Kerala Gazetted Officers protest against pay panel suggestions

The Kerala Gazetted Officers Union (KGOU) and the Kerala Engineers Federation are the latest to come out against the recommendations of the Ninth Pay Commission.

The KGOU, in a memorandum submitted to the Cabinet sub-committee, which is looking into the issue, pointed out that the existing pay structure was shaped on the basic principle that equated and provided identical scale to common categories of posts. It charged the Pay Commission with having distorted the principle by recommending different scales for equated and common categories posts. The approach of the Pay Commission had disturbed the equilibrium in the existing pay structure. The remedial measure suggested by the KGOU was the restoration of identical scale for all equated categories of posts.

Its other demands included professional parity, 3 per cent increment, 20 per cent fitment, modification of the weightage recommended by the Pay Commission, HRA at 10 per cent in rural areas, 15 per cent in municipal and taluk HQs and 30 per cent in corporation areas, hike in PTA/PCA, educational allowance on a par with Central government employees, hike in rural allowance and extending it to homoeo and ayurvedic practitioner and veterinarians, CCA at 5 per cent and extending the non-practising allowance to veterinarians also. It also wanted the retirement age to be raised to 60.

The Kerala Engineers Federation, which is a confederation of engineering departments of the government, took exception to the Pay Commission's failure to raise the Assistant Executive Engineer's scale even though it raised that of 35 to 40 identical scales.

Because of that the difference in the pay scales of Assistant Engineer and Assistant Executive Engineer was nominal.

Similarly, the higher grade recommended for Assistant Engineers was lower than that for lower scales. The higher scales of some engineering departments which were equated with the PWD had been downgraded.

The Federation, however, welcomed the acceptance of the career advancement scheme proposed by it by the Pay Commission.

The Federation represents the engineers of the PWD, Irrigation, Electrical Inspectorate, Harbour Engineering, LSGD, Factories and Boilers and KWA.

Source : The  Hindu