Sixth CPC Report:(xv) Recommendations Central Paramilitary Forces

The  recommendations concerning Central Paramilitary Forces (CPMFs) are covered under Ministry of Home Affairs  in Chapter 7.19 of the Sixth CPC report .The CPMFs comprise of the following 7 outfits.

Assam Rifles which originated as Cachar Levy in 1835 is presently having more than 63000 personnel (46 Battalion) .The force working under operational Control of Army guards Indo Myanamar border .

The Border Security Force (157 battalions) has been deployed on international borders since 1965 and also in anti insurgency operations.

The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF)  created in 1969 has more than 1 Lakh personnel deployed for guarding Airports (54), PSU Establishments (269) and several Govt. Buildings (49) including North Block , Part of South Block and CGO complex. It also provides technical consultancy for security and related matters.

Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) (201 Battalions) having replaced Crown Representative Police of pre independence era is the oldest CPMF. The personnel from this force are engaged in major anti insurgency/ terrorism / militancy related operations in the country.

Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) assists in Disaster Management related work in Central & Western Himalayan Regions and also in providing security cover for Kailash Mansarovar Yatra.

National Security Guard (NSG)  tackles high risk security operations.The personnel are drawn from Army (as Special Action Group) and CPMFs (as Special Rangers Group). The NSG commandos provide security cover for VIPs and take charge of security on special occasions.  

Sashastra Sena Bal which started as Special Services Bureau (SSB) in 1963 is deployed along Indo Nepal & Bhutan border covering stretch of more than 1900 kms in 20 Districts.

The major demand from CPMFs for being given status of organized Group A Services has not been agreed to on the ground that these services do not fulfill the pre requisites for such declaration as fixed by MHA. In support of it’s recommendations  the Commission has pointed out that substantial number of posts in these forces including those in pay scale of 18400-22400 are filled up by drawing officers on deputation from IPS and also pointed out that many intermediate grades do not exist in the hierarchy of these organizations. The Sixth CPC has also reiterated it’s philosophy of avoiding creation of too many services.

Commission has also not agreed to creation of certain additional posts demanded by CPMFs for creating promotional avenues on the ground that there should also be functional justification for posts . It has  felt that the provision of ACPs and the system of Running Pay Bands would minimize the grievances of such nature.

On the positive side the Commission has recommended the merger of the post of Addl DIG with that of DIG (16400-200000) . It has recommend that all posts upto the rank of DIG and 50% posts in the grade of IG and equivalent should be filled by promotion from officers of CPMF.

The following pay structure has been recommended for non gazetted executive cadres of CPMFs.

Commission has also noted that except for CISF all CPMFs are not filling up posts of ASI in the executive cadre .This step being contrary to order Dt.10/10/97 is affecting the structural parity within the forces . It has suggested that all CPMFs should continue the post of ASI since this is a functional necessity.

Other recommendations made by the Commission  include payment of ration money at par with Armed Forces to existing beneficiaries and doubling of the rates for Detachment Allowance (without linkage to DA) . Rates of Kit Maintenance Allowance are proposed to be doubled with increase of 25% after every hike up to 50% in DA. The rates of Uniform Grant are recommended as Rs.13000/-(initial) and Rs.6000/- (renewal-every 3 yrs).

For taking care of housing needs, facility of Compensation in lieu of Quarters (CILQ) has been recommended for all personnel in SO grade also. Commission has also recommended a new Family Accommodation Allowance at the lowest rate of HRA payable to all CPMF personnel who do not qualify for benefit HRA or CILQ or rent free accommodation for reason of their stay in barracks. This will also be a DA linked Allowance.

Commission has rejected the demand of one month’s extra pay for CPMFs having benefit of 60 days earned leave in a year on the ground that the personnel  are already compensated by this 30 days extra leave.

Another major change suggested is for stopping further recruitments to the cadre of followers and absorbing the existing cadres to -1S pay band with the objective of converting them to Gr.C combatant staff  after suitable training. It has been suggested that all non essential jobs handled by followers should be outsourced.

Recommendations also suggest that the practice of attaching Constables (Suraksha Sahayaks) / combatants at the residence of Officers for attending to Telephone calls  or other such personal responsibilities should be stopped. If any cases of violations of these instructions are found, the salary of constables deployed should be recovered from the Officer concerned. The report states that if any posts are required for such personal tasks the appropriate sanction should be taken and the jobs should be outsourced.

 

                                                                                                                          

Sixth CPC Report :(xiv) Recommendations for medicos

Chapter 3.6 of the CPC Report covers organnised medical services namely Central Health Services (CHS), Indian Railways Medical Services and the Ordinance Factories Health Services as well as others including Army Medical  Corps and other Paramilitary Medical Corps.

CHS constituted in 1963 presently comprises of General Duty Medical Officers(3139),Teaching and Non  Specialists (638+780) & Health Specialists(078). There are 13 posts in Higher Administrative Grade.

In matter of promotion, presently ACP Scheme with two promotions at 12 and 24 years is in place for isolated posts. For CHS and other organized Services the Scheme of Dynamic Assured Career progression (DACP) is in place. DACP involves change of nomenclature at promotion stage and is considered more attractive as compared to scheme of ACP. The Sixth CPC has made a major recommendation of extending the DACP for other categories of doctors also. The doctors in other streams of Indian Medicine viz. Ayurveda, Yoga,Unani,Sidhaand Homeopathy shall also get similar benefit if the recommendations are accepted.

The rates of conveyance allowance payable to doctors have been doubled. These shall henceforth be as given below. One important recommendation is to link this allowance to Consumer Price Index and make the same  subject to annual revision as per he DA formula.

The pay for Junior residents (present scale: 9000 fixed or 9000-9550) and senior residents (present scale: 10325-10975) shall be fixed in pay band 3 (15600-39100) with grade pay of Rs.5400 and 6100 respectively . Benefits proposed for doctors  have also been recommended  to dental surgeons.

NPA payable to doctors is already discussed in the post on other allowances on this blog. Sixth CPC has rejected the demand made by Para Medics for simsilar allowance.

 

 

Sixth CPC Report (xiii):Engineering and Scientific Services

Chapter 3.4 of the CPC report deals with Engineering Services which are spread over several Ministries and hence the service conditions vary from one end of the spectrum to other. While considering the case of Engineering Services the Commission has noted that the demand pertaining to better accessibility to higher posts is substantially settled if the recommendations made in other chapters for opening of higher posts to officers from all services is accepted. Therefore any new recommendations have not been made in that regard.

Report has also not agreed to the demand for payment non practicing allowance (NPA) to engineers on pattern of medical services as well as the demand for field duty allowance on the ground that such demands have not been accepted for other services also. However a concession has been made in the rates of Designing and Planning Allowances payable to Engineers in Designing and Planning Wing. It has recommended for 100% increase in these allowances.

Some crucial recommendations pertain to Subordinate Engineering Services. For the posts open to diploma holders in direct recruitment, for members of subordinate engineering services (who were granted minimum pay scale of Rs.5000-8000 by the Vth CPC ) the VIth CPC has recommended PB-2 of Rs.8700-34800 with grade pay of Rs.4200/-. The grade pay admissible to posts where the direct recruitment prescribes qualification of degree in open recruitment the recommended grade pay is Rs.4600/- .  It is expected that this arrangement would settle certain cases where benefits of recommendations of Vth CPC were somehow not given. The above two cadres would provide feeder cadres for the PB-3 which corresponds to the entry grade posts corresponding to Group A services.

The Commission has not agreed to the demand for change in hierarchal structure of the Engineering cadres (on CPWD pattern) on the ground that the scheme for ACP recommended  in report will ensure mobility to higher pay bands on a continuous basis. The recommendations also include suggestion for abolishing the system of separate quotas in promotion posts for degree and diploma holders in future, since this has been found to be  creating imbalances in certain cases.

Scientific Services have been considered in course of discussions for respective Ministries. In Chapter 3.5 detailed discussions have been confined to Flexible Complementing Scheme (FCS) for Scientific Services . This scheme initially confined to certain Ministries and autonomous bodies carrying out research and developmental activities for persons with meritorious abilities provided for assured time bound upward mobility to distinguished scientists . Vth CPC had modified the Scheme and restricted it to Gr.A Scientific services in R&D organizations and excluded personnel posted in Secretariats of the Ministries. It had also laid down a comprehensive and fair mechanism for evaluation of personnel before promotion besides recommending certain residency period prior to promotion. These recommendations were accepted by the Govt. with several modifications and not extended to certain key scientific Departments.

The VIth CPC has recommended for continuation of existing scheme for FCS with the exception of Deptt. Of Atomic Energy, Space and DRDO where merit based promotion schemes in vogue may continue. It seeks to streamline the system of identifying genuine scientific organizations engaged in R&D activities and evolving of new technologies  for coverage under the scheme. The upper limit for promotion is recommended to grade pay of Rs.9000/-. However in case of Deptt. Of Atomic Energy, Space and DRDO it is fixed up to grade pay of Rs.11000/-. The performance assessments boards should be objective and independent comprising of majority of outsiders.

For scientists of proven merit the Commission wants the Departments to have sufficient autonomy in pay fixation and merit being given due weightage. It has suggested that contractual appointments for 3-5 years with option of joining regular Govt. Service may be offered at the time of renewal of contract. The Scheme of Performance based incentives should also be applicable in above mentioned cases.