Stir against pay panel recommendations

MUMBAI, July 24: Though the recommendations of the 5th Pay Commission has put a heavy burden on the national exchequer, it has failed to en...

MUMBAI, July 24: Though the recommendations of the 5th Pay Commission has put a heavy burden on the national exchequer, it has failed to enthuse either Central or State Government employees.

8220;We are planning to launch a country-wide indefinite strike to protest against the recommendations, as we are of the firm view that the commission as well as the United Front government has done great injustice to us,8221; veteran trade union leader R P Bhatnagar told The Indian Express.

Condemning the recommendations, he said the employees will resort to such an extreme step as there was absolutely no response from the Centre on the suggestions unanimously made by all the trade unions.

Bhatnagar, who is also member of the Standing Committee of National Council, said a joint meeting has been convened in New Delhi on July 31 to chalk out the strategy, while prominent leaders of the State Government Employees Federation and Officers Association are also meeting next week to draft an action plan against the recommendations.

Bhatnagar said that while the recommendations were by and large anti-employee and pro-officers, the UF government had added fuel to the fire by rejecting those recommendations which were favourable to the employees. Elaborating his contention, he said the pay commission had specifically urged the Centre that income tax should not be levied on allowances paid to employees and that the commuted part of pension should be restored after 12 years instead of the existing 15 years. However, both these major recommendations were rejected by the Centre, Bhatnagar alleged.

The commission8217;s bias regarding promotion of employees was also very clear, he added. In case of Class I officers, it recommended the first promotion in four years, second in nine years and third in 13 years, whereas in case of Class III Group C, it observed that the first promotion should be given after 10 years and second after 20 years and for Group D employees after 12 and 24 years, respectively.

Secondly, Bhatnagar said, the commission exceeded its brief while dealing with productivity linked bonus. Though it was not within the terms of reference of the 5th Pay Commission, it recommended that employees drawing more than Rs 4500 should not be given productivity linked bonus. 8220;This is totally unfair as the decision to pay bonus to the government employees was taken after a bilateral agreement between the government and the employees after a series of deliberations. It appears that the pay commission has conspired with the government agencies while making the recommendation,8221; he said.

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Referring to the general belief that the minimum hike for Central as well as State government employees was Rs 3000, Bhatnagar said it was unfortunate that the government had succeeded in creating confusion about the actual hike. 8220;As per the calculations made by us, though the officers were the main beneficiaries, in case of Class III and IV employees, their take home8217; salary will be reduced by Rs 350,8221; he said.

Launching a frontal attack on the Centre, Bhatnagar said that compared to the wages of the public sector enterprises, their salaries were very poor. Though wages of PSE and Central government employees were initially comparable, after the commission8217;s recommendations the difference is more than Rs 900. 8220;We had demanded a minimum pay of Rs 3340 as paid to the PSE employees, however, we were given a paltry basic pay of Rs 2440,8221; he said. 8220;We hope that the Gujral government will invite us to the negotiating table to avoid inconvenience to the general public,8221; he remarked.