hell of disbanding the self aggrandising IAS by constituting a Unified Civil Service. Although the response to the Questionnaire was more than fifty percent in favour of a UCS ( with some differences in flavour) Justice Sri Krishna has , it appears been charmed by the persuasive power of Sushma Nath IAS Member Secretary. .
Thanx for the visit.
[…] is writing a series of detailed posts on the CPC’s implications. Part 1, 2, 3, and 4 are already out. Keep an eye out for […]
It is incorrect to club scale of pay from Joint Secretary to Special secretaries and put the minimum at Rs 39200/ with grade pays ranging from Rs 9000 to Rs 13000/-Why should secetary not be merged and give him grade pay of Rs 15000/-The report is completely biased in favour of secretaries. its implication for retired pensioners is huge ; Whereas a retired special secretary will get pension =half of (39200+13000) ie 26100/- , a retired secretary will get Rs 40000/-! Is so much differential between a special secretary and secretary justified? Never This needs to be rectified.
Perhaps some of the grievances shall be addressed when the report is examined by multisectoral committee.
The report of the Sixth Central Pay Commission states at page-15 that the Grade pay is in the nature of fitment benefit, i.e. 40% of the maximum of the pre-revised pay scale as had been granted by the Fifth Central Pay Commission. The pay in the running pay band has, however, been computed by adding the Basic Pay and Dearness Allowance at the rate of 74% that would have been payable on the existing Fifth CPC pay scales w.e.f. 01.01.1996 “had merger of Dearness Allowance equal to 50% of Basic Pay not been allowed from 01.04.2004”.
When Dearness Allowance equal to 50% of Basic Pay had already been actually merged with Basic Pay w.e.f. 01.04.2004 and all allowances including DA were calculated on the merged amount, it is really surprising as to how the Commission depended on presumption (mentioning “had merger of Dearness Allowance equal to 50% of Basic Pay not been allowed from 01.04.2004”) to calculate 74% of DA on the unmerged BP to get the running pay band to be effective from 01.01.2006, i.e. much later date of the actual merger. The question here is : when all the suggestions in the Sixth CPC report have been made to be implemented w.e.f. 01.01.2006 and accordingly, the pay structures were arrived at, why was the Dearness Allowance equal to 50% of Basic Pay not merged with the latter (when the same has actually been merged) and then Dearness Allowance of the remaining 24% calculated on the merged BP to get to the pay in the running pay band? The difference can be seen as under supposing Rs. 10000/- as Basic Pay :-
Example :
As recommended by 6th CPC if 50% of DA first merged and then calculated the DA @24%
Basic Pay Dearness Allowance @ 74% TOTAL Merged Basic Pay
(10000+50% of DA) Dearness Allowance @ 24% TOTAL
10000 7400 17400 15000 3600 18600
Here, the difference is 18600-17400 = Rs. 1200/-. This sort of erratic calculation is a gross indifference of the Commission towards government employees. The euphoria that lived in the lives of government employees before submission of the Commission’s report has already subsided. Everyone expected a transparent and sensibly visible increase in their monthly salary with substantial growth in pay in the years to come. It is now felt that the Commission has not made any effort to simplify the whole system of government pay structures and rather, put forth the idea of complicating the matter to the worse end. The report has not addressed how to fix the pay of employees on different situations like promotion, ACPS, deputation, absorption etc. It would have been easier to take note of their ‘new idea’ if the report had provided some ‘examples’ of pay fixation, increment and other comparative statements on the pre-revised and revised pay as it has suggested some new system to the existing one. Annual Increment @2.5% is nothing but equal or slightly more than what we have been getting now. When the whole of government fraternity has trained and acquainted themselves with the present system of pay calculation, increment etc., what was the necessity to introduce the new structure of running pay band and grade pay by the 6th CPC? Rather, they should have modified the complicated structures and rectified the present anomalies without touching the mode of existing pay scales etc. It would have been easier to understand and more importantly, transparent.
The report also repeatedly mentions of smooth/steady career progression without any stagnation in the new scheme of pay structure. When the maximum of the running pay band has been kept at Rs. 34800/- (and minimum at Rs. 8700/- for PB-2, for example), there is no question of stagnation as one cannot touch the maximum limit (Rs. 34800/-) during his or her career with annual increment at just @ 2.5% only. It does not matter anything to the poor government employee, if you keep the maximum amount of the pay scale at 40000 or 400000, as there is no possibility of reaching to that position nor is one benefited with a meager percentage of annual increment. Why then the boasting of saying about the steady career growth? Government employees have also brain to understand what the report says about their pay. The only thing is that nobody now understands how to react to the shrewdness of the 6th CPC. Everybody knows that this is the brain child of Shri P. ‘VAT’ Chidambaram, the Finance Minister of India. The day when the report was submitted to the government, the media, particularly the electronic visual media, showed such ‘BREAKING NEWS’ like ‘CHHAPAR PHAR KE’ ‘JHOLA BHOR KE’ etc. that even the opposition party, BJP demanded for immediate implementation of the report, considering themselves to be pro-government employees in view of the forthcoming general elections but now, everybody remains mum.
This sort of step-motherly treatment to the Government employees by the Government is what “happens only in India”. Unlike the private sector and the so called MNCs, most of the Government departments are public-linked departments; for which employees endure a lot of pressure in their day-to-day work. When they do not get expected return from the Government, evils like corruption, redtapeism etc. arise.
Congratulations for your very detailed analysis of the situation
on 1st jan 2006 i was in the scale of 5500-9500 basic was 7775/ i got acp on sep 2006 in the scale 6500-10500 and fixed on 8100/ . what will be my current basic in 6th cpc
Sorry Mr. Dev this blog does not offer this kind of service .
Given to understand that the Maharashtra State Govt. would not hesitate to implement the recommendations of the 6th CPC, we were extremely happy. Now, with just a few states coming forwad to implement this scheme, we are just a worried lot. I work for Maharashtra State Govt. and I am due to retire on 31.12.2008 on a lumpsum scheme. All I would take with me is finally the enhanced Gratuity of Rs.10 lakhs if at all the Maharashtra State govt. does approve the 6th CPC. Can anyone highlight this problem to the Govt. authorities concerned? Awaiting your feedback eagerly. Thanks.
as per six pay comm the pay scales 5000 5500 and 6500 has been merged with 6500-10500 wef 01.01.06 i was appointed on aug 1987 as steno gr.iii and my basic was Rs.5900 as on 1.1.06. my fixation was done on 5900. why did not given benefit of revised scales of 6500-10500 wef 1.1.06.