The 6th pay commission is currently in review। Their claim to fame from what I remember of them is from their 5th installment, when the proposals had such a crippling effect on certain states, namely Bihar, Orissa,Manipur and Meghalya that firstly, they ran out of money (in oversimplified terms) to pay government employees in early 2000 and secondly, they had to get down on their debt ridden knees and begged the central govt not to order another dose of the PC without an intra-state consultation.
Anyway number six is around the corner and things are looking up for Babudom. It is envisioned that this pay commission will set straight certain glaring inequities present in the remuneration system provided by the government of India. Firstly, it proposes to do away with the proportionality principle, whereby the monetary worth of someone at the top of government, like a Cabinet Secretary is measures in relative terms by how many junior clarks or peons s/he is worth. Its a crude way of putting things but this is the measure used, which currently stands at 11.7:1 for a Peon:Cabinet Secretary. A factor which perhaps in itself contributes to the gross inequity between the government and private sector salaries. Amongst other things this has led to the huge brain drain from Central and State govt. reserves and an influx of former babus into the private sector,who have made their corporate masters a lot of money, earning rightly deserved riches themeselves.
Another drastic change the Commission is proposing is to implement a performance based structure of remuneration. How they will implement this is still unclear but a framework under which research is being carried out is already with IIM Ahmedabad.
A comparitive hike for the government sector in India has been long overdue. The remarkable differences in salaries is nowhere more glaring than between the salaries of the SBI MD who draws a salary of 6 lac p.a. and the ICICI MD who makes 150 lacs. I doubt anywhere in the relatively developed world are salary differences withing the same economy this vast.
From an economic standpoint I think India is in a position at the moment to afford giving India Inc. a hike in salaries. The method and quantum of the hike while still under determination does give hope about a fair and renewed system that will tear itself away from the antiquated ghosts of inefficient Babudom and garner a new era in clean governance.
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The economy of the country is booming and India is moving forward very fast to become a super power. The government machinery has to create an atmosphere conducive to this. Special, very attractive and at par with the best in private sector, package is needed for the officers of concerned regulators, departments and ministries. Officers of Ministry of Corporate Affairs, SEBI, and Department of Foreign Trade should be given the best pay and perks. Otherwise the jobs would not attract talented youths, and the economic growth of the country would be adversely affected as a result of that. At present many of the officers of such departments/ regulators are considering quitting. Take the example of M/O. Corporate Affairs. The officers of that ministry are appointed from a cadre called ‘Indian Company Law Service’ (ICLS). The pre requisite qualification for applying foe selection to ICLS is to be a CA, CS, Cost Accountant or Advocate with specified years of experience in company law matters. Many of the presently serving officers are having more than two of the required professional qualifications. In the present scenario where they get huge pay outside how many experienced professionals would opt to apply, for the cadre, at the present salary levels.
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