Confederation of Central Government Employees and Workers Karnataka
State
To
The
Secretary General,
Confederation
of Central Government Employees & Workers,
New |Delhi
.
Comrade,
As pointed out in the last Meeting of the Confederation of Central
Government Employees and Workers held
at Kolkatta I am submitting following points for favorable action at
your end.
Excerpts from Sixth Central Pay Commission
Report
1.2.18 Parity between field offices
and secretariat has been proposed as, in Commission’s view, equal emphasis has
to be given to the field offices in order to ensure better delivery.
2.2.19 Scales of Rs.5000-8000,
Rs.5500-9000 and Rs.6500-10500 have been merged to bring parity between field
offices; the secretariat; the technical posts; and the work shop staff. This
was necessary to ensure that due importance is given to the levels concerned
with actual delivery. It is also noted that a large number of anomalies were
created due to the placement of Inspectors/equivalent posts in CBDT/CBEC and
Assistants/ Personal Assistants of CSS/CSSS in the scale of
Rs.6500-200-10500. The scales of Rs.5500-175-9000 and Rs.6500-200-10500, in any
case, had to be merged to resolve these anomalies.
3.1.1 The various
Secretariats of the Ministries and Departments of Government of India together
constitute the headquarters organisation. The Secretariats are chiefly
involved in matters relating to formulation of policy and ensuring that these
policies are executed in a coordinated and effective manner. Actual
execution of these policies, however, is left to field agencies outside the
Secretariat, which may be either attached or subordinate offices or quasi‑Government/
autonomous/ public sector undertakings.
Disparity between
Secretariat and field offices.
3.1.2 Historically,
various services in the Secretariat have been given an edge over analogous
posts in the field offices. This was done on the ground that office staff
in their counter parts in field offices perform routine work relating to
routine matters concerning personnel and general administration, etc.
Another argument that is used to justify the edge for various posts in
Secretariat is that in Secretariat, level jumping occurs and personnel in the
grade of Assistant etc. submit files directly to decision making levels of
Under Secretary, Deputy Secretary, etc.
3.1.3 Higher pay scales in the Secretariat offices may have been
justified in the past when formulation of proper policies was of paramount
importance. The present position is different. Today, the weakest
link in respect of any Government policy is
at the delivery stage. The field offices are at the cutting edge of
administration and may, in most cases, determine whether a particular policy
turns out to be a success or a failure in terms of actual benefit to the
consumer. Accordingly, the time has come to grant parity between
similarly placed personnel employed in field offices and in the
Secretariat. This parity will need to be absolute till the grade of
Assistant. Beyond this, it may not be possible or even justified to grant
complete parity because the hierarchy and career progression will need to be
different taking in view the functional considerations and relativities across the board.
3.1.4 A parity has long
been established between the posts of Lower Division Clerk (LDC) and Upper
Division Clerk (UDC) in Secretariat and field offices. The position
becomes different for posts above UDC level; with the Assistant in Secretariat
offices being placed in higher pay scale vis-à-vis those working in field
offices. Earlier, the respective pay scales of Rs.5500-9000 and
5000-8000 existed for Assistants in Secretariat and in Field offices.
This disparity was aggravated in 2006 when the Government further upgraded
the pay scales of Assistants belonging to Central
Secretariat Service to Rs.6500-10500.
3.1.6 Assistants working
in other Secretariat organisations like AFHQ, MEA and various other
non-participating Ministries/ Organisations etc. have been denied this and are
stridently demanding similar higher pay scales from the Government.
3.1.7 The Government,
however, did not concede this parity and have referred the issue to this
Commission for taking a final view thereon.
Recommendations
|
Designation
|
Pre-revised Scale
|
New Pay Scale
|
|
Assistant
|
Rs.6500-10500
|
PB-2 of
Rs.8700-34800 along with grade pay of Rs.4200
[which has been improved and modified to Rs.9300-34800] |
|
Section Officer
|
Rs.7500-12000
Rs.8000-13500 *
|
PB-2 of
Rs.8700-34800 along with grade pay of Rs.4800
[which has been improved and modified to Rs.9300-34800] PB-2 of Rs.8700-34800 along with grade pay of Rs.5400 * [which has been improved and modified to Rs.9300-34800] |
[/DDET]
The Sixth Pay Commission had recommended parity in terms of
hierarchical structure of Office Staff in field offices and Secretariat up to
the level of Assistants/Personal Assistants and the Government had
accepted this recommendation. But, contrary to this, the Government of
India, Ministry of Finance, Department of Expenditure vide O.M No.1/1/2008-IC
dated 16.11.2009 has extended the pay structure of Grade Pay of Rs.4,600/- in
the Pay Band PB2 to Assistants and Personal Assistants belonging
to Central Secretariat Service, Armed Forces Head Quarter Service, Indian
Foreign Service B and Railway Board Secretariat Service and their counterpart
Stenographer Services with effect from 01.01.2006, which will cover, SSC, CVC,
UPSC etc, and like-wise extended the pay structure of Grade Pay of Rs.4,800/-
to the Section Officers.
One of the tricky reasons they attribute to this is that there
is an element of direct recruitment to the
posts of Assistants/Personal Assistants of the Central Secretariat,
and that too through an All India Competitive Examination. It is
pertinent to mention here that the Staff Selection Commission, through an All
India Competitive Examination, selected all staff including those who are on the Pay Band
PB2 in the so called field offices all over India to the service on
direct recruitment.
Therefore, there cannot be any differentiation between the
Section Officers/ Assistants/Personal Assistants in the Central
Secretariat Service and their counter parts in the field offices, which are constituted
by the Central Government itself. Besides, the aforesaid O.M says that
with the issue of their own O.M of even number dated 13.11.2009 the grade pay
of Rs.4,600/- has already been introduced in the case of office staff in field
offices also. The office staff in field offices mentioned therein refers
to the Inspectors of the Customs & Central Excise and the Income Tax,
whereas, the Section Officers and Assistants/ Personal
Assistants working in the field offices who are in the Pay Band PB2
continue to receive grade pay of Rs.4,600/- and Rs.4,200/- respectively.
It is very important to mention here that the Sixth Central Pay
Commission, headed by Hon’ble Mr. Justice B.N. Srikrishna, was highly just by
recommending merger of the three different pay scales of Rs.5000‑8000,
Rs.5500‑9000 and Rs.6500‑10500 to bring parity between field offices, the
secretariat, the technical posts and the work shop staff, and fixing it at the
Pay Band Rs.9300-34800 along with grade pay of Rs.4200/-. The fact that
the Officers and Staff in Field offices often have more work load due to
limited manpower in their respective organisations also need to be
considered. Hence it is only just and proper to bring parity with the
Secretariat and Field Offices, as justified and recommended by the Commission
and as accepted and approved by the Government.
In judicial side, I would like to point out following decisions
which are in line with observations above.
- The
Hon’ble Central Administrative Tribunal, Chennai in its decision dated
18.12.2007 in Winston
Samuel v. Union of India, Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
and others [OA No.711/2006] had held that jobs with
identical functions should have identical pay scales. The Central
Administrative Tribunal, vide its order, has extended the grade of
Rs.4,600/- to its employees in Pay Band PB2 corresponding to pre-revised
scale of Rs.5,500-175-9,000.
- It is
held by the Hon’ble Central Administrative Tribunal, Guwahati in its
decision dated 05.12.2007 in the matter of Alok Acharjee and
others v. Union of India, Secretary, Home Affairs and others [OA
No.323/2006] that an order of court in a case of pay fixation will equally
apply to all those similarly placed even if they are not party to the
case.
- The
Hon’ble Supreme Court in Union
of India and others v. Hiranmoy Sen and others [reported in SCC (L&S)
271] has held that equal pay for equal posts can be
applied if there is complete and wholesale identity between two groups
(posts).
- It was
also held by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan v. Rajesh
Mohan Sukhla and others [reported in SCC (L&S) 286] that
equal pay for equal work will be applicable irrespective of the sources of
recruitment.
- It is
now well settled that a decision given by a Court or Tribunal should be
applicable to all persons similarly situated as held by the Hon’ble
Central Administrative Tribunal, Calcutta in its decision dated 27.06.2003
in A. Gowri Sankara Rao v.
Union of India and others [OA No.328/2001].
- The
Hon’ble Central Administrative Tribunal, Jodhpur in its decision in
January 2004 in Nem
Singh v. Union of India and Others has held that
Government should give the benefit of a final decision to all similarly
placed persons and should not unnecessarily send people to Court [OA
No.273/2002 and M.A No.127/2002].
- The law
has already been laid down by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Indra Pal Yadav and Anr. V. Union of India
and Ors [reported in 1985 (2) SCC 648] that those who
could not come to the Court need not be at a comparative disadvantage to
those who rushed in the Court. If they are otherwise similarly
situated, they are entitled to similar treatment, if not by anyone else at
the hands of the Court.
- Similar
view was taken by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Gopal Krishna Sharma and Ors. V. State of
Rajasthan and Anr [reported in 1999 (3) SCC (L&S) 544]wherein
also it was held that the benefit of the Hon’ble Supreme Court judgment is
to be extended to all even those who did not join as a party before the
Court.
- The
Full Bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal in Abraham Titus and Ors. V. Union of India
and Ors etc [reported in 1992(19) ATC 722] has also
held that when a court after analysis of rival pleas enunciated a
proposition of law and based on those propositions, allows certain relief
to some civil servants who are applicants before it, normally, it behoves
the Administration to extend the benefit without any discrimination.
Several guidelines/ strictures/ directions derived from the
judgments, including the few cited above, could have been considered by the
various Administrative Authorities in the respective Departments/
Ministries. The Government cannot merely deviate from the findings of
Hon’ble Mr. Justice B.N. Srikrishna by bringing feeble justification such as
the posts in the Secretariat are filled through All India Competitive
Examinations and more merit is involved there.
Instead the Government may consider bringing the so called similarly
placed, or those drawing similar pay scales, by classifying the posts into
three, like Ministerial (posts
of Assistant, Steno Gr. ‘C’), Technical (professional posts in the fields of Engineering,
Accounts and Medical)
and Executive (like
various posts of Inspectors/ Intelligence Officers in the executing departments/
enforcement agencies of Income-Tax, Central Excise, etc.).
This may reduce the dispute of parity at least in the future.
Concluding, it is my request, as well as of many others’ in the
field offices throughout India who are deprived of the Grade Pay of Rs.4,600/-
on the parity aspect of Sixth CPC recommendation, to bring the Grade Pay of
Section Officers and Assistants/ Personal Assistants in the field offices at
par with that of the Secretariat. Justice may neither be delayed nor
denied.
I kindly request to take this case of equal grade pay
for ministerial staff of both field staff and CSS cadre.
Comradely yours
(P.S.Prasad)
General Secretary
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