The Sixth Pay Commission’s controversial recommendations are creating more heartburn now that the fine print has been analysed.
It will bring about a fundamental change in the way status is defined in the bureaucracy. Currently, basic pay is the parameter to define the status of a position.
A higher basic pay means a higher position. If the Srikrishna Commission report is implemented, the grade pay, instead of basic pay, will define the status of a position.
When the grade pay is equivalent, higher total emoluments including all special pays will define a higher status. Significantly, the commission has converted all the eight pay scales applicable to the IAS with a corresponding grade pay.
So, in PB-3 for example, the grade pays of Rs 6,500, 7,500 and 8,300 have been created which are exclusive to the IAS.
Representative associations of other services perceive a pro-IAS bias to reduce the status position of all other all India services by a staggering 40 per cent with only the IAS not only keeping its statuses intact, but doubling it at junior levels.
