Sixth CPC Report:(iv) Pvt. Vs. Govt. Sector

There have been varied responses from the Government employees to the Report of the Sixth Central Pay Commission. There are very few reactions which express satisfaction. Majority of the employees all over the country seem to be unhappy with the recommendations and have termed the recommendations as insensitive and insufficient to their needs. The frustration seems to stem from the fact that the expectation of getting salaries “at par with the private sector “ have not been met as per their interpretation of the Report. What has been overlooked is that the Commission has made sincere efforts to meet this expectation. It has tried to balance the demand with the mandate given to it for transforming the Government workforce into a modern and efficient organization.  

The Commission Report says that it has attempted an in-depth study into working of the private sector and noted that the compensation structure in the private sector is quite different as compared to Government sector. Since the establishments in private sector primarily work for commercial purposes the employee‘s cost is compared to the business worth. Such comparison is not feasible in Government jobs obviously for the reason that the Government sector is primarily service oriented. Also the variation in range of salaries in private sector  is quite wide .

On comparison with Government sector it noted that the salaries can be said to be definitely better in private sector only in reference to jobs which can be compared to Group A services . However in that respect the prestige and challenge offered by the Government jobs is also quite high and the Government jobs also provide incentives by way of compensatory allowances, housing and transport facilities etc.. The biggest advantage offered by a Government job is the job security attached to it and the assured retirement benefits. Commission has attempted to make the retirement benefits more attractive.  It has thus attempted to harmonize the tangible and intangible benefits offered by the two sectors for achieving some element of parity. 

For tackling the demand of the Government employees for making the minimum salary in the range of Rs. 10000/- per month the Commission has followed a multi pronged approach. Firstly it worked out the minimum monthly requirements for the family of lowest paid employee It has based it’s calculations keeping in view recommendations of the 15^th International Labour Conference . The expenses when calculated on a family size of three units which is the expected family size for a job entrant came out in range of Rs.5500/-per month.   

          (Source: table 2.2.1 Pg.53 Chapter 2 of Sixth CPC Report)

Thereafter the pay scales were fine tuned to make the minimum salary in the range of Rs. 6600/- in order to make the same approximate to the minimum needs of the lowest paid employees. Commission feels that the addition of HRA and other allowances would make it some where in range of Rs.10000/- as was demanded.  

However simultaneously it also had to ensure that the relief is not considered as a windfall gain for the employees. It has therefore suggested transformation of the lowest paid employees into multiskilled workers whose skill levels could justify the higher wages. The Commission has therefore recommended that the Group D employees be converted to Group C employees in those cases where they fulfill the qualifications prescribed for Group C posts.

This would ensure that they not only get higher wages but also handle higher responsibilities. The employees who do not possess the minimum qualifications should be trained for skill up gradation and subsequent transition to Group C posts. Recruitment to Group C posts is proposed to be stopped forthwith. 

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