National Council Writes to Finance Minister to Consider Merger of DA with Pay
National Council (Staff Side)
Shiva Gopal Mishra
General Secretary
Joint Consultative Machinery
for Central Government Employees
13-C, Ferozshah Road, New Delhi – 110001
I
personally and on behalf of the Staff Side of the National Council(JCM)
and on behalf of All India Railwaymen’s Federation congratulate on your
taking over as Union Finance Minister.
I hope that, under your able leadership, the financial health of our country will achieve greater heights.
As
you may be kindly aware, Joint Consultative Machinery (JCM) Scheme is
in operation in Government of India with the object of promoting
harmonious relations and of securing the greatest measure of cooperation
between the Central Government, in its capacity as employer and the
general body of its employees in matters of common concern, and with the
object, further, of increasing the efficiency of the public services.
The Joint Consultative Machinery (JCM) consists of the Official Side and
the Staff Side.
We, as Staff Side, have raised a
number of issues with the government, concerning the employees of the
Government of India. Two of these issues are agitating the minds of the
Government employees and need urgent resolution. These relate to Merger
of Dearness Allowance with Pay and removal of the issue relating to
Senior Promotee employees drawing less pay than the Junior Direct
Recruit employee. Since these issues need decision at the level of
Ministry of Finance, I am enclosing brief notes on the same for your
kind perusal.
We are hopeful that, you will be kind enough to have them examined in a positive-manner
I
would also be grateful, if you could spare some time from your busy
schedule between 10th and 12th ” June, 2014, so that I may call on you
to meet you in person.
With regards!
Yours sincerely,
Shiv Gopal Mishra
To
Shri Arun Jaitley,
Hon’ble Minister of Finance,
(Government of India),
North Block,
New Delhi
End: As above
Copy to: All Constituent Organizations of the NC/JCM(Staff Side) — for information
The
wage revision of the Central Government employees is carried out
through the Central Pay Commissions which, considering the magnitude of
employees is a time consuming process. The 7 Central Pay Commission
(CPC) set up by the Government will require a reasonable time frame to
go into the matter judiciously especially because the implementation of
6m CPC recommendations have given rise to large number of issues and
cadre related grievances.
During the past, the
methodology adopted for compensating the erosion in the real value of
wages due to price rise as reflected in high rate of DA to Government
employees before the date of the submission of Pay Commission Report and
its acceptance by the Government, had always been though the mechanism
of merger of a portion of DA with Pay. The merger of DA to partially
compensate the erosion in the real wages was first done in pursuance of
the Gadgil Committee in the post 2nd Pay Commission period. The 3 CPC
had recommended such merger of the DA when it crossed 36%, The
Government agreed to merge 60% and later the whole of the DA before the
4°’ CPC was set up. The 501 CPC merged 98% of DA with pay. The 51h CPC
had also recommended that the DA must be merged with pay and treated as
pay for computing all allowances as and when the percentage of Dearness
compensation exceeds 50%. Accordingly even before the setting up of the
6°’ CPC the DA to the extent of 50% was merged with pay.
Presently,
the factual position is that as on 1.1.2014, the Dearness compensation
is 100% and will exceed the same with effect from 1.7.2014. Since the
7°’ CPC has been set up and one of the issues to be dealt with by the
CPC would relate to revision in the existing reference base of price
index, it becomes all the more necessary that the Government takes steps
to merge at least 50% of DA with pay to compensate the erosion of the
real value of wages immediately.
ISSUE RELATING TO SENIOR PROMOTEE EMPLOYEES DRAWING LESS PAY THAN THE JUNIOR DIRECT RECRUIT EMPLOYEES
The
main issue in this case is that the 6th CPC for the first time
recommended specific entry level pay for Direct Recruits (DRs). This
resulted in employees who were appointed in service prior to the DRs and
also got promoted earlier get less pay as compared to their
counterparts recruited directly and who joined after 1.1.2006. It has
always been the case that on promotion, the pay of a promoted employee
is never fixed at less than the entry level of pay of that post as
admissible to a direct recruit.
Consequent upon
implementation of the recommendations of the 6th CPC, in respect of pay
scales of various categories of staff, there are certain situations
where the senior who were promoted before 01.01.2006 are getting lesser
pay than their juniors promoted after 01.01.2006, on fixation of their
pay w.e.f. 01.01.2006. This, being a serious anomaly, has been raised by
us in the National Anomalies Committee for redressal thereof.
The
consensus decision in the National Anomaly Committee was that the Staff
Side as well as the Official Side agreed that wherever there is a
provision of direct recruitment in the Recruitment Rules, pay on
promotion would be fixed at the prescribed minimum of the Entry Pay as
provided for the Direct Entrants in the Revised Pay Rules, irrespective
of the fact whether direct recruitment has actually taken place or not.
However to our distress it was later on learnt that the Government went
back on this mutually agreed solemn resolution and did not issue any
Order in this regard. This being a serious issue has resulted in
discontentment prevailing among the seniors who are drawing less pay
than is legitimately due to them.
A very simple
solution to this issue is that orders may be issued to the effect that
the pay on promotion w.e.f. 01.01.2006 would not be fixed less than at
the prescribed minimum of the Entry Pay as provided for the Direct
Entrants in the Revised Pay Rules, to eliminate this unfairness.
