Dear Friends,
As you know the 7th Central Pay Commission compiled a list of questions and sent it along
with a circular to all the Ministries/Departments of Indian Government,
inviting their suggestions. It has come to our knowledge that the
circular was also sent to all the Central Government employee Associations/ Federations. This could be treated as a irrefutable proof of the fact
that the 7th Pay Commission has already started its work! We have already posted the Questionnaire of 7th CPC in this blog post for information of all. However the same is again reproduced below:
"7th CPC Questionnaire
1. Salaries
1.1 The considerations on which the minimum salary in case of the lowest Group ‘C’ functionary and the maximum salary in case of a Secretary level officer may be determined and what should be the reasonable ratio between the two.
1.2 What should be the considerations for determining salary for various
levels of functions falling between the highest level and the lowest
level functionaries?
2. Comparisons
2.1 Should there be any comparison/parity between pay scales and perquisites between Government and the private sector? If so, why? If not, why not?
2.2 Should there at all be any comparison/parity between pay scales and
perquisites between Government and the public sector? If so, why? If
not, why not?
2.3 The concept of variable pay has been introduced in Central Public
Sector Enterprises by the Second Pay Revision Committee. In the case of
the Government is there merit in introducing a variable component of
pay? Can such variable pay be linked to performance?
3. Attracting Talent
3.1 Does the present compensation package attract suitable talent in the
All India Services & Group A Services? What are your observations
and suggestions in this regard?
3.2 To what extent should government compensation be structured to attract special talent?
4. Pay Scales
4.1 The 6th Central Pay Commission introduced the system of Pay Bands and Grade Pay
as against the system of specific pay scales attached to various posts.
What has been the impact of running pay bands post implementation of
6th CPC recommendations?
4.2 Is there any need to bring about any change?
4.3 Did the pay bands recommended by the Sixth CPC help in arresting exodus and attract talent towards the Government?
4.4 Successive Pay Commissions have reduced the number of pay scales by
merging one or two pay scales together. Is there a case for the number
of pay scales/ pay band to be rationalized and if so in what manner?
4.5 Is the “grade pay” concept working? If not, what are your alternative suggestions?
5. Increment
5.1 Whether the present system of annual increment on 1st July of every year uniformly in case of all employees has served its purpose or not? Whether any changes are required?
5.2 What should be the reasonable quantum of annual increment?
5.3 Whether there should be a provision of variable increments at a rate
higher than the normal annual increment in case of high achievers? If
so, what should be transparent and objective parameters to assess high
achievement, which could be uniformly applied across Central Government?
5.4 Under the MACP scheme three financial up-gradations are allowed on
completion of 10, 20, 30 years of regular service, counted from the
direct entry grade. What are the strengths and weaknesses of the scheme?
Is there a perception that a scheme of this nature, in some
Departments, actually incentivizes people who do not wish to take the
more arduous route of qualifying departmental examinations/ or those
obtaining professional degrees?
6. Performance
What kind of incentives would you suggest to recognize and reward good performance?
7. Impact on other organizations
Salary structures in the Central and State Governments are broadly
similar. The recommendations of the Pay Commission are likely to lead to
similar demands from employees of State Governments, municipal bodies,
panchayati raj institutions & autonomous institutions. To what
extent should their paying capacity be considered in devising a
reasonable remuneration package for Central Govt. employees?
8. Defence Forces
8.1 What should be the considerations for fixing salary in case of Defence personnel and in what manner does the parity with civil services need to be evolved, keeping in view their respective job profiles?
8.2 In what manner should the concessions and facilities, both in cash and kind, be taken into account for determining salary structure in case of Defence Forces personnel.
8.3 As per the November 2008 orders of the Ministry of Defence, there
are a total of 45 types of allowances for Personnel Below Officer Rank
and 39 types of allowances for Officers. Does a case exist for rationalization/ streamlining of the current variety of allowances?
8.4 What are the options available for addressing the increasing expenditure on defence pensions?
8.5 As a measure of special recognition, is there a case to review the present benefits provided to war widows?
8.6 As a measure of special recognition, is there a case to review the
present benefits provided to disabled soldiers, commensurate to the
nature of their disability?
9. Allowances
9.1 Whether the existing allowances need to be retained or rationalized
in such a manner as to ensure that salary structure takes care not only
of the job profile but the situational factors as well, so that the number of allowances could be at a realistic level?
9.2 What should be the principles to determine payment of House Rent Allowance?
10. Pension
10.1 The retirement benefits of all Central Government employees appointed on or after 1.1.2004 a re covered by the New Pension Scheme (NPS). What has been the experience of the NPS in the last decade?
10.2 As far as pre-1.1.2004 appointees are concerned, what should be the principles that govern the structure of pension and other retirement benefits?
11. Strengthening the public governance system
11.1 The 6th CPC recommended upgrading the skills of the Group D employees and placing them in Group C over a period of time. What has been the experience in this regard?
11.2 In what way can Central Government organizations functioning be
improved to make them more efficient, accountable and responsible?
Please give specific suggestions with respect to:
a) Rationalisation of staff strength and more productive deployment of available staff;
b) Rationalisation of processes and reduction of paper work; and (
c) Economy in expenditure.
12. Training/ building competence
12.1 How would you interpret the concept of “competency based framework”?
12.2 One of the terms of reference suggests that the Commission
recommend appropriate training and capacity building through a
competency based framework.
a) Is the present level of training at various stages of a person’s
career considered adequate? Are there gaps that need to be filled, and
if so, where?
b) Should it be made compulsory that each civil service officer should
in his career span acquire a professional qualification? If so, can the
nature of the study, time intervals and the Institution(s) whose
qualification are acceptable, all be stipulated?
c) What other indicators can best measure training and capacity building
for personnel in your organization? Please suggest ways through which
capacity building can be further strengthened?
13. Outsourcing
13.1 What has been the experience of outsourcing at various levels of Government and is there a case for streamlining it?
13.2 Is there a clear identification of jobs that can be outsourced?
14. Regulatory Bodies
14.1 Kindly list out the Regulators set up unde r Acts of Parliament,
related to your Ministry/ Department. The total number of personnel on
rolls (Chairperson and members + support personnel) may be indicated.
14.2 Regulators that may not qualify in terms of being set up under Acts
of Parliament but perform regulatory functions may also be listed. The
scale of pay for Chairperson /Members and other personnel of such bodies
may be indicated.
14.3 Across the Government there are a host of Regulatory bodies set up
for various purposes. What are your suggestions regarding emoluments
structure for Regulatory bodies?
15. Payment of Bonus
One of the terms of reference of the 7th Pay Commission is to examine the existing schemes of payment of bonus. What are your suggestions and observations in this regard?"
Although this is part of the usual procedure, it is a well known fact
that Central Government employees treat certain questions as an
indication of the mindset of the 7th Pay Commission.
Let’s see the questions…
What kind of impact did the 6th Pay Commission’s reforms on the Pay
Scale structure have, when they were implemented? Do you think such
changes were required? The Pay Commission has included questions about
the results and procedures of reducing Pay Scale and Pay Bands.Has Grade Pay Concept been effective? If no, the Commission wants to know what could be done to get the desired results.The questions regarding increments have triggered curiosity and
interest. Has the purpose behind making July 1 the date of implementing
the annual increment, served its purpose? Or, are there any changes
required in it?
With annual increment fixed at 3%, what, according to you, would be a reasonable and acceptable level?
What are the pros and cons of the MACP Scheme?
House Rent Allowance is currently being given according to three
categories, based on the population of the city. What criteria should be
taken into account for the calculation of House Rent Allowance? This
particular question assumes great significance.
Questions have been raised about the ratio of the salary of the lowest
level employee and the top management. While debates on this issue have
been on for a while now, it is worth pointing out that the question has
also appeared on the 7th Pay Commission’s list.
The list also has questions and a number of sub-questions about raising
Government salaries to match the payments given in private sectors.Questions have been asked about the possibility of incorporating attributes like talent and performance in job evaluation. The sub-list also has questions regarding bonus, variable increments,
performance-based schemes, State Government employees’ pay scales, and
pensions.
One thing is for sure – the circular and its questions have become the
hottest topic of discussion and countless debates among government
employees right now.
