Their Questions & My Answers

Sixth Central Pay Commission

Comparison with public/private sectors
Q.Should there be any comparison/parity between pay scales and perquisites in Government and the public/private sector?

Answer. Yes. To some extent only. However in the private sector the salaries of the top few are very often unconscionably high while those at the bottom are doled out barely living wages. Obviously this cannot be followed by the government. In fact, Infosys Narayana Murthy himself has commented often about this unethical practice of the large differential between the top and bottom. It is also noticed that in the private sector only upto about 25% of the required strength is kept as its employees on their payroll, rest being supplied on contract or even informal basis which deprives them of all security compensations like PF, Medical and leave benefits. Seroius thought should be given to enact laws which would bring unorganised labour market into some regime of formalised workforce at least to give them the benefit of old age insurance and medical attendance. Further top few in private sector are paid depending upon market conditions, profitablity of the products and services offerred by the company but also competetive wages in the labour market and the law of supply and demand. However, it is very much possible to evaluate statistically the wage trends in private sector and apply those trends more dynamically to the government servants instead of waiting for a decade or more to revise the pay scales. Compensation packages can be worked out which catch the trends quickly so that the government sector retains attraction. Indexing to Inflation always lags behind the trend and using an index derived from the market forces of labour is likely to leave the governmment servants with pay slightly above and ahead of inflation to offset the perception of of eroding income. However if such dynamism is to be imparted then the policies of recruitment and declaration of redundancies also have to become dynamic and continually reflect the changes in skill profiles required for modern governance and delivery of services to citizens.
Q.Is it possible to quantify all other benefits, excluding pay, derived by employees in Government and the public and private sectors from security of tenure, promotional avenues, retirement packages, housing and other invisibles? In view of these benefits, can there be any fair comparison between the salaries available in the government vis-à-vis the salaries in the private sector?

Answer. In fact not all government servants enjoy perquistes at the level the IAS and IPS do. For example even class I officers of other services do not get government accommodation in the common pool in cities until after they put in at least fifteen years of service. Therefore taking them as the example and striving for a fair comparison will be invidious for those belonging to other services or lower rungs in group B,C and D. No one knows how the Retirement packages for those recruited after 1/10/2004 are going to shape up for them. For the others these can be factored in by developing suitable mathematical models using actuarial calculations to arrive at a composite index of pay scales in the private sector and the government.
QIn order to ensure a fair comparison based on principles of equity and social justice, would it not also be appropriate to take into account the economic conditions of large sections of the community that are less privileged than Government employees and many of whom live below the poverty line?

Answer. Yes! But how? If the government is to be citizen oriented and government servants are to be kept away from temptations (which is difficult even if they are given high salaries) they should be given wages a notch above the average what is obtained for similarly educated and skilled persons in the society. In order to have social justice we cannot push the government servants below the poverty line. Bulk of the activities in the government are non productive and less value adding to the society. Therefore attempts should be made to hive off all activities of manufacturing, service, logistics etc to private sector so that markets will determine their wages. Railways (Britain has done it) and Posts (Japan has done) can be privatised if the political will exists in which case a large chunk of work on pay determination can be avoided. Even otherwise they can be corporatised, moving them away from government budgetting and constitutional safeguards on service conditions so that wage determination will be largely a derivative of the specific functions performed by them and the markets thereof. Until then comparisons willy nilly have to be made with organised private sector factoring its lopsided wage differentials. It must be remembered that the human resource pool is the same for both private and government sectors. Private sector must be grateful to the government for the subsidised high quality education it provides for its recruits.

International comparisons

Q. Some countries have raised civil service pay scales almost to levels prevalent in the private sector on the hypothesis that a well-paid bureaucracy is likely to be honest and diligent. To what extent would such a hypothesis be valid and how far would such a course of action be desirable?

Answer.The case of Singapore is often quoted in support. But there most services and manufacturing are in private and relatively they pay far less to the shop floor personnel compared to their top brass. It is difficult to concieve that it can work in our case. Yes. A Well paid bureaucracy should be more honest and diligent. If however other conditions like summary and swift punishment are not in place for dealing with delinquent elements then the bureaucrats will not only enjoy higher pay but also take bribes. Most often the erosion of value of money as perceived by officers after they put in fifteen to twenty years of service , specailly when their children are to be educated and married off spurs them to accept graft as we have seen in recent years. India Rejuvenation Institute has identified 20 IAS officers as most corrupt ,. One would expect IAS officers at least to be less corrupt considering the enormous clout, power, political influence they weild and prestige in society they enjoy.

Impact on other organizations

Q.Salary structure in the Central and State Governments is broadly similar. The recommendations of the Pay Commission are likely to lead to similar demands from employees of State Governments, municipal bodies, panchayati raj institutions & autonomous institutions Their paying capacity is considerably limited. To what extent should this factor be considered in devising a reasonable remuneration package for Central Government employees?

Answer. If this question is seriously considered then we should have set up a comprehensive National Pay Commission.

Salaries

QHow should we determine the salary to be paid to a Secretary in the Central Government? Please suggest an appropriate basic pay for a Secretary? Can appointment to this post be made on a contractual basis where salaries and tenure are linked to the performance in terms of achieving defined targets?

Answer. Simultaneously the possibilty of working the compensation package from Bottom Up should be tried instead of keeping the Secretary as the benchmark. If the lowest functinary say an auxilary assistant is to be paid Rs 7000, then the Secretary's pay can be determined at around Rs 1,50,000.
QWhat should be the reasonable ratio between the minimum and the maximum of a pay scale?

Answer.The ratio between minimum and maximum of a single pay range may be between ten and twentyfive percent.
Q.Is it necessary to persist with a pre-determined minimum-maximum ratio on ideological considerations? Or is it more important to ensure efficient administration by preventing flight of outstanding talent from Government?

Answer.We have come a long way from the days of application of ideological considerations. Citizens' expectations from the government have increased with increasing literacy and public awareness and Right To Informatiom Act etc. Efficient administration and delivery of quality services must be the sole consideration in determining compensation. If people's perception of the government can be altered flight of talent will automatically abate.

Relativities

Q Employees in the Secretariat and analogous establishments are entitled to higher pay scales than the corresponding field functionaries. This was supposed to compensate them for the loss of certain facilities available to them in field assignments and the extra effort required for decision-making at the policy level. Are these factors valid even today particularly in the context of decentralization and devolution of administrative powers? Is this discrimination between field and secretariat functionaries even justified today?

Answer. Salary differentials between field functionaries and secretariat officers are not justified anymore. More than decentralisation and devolution, effective implementation of IT in Ministries should do away with many jobs. In the past a vast army of officers and clerks was there just to collect and collate information from field formations. Although everyone was paid Secretarial Deputation allowances very few really did policy work. In fact, with active Virual Private Networking in place and installation of workflow applications it is possible to take approvals and sanctions online. The number of secretariat functionaries should be at least reduced by a third in the next three years by progressive use of IT. In a typical IT enabled system. there should be a Proposer and authorities called Modifier, Verifier and Approver. Not more than four levels are necessary for carrying out most of the functions. The Proposer and even Modifier can be a field functionary and the the other two or three levels could be at the secretariat. The Modifier will bring to bear any common policy issues on the proposal or get clarifications and modify the proposal accordingly while the verifier will act to check out the facts and veracity of the view points expressed and approver will stamp the authority of the government. The Approver can be even at the level of the Cabinet Minister. ****The way the question is framed it appears that the VI Pay Commission is under the impression that the devolution and decentralisation in internal processes are complete. This is far from the truth. This is another area needing very urgent attention. In any case there should be no extra incentive to work in Secretariat and Headquarters formations as this breeds a courtier culture. If the growth of bureaucracy is analysed carefully , it will be found whenever job cuts are imposed Secretariat and headquarters escape the axe because of proximity to the influential and the powerful in the heirachy. For instance as I know in the office of the Secretary to Defence Production ( Vijay Kapoor later Lt Governor of Delhi)in the early nineties there were nine staff members including PAs and even a technical Indian Ordnance Factory Service Officer who was there because he was able to pull strings. While ten percent reduction was effected in the field formation no single post was affected at the Secretariat including the personnel in the Secretary's own office. Similarly a Directorate of Planning and Coordination was established in 1964 in the wake of Chinese aggression to set up six ordnance factories. Even now, as far as I know, it continues in almost in its peak strength although there is no project factory underway.

Group-A Services

Q Is there a case for a Unified Civil Service, merging therein all Central (both technical and non-technical) and All India Services, allowing vertical and horizontal movement ? Or should there be two distinct streams, one embracing all the technical services and the other for non-technical services?

Answer In three words, a resounding Yes!. The advantages are
1. Availability of a bigger pool of talent, at least twelve times or more.
2. Objective matching of Job Requirements with appropriate weightages for qualification, domain expertise and training and personal preference.
3. Equality of opportunity, not only at the time of recruitment but also at every major critical transition from entry level , middle level and senior policy making level.
4. Fair competition based on performance indices
5. Help in creating flatter organizations
6. Relief from the stranglehold of seniority.
7. Avoidance of parochial group identities based on service cadre or year of allotment.
8. Develop espirit de corps as Central government civilian officers.
9. Reduction in overall strength by avoiding duplication of examination of same matters once in the Head quarters and again in the Secretariat.
10. Transfers can be facilitated by computer based matching of requirements with available pool since no restrictions based on bars on horizontal movement or vertical hierarchy will be placed.
11. Creation of fixed tenures.

More Square Pegs In Round Holes At Senior Positions:--- The present classification of services as All India Services and Central Services presents a situation in which more often than not square pegs come to occupy round holes, especially at the top. While MacAulay’s formulation in 1850 that the liberal education for a youngster is good enough for colonial administration of a country whose population was 90% illiterate might have been contextually correct it is almost axiomatic that it no longer holds true in the twenty first century modern India rearing to become the third largest economy and a powerhouse of knowledge. We do not have to be a weighed down by a mere 5000 members of the IAS for occupying posts which increasingly calls for greater depth of knowledge of specialized subjects. There are over 50,000 perhaps civilian gazetted officers and if one were to search from a larger pool of this magnitude one would be able to make a selection list for consideration of at least ten persons for every job. The present government is trying to broad base selection for its prestigious institutions of learning like the IITs and IIMs, on the assumptions brilliance is not the determined by birth and it follows as corollary that selection to positions at various levels in the government should also receive the benefits of search from a larger pool of talented persons. Characteristic Lack of Commitment:--- The old world bureaucrats may argue that by virtue of their long experience in handling their political masters a special group like the IAS rather than people from different departments would be better suited to handling political bosses, and the nuances of lobbying for proposals and will be, above all, able to accomplish more through batch buddies’ network. Precisely this is the defect of the present system. Since it takes a considerable time for the generalist IAS secretary to understand the department he let things pass unless there is some political pressure to achieve some targets. Since he hops from department to department he does not develop commitment to any vision for any of the department he presides over.

Pre Paid Auto Queue:--- The Finance Secretary in 2002 was honest to admit his ignorance for the job he was handling, in the wake of UTI scam and called for replacement of this colonial legacy. . This is true of more than 80 per cent of cases. For instance, Secretaries to DOPT who have never handled staff issues, Secretary Defence who has never attended even one course in a Defence Training Institution or Security Studies at higher levels, Secretary Health who has never been to a hospital , a Secretary PDS who has not seen a ration shop and so on. This is particularly because the IAS are empanelled first as Secretaries and like in the Pre-Paid Auto Stand in Railway Stations is asked to occupy the next available vacancy, ignoring totally self evident requirement of matching jobs with qualification, domain knowledge, experience , training and performance. .

Potential Use Of New Technologies:---- Now technology is available to do objective and impersonal talent hunt with scaleable databases where information on personnel such as qualification, experience, training, skills., performance stat and achievements can be stored and matched against criteria for job position requirements. For example if some one with experience in land acquisition is needed it will not restrict the choice to the IAS officers but will also throw up candidates among civilians who have dealt with Land for the Military too. The number thrown up ate the minimum will be ten fold. Old style word of mouth lobbying and pulling strings can be replaced by transparently listing the candidates , interviewing them on phone, if it is necessary and selecting them. World recruitment consultants are having databases of in tens of thousands and are able to position people from the ranks of Presidents and CEOs to Engineers and managers in three weeks even if it involves visa formalities.
Class Within a Class Against Tenets Of Equality Of Opportunity:---- One important aspect of such a selection is equality of opportunity. There is no reason to create a class within a class and handicap officers with potential and competent for the job by prescribing arbitrary hurdles like two years extra efflux in government career. While meritocracy is all about fair competition the existing systems only pay lip service to the principle of finding the right people for the right job. It is the duty of the government as model employer to not only broaden and deepen the talent pool but also ensure fairness in competition all the way up the hierarchy. By incorporating performance indices in the job search algorithms along with other factors mentioned it will be no exaggeration to say that fairness in selection will not only be operational but seen to be operational.

Flattening of The Heirachy:---- The number of levels in the present hierarchical set up is a product of classification of services as Central Services and the IAS and primarily engineered for ensuring advancement for the IAS based on the number of years its members put in at various levels. To any modern organizational expert it would appear risible that from the Under Secretary to cabinet Secretary there should be nine rungs. This has been specially created to exercise the authority of the ministry while superintending any department under it and for most often duplicating the headquarters’ functions of the department. The levels not only of the top position should be higher but the ministry also staffed with higher level functionaries. This is colonial mind set which did not trust the officers at lower levels and is wary of delegating powers. This has to change if flattening of hierarchy is considered a more efficient form of organization. With modern IT aids like monitoring the process of information collection and decision making can be through computerized workflow processes. This makes supervising subordinates very easy and is not tied to geographical location of the boss. No more than three to four levels of hierarchy are necessary from a functional point of view although there can be more number of bands of pay ranges. Less number of hierarchies, over time will felicitate lateral entry from academics, media, private sector and NGO activists freeing literally the hide bound bureaucracy.

Stranglehold Of Seniority:---- Adherence to the strict order of seniority militates against merit and rewards age rather than wisdom and performance. If the talent hunt algorithm is designed by Human resource Experts the ill effects of the current vice like grip of seniority can be mitigated. Because of the difficulty in placing people in positions based on talent many a modernization process of internal processing in government departments like e-governance is languishing. Progress if any is sporadic and uncoordinated. It will be absolutely necessary for the VI Pay Commission to make a dent on this Seniority stranglehold to make government jobs attractive.

Flatter hierarchy, lateral entry and abandoning seniority rules will unshackle bureaucracy and substantially bring in more economic ways of doing things. For instance currently, if two departments were to merge, the foremost issue is inter se seniority and litigations of government officers on seniority take the maximum time of administrative tribunals. The issue of seniority is exacerbated by the loyalty to a service and batch seniority determination of which again raises more disputes, heart burn. If a single service is created largely the seniority questions at least in the future can be avoided.

Disconnect Between Objectives Of The Ministry and The Departments:---- Because of many services the inter service rivalry works against accomplishment of tasks. Quite often scoring victories in meetings and brownie points with one’s boss of one’s parent cadre becomes more important than applying one’s mind dispassionately to the issues at hand. Moreover when officers from the IAS are frequently changed in the Ministry it is often seen as a drudge to make presentations and briefs to the bosses in Delhi. The officers in the departments think and rightly too that the IAS boss is busy finding for himself a coveted position than develop any vision for the department he is put in charge. They find it difficult even to engage them on issues concerning the department since the IAS bosses would take notice most often only when the political master comes to be seized of an issue. To develop an espirite-de-corps keeping the goal of the government’s efficient functioning alone in view would require a unified civil service. Internecine quarrels based on parochial considerations, are not good things in the government since as it is, it is the government has to deliver on multiple fronts often given conflicting goals by the political masters. For instance they would want Urban areas to look clean and at the same time order them not to do anything to disturb the support slum dwellers.

Merging Ministry And Headquarters Made Easy:---- Practically the same functions are carried out especially at the Ministry and the Head Quarters particularly relating to staff matters and parliament questions. Even if meetings are held and decisions taken matters are processed sequentially on files in both the places. Despite recommendations of various reform commissions this is one aspect of administration which has defied any attempt to repair. By having a single service and merging the functions of the Ministry and the Headquarters will be rendered easy bringing in enormous savings. In the private sector it is common knowledge when companies merge the administrative functions give the maximum cost cutting potential. However in the government this is never attempted for fear of antagonizing the different service interests. With a single Civil Service scale economies would automatically result as it would render redeployment flexible.

Transfer Woes Eliminated With Fixed Tenures:---- If tenures are fixed and published the posts will be filled, periodically transparently by the IT enabled Talent Hunt process in which officers preferences for stations of their choice can be taken into account. Moreover the responsibility for moving from A station to B station will be that of the individual as specified by his preference which can be updated online by the officer himself. This will be only possible with a large pool of officers. CAVEAT:---There should not be any promotion merely on the basis that a particular batch of officers has completed some specified years of service , but only on the basis of available vacancies. The ridiculous practice of having four chief secretaries and five Director Generals of Police should stop.
Q.Do you feel that the pattern of pay scales for all Group A Services should be redesignated so as to attract candidates of the requisite caliber? Keeping in view some of the compensation packages being offered to fresh professionals by the private sector, what emoluments would you suggest for an entrant to a Group-A Service in Government?

Answer. Actually the problem is not with entry level salary. Actually whatever the ntry salary may be there should be a jump of at least 100% within two years. Rs 18.,000 should be attractive enough and on confirmation after two years it should be Rs 36,000 with eligibility for interest free House and Car Loan.

Professional personnel

Q Should there be a higher compensation package for scientists in certain specialized streams/departments like Department of Space, Department of Atomic Energy? If so, what should be the reasonable package in their case?

Answer. Yes! Scientific streams should be given higher pay than the mere administrators, first to attract and then retain them. Also technologists should be separated from scientists. The IAS should not be the benchmark for compensation for Scientists and technologists since in such a case everyone of them would strive to be as accountable (or unaccountable) as the IAS. Researchers' salaries should be given as grants based on proposals submitted. Grants should tie them to results. There should be flexibility and delegation of authority to the scientists to split the grant between income, travel and equipment. Currently Scientists and technologists buy fancy equipment often which are not likely to be utilised. It should be necessary make the scientist community more accountable.Similarly Scientists and Technologists should be encouraged to take out patents and work as consultants to private technological companies so that creativity is nurtured. Their should be a minimum inescapable number of core scientists in permanent employment under the government ,say, 20% and the rest should be bestowed all inclusive grants based on project proposals submitted.

Classification of posts

Q.Presently, civilian posts in the Central Government are classified into four Groups (‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’ & ‘D’) with reference to their scales of pay. The Fifth Central Pay Commission had recommended their reclassification into Executive, Supervisory, Supporting and Auxiliary Staff. Would you suggest any changes in the existing classification or should the classification recommended by Fifth Central Pay Commission be adopted with/without modifications?

Answer.The Fifth Pay Commission's recommendations are OK in principle. However, there should be fewer sub classifications, not more than four within each of the classification like Executive, Supervisory, Supporting and Auxiliary Staff.

Restructuring of Group ‘C’ & ‘D’ posts

Q.Should all lower Group ‘C’ functionaries in the Secretariat be replaced by multi-functional Executive Assistants, who would be graduates and well versed in office work, secretarial skills and use of modern office equipment including computers? Should Similar arrangements can be evolved for Group ‘C’ posts in other organisations of Government?

Answer.Yes! Distinction between pay scales of technical and non technical Group C posts should be examined more closely as there are more technically qualified persons available in the labour market in 2006 compared to the period examined by the V CPC. . Requirements of Education qualifications should shift away from the old world BAs and B.Scs to more employment oriented degree courses now available. . Computer Skills , particularly data entry, word processing , spread sheet, email and internet search apart from specific Enterprise suites in Logistics, Workflow CRM , Supply Chain and Financials must be made compulsory both for new recruits and in service personnel. For the technical Group C in addition to their specific Engineering and Science Discipline they should also be imparted computer skills as for the secretariat staff.
Q.Should a similar regrouping of Group D staff into fewer categories capable of performing diverse functions also be carried out?

Answer.Yes! Peons, Messenger Boys, Orderlies,Sweepers , Khansamas, Daftaries, Malis, Binder, Record Keeper and such non productive posts should be abolished gradually with attrition of the existing personnel due to natural retirement. All such services should be outsourced. Education qualification for entry at this level should be raised to Class X. In Hospitals and Railways and Factories under the government Group D should be in two grades only as Skilled and Highly Skilled. Days of unskilled and Semi Skilled employment in government should be put on notice.

Pay Scales

Q How should a pay scale be structured? What is a reasonable ratio between the minimum and maximum of a pay scale?

Answer. For the Unified Civil Service at Officers level there should be four levels with three pay ranges for each grade. For Group C there should be three levels with four pay ranges for each. For Group D there should be two Levels Skilled and Highly Skilled with three pay ranges within. The Differential between minimum and maximunm should be increased from the Levels prescribed by the V CPC to 20:1.
Q.The successive Pay Commissions have progressively reduced the number of distinct pay scales. The number of scales has therefore come down from more than 500 scales at the time of the Second Central Pay Commission to 51 scales before Fifth Central Pay Commission, which was brought down to 33 scales by the Fifth Central Pay Commission. The reduction in the number of pay scales brings in attendant problems like the promotion and the feeder grades coming to lie in the same pay scale, etc. Do you feel whether the existing number of pay scales should be retained or increased or decreased or whether the same should be replaced by a running pay scale?

Answer.Yes!In practice reducing the number of pay scales can fetch diminishing returns. However, if fitment in pay scales can be delinkedfrom occupying a particular post with the specific pay scale it is practicable to manage with less number of pay scales. In fact as suggested in answer to Q No 1 above the number of pay ranges can be contained at three by and large. UCS 4Levelsx 3 Pay Ranges=12; Executive Assts.Levels 3x 4 Pay Ranges= 12 Staff Levels 2x 3 Pay Ranges =6 In all 30 pay ranges or scales.

Increments

Q.What should be the criteria for determining the rates and frequency of increments in respect of different scales of pay? Should these bear a uniform or varying relationship with the minima and/or maxima of the scales?

Answer. Annual increments are now a part of hygiene needs in terms of motivational theory. The availability of such increments may not be of great cnsequence but lack of it will demoralise rank and file. These need not be uniform but can be fixed within each pay range taking a five year span to coincide with fixed tenure recommendations made elsewhere.

Revision of pay scales

QIs there any need to revise the pay scales periodically especially when 100% neutralization for inflation is available in form of dearness allowance?

Answer. This indeed is a good question. However all employees regardless of public or private expect occasional booster doses which improves the morale at least for a while. If a composite index of private sector wage increases could be worked out and if the wage increase on account of 100% neutralisation lags behind then there is a case for working out a compensation package for government servants which is slightly ahead. This can be a good point to attract people to join government service as future valuations are as important as current salary scales. The VI pay Commission may cause some simulation models to be constructed with data from 1.1.1996 since when there has been a rapid expansion of private sector job creation.
Q.How should pay be fixed in the revised pay scales? Should there be a point-to-point fixation? If not, please suggest a method by which it can be ensured that senior personnel are not placed at a disadvantage vis-à-vis their juniors and due weightage is given for the longer service rendered by the former

Answer. This is vexatious problem. In whichever way it is fixed in practice it is seen it creates anamolies. Employees have to accept in the overall interest of hassel free and quick fixation even at the risk of disregarding experience fixation at minimum is most desirable. After all there has been a general increase of at least 20% even with minimum of the sclae pay fixation.

Compensatory Allowances

Q.Is City Compensatory Allowance a sufficient compensation for the problems of a large city? If DA and HRA provide full neutralization, do you think CCA should continue? Is there a need for changing the basis of classification of cities and the rates of CCA? If so, please suggest the revised basis and rates.

Answer. With rapid urbanisation almost all urban places and suburban places are spilling over from rural areas. While rentwise suburban areas may provide somewhat greater affordablity it is off set by money and time spent on commuting. With most of the Group A,B & C officials now owning at least a two-wheeler it would be worthwhile to explore the possibilty of decongesting dense urban agglomeration by providing offices and townships for government offices. For example all the Central Government Offices and their staff could be housed in a satellite town like the one comntemplated at Maraimalar Nagar near Chennai. Employees areno longerhappy with leased accommodation. Ways should be worked out to compensate housing mortgages so that expenditure on maitenance of Bulidings, estates and the strength of a whole department of CPWD for Buildings and Roads can be drastically pruned.

Pay and perquisites for Armed Forces

Q.What should be the basis for determination of pay scales for Armed Forces Personnel? What percentage weightage should be assigned to (i) parity with civil services, (ii) comparison with private sector, (iii) special and hazardous nature of duties, (iv) short career span and (v) restricted rights?

Answer. At the top levels great weightage shouldbe given to parity with the Unified Civil Service Scales. At the lower rungs of officers' the weightage for perquistes should be more than the actual salary . It will be difficult to compare salary scales for Armed Officers with private sector. There are extremely difficult cases of say Pilots. There is a case for awarding higher starts say at Rs.20,000 with time scales, takinginto account short career spans and restricted rights, up to Colonels or equivalent with parity at Brigadier with Joint Secretary, Major General with Additional Secretary and Lt. General with Secretary. The COAS will be in the pay scale of Cabinet Secretary.
Q.How should the pay of a soldier, sailor and airman be determined? How should it relate to the minimum wage in Government and the pay of a constable in paramilitary or internal security forces?

Answer.Since the perqusites of NCOs will be much more than Para Miltary Forces the pay scales can be only marginally better to compensate for the short colour service.

Abolition of feudalism

Q. Should all vestiges of feudalism in the country like huge residential bungalows sprawling over several acres, large number of servants’ quarters, retinues of personal staff, bungalow peons, use of uniformed personnel as batmen or on unnecessary security or ceremonial duties etc. be abolished? Please make concrete suggestions.

Answer.Yes! It is high time this is addressed. It seems it was far easier to abolish privy purses than asking bureaucrats to give up their previleges. Huge tracts of land in the heart of the cities including Lutyen's Delhi are occupied by sprawling and sleepy bungalows by Railways, Civil senior bureaucrats and Army top brass in various cantonments or even within the cities. Most of them could be razed and converted into the much needed green and breathing space for better air quality. If at all it is essential to build houses to any section of the bureaucracy it should be strictly need based like attending to duties at odd hours and instant availability like Duty Doctors in Hospitals, Police and Army in their Barracks. As a first step, demolition of these Quarters which are more than fifty years old will automatically abolish the maintenance of large retinue of servants and their ghettos within their campuses. Owning a flat has become the norm and housebuilding loans, tax concessions etc have incentivised the same resulting in young employess in their twenties go in for it. In principle the government should withdraw this perqusite so that stoppage of newconstructions and demolition of old can proceed at a manageable pace. All non productive positions and those serving only ceremonial purposes and Bertie Wosster's Jeeves for laying out dresses for General and Colonels should be abolished. Instead sumptuary allowances can be provided for personal expenditure .

Specific proposals

Q In what manner can Central Government organizations functioning be improved to make them more professional, citizen-friendly and delivery oriented?

Answer In order to concentrate on citizen friendly and delivery oriented goverrment it is necessary for the government to concentrate on core activities of that nature instaed of engaging in diverse activities like manufacturing, construction provision of content for entertainment and so on. All activities which are not orientedin a substantial way towards providing direct delivery of good governance should be hived off. Quangos can be a good solution to generate employment and deal with simple services like issuing Passports, Licences, Voter ID cards and so on. .
Q.Please outline specific proposals, which could result in: (i) Reduction and redeployment of staff, (ii) Reduction of paper work, (iii) Better work environment, (iv) Economy in expenditure, (v) Professionalisation of services, (vi) Reduction in litigation on service matters, (vii) Better delivery of service by government agencies to their users.

Answers. Reduction and Redeployment of staff:-------- Government is the only organisation where departments merge there is no reduction in strength or costs. This is because nearly for every ruppe spent on staff expenditure Rs0.60 paise is spent on self management by way of employing legions of clerical assistants for Pay Roll, Leave Records. Passing of TA,Medical claims, Pay Fixation and so on. All these activities should be computerised and outsourced. Quangos (quasi Non Govermental Organnisations) should be formed to deal with issue of simple licenses , passports etc. This will, substantially reduce staff. Rules governing redeployment should be not be so self indulgent as to practically thwart mergers of departments. Unified Civil Service with fixed tenures will help bring flexibility in deploying staff at higher levels. At lower levels the administration should be decentralised and if redeployment becomes inevitable there should be attractive relocation for those accepting transfers and severance package for those who want to quit. Government should help set up small business units through Public Sector Banks for government servants who want to venture into business.

Reduction of paper work:-- It is obvious that massive computerisation should be undertaken. Workflow applications should be put in place with online file notings moving up the ladder with appropriate authentication from the Proposer through Modifier, Verifier and Approver. This will keep track of output and also will help in monitoring performance. Attendance records should be though comprehensive ERP of HR systems.

Econony in Expenditure:- Non productive enmployees like Peons, Messenger Boys, Daftaries etc should be allowed to shrink by attrition. Staff cars should be abolished. Officers should be given interest free loans to have their own cars and Rs 1000 as Fuel allowance. Senior Officers of Joint Secretary rank and above can be given Chauffeur allowance of Rs 4000 for employing their own drivers.

Professionalistaion of Services. This is a red herring thrown by the IAS and their ilk to preserve their hegemony over top postions. Under the Unified Civil Service scheme job requirements will be matched with professional skilss there is no separate stress for such acts.

Reduction in Litigation:- Since 1985 when CATs were set up they have made every government employee a litigant. It also thwarted well intentioned procedures for prelitigation counselling.CTAs are now subordinate in jurisdiction to the High Court and the Government has empowered itself to close down CATs. It should be done forthwith. The strength of High Court Judges can be increased to cater to the needs of government servants.

Simplification of rules, giving adequate legal authority to supervisory functionaries to decide instead of referring each matter to distant and therefore uncommitted organisations like the DOPT, UPSC, CVC and so on will reduce litigation. Government should notify that there can be variations in treatments of government employees depending on the nature and field of employment and cannot provide One size fits all conditions for all just because they are termed government employees.

Better Delivery of Service;- One of the major causes is the lack of supervision. I have not seen a single IAS officer inspecting regularly the PDS outlets, RTO offices and so on. Performance of these officers should be linked to quantitative indices of the functioning of delivery of services and if the index falls below the threshold level there should bo no hesitation in taking disciplinary action against them. Secondly disemination of information is an important step. even RTI seems to lapse into a pasttime for the elites. why wait for requests for information based on RTI act/ Why don't for instance ration shops display the stocks, in transit, quantity distributed , number of card holders and all activities of the shop in Bullettin Board if possible a computer screen projection.

New concepts

Q.Do you think the concepts of contractual appointment, part-time work, flexible job description, flexi time etc. need to be introduced in Government to change the environment, provide more jobs and impart flexibility to the working conditions of employees?

Answers Absolutely. A permanent civil service fits in the scheme of a colonial administration which wanted only to maintain law and order and was not worried about ushering in of either development or social justice. If today, the so called advise given by the babus boomerangs on the establishment the poltical bosses carry the can. The bureaucrats who write notes in MacAulay's English arguing 'on the one hand, this' and 'on the other hand, that' totally escape the odium of any public outcry. It is also seen now that politicains do not take shelter under bureaucrats' counsel. They are willing to face the public on TV, newspaper their critics head on. They are also better informed about what the people want rather than the babus who spend their time pushing files. If the concept of Unified Civil Service is accepted and all appointments are made on fixed tenure contracts basis, part time or flexi work can be also made on the same basis to attract appropriate talents for various levels to meet the increasing aspirations of common people, like job creation, technology, infrastructure creation and maintenance , education and health.
Q.For improving punctuality/introducing new concepts like flexi time, should biometric entry/exit be introduced?

Answer. Yes. It is an absolute must to have biometric entry/exit procedure. This will strengthen security and help minimise loitering. In addition all employees, at officer level should log into their systems as soon as they enter and record what they did during the day very briefly. All offices and departments should have workflow applications installed by which matters and files can be tracked through various stages like Proposal, Modification, Verification and Approval. Similarly programme and project executions should be available on networked files or Enterprise systems by which everyone involved is abreast of the progress and snags. Office work should be slowly transformed ideally to a system which resembles a Japanese Automobile assembly line by whch all operations are done in open and superiors and peers will be alerted if coworkers need help.
Q.What steps should be taken to ensure that scientists, doctors, engineers and other professionals with sophisticated education and skills are retained in their specialized fields in Government? Should they be appointed on contract with a higher status and initial pay, advance increments, better service conditions, etc.?

Answer.This is a difficult question. The problem of being a specilaist in government stifles opportunities since almost all of it are taken by the IAS and the IAS rank and consequently pay and rank defintion condemn specailists to a pre-Mondal OBC like status. This also has resulted in Engineers and Doctors by educational qualification joining the government in the ranks of the IAS rather than as Engineers, Doctors and so on. Moreover the accountants in government have no professional qualification and economists , statisticians whose skills are very valuable in a developing economy are bossed over by the IAS.
Q.Should there be lateral movement from Government to non-Government jobs and vice versa? If so, in which sphere(s) and to what extent ?

Answer.If there is a system of tenure of five or ten years only for the government postions it will pave the way for a two way exchange from private sector. Naturally safe guards like taking oath of not misusing information gained during government service will have to be built. For such changes the antidiluvian Official Secrets Act now in force has to be repealed.
Q.It has been suggested that existing Government employees should be encouraged to shift to employment on contract for specified periods in return for a substantially higher remuneration package. Would you agree?

Answer.Yes! Permanancy for forty years seem to be anochronistic in these days of rapid technological advances. If the Pay Commission undertakes a survey, it will find, despite all its efforts, that the government servants as a class are lagging behind in adopting modern technologies to improve productivity. Even now it is not uncommon for secretaries to the government getting a print out of all their emails to read them as they are happy to continue as 'computer illiterates'. If we should have agile governments we need to have all appointments on fixed tenure basis. A large proprtion of which can be thrown open for lateral entry from academia, media, NGOs professional bodies, and private sector. Reciprocally government servants can be encouraged to shift to employment in outside government.

Performance Appraisal

Q.In what way should be present system of performance appraisal be changed? Should be ACR be an open document?

Answer.What is not measured cannot be controlled. Performance Appraisal is a necessary evil to effectively supervise civilian workforce which has to operate in many areas where objective and quantifiable targets cannot be precisely predetermined. However, there should be not more than two tiers of assesment , that is the Reporting Officer and Reviewing Officer and one mandatory video recorded interview of counselling with both. But wherever objective targets can be prescribed ACR can be an open document to that extent.
Q.How far has the introduction of self-assessment helped in the process of appraisal?

Answer.Not much. Because there is no prior agreement between the boss and the subordinate as to what the targets are, most often these are cooked up at the time of writing reports. ACR writing is considered as the most uninteresting and deferrable chore. However, the best method could be to record output electronically by each individual at the end of every day which can be viewed by the superior and peers. This can be a part of a IT system in which workflow applications are embedded.
Q.Should appraisal be done for an entire team instead of for individuals?

Answer.There should be appraisal both as individuals and as teams.
Q.In what manner can Government employees be made personally accountable for their acts of omission or commission, without any special safeguards? Would you recommend any amendments to Article 311 of the Constitution, Section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, Section 17 and 19 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and various rules relating to conduct of Government servants and disciplinary proceedings?

Answer.Yes. The present laws make it almost impossible to make the government servants accountable. It suffers from the lacunae specially in regard to All India Service Officirs who cannot be held accountable by their bosses in the State Government. In case Unified Civil Service is formed with fixed tenure of five years it would be possible to weed out the dead wood as well as the delinquents each time the opportunity to give them a new tenure or renew the tenure presents itself. Many of the difficulties of the cumbersome and time consuming disciplinary procedures can also be sidestepped.

Holidays

Q.Kindly comment on the appropriateness of adopting a five-day week in Government offices when other sectors follow a six day week. Please also state whether the number of Gazetted holidays in Government offices should be reduced? Please also comment on the appropriateness of declaring Gazetted holidays for all major religious festivals.

Answer.Five day week is OK as it gives government servants time to attend to personal finance, cleaning and maintenance of house, vehicle and keeping in touch with children's activities. The number of Gazetted holidays should be reduced and suggested one are as follows. Four National Holidays (26 Jan, 14 Apr (Ambedkar's Birth day) 15 August and 2nd October. There should be only one holiday for each religion. Hindu, Islam, Christian, Sikh, Buddhism, Jainism. (Six in all)
Q.What do you think is the state of work ethics and punctuality in Government offices? Kindly suggest ways of improving these.

Answer.Intense deployment of IT solutions of recording and tracking unobtrusively employees is a must in modern day and age. This will automatically improve punctuality and work ethics. The reward and punishment procedures should be driven down as close to the levels of operating personnel so that strings are not pulled demoralising and nullifying effective supervision. However liberal an employer may be, rigorous , swift and deterrent disciplinary procedures alone shall improve work ethics. The codes in this respect should be rewritten as the indulgent employee orientation both by the executive and the judiciary of the first fifty years after independance has made the government servants, as a group, non performing laughing stock. Non Performance should attract the pink slip instead of referring to half a dozen unconnected reviwers like the CBI, CVC UPSC, DOPT and sundry legal and vigilance experts , who are least concerned about the efficiency or image of the office of which the delinquent employee was a part.