Memorandum to the Seventh Central Pay Commission

Memorandum to the Seventh Central Pay Commission

                  This memorandum is being presented to the Seventh Pay Commission by the IC Centre for Governance which has indefatigably worked on governance issues for the last more than a decade.

                  According to the terms of reference, the Seventh Pay Commission is “to work out a framework for an emoluments structure linked with the need to attract the most suitable talent to Govt. service and foster excellence in the governance system to respond to complex challenges of modern administration and to recommend appropriate training and capacity building through a competency-based framework.”

Rightsizing the bureaucracy

                         The Fifth Central Pay Commission (5^th CPC) had recommended a massive rightsizing of the bureaucracy. This involved not filling    up 3.5 lakh posts that were vacant at that time and a reduction in manpower by 30% over the next 10 years. No retrenchment was suggested; mere non-filling of the vacancies as they arose would have achieved the result.

                              Half-hearted measures were taken to implement this recommendation, but nothing concrete was achieved due to the opposition by the staff side.

                        We recommend that the 7^th CPC take up this question once more and make a forceful recommendation in this regard. A bloated bureaucracy is an unnecessary burden on the exchequer

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Rationalisation in the working of the Central Govt.

                         There has been a repeated onslaught on the efficiency of the Central Govt by creating additional ministries and departments. This has been done in order to accommodate disgruntled politicians and coalition partners. Luckily this kind of limitation does not apply to the present Govt. The BJP has been able to secure an absolute majority in the Lok Sabha.

The Govt. has also decided to abolish the Planning Commission in its role as fund giver to the States. This would necessitate the creation of mega-ministries in order to coordinate the functioning of subject-matter ministries.

                          Hence, the present appears to be the most opportune time to rationalize the division of work in the Central Govt. To give a few examples:

i)                    The Ministry of Human Resource Development could encompass the subjects of Culture, Youth Affairs, Sports and Women and Child Development.

ii)                The Ministry of Industrial Development could include the subjects of Heavy Industries, Public Enterprises, Industrial Policy and Promotion, Small, Medium and Tiny Industries, Agro-based Industries and Food Processing.

iii)              Ministry of Rural Development could cover the subjects of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Fisheries, Panchayati Raj and Cooperation.

      iv)   Ministry of Power could deal with Petroleum and Natural Gas, Coal, Nuclear Power, Non-Conventional Energy Sources and so on.

v)                Ministry of Infrastructure Development could include the subjects of Roads, Surface Transport, Inland Water Transport, Shipping and Ports and Civil Aviation.

Agencification and disinvestment:

Another method of reduction in the role and size of the Central Govt. could be the disinvestment of the central Govt’s share in the share capital of selected PSUs and the farming out of certain activities to independent agencies.

Parameters for restructuring:

Some of the parameters that could be kept in view while restructuring the Central Govt. could be the following:

Ø The total number of ministries should be reduced to fifty. Each Ministry should be headed by a single Secretary, so that decision-making can be kept within the ministry and matters of administrative coordination do not go to the level of the Minister.

Ø Important subjects could be headed by Special and Additional Secretaries.

Ø Subjects that do not fall in the sovereign functions of the Central Govt. should be handed over to independent and semi-autonomous agencies.

Ø Suitable subjects could be covered by public-private partnership.

Restructuring the cadres in the central secretariat:

                             The 5^th CPC had suggested certain basic changes in the supporting cadres in the Central Secretariat. These included the following:

•                      There could be massive rightsizing of Group D officials.
•                   All clerical and stenographic cadres could be merged into a multi-purpose cadre of Executive Assistants.
•                  All working could be based on the Desk Officer system.
•        It could be laid down that no file should have to travel to more than 3 levels for a decision.

Number of pay bands:

                              The 6th CPC reduced the number of grades to twenty, as compared to the 35 grades suggested by the 5^th CPC. There does not seem to be any justification for further reduction.

Ratio between lowest and highest salaries:

                          The 5^th CPC had kept the ratio at 1:10.67.This was modified by the 6^th CPC to 1:12. If we have to learn lessons from the private sector, the salaries at the highest level should be raised substantially while the salaries at the lowest level should be pegged down. The financial implications of even small increases in the lowest salaries are colossal, due to the large numbers involved.

                            It is, therefore, recommended that the ratio may be changed to 1:15.

Highest salary:

                           The highest salary for a Secretary to GOI was fixed by the 5^th CPC at Rs. 28,000. In the 6^th CPC it rose to Rs.80, 000. It is recommended that it should now be fixed at Rs. 3, 00,000.

                            If the ratio is to be kept as 1:15, the lowest salary would then be Rs. 20,000.

Merger of DA with pay:

                             The 5^th CPC had suggested that as and when Dearness Allowance reached a level of 50%, it should be merged with the basic pay for all purposes. The 6^th CPC did not repeat this recommendation. As a result, it is currently not being merged. As the cost of living index   rises very fast, the denial of the benefit recommended by 5^th CPC upsets the domestic budget of the employees very substantially.

                             It is, therefore, recommended that the suggestion given by the 5^th CPC be implemented.

Age of superannuation:

                            The 5^th CPC had recommended that the age of superannuation be raised by two years from 58 to 60 years. This recommendation was accepted. The 6^th CPC did not recommend any further increase.

                             Two decades have passed since the 5^th CPC submitted its report. Since then the medical services in the country have improved and longevity has substantially increased. No doubt, an enhancement in the age of superannuation leads to diminished possibilities of recruitment and promotion to the younger people. But we have to take a balanced view.

Accordingly, we propose a modest increase in the age of superannuation to 62 years.

Protection of integrity:

There are a number of ways in which the integrity of officers approaching the age of superannuation can be subverted. If we desire a bureaucracy that can tender objective and fearless advice, we should take the following steps:

  The provision regarding grant of extension in service should be deleted from the FRs. It was so done after the 5^th CPC submitted its report, but a way around was soon discovered.

  Posts in PSUs, Corporations, Authorities, and Gongoes etc. should be filled up by serving officers.

  Retired officers should not be eligible for appointment as Governors, Ambassadors or Consultants.

Increasing the availability of Govt.institutions for citizens:

                         In order to have governance that is fully responsive to the needs of citizens, Govt. institutions and employees have to be available for longer periods. The following recommendations are made to meet these objectives:

v Govt. should revert back to the six day week.

v There should be only three gazetted holidays—Republic Day, Independence Day and Gandhiji’s birthday.

v  Number of restricted holidays should be raised to six in a year.

v The concept of extended vacations in institutions like judiciary and academia should be given up.

v Tea should be served at the table of each employee.

v Mobile phones should be allowed to be used only during lunch hour.

v Employees should punch their times of entry and exit in a biometric time clock and wear a geo-positioning device.

                                                          ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The Inimitable Prime Minister

               The Inimitable Prime Minister



                 Like many of my compatriots I have seen and judged Narinder Modi from widely different perspectives. There was a time when I saw him as a mass murderer who had engineered or, at the very least, permitted the anti-Muslim riots. He was portrayed by some as a lackey of the Adanis and the Ambanis, ready to oblige them out of the way and then travel in executive jets for his election campaign at their expense. He was labelled as a dictator who treated his ministers with contempt and was an incipient Hitler.

                     Today many of us have a revised version in our hearts. The new Modi is a person risen from  a less affluent background ,who forsook the pleasures of  family life and spent decades as a Vivekananda- style parivrajak and an RSS pracharak. A man driven by a passionate vision of his beloved country, which he wants to establish as the jagadguru of the world as in days of yore, a work alcoholic who slogs day and night without fatigue, a Prime Minister who is bubbling with ideas on how to improve the quality of life of billions of Indians and a leader who interprets Hindutva not in the parochial sense of anti -minorityism but the efflorescence of  a perennial philosophy that gave tolerance and equidistance from all faiths to the Vedic rishis and made India the broadhearted land giving  shelter to the oppressed of all nations.

                         How has Modi wrought this miracle? I think the magic began when Mani Shankar Aiyar lampooned him as a chaiwala during the election campaign. Another person might have taken offence or hit back at the Stephenian arrogance of this nose-in-the-air ex-diplomat. Modi playfully launched a chai chaupal across the country and invited his countrymen to enjoy a cup of tea at his expense and gossip about this and that with him. He has since used the chaiwala tag frequently to define his humble origins and made political capital of his ability to raise himself to the highest post in the country!
                         He got transformed in many hearts when he called Nawaz Sharief’s bluff and cancelled the talks at the foreign secretaries’ level because Pakistan  tried to be oversmart and asked  its High Commissioner to go ahead with his tea party to the Hurriyat leaders. We warmed up to Modi when he ordered the para-military forces to give a befitting and punishing reply  to the indiscriminate shelling by the Pakis.

                      All of a sudden, India’s Kashmir policy, Pakistan policy and Muslim policy acquired  new definitions.

                      Modi has already fired the first salvoes of the new dispensation. His prime confidant Amit Shah has declared that the strategy this time is to form a BJP-led coalition in J&K. Many observers feel that he will be able to do so. Even the calamity of the unprecedented floods is working to BJP’s advantage, as the flurry of activity in the central forces is contrasted with the somnolence of the local administration. This would  represent a tectonic shift and effectively counter the pro-Muslim bias that has infused the State Govt. policy ever since the State acceded to India in 1948.

                                     Compare and contrast the Vajpayee-led NDA Govt which tried to start a conference of the Central Advisory Board of Education with Vande Mataram and faced a walkout by the education ministers of Congress-ruled States, with Modi who ended his Independence Day speech with Vande Mataram, thus forcing children of all faiths to repeat this slogan without recourse to any overt melodrama.

                       Modi’s Muslim policy is not yet clearly enunciated. Yet one can discern an emerging pattern. He seems to be moving inexorably towards the Australian model of a policy towards Muslims.  Two Australian Prime Ministers have made national broadcasts on the TV, asking the Muslims to behave or else leave . They had not invited the Muslims to come and settle down in Australia. The Muslims had come of their own volition and so they would have to follow the Australian laws like the rest of the population. Their children would have to attend Govt. schools and sing the prayers laid down for all students.

                              The Indian Muslims have not had anyone talking to them with  similar frankness. On the contrary, they have been treated with kid gloves, they have been mollycoddled and treated like a vote-bank. They are permitted to have their own maktabs and madrassas which breed  youth proficient in mindless intoning of scriptural texts but ignorant of modern languages, science and mathematics.

                           For the present, the strategy seems to be to unleash the extreme right of hindutva and permit  low-grade communal skirmishes, with mild reproofs being administered by lower echelons of the BJP hierarchy. If the lessons are not learnt the soft way, there may have to  be a one- time major confrontation to embed the teaching in the psyche of a whole generation. That is a lesson the Hindus  learnt the hard way when the Khalistan movement was buried at one fell swoop. That is the moral many Hindus  have drawn from the way a stable communal peace has prevailed in Gujarat after the post-Godhra violence

                             A  positive point in Modi’s favour is the neat way he has tied up his foreign policy with the fulfilment of domestic promises. On his recent tour of Japan, not only did he persuade the Japanese to invest heavily in India, he   involved them in his pet projects of bullet trains, revamping of cities, building of a new Varanasi as a blend of the ancient and the modern and even the cleaning of the Ganga.

                          Some of us used to feel apprehensive about Modi’s alleged dictatorial attitude. This notion was strengthened when he seemed to be fashioning the PMO as the fulcrum of his administration. And especially when he appointed his old protege Amit Shah as the party president.
But this negative point has been stood on its head by the positive results that the system seems to be achieving from such centralisation of authority. Decision making has been hastened by the abolition of the cabinet committees which had ceased to be vehicles of coordination and got converted into instrumentalities of delay. A bunch of Ministers and MLAs was not allowed to visit Brazil during the World Cup at State expense. A Minister was seen wearing jeans at the airport and ordered to go home and first change into something more decorous. Maneka Gandhi was quietly chastised for making an uncouth bid for Varun’s political ascendancy by denying him a place in the party top brass. Bureaucrats started receiving calls on the RAX phones from the Prime Minister himself, who incidentally also ensured thereby that they remained in office for the mandated twelve hours. There was a not so oblique hint administered through the grapevine that bureaucrats who played golf on week days would not be preferred.

                            Today most people are saying that India voted for Modi mainly because we wanted a strong leader. So we have no business cribbing about Modi’s strong leadership.Was Lee Kuan Yew not a dictator? Was Deng Xiao-Peng not a dictator?

                            A very important factor in my reassessment of Modi is his tremendous sense of humour.I liked the way he played the flute and beat a drum in Japan (although Rahul the heir-apparent did not). We all relished the replies he gave to school students on Teachers’ Day. His frankness in admitting to his childish pranks was admirable. How he stapled the clothes of gentlemen and ladies standing close to each other in marriage parties. How he and his  class -fellows dangled  mouth-watering tamarind before the shehnai artistes   and forced them to suspend their music .
He made fun of his political opponents by predicting with an impish smile that his presenting a copy of the Bhagwad Gita to the Japanese Emperor would be criticised in India as being an act of promoting Hindutva. And not surprisingly, his secular antagonists promptly fulfilled his prophecy.
Talking of prophecies, I cannot but allude to the prediction supposedly made by Nostradamus, in which he not only foretold the rise of Narendra Modi as the leader of a country surrounded on three sides by water, but he also spoke of his phenomenal emergence as a global leader presiding over the destiny of a superpower. He also talked of Hindu nationalism and the re-emergence of India as a world teacher. Other predictions include the disappearance of Pakistan and the integration of Kashmir by India .

                                But Google also takes you to Ramani’s blog, which claims that research has proved that this whole news is a spoof.

                              Be that as it may, many of us have the feeling that Modi was not joking when he obliquely told a boy on Teachers’ Day that he (Modi) had nothing to fear till 2024. He has hinted even otherwise that he will be there for ten years at least. In 2024 Modi will be 73 , very close to his self-imposed upper age-limit of 75 years for political leaders holding high office. What he will do thereafter  is anybody’s guess!



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A kick to the Rickshaw

                  A   Kick to the Rickshaw

                  It was Shrawan Purnamashi.I had worn two rakhis already, one from my sister Asha and the other from Brahma Kumari Asha, the head of the Brahma Kumari chapter of Delhi who has been sending me a rakhi for almost two decades now. I was waiting for Usha, my sister from Gurgaon, who had promised to come on D-Day to tie the rakhi in person.

          Suddenly, the phone rang. It was Usha.

          “Bhai Sahib! I am sorry. I will probably be too late for lunch. You people carry on.”

          “What happened? Where are you? It is not too late as yet. We can wait.”

          She said, “You know how I travel. I took the metro to Hauz Khas. Now, for the last half an hour, I have been trying to persuade some scooterwallah to take me to Pamposh. They all say that there have been heavy showers in Greater Kailash. The roads are blocked. So they cannot come.”

          “Keep on trying, Usha. I am sure the water must have receded by now and the scooter rickshaws will resume their services. There is no hurry. We shall wait for you,” I replied.

          I had just finished reporting on Usha’s conversation to my wife Raj, when the doorbell rang.

          “That must be Usha,” said my optimistic wife. Although this appeared improbable, it did turn out to be Usha.

          The next one hour flew on the wings of joy and happiness. We partook of the special Barfi from Rewari that Usha had brought from Gurgaon. She put the tilak on my forehead and tied the rakhi. Raj had prepared special dishes and we tasted these with relish.

          When we sat down to a post-prandial gossip session, Usha raised the issue of how the rickshaw-wallahs could be tamed into submission. She suggested that there should be a law so that the rickshaw drivers were prohibited from refusing to offer their services on certain routes.

          I told her that such a law already existed. All we needed was a Modi who would enforce the law.

          I recalled that I had encountered a similar situation a few months ago, when my cousin Rup Krishen Baqaya came to pay me a visit. He is an expert on astrology and I am interested in his predictions. So the time flew on with terrific speed. We did not realise that it was already six p.m. and he had to go all the way to Nirman Vihar.

          Rupji was a pampered bureaucrat who retired as a Chief Commissioner of Income Tax. Every time he came to Delhi, one of his numerous chamchas would send a car with a chauffeur. He was always mobile. This was the first time he was on his own.

          I decided to see him off in a scooter rickshaw. We walked down to Gate No. 1 of Pamposh Enclave. A vacant rickshaw slowed to a halt near us. We told him about Nirman Vihar. His face fell.

          “I would have been happy to take you to Nirman Vihar. But there is a problem. I just received a call on my mobile. My wife has suddenly been taken ill.  Have got to get home. Sorry.”  And he whirred off.

          When the same scene was repeated four-five times with minor variations, Rupji lost his cool. “What is all this? One fellow‘s son has not yet returned from school, another has exhausted the CNG gas and is unable to get a refill from any of the petrol pumps. We have a fellow whose time-span is over and he has to report back at the owner’s house. And so on and so forth.”

          “You must have noticed,” I pointed out, “that no one has as yet refused to go to Nirman Vihar. You see, under the rules, they cannot refuse. And they are very particular that they do not.”

          “I am sick and tired of them. Can we take a taxi?” Rupji said. “Why not”, I replied, “Although it will cost a pretty penny.”

          “How much?” he asked. “Around 400 rupees,” I hazarded.

          We walked down to the Haryana Taxi Service. Rupji asked him about the fare.  “500 rupees,” the driver said. Rupji looked at me. “How about 400 rupees?” I asked. The driver shook his head with an air of finality. “It is very far…across the Jamuna.”

          I told Usha, “At last, we crossed the road and Rupji took a rickshaw up to ITO. ‘Beyond ITO, I shall see ’Rupji said. ‘Either I shall persuade this chap to cross the Jamuna or take another rickshaw’. He boarded the rickshaw and that was the last I saw of him.”

          Raj looked at a portion of the sky visible from our bedroom. “I think, Usha, you better start on your return journey. This sky is threatening to bring about a heavy shower. Get a rickshaw before Greater Kailash gets flooded.”

          Within minutes, Usha was on her way!

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