Sixth CPC Report:(ii) Benefits for All India Services

Chapter 3.2 of the Report deals with All India Services. The three All India Services namely Indian Administrative Service (IAS) , Indian Police Service (IPS) and Indian Forest Service (IFS) owe their origin to the mandate given to the Parliament under Article 312 of the Constitution. The recruitments for IAS & IPS are made by UPSC based on competitive examinations held annually. The Recruitment for IFS is made through separate All India Examination. The Commission’s report has given due appreciation to the importance of All India Services and observed that innovative measures are necessary for ensuring that these services are able to deliver to the best possible extent.

The Commission has observed that the supremacy of IAS over the other All India Services has to continue as per the trend which started from the times when the First Central Pay Commission submitted it’s report. It has noted that the Fifth CPC had also held the same views in this context. While coming to this conclusion it has taken note of the wide ranging exposure to challenging assignments that the officers of this service experience over their career.

Regarding the competition with private sector salaries the Commission’s observations are that despite the difference in pay package the IAS due to it’s unique status in the scheme of governance continues to draw the best talents. A large number of young men and women who join the service are professionally qualified and have in many cases given up economically rewarding jobs to join IAS because of the challenges and prestige attached to the service. The IAS officers have been given an edge in the pay scales at the entry stage in view of the tough and challenging atmosphere that they have to encounter from the initial stage of service. The edge given by the Fifth CPC in different pay scales had in monetary terms ranged from Rs.650/- to Rs.800/-. In the recommendations for the Sixth CPC the grade pays recommended for IAS have been made slightly higher in comparison to grade pay for other services by Rs.400/- for Senior Time Scale, Rs. 900/- for Junior Administrative Grade and Rs. 700/- for NFSG (Non functional Selection Grade). The benefit would continue throughout their career due to proposed nature of pay scales known as pay bands.

For the Indian Police Service a major recommendation is for up gradation of posts of Director Generals (DGs) in all the five Central Para Military Forces (CPMFs) to revised scale of Rs. 80000/-. The Commission feels that this step would ensure continuity in the Services and create an atmosphere conducive to planning for long term reforms in these forces . For the Indian Forest Service (IFS) up gradation of similar nature has been recommended for the Post of Director of Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy (IGNFA).

The most popular demand raised by the IPS was for removal of the post of DIG which is covered by Super Time Scale of Rs.16400/-.Commission noted that the post of DIG is a functional post in most of the States as well as in CPMFs. In several States the range is headed by DIG. It has recommended that the post be continued. The officers in the Forest Service had made a similar demand for the Post of Conservator of Forests. The demand has been found unacceptable on similar grounds. Commission has also recommended that the relative hierarchical structure recommended by the previous CPC should continue in the IFS.