Pay panel report stuck in political uncertainty

NEW DELHI: The government is not keen to announce the final shape in which recommendations of the 6th Pay Commission would be implemented before the political crisis that has gripped it is over.

Top government sources said only "final touches" remain to be given to the report of the committee of secretaries and it can be submitted to the Union Cabinet "any day".

But the government does not seem ready to announce it before next week, presuming that it sails through during the vote of confidence slated for July 22.

The committee headed by cabinet secretary K M Chandrasekhar was formed on the PM's orders after voices of protest surfaced from almost all quarters of the gigantic officialdom as well as police, paramilitary and defence forces, who were perhaps more vocal than the "civilian" staff. The pay panel submitted its report on March 24.

"The report has to go to the Cabinet for approval and it may ask for further clarifications. Most major meetings have been completed. The focus is now on getting all 10-12 secretaries together for a final round. We hope it will happen very soon," a source said. Earlier indications were that the review report would be ready by the first week of July and bulk of the task was actually completed within that time-frame. It is understood that a "fine tuning" exercise was also restarted as an afterthought.

Millions of government employees have been eagerly waiting for the implementation of the pay report, which top officials said was already "good news" in its original form. They indicated that there would be little changes for the "civilian" employees as the report has already recommended "decent salary hikes and an extremely satisfactory allowance system".

"Allowances were hiked by up to four times. A very realistic tuition and hostel allowance was introduced for the children of government servants," a source said, but indicated that there could be a change with regard to defence, police and paramilitary services.

The pay commission has proposed that the recommendations should be implemented with effect from January 1, 2006, and this would entail a huge cost to the exchequer. Given the current trends, sources said, the implementation of recommendations is also expected to contribute to the rising inflation. "The best policy for the government is definitely to wait and watch what shape the current political developments take. Obviously, speedy implementation would depend on the very survival of the government," they added.
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