For
a number of years, our Association has
been demanding that Inspectors/ Superintendents who had not been given promotions for 10, 20
or 30 years be given promotions or upgradations by MACP (Modified Assured
Career Progression Scheme) on the basis of their respective Promotional
Hierarchy. The Government refused to oblige by stating very clearly in the 6th
CPC that promotions will be given only on the basis of Grade Pay
Hierarchy. There are no such recommendations in the ACP Scheme (Assured
Career Progression Scheme), which was introduced by the 5th CPC. In fact, there
was not even a Grade Pay format in its Pay Structure. There was also no usage
of ‘Hierarchy’ in it. A lot of confusion was created after the introduction of
the Grade Pay Structure by the 6th CPC. Two distinct hierarchies were created –
Promotional Hierarchy and Grade Pay Hierarchy. Promotional Hierarchy is
based on the pay structure depending upon the employee’s grade and department.
Two employees with similar designations and ranks, but in different
departments, will notice this difference. This is not applicable to everybody. On
the other hand, Grade Pay Structure is common for all. This is the reason why
there are differences between an employee who gets promotions under the regular
system and one who gets promotion under MACP. In order to rectify this
discrepancy, a number of employees of other departments had approached the courts and had succeeded. Assured Career Progression scheme
was somehow a boon to Inspectors and Superintendents of Central Excise Department
who had been suffering without promotions for years. Employees who got their
jobs towards the end of 1960s had to face countless hurdles. One of them was
the problem with promotions. There were many who didn't get any promotions for
30 years. Countless others retired without getting a single promotion in their
careers. To put an end to this, our Association fought
and made the Government to implement the ACP (Assured Career Progression)
promotion scheme. It enabled the Inspectors/Superintendent , who didn't get any
promotion for 12 and 24 years, to get one or two promotions respectively. All
most all direct recruit Inspectors benefited from this. The financial upgradations
were granted to the direct recruit Inspectors based on the ‘Promotional Hierarchy’. This was
introduced in the 5th CPC and continued to be enforced until 31.08.2008. In the
6th CPC, MACP was introduced instead of ACP. Though both were almost the same, there
were some differences. These differences created a lot of confusions. The
special feature of MACP was that instead of 12 and 24 years, it ordered
promotions for employees who weren't given any career advancements in 10, 20
and 30 years. The promotions given under MACP were not in accordance to the
‘Promotional Hierarchy’. Instead, they followed the ‘Grade Pay Hierarchy’. This
was the biggest drawback of MACP. Getting promotions for a raise of Rs 200 or
nil remained unacceptable for many.
Finally, one could say that MACP earned the anomaly of being dragged to the
court the most number of times. This is also one of the features that are
creating the most expectations this time. Let us wait and see what changes the
7th CPC makes in this.
