The 7th Pay Commission headed by Justice AK Mathur on Thursday submitted its report to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, suggesting 23.55 percent hike in pay and allowances of central government employees.
A peon’s starting salary will go up by 2.54 times to Rs 18,000 per month and topmost bureaucrat, the cabinet secretary would now draw Rs 2.5 lakh per month along with other perks costing a total of Rs 1,02,000 crore to the exchequer.
However, disassembling of superiority in the administrative system has long been the demand of officers drawn from non-IAS officers. Though, the pay panel does not say that in words but talks about need for a paradigm shift.
The approach suggested by the committee was that the background and skills of officers be carefully matched to the requirements of particular positions, while not constraining individual officers to narrowly defined sectors or tasks.
The committee has recommended that 11 domains (other than IAS) be identified and as part of the empanelment process at joint secretary and additional secretary levels each officer’s domain expertise be specifically identified.
According to the committee, the current system of generalists (read IAS) manning senior policy making positions and shifting from one field to another in short duration of time, is considered not just outdated but unfriendly to effective policy making.
In the existing bureaucratic set up of a total of 91 secretaries, IAS officers occupy 73, scientists 10, Indian Legal Service 2, Indian Information Service 1, Indian Police Service 1. At Additional Secretary and joint secretary level posts, the IAS officers virtually have full control and power. monopolize. The Pay Commission recommends dismantling of existing system to be more transparent and inclusive in selection process.