Minutes of the 2nd meeting of Empowered
Committee of Secretaries (E-CoS)
Subject: Implementation of the recommendations of the 7th
Central Pay Commission — 2nd meeting of the E-CoS
Venue: Committee Room, Cabinet Secretariat, Rashtrapati Bhawan
Date of Meeting: Thursday, the 1 st March, 2016
Time of Meeting: 6:45 PM
A meeting of the Empowered Committee
of Secretaries (E-CoS) was held on 1 st March, 2016 in the Cabinet Secretariat
under the chairmanship of the Cabinet Secretary to discuss issues raised by
Staff„side of JCM
2. Welcoming the members of E-CoS
and JCM Staffrside, Cabinet Secretary observed that the meeting had been called
to take a note of concerns of Stäff-$ide of JCM regarding recommendations of
the 7th CPC and invited the members Of Staff-side of JCM to share their views
on the recommendations.
3. Opening the discussion,
representative of Staff-side of JCM expressed gratitude to Cabinet Secretary
for inviting them for interaction regarding the recommendations of the 7th CPC
and requested that more frequent interactions of JCM may be held to resolve
outstanding issues across the table. It was expressed that 7th CPC has
recommended a meager increase of 14% in the minimum pay as against increase ranging
up to 54% during previous Pay Commissions. It was further stated that the
recommendations on minimum pay, allowances, advances etc. will cause difficulty
to employees. Representative of Staff-side informed that they have already
submitted a charter of demands to the Cabinet Secretary bringing out the
issues. These have also been discussed in the meeting of JS (IC) with
Staff-side of JCM held on 19.02.2016.
4. Major concerns expressed by JCM
Staff-side were as under:
The minimum pay of Rs. 18000/- p.m. recommended by the Commission is on
lower side and needs to be revised upward by taking into account the prices of
commodities as on 01.07.2015 and appropriately factoring in for social
obligations & housing.
(ii) New Pension Scheme should
be done away with. Persons governed by the NPS are deprived of Family Pension
and do not have provision of provident fund. As a result they are at a
disadvantageous position as compared to the persons governed by the old system.
(iii) Recommendations on allowances
need to be properly examined before taking a decision.
(iv) Fixed Medical Allowance should
be increased from existing Rs. 500 p.m. to Rs. 2000 p.m. as majority of cities
are not covered under CGI-IS and people residing outside the CGHS covered area
are unable to meet their medical needs with meager amount of Rs. 500 p.m.
(v) Recommendation regarding withdrawal
of non-interest bearing advances may not be accepted.
(vi) Outsourcing of services should
be discouraged as the contract workers are being exploited by contractors and
at the game time the service delivery is being compromised due to inefficiency
and lack of accountability of low aid contractual staff.
(vii) Enhancement in contribution
towards Group Insurance Scheme, is not justified as this would reduce the
actual increase in take home salary considerably. If the rates are to be
raised, the Government should bear the insurance premium
(viii) The recommendation regarding
grant of only 80% of salary for the second year of Child Care Leave need
not be accepted as this would deter women from availing of CCL, which was
introduced as a welfare measure.
(ix) Annual increments be granted
@ 5% instead of existing 3% and increments may be granted on two dates
viz., 1 st of January and 1 st of July of every year as in the present system
of grant of increment on 1 st July of every year, employees joining/promoted
after 1 st January, who do not complete 6 months services as on 1 st July, have
to wait for up to 18 months for grant of increment.
(x) The Commission’s recommendation
of downgrading the Assistants of Central Secretariat for bringing in
parity with their counterparts in the field offices is not appropriate.
(xi) Recommendation regarding
PRIS need not be accepted as no scientific mechanism has been devised to
assess the performance of employees and the same could e courage favoritism.
5. Issues regarding financial
upgradation under MACPS in promotional hierarchy without grading
stipulation. grant of two increments on promotion introduction of Productivity
Linked Bonus, treating Grameen Dak Sevak as Government employees, removal of
pap of 5% on compassionate appointment 8i full pay and allowances In case of
Work Related Illness and Injury Leave improving promotional avenues for
technical and supervisory staff etc. were also raised by members of JCM.
6. During the discussion,
representatives of JCM also suggested that the Nodal Officers nominated by
various Ministries/Departments may hold interactions with recognized Staff
Associations and other stakeholders under their purview so as to identify
issues specific to those Ministries/Departments for redressal.
7. After hearing the participants,
Cabinet Secretary observed that the deliberations have helped E-CoS in understanding
the major concerns of the Staff-side and said that all issues have been taken note of. He assured that fair consideration will be given to
all points brought out by JCM before taking a final view. He further
stated that the E-CoS needs to examine the Report of the Commission in entirety
as well as the issues raised by JCM in consultation with all other
stakeholders. As such, it may take some time to take a final call on the
recommendations of the Commission.
8. Cabinet Secretary also advised
the members of E-CoS to hold interactions with their Staff Associations and
other stakeholders under their purview preferably within a week.
9. Meeting ended with vote of thanks
to the chair.
March 26, 2016
Kalaivaraikalai
