IPS officer, too, unhappy over Pay Panel recommendations

While the UPA government was hoping to please its government servants by putting seal on the Sixth Pay Commission hyped as ‘bonanza for babus’ it is now facing criticism from the very same employees. The officers of Indian Police Service (IPS) have now joined employees of Trades Unions and Army to criticise the recommendation.

•   E-mail Article
•   Printer Friendly
•   Text-Size    

The proposed 40 percent hike at the higher level has faded now and exposed the minute benefits for the service class. The employees are now felt cheated.

The recommendations now turned into a controversial issue once again met its ill-fate when different police officer’s association comprising Intelligence Bureau director P C Haldar, heads of CRPF and CISF and police chiefs of Rajasthan and Jammu and Kashmir met Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Home Minister Shivraj Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday for requesting them to take the matter into account.

They tried to fetch attention of these ministers over the anomalies in the pay scale of IPS and the disparity between proposed pay package for IPS officers and their counterparts IAS officers.

The IPS officers contended that police and personnel at DG level of states pass through the same pressure and problems as their counterparts at Centre. Then why they are not considered in the same panel band? They said that the highest pay band of Rs 80,000 was offered to just five DG-level officers heading BSF, CRPF, CISF, ITBP, and SSB at the Centre, even the DGPs of states were retained with the Rs 39,200-67,000 pay band.

Earlier, the DIGs were drawing a pay of Rs 16,400-450-20,000 and now their emoluments have been put in the Rs 15,600-39,000 category. Moreover, an IPS officer needs over 18 years to reach the IG-level, while IAS officers take just 14 years to reach the equivalent post of joint secretary.

The association requested that the DIGs’ pay be merged with the higher pay band recommended by the pay panel (Rs 39,200-Rs 67,000).

The delegates also brought into notice the parity between IPS and IAS middle level officials. As per the new recommendation, IPS officers of senior time scale draw Rs 400 less than as they would get Rs 6,100 less than Rs 6,500 given to IAS counterparts.

Similarly, there is difference of Rs 900 in junior administrative scale in IPS is Rs 6,600 as compared to Rs 7,500 to IAS. Also, the selection grade scale for IPS is kept below (RS 700) than IAS that has fixed at Rs 7,600 for IPS officers and at a higher Rs 8,300 for IAS officers.

On the other side, Officers of the Indian Police Service (IPS) of Maharashtra unhappy over the Sixth Pay Commission met with Chief Minister Vilas Rao Deshmukh and submitted a memorandum to him.

Police officials said that the proposals of the pay commission would no doubt serve as a serious blow to the confidence of the force.

The Maharashtra government on its part has assured them that it would take serious concerns in the matter and convey it to the Central Government.

The protest on the same cause had been registered by the IPS Association of West Bengal on Wednesday, which it claimed were unfair recommendations in the Sixth Central Pay Commission.