Confederation of central government employees and workers | strike on 12.12.12 explanatory note on demands
POINT NO .1
Revision of wage with effect from. 1.,01..2011.
The present wage structure of the Central Govt. Employees has been made on the basis of the 6th Central Pay Commission’s recommendations. The 6th CPC introduced a new concept in the form of Pay band and Grade Pay. The recommendations of the Commission were implemented with effect from 1.1.2006 in the case of Pay and in the case of allowances with effect from 1.9. 2008. In the case of Central Public Sector undertakings, the wage revisions normally takes place after every five years. The 5th CPC in the case of Central Government employees recommended wage revision in every 10 years. In the past wage revision has been linked to the extent of erosion of real wages. The degree of inflation in the economy determines the pace of erosion of the real value of wages. The retail prices of those commodities which go into the making of minimum wages have risen by about 160% from 1.1.2006 to 1.1. 2011, whereas the D.A. compensation in the case of Central Government employees on that date had been just 51%. It is also an acknowledged fact that the 6th CPC had computed the minimum wage by suppressing the retail price of these commodities in the market on the specious plea that official statistics of the retail prices of these commodities were not available. They therefore, computed the retail price by increasing the wholesale price by 20% for each of the commodity whereas the actual retail price in the market was 60% more than the wholesale price. While in the case of Group B,C & D employees, the Commission applied a multiplication factor of 1.86 for arriving at the revised pay structure, in the case of Group A Officers, the factor was ranging from 2.36 to 3 times. In the matter of fitment formula also, unlike recommended by the 5th CPC, the 6th CPC adopted varying percentages whereby the officers in Group A were given rise extending from 42 to 49%, whereas the employees in Group B,C,D were granted only 40%. While implementing the Commission’s recommendations, the Government further accentuated the discrimination further. The recommendations of the 6th CPC when implemented gave rise to very many glaring anomalies. They were assured to be looked into and settled through negotiations in the JCM. The effectiveness of JCM as a potent forum to settle issues has been eroded over the years. Thus, though the National Anomaly Committee met 4-5 times, it could not settle any major issues.
The minimum wage determined by the 6th CPC was at a far lesser amount than what an unskilled worker is entitled to. Moreover, the Commission assigned the so determined minimum wage to be the wage of a skilled worker.. It excluded persons below matriculation qualification from the purview of Government employment. In a country where one third people are illiterate, such controversial recommendations have only gone to absolve the State from its solemn responsibility to provide employment to the persons at the lower strata of the society. The wage structure evolved by the 6th CPC deviated drastically from the concepts emerged from the deliberations over decades in the matter of wage determination of civil servants and is beset with innumerable anomalies necessitating a thorough overhaul , which can only be attempted by setting up another Commission with appropriate terms of reference.
The Grameen Dak Sewaks were excluded from the purview of the 6th Central Pay Commission as the Postal Department took an erroneous view that they are not Central Government employees. The 4th CPC had categorically stated that they ought to have been included within the purview of the Commission’s jurisdiction but chose to go by the Postal Department’s decision ultimately. the GDS constitute the largest chunk of the Postal Workers. The exclusion of GDS from the purview of the Pay Commission being unjust, discriminatory and bereft of any logic, the next Pay Commission when it is set up must have the jurisdiction to recommend on wage structure and service conditions of the GDS.
Wage revision in all public Sector undertakings through Collective bargaining takes place once in five years. On the same analogy, the wage revision of the Central Government employees must be after every five years and the Government must therefore set up the 7th CPC immediately.
SOURCE-http://confederationhq.blogspot.in/