Govt may not agree on performance incentives

Performers in govt services may have to wait longer for getting incentives for their hard work. The Centre is unlikely to accept the 6th Pay Commission’s recommendations for providing better remuneration for high performers, sources close to the development told SundayET. The high-level committee of secretaries, headed by cabinet secretary K M Chandrasekhar, found it difficult to devise a modality to differentiate 20% higher performers among group A officers who could have qualified to get 1% more annual increments if the pay panel’s recommendation is accepted. A member of the committee said: “There were discussion on the issue of performance-linked increments. But it’s not feasible in a month or two to draw up a modality which can differentiate performing officers from non-performers. So, I don’t think, we will accept that recommendation.” The 12-member committee, which has been reviewing the pay panel report, comprises of secretaries of home, defence, revenue, expenditure and the member secretary of railway board. The committee may sit for a couple of more meetings before it sends the final report for the Cabinet approval. Significantly, the pay commission recommended that 80% or more employees of high ranked (pay band 3) group A officers should be given a normal annual increment of 2.5% whereas “high performers, not exceeding 20% during a year, should be allowed increments at a higher rate of 3.5%.” It suggested the idea of better increments for high-performing government employees after it received a detailed report from IIM-Ahmedabad.

Source The economic Times