Bhubaneswar: IAS officers in Odisha are aggrieved ones. So also their IPS and IFS friends in the state. For, the state government is yet to implement the 7th Pay Commission salary for the Central government employees working under the state government.
Even as the Government of India has notified the implementation of the 7th PC recommendations for the Central government employees from on July 25, 2016 and for pensioners from August 4, 2016, the IAS, IPS and IFS working in Odisha are yet to get their hiked salary.
What is hurting them most is that their counterparts in other states have started drawing the enhanced salary by now. Haryana is the first state to implement the 7th PC in the state.
In Odisha, the sanctioned strength of Central government personnel is 555. Out of this the number of IAS post is 226 and IPS post is 188 while that of the IFS is 141. Besides, Central government employees from Comptroller & Auditor General, Indian Railways, and Income Tax departments are serving the state on deputation. The worst sufferers are, however, are the pensioners.
The non-implementation of 7th PC for the Central government employees in the state has caused some abnormal situation in management of the cadre. Ironically, the state finance secretary, TK Pandey, is a victim of the state government’s decision to delay the implementation of the pay panel report. Pandey, who was on Central deputation at Delhi till July 2016, had been receiving enhanced salary as per the 7th PC. But, on his return to the state cadre in September, 2016, his salary has been fixed at a lower as per the 6th PC. The state general administration department, which is regulating the IAS cadres, has opined that he has to satisfy himself with the 6th PC as the state government is yet to take a decision regarding implementation of 7th PC in case of Central government personnel.
IW NS has heard a whisper that Pandey is not receiving his salary in protest.
The retired elite officers are a fuming lots. In a stray incident poet Rajendra Kishore Panda had received his pension as per the 6thPC even the state was yet to notify the pay panel report. Whe Panda etired his pension was fixed by the state government as per the 5th PC. However, the Accounts General fixed the salary as per the 6th PC even though the state government had yet to implement the hiked salary then.
A senior officer of state finance department told IWNS that the state government is dilly dallying in giving the 7th PC salary to the Central government personnel on the ground that it would incite the state government employees to intensify their demand to implement the 7th PC salary for them. Earlier, till the 5th PC , the state government was giving the enhanced salary to the Central government personnel as soon as the Centre came out with the notification. However, from 6th PC, the state government has started giving the hiked salary to the Central government employees along with the state government employees.
Meanwhile, the state government has decided to implement the 7thPC from February 2017 and has made provision in the Supplementary Budget. But, it is unlikely that it would be able to do so. Even though the state government has asked the Fitment Committee headed by Development Commission R.Balakrishnan to submits report by February 2017, the committee is certainly going to take some more time. Balakrishnan, with a view to give due justice to all sections of the employees in the state, has decided to address the over 200 anomaly petitions before giving its fitmet report. As such, the state government can not notify the pay panel report as the model code of conduct for the Panchyat elections would remain in force till March, 2017.
The implementation of 7th PC would benefit 4 lakh state government employees and 3 lakh pensioners . The 23.55% hike in salary and the arrear payments from January 2016 would cost the state exchequer about Rs 5000 crore in the first year.
Given the plights state’s elite officers, the opposition’s oft -allegation that the Naveen Patnaik government is run by the bureaucrats fells flat. (EOM)
