East Delhi schools oppose fee hike demand by city public schools.

A group of schools in East Delhi are opposing the fee hike proposed for private, unaided schools across the Capital. They fear a large number of students will drop out if the fees are raised.

The Trans-Yamuna Public Schools’ Federation, comprising 150 institutions from East Delhi, has petitioned the Directorate of Education (DoE) to reconsider the pay hike.

The Federation says small public schools in the area cater to lower income group families, and parents would not be able to afford private schooling if the Pay Commission recommendations were implemented as they are. The private schools are pushing for a fee hike apparently to pay teachers as per recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission.

But S P Jalan, secretary of the Trans-Yamuna Public Schools’ Federation, said, “If we have to pay teachers as per the Pay Commission’s recommendations, then fees would have to be increased to more than Rs 3,000 per month.

Parents who opt for these schools (in East Delhi) cannot afford to spend that much per child.”

Jalan is also chairman of Mayo International School in IP Extension. He said fees in Trans-Yamuna public schools are in the region of Rs 700 per month.

Though the area has several government schools, people here, too, prefer the small private schools. “I am not educated but I want my son to study in an English-medium school,” Kalyanpuri resident Poonam Devi said. “My husband owns a shop but expenses are already to steep. I don’t know what we will do if schools raise fees.”

Jalan said “lack of trust” in government schools has led to the explosion of small private schools in the area.

While people in pockets of East Delhi — such as IP Extension, Nirman Vihar, Surajmal Vihar among others — can afford to spend more on education and send their children to bigger schools such as DPS Noida, Amity, Lovely Public School etc, the commoners would be hit hard by the proposed fee hike, Jalan said. Many residents of East Delhi are second- or third-level government employees, own small businesses or work in the unorganised private sector. And these are the people who zero in on small private schools for what they feel is a better education for their children.

“Prices are hitting the sky and though both I and my wife work, it would be difficult to afford the fee hike. We have two school-going children and our savings will take a massive hit,” Ajay Jain, who owns a small business in East Delhi, said.

O P Rai, general secretary of the schools’ association, said if they increase fees schools would also have to pay more taxes to the municipality. “House tax (property tax) is calculated according to the fee. So if we are forced to raise fees, taxes will also rise,” Rai said. “Almost 70 per cent schools in Trans-Yamuna areas may have to shut down in such a scenario.”

The larger schools, however, insist the fee hike is necessary. R K Sharma, principal of Ahlcon Public School in Mayur Vihar, said the Pay Commission recommendations were on the expected lines and schools will have to increase fees in order to be in business.

R P Malik of Lovely Public School said parents are prepared for the hike. “Those who can’t afford private schooling will have to shift their children to a government school,” Malik said. “You can’t expect a school to operate on low fees and yet pay (increase) teachers’ salaries.”

Delhi’s Director of Education Chandra Bhushan Kumar, meanwhile, said concerns of all schools will be taken into account before rules are formulated. “We have constituted a committee under retired IAS officer S L Bansal to work out modalities of the fee hike,” he said. “The committee will study financial data submitted by each school and work out a scheme that will suit everyone concerned.”

The committee has been given a month to submit its report.

According to the Directorate of Education, no private school is allowed to hike fees.

What Trans-Yamuna schools say

Students in most smaller private schools come from families not that economically well-off and might pull out if fees go up

Parents say cannot afford raised fees since they might go as high as Rs 3,000 per month

Schools say fee hike would mean raise in tax to MCD.

Result: Many would be forced to down shutters

What opponents say

Hike is necessary to pay teachers as per 6th Pay Commission recommendations Parents who can’t afford private schooling should opt for govt schools

What education department says Formed a committee to look into issue

Will look at issues of all concerned and out report in month’s time

Manipur : Fifteen departments' proposal of pay structure approved.

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COMMITTEE OF Officers constituted to assess adoption of 6th pay commission to the employees of the state in its sitting today has approved proposal of pay structures put up by 38 departments/offices which were rejected as "incomplete" but approved of 15 departments/offices.

The Committee of Officers headed by the state Chief Secretary, mention may be made that was constituted by an order of the state government issued on October 1 last to look into the revision of pay scales of the state government employees based on the recommendations of the sixth Central Pay Commission as adopted by the Central government.

Today's sitting of the committee having seven members with state principal secretary finance as convenor discussed on the proposals of the pay structures recommended by the heads of department or offices under the state government, official source said.

It was the third meeting of the committee since its inception and next round of meeting is scheduled to hold on November 10 next.

So far 53 departments/offices have so far submitted category-wide pay structures of its employees.

The proposals were discussed by the committee today but only 15 of them were found to be complete and flawless while the remaining 38 were found incomplete and rejected, the source said.

The 15 offices/departments which the committee approved included state department of horticulture, forest, development (monitoring shell), labour, employment exchange, planning, economic and statistic, power, IFCD, fire services, civil defense, science and technology, youth affairs and sports departments, etc.

the source said.

Among the rejected proposal it included proposal of all units/sections of the state police department, the source said.

There are 32 units/sections in the police department.

It is pertinent to mention that the Committee of Officers is to submit its reports within four months to the state finance department for onward recommendation to the state government for approval.

Among other the term and reference of the committee included to review the existing pay anomalies that already been submitted to the finance department and recommend appropriate corrections if any apart from reviewing the existing pay scales of state government employees and recommend the revised pay scales on the basis of the Central government pay scales as per the job requirement for each category.

The committee will also review the existing allowances and benefits as applicable to the state government employees and recommend appropriate allowances and benefits with and without modifications and also review the existing pension structure and recommend appropriate revision in pension rates.

To look into and suggest steps to rationalize staff deployment and functions with the objective of improving efficiency and better governance in the working of the government departments is also another term of reference of the Committee on Officers.
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UGC asks universities to pay arrears.

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The University Grants Commission has directed all central universities and deemed universities maintained by it to make an ad-hoc payment
towards the first instalment of arrears accruing on account of the implementation of the sixth pay commission recommendations.

In a communication to registrars of central universities and UGC maintained deemed universities, UGC joint secretary Renu Batra requested that this instalment of arrears should be paid by Deepavali. “In view of the procedural requirement, it may take more time to get approval from the union ministry of human resources development for implementing the recommendations of the sixth pay commission. Therefore, the universities can pay the arrears on an ad-hoc basis,” she said.

The first instalment of arrears constitutes 40% of the total arrears. The universities can deduct the income tax at source while making the ad-hoc payment towards arrears, Renu Batra added.

“Till the non-plan additional grants are released on account of implementation of the sixth pay commission or due to immediate non-availability of funds under non-plan, the university may make the payments towards ad-hoc arrears of first instalments from grants available with the universities from other schemes and the same may be recouped once the additional non-plan grants are released by the UGC for implementation of the sixth pay commission,” she added.

Source Times Of India
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NASA pros send resumes to India.

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With Chandrayaan-I less than half way (1, 64, 600 km) to its rendezvous with the Moon, Indian space establishment’s credentials seem good enough for job inquiries from scientists from around the world.

“I have got 10 to 12 (emails),” Chandrayaan project director Dr M Annadurai told the Hindustan Times, adding, “and am sure some of my bosses have also got such mails.” And all these came after the Chandrayaan launch.

These feelers are mostly from scientists of US’s National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the European Space Agency (ESA). They want to work for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

“There are some Indians who want to come back home,” said Annadurai, “but there are also citizens of other countries working for NASA and ESA who have mailed enquiries about openings at various levels in ISRO.”

And, he says, they were willing to take huge salary cuts, because ISRO doesn’t pay as much as their current employers, despite the implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission.

Senior scientists like Dr. Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan, the former ISRO Chairman, are not surprised. In fact, he did perceive an “inspirational impact” when he planned the Moon mission.
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Govt accepts Pay Panel proposal for deceased soldiers.

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This is one proposal of the 6th Central Pay Commission which is likely to bring cheer to the ruing armed forces personnel.

The government has accepted a CPC recommendation that the state exchequer bear the travel cost of deceased personnel's family members from the place of death to his village or funeral site.

"The government has accepted the 6th CPC recommendation that travel by fastest means including air shall be authorised for onward and return journeys to dependents of deceased armed forces personnel for conducting customary social rites for all ranks," Defence Minister A K Antony told Rajya Sabha yesterday.

In his action taken reports relating to the Standing Committee on Defence, Antony said the Service headquarters had moved a proposal with the CPC on conveyance of "dead bodies" and relatives of deceased Service personnel by air or the fastest means of travel.

The Committee had in its report noted that during the members' visit to Andaman and Nicobar Island and North Eastern States, they had observed that in case of casualties or death of soldiers, the body was sent to their native place by flights, but the family members were not allowed to travel in the same flight because it was not mentioned in the guidelines.

"This is a sorry state of affairs. Therefore, the Committee strongly feels that appropriate financial delegation at the lower level should be given to incur travelling expenditure of the family members along with the body of the deceased soldiers," the committee had said.

In its reply, the government said travel regulations formulated in 1991 applicable on armed forces personnel already contained provisions for one of the family members to accompany the deceased by air, steamer, rail or road.

The regulations provided that one family member of the personnel, who died while in service in peace or field station, including those killed in action be allowed to perform journey by the fastest mode of transport between the place of death and place of last rites, it said.

In addition, the dead personnel, killed in the border or line of control, operations and counter-insurgency operations in India and abroad were also transported by the fastest mode pf transport available, accompanied by a person, who may either be a family member or a person deputed by the family or a unit representative from the place of occurrence to his home town.

"In this regard, the powers have also been delegated to the lowest level of commanding officer of the unit or formation to sanction expenditure on transportation of the dead personnel accompanied by an attendant," the reply said.

Antony said Indian Airlines was allowing transport free of charge on its domestic sectors of dead officers and personnel of the armed forces. However, the airline does not provide free transportation of family members.

"Service headquarters have also moved a proposal to the CPC on conveyance of the dead soldiers by air. It will be appropriate if the government pay for the transportation of the dead soldiers, rather than the airlines granting it a concession," Antony said.

Bureau Report
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BJP demands representation of services on pay panel.

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Concerned over pay anomalies for the armed forces, the Opposition BJP on Thursday demanded representation of services on the Pay Commission and setting up of a statutory body for welfare of ex-servicemen.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Leader of Opposition Jaswant Singh said it was "unusual" for service chiefs to voice discontent in public, but added that it was done because of unusual circumstances.

Expressing concern over shortage of 18,000 officers in the armed forces, Singh demanded one-rank-one-pension and resettlement scheme for the ex-servicemen.

The Prime Minister and the Defence Minister should consider these demands sympathetically and address the issues raised by them, Singh said.

Singh, himself an ex-serviceman, said if this was not done, military personnel would lose their morale. "If you do not give them self-respect, you will be robbing the central impulse of military morale," he said.

He said the government should also consider the demand for inflation-indexed pension to neutralise the impact of price rise and must attempt to eliminate the anomalies in the Sixth Pay Commission.

Singh said a statutory commission should look into welfare of the ex-servicemen. Personnel from the services retire at the age of 36 years when "they have full life ahead", he said adding, though jobs are scarce, ex-servicemen are vital for the country.

Source THE HINDU
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Resentment Among Personnel Against Report of Sixth Pay Commission.

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The Services had submitted a detailed representation to the Government bringing out certain issues arising out of the report of the Sixth Central Pay Commission. The Government has decided on most of the issues. Subsequently, few more issues have been raised by the Services viz. grant of higher grade pay to Service officers, placement of Lt. Col. and equivalent in PB-4, reinstatement of pensionary weightages for Personnel Below Officer Rank (PBOR), providing HAG + Pay Band for Lt. Generals and equivalent holding post of Principal Staff Officer, Director Generals, Controllers, etc.

No officer of Navy, Air Force has sought pre-mature retirement (PMR) on the ground of dis-satisfaction with the Sixth Central Pay Commission Report. However, in the Army, since March, 2008 a total number of 584 officers (less Army Medical Corps/Army Dental Corps & Military Nursing Service) have applied for pre-mature retirement/resignation on ground of non-empanelment, compassionate ground, low medical category, failure to acquire minimum technical qualification and better employment in civil life. However, from this it cannot be ascertained that they have sought an exit due to resentment against Sixth Pay Commission Report.

The Government have decided that the Minister of External Affairs will look into the issues raised by the Services and give recommendations, in consultation with the Defence Minister and the Finance Minister.

This information was given by Defence Minister Shri AK Antony in a written reply to Prof Vijay Kumar Malhotra and Shri Santosh Gangwar in Lok Sabha.

Source PIB
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Ex-servicemen stage hunger strike.

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Haemorrhaging under the onslaught of an ever-mounting number of officers seeking premature retirement, coupled with the sheer inability to
attract bright youngsters to their fold, the armed forces continue to simmer with anger over their new revised pay scales.

While serving armed forces personnel certainly cannot take to the streets in protest, veterans are not bound by any such restriction. Even as defence minister A K Antony told Parliament that there was a shortage of 13,830 officers in Forces, scores of ex-servicemen and their wives were detained by the police on Monday for trying to stage a hunger strike at India Gate against the 6th Pay Commission just a kilometre away.

"The pay commission has done grave injustice to the Forces. It is not the question of money but that of our status, izzat and self-esteem,’’ said Lt-Gen (retd) Raj Kadyan and Maj-Gen (retd) Satbir Singh, who were among the scores detained by the police. The veterans, incidentally, are also demanding the implementation of the 'one-rank, one-pension' principle.

All this comes even as the three-member ministerial committee, headed by foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee, is yet to finalize its recommendations about the "core concerns" raised by the armed forces about their revised pay scales.

The forces hold their extant parity with their civilian and paramilitary counterparts had been "destroyed" by the new pay scales, with the committee of secretaries actually introducing ‘‘far more serious anomalies’’ rather than resolving the ones present in the 6th Pay Commission report.

Source TOI
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Sixth pay panel triggers hike for PSU employees.

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The government has finally decided to revise the pay scales of employees working in 69 public sector undertakings (PSUs) on the lines of the Sixth Pay Commission offered to central government staff.

The benefit of pay revision will be allowed only to employees of those CPSUs that are not making losses and are in a position to absorb the additional expenditure from their own resources without any budgetary support.

The PSUs include Mahanagar Telecom Nigam (MTNL), Indian Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC), NHPC and North-Eastern Electric Power Corporation (Neepco) among others. These PSUs follow the central dearness allowance pattern and are governed by a separate high power pay committee.

“The pay scales of the employees will be revised with effect from January 2006. It will be now up to the board of directors of the respective public sector company to consider the pay revision, keeping in mind the affordability and capacity of the CPSU. They’ll have to submit a proposal to their respective administrative ministry, which will approve the proposal with the concurrence of its financial advisor,” a department of public enterprise official said.

As per the recommendations, there will also be a revision in city compensatory allowance, house rent allowance and dearness allowance (DA).

Already in April this year, the government had increased the DA for PSUs by 6% with effect from January this year.

“This will make a stronger case for the early implementation of the second pay revision committee report for the companies following the industrial dearness allowance pattern. However, not all companies following the CDA pattern will be able to adopt the new pay revisions as some of them are sick or loss-making units,” the official said.

Source The Economic Times
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Central police forces against raising Lt Col rank above commandant.

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Continuing their tug-of-war on recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission report, central police organisations (CPOs) have strongly opposed some of the demands being made by the Armed Forces, including a proposal to elevate the rank of a Lieutenant Colonel above that of a commandant in central paramilitary forces (CPMFs).

In a memorandum submitted to Minister of External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee, who heads the committee to look into the grievances of the Armed Forces on the pay commission recommendations, the CPOs have argued that the demand of the Armed Forces was entirely unjustified and would result in operational difficulties if acceded to.

A delegation comprising officials from BSF, CRPF, ITBP and CISF met Mukherjee on Wednesday and explained why they were opposed to certain proposals, sources said. The delegation told the minister that the Armed Forces were using pressure tactics to get their demands met.

The Armed Forces have openly expressed their dissatisfaction with the pay commission recommendations and one of their demands has been to elevate the rank of a Lt Colonel above that of a commandant in a central police force. Both Lt Colonel and a commandant are placed as the commanding officer of a battalion but during times of joint operations, the Armed Forces commander takes precedence. The Armed Forces have used this to argue that a Lt Colonel should be treated as a higher rank.

However, the CPOs have pointed out a number of discrepancies in this argument. Sources said the delegation brought to the notice of the minister that while there were usually more than one Lt Colonel in a battalion — with the senior most being the commanding officer — only one commandant was present in a CPMF battalion.

The delegation argued that the work profile of a commandant was completely different and his promotion was based on his performance unlike that of a Lt Colonel who gets time-bound promotions. Sources said it was only after
considering these that the Sixth Pay Panel had recommended a higher rank for the commandant but the Armed Forces want it reversed.
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CPOs, CPMFs throw in towel in Pay Commission bout.

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After the three armed forces, it is now the turn of the central police organisations (CPOs) and paramilitary forces (CPMFs) to raise a pit
ch for "parity" in pay scales with their military counterparts.

With the government setting up a three-member ministerial committee headed by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee to consider the armed forces' plea, the CPOs too have decided to seek a political intervention to resolve issues concerning their pay scales. The chiefs of ITBP, BSF, CRPF and SSB will meet Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta to submit a memorandum seeking a political decision on the lines of Mukherjee committee for inclusion of their "second-in-command" rank officers in Pay Band-4, if the tri-services' Lieutenant Colonels and equivalents are included in this pay bracket.

The Pay Band-4 for Lt Cols is among the four "core issues" raised by the Army, Navy and Air Force in the 6th Central Pay Commission (CPC) and that led to Services refusing to implement the CPC, a decision taken by the Cabinet in August this year.

"The Director Generals (DGs) of all the CPOs and CPMFs will present a memorandum to the Home Secretary this week. We will urge Home Minister Shivraj Patil to request his cabinet colleague, Pranab Mukherjee, to include 'Second-in-Command' ranks also in Pay Band-4," Home Ministry sources said.
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Mukherjee discusses armed forces pay issue with Chidambaram.

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Efforts to resolve the alleged "anomalies" in the new pay scales for armed forces gained momentum with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday discussing the matter with Finance Minister P. Chidambaram.

Mukherjee, who is heading a three-member ministerial committee looking into the issue, held discussions with Chidambaram after holding consultations with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Mukherjee and Chidambaram were together for about an hour during which they are understood to have explored ways to address the issue to the satisfaction of the forces.
The Defence Services, led by their Chiefs, are up in arms over the 6th Pay Commission recommendations, alleging that it compromised their status and honour.

Emerging from the meeting at the External Affairs Minister's South Block office, Chidambaram refused to comment on the deliberations, saying it was his first meeting with Mukherjee on the issue.

Mukherjee yesterday said he had discussed the matter with the Prime Minister and that he hoped the issue would be settled shortly.

The committee, which also includes Antony and Chidambaram, was set up by the Prime Minister on September 25 in the wake of deep resentment in the armed forces, who complained that there were "anomalies" in the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations and that it had lowered the status of their officers.
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Rajasthan implements Sixth Pay Commission.

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A Dusshera or Diwali Gift from the Government for the female employees - The Maternity Leave has been increased from 135 days to 180 days. Not only that, the official communication on this said that the Government is allowing this new 6 months Maternity Leave for the women employees who are currently on Maternity leave - which means that female employees presently on maternity leave can now extend their Maternity leave to six months. 

However, this has been implemented only in Rajasthan by the Vasundhra Raje Government. It's election year, and the government will leave no stone unturned to showcase that they are working for the benefit of the people. Hopefully, other states are expected to follow soon.
Suitable amendments are also being made in the Rajasthan Service Act for incorporating the increased leave.

As per the news, the Rajasthan state government also accepted the demands of a section of workers and grant Assured Career Progression (ACP) to them at nine, 18 and 27 years of service if they have already availed of selection payscale at these years.

Earlier, the government on September 12, 2008, while announcing the implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission, had decided to follow the lines of the Centre and give ACP to its workers only after the com-pletion of 10, 20 and 30 years of service.

In yet another bonanza for its employees, the state government also changed its earlier stance of deducting the house rent for those employees staying at government quarters from September 1, 2008 instead of the earlier announced January 1, 2007.

A release from the state government clarified that the government on September 12, 2008, had announced that the deduction for those workers staying in government houses on a revised rate would be imple-mented from January 1, 2007 - the date from which the state has agreed to pay arrears to its employees.

However, now the decision stands revised and the employees will not have to pay the sum accruing between January 1, 2007 to August 31, 2008.

Rajasthan is the first state in the country to have notified the recommendation of the Sixth Pay Commission and has decided to implement it in the state for its employees from September 1, 2006.

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It's not pay - it's a question of status.

Lt Gen HS Bagga (Retd), former Director General (Personnel) in the Army and co-author of the Ajay Vikram Singh (AVS) Committee report on restructuring the Army officer cadre, tells Aditi Phadnis why the men in uniform are not happy.

The government has taken two important HR steps to address the problems of defence personnel. It has announced some financial breaks in the Sixth Pay Commission report, and it has accepted recommendations of the AVS Committee relating to promotions. Are you satisfied?
Let’s take the AVS committee first. A few recommendations have been accepted, but most haven’t.

The government has agreed to create and fill additional vacancies of selection grade officers ranging from Colonel to Lieutenant General. It has also agreed to reduce, for purposes of promotion, the number of years in service put in by officers of the rank of Captain and Major. The Lieutenant Colonel was earlier a selection grade rank given after 16 to 17 years. It has now been made a time-based rank after 13 years. The government needs to be complimented for this decision.

But the most important recommendation which could have been a permanent solution to HR issues — making the Short Service Commission (SSC) the prime entry system into the Army — has not been accepted.

When you join the Army, you have the option of making a permanent career of it or leaving it after a fixed tenure. SSC is not an attractive proposition for youngsters today as it does not provide them a full career. After serving for a short tenure, their rehabilitation is the central issue. The report suggests that they be trained for another profession while they are in service.
At this point, we take in 1,000 regular commission and 500 SSC. This ratio, it was suggested, should be reversed as the utility of an officer is felt the most at the junior level. We don’t need so many senior officers because the Army follows a hierarchical system — a steep pyramid, if you like, having a large number of junior officers and very few senior officers

The problem is that all junior officers are extremely capable and it is very difficult to overlook them for promotion if they stay in the system.We need officers to peel off after 12-15 years of service. This can be achieved and more SSC appointed if we do the following:

Pay Rs 1 lakh for every year of service (because these officers will not be entitled to pension, for which the minimum service needed is 20 years).

Give two years’ study leave before the end of the tenure so that they can find an appropriate alternative career.

Relax the age norms for the UPSC exam so that these officers can take the central services examination.

Make Military Science a subject in the UPSC and allow them to take only four subjects in the examination.

Transfer them laterally to paramilitary forces as an alternative career.

Till the SSC is effective, the age profile of our Army will not change.

What happens today? Today, 1,000 officers join as permanent commissioned officers and all 1,000 are in the reckoning for promotions. We promote approximately 400 out of 1,000 as Colonels every year. The rest are superseded as there are no vacancies. If there are only 500 in the reckoning, hardly anyone will be left out.

You cannot lower the age profile overnight. In the interim, we had suggested five steps:
Additional selection grade vacancies — Col and above — which the government has done. This will bring the age profile down for a few years.

Allow officers to undertake any course in any university at the Army’s cost, while being considered on duty.

Provide paid vocational training or study leave without asking the officer to do residual service.
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is ready to take Army officers but they say they must be trained. So the government could attach superseded officers with any industrial house at the Army’s cost.

An attractive Voluntary Service Severance Scheme that encourages superseded officers to leave after 20 years of service to start their own venture.

So what has the government done?What they’ve done is accepted the recommendation to create additional vacancies across all ranks, without creating the peel-off effect as suggested. This is shortsighted, because it just postpones the problem that will have to be faced again four or five years hence.

We’ve heard the views of the Chiefs on the Sixth Pay Commission. There is a feeling that whatever you give them, the services are always whining.This is not true. The Chiefs are not asking for additional salary — it is a question of status. Successive Pay Commissions have succeeded only in elevating the status of civil, police and paramilitary forces. In the 1960s, the Raghuramiah Committee had recommended the Army be equated with the IPS. Okay, we said. But over the years, the police have been upgrading their senior ranks, so the senior ranks in the Army are automatically downgraded. For example, in the Warrant of Precedence pre-1947, the head of the police in a state, that is, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), was equal to a Brigadier. Post-1947, an IGP became equal to a Major General. This obtained till the mid 1970s. Today a Director General of Police draws a salary higher than a Lieutenant General, because successive Pay Commissions have increased his salary to match a Lt General’s. Is this justified?
Status today in the Order of Precedence is equated with the salary, or the pay band in which one is located. The Sixth Pay Commission has fixed four pay bands. The civil and paramilitary forces including those working in Army Headquarters who were junior or equal to a Lt Col have been placed in pay band 3, whereas a Lt Col has been placed in pay band 4. We have a large number of Lieutenant Colonels. While their status has not been lowered, the status of other officers has been raised higher than them. This can create operational problems.

Let me give you an example. We have a Lt Gen commanding troops in the north-east which comprises several small states. He handles counterinsurgency operations. Each state has a DG police who was earlier drawing less pay than a Lt Gen and was required to attend all the meetings called by the Lt Gen to coordinate operations among several states. However, ever since the pay of DG Police was raised higher than that of a Lt Gen, they are reluctant to attend such meetings. If the Service Chiefs have voiced their concerns on these two issues should it be taken as an affront ?

This is not the only issue. Earlier Persons Below Officer Rank (PBOR) drew 75 per cent of their pay as pension. Normally a person’s pension is calculated on the basis of the last pay drawn, whereas in the case of PBOR it is calculated on the basis of the highest pay scale of the rank he was holding: for example, a Sepoy may have drawn Rs 3,700 per month at the time of his retirement, but if the highest grade in a sepoy’s salary was Rs 4,700, it was on Rs 4,700 that his pension was calculated. This actually worked out to a pension of nearly 75 per cent. The Sixth Pay Commission has reduced this to 50 per cent, on the ground that the soldier will be entitled to serve in the paramilitary forces after they leave the Army. The problem is, the second part is not happening. So the Chiefs are saying: give them their original pension.

We should not look at this as a problem of the defence forces. We should see it as a national problem.
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UGC Pay Panel: widespread discontent among readers.

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Though UGC Pay Panel recommendations have been welcomed, there is widespread discontent among readers for being placed in the same pay band as lecturers.

A large number of readers have been writing condemning the University grants Commissions’ move, many of the university teachers have called it unfortunate while others have used stronger language against the committee.

The UGC Pay review committee has proposed more than 70 percent increase in the salary of university and college teachers and other staff.

Here are some views of teachers on the issue.

Dr R Ravichandran
Associate Professors, in college or in university should be placed in PB-4. How can you differentiate persons of same cadre in different places of education?. Who is superior?. Associte Prof. in a college or in university?. College is part of a university after all. UGC should remove this anomoly and both should be placed in PB-4 along with professors with differential Grade pay and academic pay. HRD should be told about this anomoly.

A Sathyamurthy
I have been in the Selection Grade Asst Professor cadre for the last 15 years and have been condemned to continue to stagnate there by the latest UGC Pay Panel. I must be given the PB-4 scale of 37400-67000. Nothing short of it is justice! The MHRD should do justice to the Selection Grade Lecturers before the formal acceptance of the Government is announced.

Dr RS Singh
It is totally illogical step to place three different cadres (Lect., Senior Lect. and Reader) of university in same pay band. It seems that the UGC Pay Committee has not done even basic calculation before finalizing the report. In this commission there will be great loss to post like Dy. Registrar because they don’t have Promotion Avenue after this post (in university there is only one post of registrar).

RR Meghwal
How can be an associate professor equilised with assistant professor? A newly recruited assistant professor would get equal salary with that of newly promoted/selected associate Professor. There would be around 75% hike in the salary of Professor as agianst only 30%in case of associate Professor.The Chadha committee has recomended lower band for associate Professor(Band3)while govt has put Pay scale ending at Rs.18300 in PB 4.Therefore all Associate Professor should be placed in PB4 without discrimination.The age of retirement should also reduced to 60 years.

K Srikumar
It is clear from analysis that administrative interest is given higher weightage (based on Principals and Professors given pay band 4)than for those who involved in academic work (Asst upto Assoc Professors). Otherwise the wide disparity between the start of PB3 and PB4 should not be there. Differences within the 5th pay commission scales were reasonable and consistent. Academic positions and academic salaries are for encouraging academic work,and knowledge creation, as that in foreign universities.

Dr YC Bhat
In the new UGC pay scales when only two scales are proposed than why not they should have finished the cadre of associate professor.Than such discremination with associate professors could have been avoided.Associate professors working and stagnant at 18300 from last so many years will be again blocked at 39100.In many universities CAS are not conducted regulary or conducted only once due to State govt restrictions will at big loss in new payscales.Therefore, to remove this heart burning differnce Sr Associate Professor in 37000 to 67000 be also given in Universiy System. UGC and HRD Ministry should give a serious thought over this.

Brahhaiah
Associate Professors, in college or in university should be placed in PB-4. How can you differentiate persons of same cadre in different places of education?. Who is superior?. Associte Prof. in a college or in university?. College is part of a university after all. UGC should remove this anomoly and both should be placed in PB-4 along with professors with differential Grade pay and academic pay. HRD should be told about this anomoly.

OP Sahu
earlier before 5th pay commission, Lect. , Reader, and Prof. were in scales staring 2200, 3700 and 4500 respectively. Now It will be about 22000, 30000, and 48000, respectively. Therefore readers are at a great loss. They must be placed in PB4, or around 37000.
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Teaching fraternity stands against anomalies in UGC Pay Panel.

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After armed forces it is the turn of the teaching fraternity to stand against anomalies in UGC Pay Panel recommendations.

Teachers who initially seemed very happy with around 70 percent pay hikes as suggested by the University Grants Commission Pay review committee are now up in arms against the panel accusing it to be insensitive towards some segments among the teaching fraternity.

Even the Left leaning teachers’ organizations that had said everything good regarding the recommendations are slowly coming forward to criticize the Chaddha committee recommendations.Dr GK Chaddha a former Jawaharlal Nehru University vice chancellor headed the University Grants Commission Pay panel.Teachers and teachers union, both have their grouses.

University and college readers are annoyed by the fact that they have been bracketed with lecturers. Says a university reader “How can be an associate professor equilised with assistant professor?

A newly recruited assistant professor would get equal salary with that of newly promoted/selected associate Professor. There would be around 75% hike in the salary of Professor as agianst only 30%in case of associate Professor.

The Chadha committee has recommended lower band for associate Professor (Band3) while govt has put Pay scale ending at Rs.18300 in PB 4.

Therefore all Associate Professor should be placed in PB4 without discrimination. The age of retirement should also reduced to 60 years.”Teaching associations say that their major demands have been ignored by the UGC Pay panel that could help attract and retain best of the brains towards academics.

The Delhi University Teachers’ Association has said major demands of teachers for higher pay scale to lecturers so as to attract talent to the university system have not been accepted. “The demand for introduction of Professor’s grade in all colleges to retain talent has not been considered by the committee headed by Prof. G.K. Chadha,” it said.

In the meantime Delhi University Teachers Association (DUTA) representatives on Monday met UGC chairman, Mr Sukhadeo Thorat, to air their grievances, its president, Mr Aditya Narayan Mishra, said.
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Army denies preparing, circulating "note" against bureaucrats.

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Strongly denying any differences with the government over the pay commission report, the Army on Tuesday said it "neither prepared nor circulated" a document that cast aspersions on bureaucrats alleging they discriminated against the armed forces by misleading the political leaders.

It also said the government and the three services were working together towards resolving all outstanding issues over the 6th Central Pay Commission and the high-level committee, headed by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, was already looking into their grievances.

"The army has neither prepared nor circulated any document or note containing allegations or casting aspersions on government officials," it said, reacting to a news report on a television channel aired this afternoon.

Clarifying that there was "no truth whatsoever" in the allegations, it said, "The army headquarters has investigated the claims (of the report) and has found that no such document was ever prepared or circulated by it".

Vehemently denying differences with the government, the Army said its views on the pay commission have been well articulated by its chief, General Deepak Kapoor, time and again.

"There are no differences amongst the army, the other two services and the government on the issue, all of whom are working together towards resolving the outstanding matter soon. The issue is already before the nominated group of ministers for its consideration," it added.

source PTI
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Highlights of UGC’s Pay Review Committee.

Suggestion submitted by UGC’s Pay Review Committee.
Annual Increment

3% of the Basic Salary ( Basic Pay + Grade Pay) with compounding effect

4% of the Basic Salary(Basic Pay + Grade Pay)with compounding effect for 2 years for a select few 25% in the Pay Band Rs. 15600-39100 on the basis of better teaching and research performance.

Fresh appraisals are be made after two years.Stagnation RemovalAn incumbent after reaching the top of the scale in the pay band shall move to the next pay band without any change in the grade pay.

Increments for Higher Qualifications/ on Promotion.Five advance increments instead of present four to a Ph.d degree holder at the time of recruitment as Assistant Professor.

Three advance increments instead of present two to an M.Phil degree holder at the time of recruitment as Assistant Professor.

Three advance increments to an incumbent holding M.Tech, M.D., M.S. L.L.M. degree at the time of recruitment as Assistant Professor.

Two advance increments to an incumbent who joins as Assistant Professor with basic M.A./MSc./M.Com etc. with NET/SET examination qualifications.

Two advance increments to an incumbent who joins as /Associate Professor in open selection.

Two advance increments to an incumbent on being promoted as /Associate Professor under CAS.Three advance increments instead of present two to an in-service teacher on completing Ph.D. degree.

Two advance increments instead of present one to an in-service teacher on completing M.Phil degree.

A selection committee may recommend up to seven instead of present five advance increments to an incumbent with higher merit, better publications and more experience etc.

All advance increments to be given on non-compounding basisAllowancesHouse Rent Allowance30% of basic salary for Category X cities (A-1 earlier) population 50 lakhs and above)

20% of basic salary for Category Y cities (A, B-1, B-2 earlier) population between 5 and 50 lakhs)

10% of basic salary for Category Z cities (C and unclassified earlier) (population below 5 lakhs)

Transport AllowanceRs. 3200/-plus DA thereon per month for A-1/A Class cities (13 notified cities)
Rs. 1600/- plus DA thereon per month for other CitiesChildren’s Education Allowance (CEA)Rs.

1000/- per child per month for upto a maximum of two children

Rs 3000/- per child per month for those residing in hostel, for upto two children.

However, both hostel subsidy and children education allowance cannot be availed of concurrently.

Academic AllowanceRs. 1500/- per month for Assistant Professor, Assistant Professor(Senior Scale), Assistant Professor(Selection Grade)

Rs. 1200/- per month for Associate Professor, Senior Associate Professor, Professor and Professor.

Special Compensatory (Hill Area) Allowance and Special Compensatory (Remote Locality) Allowance will be allowed as admissible to central government employees.

Special (Duty) Allowance for Teachers Serving in North Eastern Region including Sikkim and LadakhThe Committee recommends a Special (Duty) Allowance at the rate of 12.5% on pay plus grade pay to teachers serving in these areas as applicable to Central Government employees.
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Teachers welcome 70% pay hike by UGC’s Pay Review Committee.

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Teaching bodies have welcomed the 70% pay hike as suggested by UGC’s Pay Review Committee. The University Grants Commission (UGC) that had formed a committee to look into the university teachers and staff’s pay had submitted its report two days ago recommending across the board pay hike of approximately 75 percent.

Earlier he teachers were up in arms against the Chaddha Committee as the committee is called for the delay in submitting the report. The teachers say that when everyone was getting pay hikes they were left in lurch due to the delay caused by the inability of the committee to submit its report.

But the actual submission of the report has made teachers more than happy. Many said that they had expected the same pay hike as recommended by Sixth Pay Commission. Sixth Pay Commission had recommended almost 30 percent pay hike for the Central government employees.

The almost 70 percent pay hike makes a professor’s salary at par with that of IAS officers.In the meantime teachers unions have hailed the committee and its recommendations as very welcome. Ashok Burman, general secretary of the All India Federation of University and College Teachers Organisation says, “Certain recommendations of the committee are path-breaking like the starting salary of college and university teachers will now be more than those of IAS officers.

The Central Government will take full responsibility for the salary of college and university teachers for the first five years”.The UGC has tried to give new nomenclature to lecturer and readers and that has made a lecturers very happy.

Definitely an assistant professor looks better that simply a lecturer.H.C. Narang a member of the committee says, “Another additional new post is that of professor of eminence. This title may be conferred on not more than 10 per cent of the total strength of professors in a university.

This position will be bestowed on someone who has acquired national and international stature. The criteria for choosing them will be tough. In terms of pay package, professors of eminence and Vice-Chancellors will be at par (Rs. 80,000)”.

Profesor Chaddha while talking to reporters on Friday said, “At the college level, the post of Reader will be replaced with associate professor. A new position of senior associate professor has been proposed as a third avenue of promotion for college teachers. We have also asked that posts of professor be sanctioned for direct recruitment in colleges for disciplines that have postgraduate teaching. There should be at least one post of professor in such disciplines”.Chaddha also said, “Good teachers are must for spread of higher education, which has not reached the population living in remote areas. The tribals, dalits, women are still deprived of it. This situation must be changed if the country has to progress. In 11th five year plan, we have given stress on faculty development,” the Padmashree recipient said.
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Allowances to special forces may be hiked.

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The government is likely to increase "substantially" the allowances given to paramilitary force personnel to bring the amount "at par" with the armed forces. The allowances will be raised in the next 60 days, BSF director-general M.L. Kumawat said on Wednesday after taking over the new charge of chief of the border guarding force.

Mr Kumawat, who continues to hold the post of special secretary (internal security) in the home ministry, said that the paramilitary forces, who perform similar duties like the Army and are deployed in tough areas on the border besides countering left-wing extremism in various states, were not happy with the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission.

He said that the grievances have been taken up with the Centre and the home ministry and the finance ministry were working to raise the allowances in the next two months."We will have the allowances of our men raised substantially in the next 60 days. We are trying to bring it on par with the personnel of the armed forces," Mr Kumawat said.Equating the BSF with the Army,

Mr Kumawat said, "Our men do similar work like any other Army person. They guard the border to fight terrorism and Naxalism. They need to be given allowances."
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