Indian Buraeucracts To Get Fat Checques But ……
Indian economy has been one of the fastest growing economies in the world for last one decade or so. Its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has been growing consistently over 7 percent. The India Central Government has finally decided to reward its 3.5 million strong civil servants by way of its Sixth Pay Commission recommending and increase of 30-40 percent salary hike.
But initial reactions to the recommendations are that of disappointment because in the words of Justice B.N. Srikrishna, chairman of the commission,
” I told the finance minister that my recommendations will displease everybody…… ”
But nobody - neither political parties nor employees’ unions have commented so far on the 658 page report.
It seems that the biggest beneficiaries will be those in the higher echelon of the bureaucratic hierarchy. The contentious issue about the report is that - it recommended pay hike but at the same time it wants the government to trim its workforce. It also recommended downsizing the service tiers from 35 at present to 20 tiers. It also recommends for introducing 5 pay bands to cover all ranks.
The civil servants are to get rank pay along with basic salary. For example, the highest ranked officer in India, the Cabinet Secretary will get a consolidated monthly salary of Rs. 90,000 besides allowances and perks. But still it is far too low than those CEOs in private companies. What is attractive though is the position, security and other related benefits that come along with a government official.
PS: I’ll follow-up this post with Salary hike in PVT. sector within next few days and make a comparison.