7th Pay Commission Recommendation views of Indian Audit & Accounts Department

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Subject

Recommendation of 7^th CPC

Views of Indian Audit and Accounts Department

1

Issues related to pay of (a) main stream cadre (b) Da cadre and (C) other cadres such as Rajbhasha DEO, Staff Car Drivers

The 7th CPC, under para 11.62.20 (page 836) has recommended for replacement pay level for AAO, AO and Sr. AO.

Further under para 11.12.140 (page- 526) of its recommendations, the 7th CPC has recommended that all officers in organized accounts cadre (in Indian Audit and Accounts Department, Defence Accounts Department, India Civil Accounts Organization, railway, Post and Telecommunications) who are in GP Rs.4800/- should be upgraded, on completion of four years’ service to GP Rs.5400, viz Pay level 9, in the pay matrix.

(a) Main Stream Cadre

The recommendations of 7th CPC in respect of pay scales of Sr. AO, AO and AAOs in IA &AD are as mentioned below:

We reiterate the demand submitted in the memorandum before the 7 th CPC in respect of the main stream cadre as well as Divisional Accountant cadre, which are as mentioned below:

(a)    Main Stream cadre:

Auditor / Accountant cadre:

The job profile of Auditor/Accountant requires technical skills to perform Audit/Accounting duties. They are appointed on direct recruitment through the Combined Graduate Level Examination (CGLE) conducted by the Staff Selection Commission. As their job profile demands greater Audit /Accounting skills higher Grade pay of Rs.4200/- is justified for Auditors/Accountants.

Sr. Auditor / Sr. Accountant cadre:

Consequent to the revision of the Recruitment Rules for the post of Sr. Auditor/Sr. Accountant, which is currently under process, the direct recruitment of Sr. Auditors/Sr. Accountants will take place through the

Combined Graduate Level Examination (CGLE), ‘Scheme A’ conducted by the Staff Selection Commission. CGLE ‘Scheme A’ is at present for Assistants of the Central Secretariat Service and has an additional computer paper and a personality test as compared to the normal CGLE. Therefore, the qualification, mode of recruitment, selection procedure etc. in respect of Sr. Auditors/Sr. Accountants in the Indian Audit and Accounts Department will be the same as in the case of the Assistants in CSS.

Further, both Sr. Auditors/Sr. Accountants and the Assistants in CSS were placed in the same grade pay of Rs.4,200/- by the 6th Central Pay Commission with effect from 01.01.2006. However, the Ministry of Finance vide OM No.F.No.1/1/2008-IC dated 13.11.2009 unilaterally increased the grade pay of the Assistants of the CSS to Rs.4,600 with effect from 01.01.2006. Therefore, the grade pay of Sr. Auditors/Sr. Accountants should also be enhanced to Rs.4,600/- to restore the parity provided by the 6th Central Pay Commission.

Senior Audit/Accounts Officer Cadre :

The changing economic scenario and the liberalization of the economy have thrown up requirements for more comprehensive and effective Auditing. It has also broadened the ambit and scope of auditing by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, from transaction and regulatory audit, to performance evaluation auditing (to evaluate comprehensively the effectiveness and achievement of a scheme, project etc). The Sr. Audit Officer/Sr. Accounts Officer, besides conducting the audit, also performs multifaceted roles such as vetting audit Inspection Reports submitted by the field Audit Parties and follow up of action taken by the audited entities on these reports, ensuring adherence to auditing standards, compilation of accounts, preparation of annual State Government Accounts, and audit of Treasury functions, etc.

The Accounts Officer / Audit Officers and Sr. Accounts Officer / Sr. Audit Officers cadres constitute the cutting edge of the professional workforce of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India. The highest level of supervision below the Senior Time Scale of the Indian Audit and Accounts Service is provided by these officers. These are promotional posts, the feeding cadre being Assistant Audit Officers and Assistant Accounts Officers. The appointment to this feeder cadre of Assistant Audit/Accounts Officers is made through a professional qualifying examination conducted for various specialized branches such as Civil Accounts, Civil Audit, Commercial Audit, Defence Audit, Railway Audit, and Posts and Telecommunications Audit. The promotion to the Audit Officer or Accounts Officer cadre takes place only after putting in about 17 to 20 years in the feeder cadre of Assistant Audit/Accounts Officer, and further promotion to Sr. Audit/Accounts Officer cadre after another 2-4 years of service as Audit/Accounts Officer.

The Sr. Audit/Accounts Officers and Audit/Accounts Officers are eligible for induction to the higher grade of Indian Audit and Accounts Service (IA&AS). 1/3rd of the vacancies in IA&AS are filled by induction of Sr. Audit/Accounts Officers/Audit/Accounts Officers. The prescribed eligibility criteria are 5 years of combined regular service as Sr. Audit/Accounts Officer and Audit/Accounts Officer and age below 53 years at the time of induction. There are limited vacancies (14 to 15 each year) which restrict the number of inductions into IA&AS to 0.2% of the total sanctioned strength of Sr. Audit/Accounts Officers and Audit/Accounts Officers (combined cadre strength – 5059) each year. Therefore, the cadre of Sr. Audit/Accounts Officers deserve better grade pay and need to be placed in pay level 12

( replacement of PB-3 with a grade pay of Rs.7600/-).

(b)   Division Accountant Cadre:

Replacement scale has been recommended by the 7^th CPC

(c) Other cadres such as Rajbhasha, DEO, Staff Car Drivers etc.

Replacement scale has been recommended by the 7 th CPC

(c)    Divisional Accountant Cadre:-

Divisional Accountant:-

Traditionally there has been parity between Sr. Accountants of the main stream cadre and Divisional Accountants. Since higher Grade Pay for Sr. Accountant has been proposed, it is recommended that same higher pay level 7 may also be allowed to the Divisional Accountants.

Divisional Accounts Officer Grade–II:-

(c) Other cadres such as Rajbhasha, DEO, Staff Car Drivers etc.

Replacement scale has been recommended by the 7th CPC Divisional Accounts Officer-II is promotional post of Divisional Accountant and therefore, needs to be placed in next higher pay level 8.

Further under para 11.12.140 (page- 526) of its recommendations, the 7th CPC has recommended that all officers in organized accounts cadre (in Indian Audit and Accounts Department, Defense Accounts Department, India Civil Accounts Organization, railway, Post and Telecommunications) who are in GP Rs.4800/- should be upgraded, on completion of four years’ service to GP Rs.5400, viz Pay level 9, in the pay matrix. It is presumed that the same will be extended to DAO Grade-II also.

Divisional Accounts Officer Grade-I:-

This is promotional post of DAO Grade-II and therefore, needs to be upgraded to pay level 10.

Senior Divisional Accounts Officer:-

This is promotional post of DAO Grade-I and therefore, needs to be upgraded to pay level 11.

( c) No comments

2

Issues related to Allowances

House Rent Allowance:

The Commission recommends that HRA be paid at the rate of 24 percent, 16 percent and 8 percent of the new Basic Pay for Class X, Y and Z cities respectively. The Commission also recommends that the rate of HRA will be revised to 27 percent, 18 percent and 9 percent respectively when DA crosses 50 percent, and further revised to 30 percent, 20 percent and 10 percent when DA crosses 100 percent

Composite Transfer and Packing Grant (CTG)

The Commission recommended that CTG should be paid at the rate of 80 percent of last month basic’s pay. However, for transfer to and from the island territories of Andaman, Nicobar and Lakshadweep, CTG may continue to be paid at the rate of 100 percent of last month’s Basic Pay.

Reimbursement of staying accommodation charges:

The commission made flowing recommendations:

For levels 8 and below, the amount of claim (up to the ceiling) may be paid without production of vouchers against self-certified claim only. The self-certified claim should clearly indicate the period of stay, name of dwelling, etc. The ceiling for reimbursement will further rise by 25 percent whenever DA increases by 50 percent. Additionally, it is also provided that for stay in Class ‘X’ cities, the ceiling for all employees up to Level 8 would be Rs.1,000 per day, but it will only be in the form of reimbursement upon production of relevant vouchers.

Reimbursement of Travelling Charges:

The Commission made flowing recommendations:

Similar to Reimbursement of staying accommodation charges, for levels 8 and below, the claim (up to the ceiling) should be paid without production of vouchers against self certified claim only.

Family Planning Allowance:-

The Pay Commission has recommended to abolish the Family Planning

Allowances.

In para 8.7.14, the Commission took note of the link between increase in HRA and increase in house rent after implementation of recommendations of 6th CPC. There was a sharp rise in the index from the first half of 2009, immediately following 6th CPC recommendations. There is likely to a similar rise in House Rent after implementation of recommendations of   7th CPC. Hence the existing percentage of House Rent may be retained at the rate of 30 percent, 20 percent and 10 percent of the new Basic Pay for Class X, Y and Z cities respectively

As the labour charges and cost of packing materials are continuously rising, the CTG may continue to be paid at the rate of 100 percent of last month’s Basic Pay.

The main objective of the Audit Department is to carry out Audit function which entails long periods of stay out of headquarters. Consequently, officials at pay level 5 to 11 have to visit small towns (at Block/Sub-division level). For such places, as per recommendations of the 7 th CPC, officials of pay level 8 and below will be entitled to the claim without production of vouchers (ie. against self-certified claim only), where as officials of the pay level 9 and above will have to produce vouchers for the similar claim.

To eradicate such anomalous situation, it is submitted that claims, as admissible upto pay level 8, may be paid without production of vouchers against self-certified claim to all pay level officials.

In the same analogy, as mentioned against reimbursement of staying accommodation charges above, it is submitted that claims, as admissible upto pay level 8, may be paid without production of vouchers against self-certified claim to all pay level officials.

This is an incentive for promoting small family norms and therefore, it needs to be continued

3

Issues related to Advances:

Interest Free Advances:

Medical Advance:

The pay Commission has recommended abolition of Medical Advance

As per the existing practice, medical advance is paid to an employee to the extent of 90% of the estimated cost of treatment in case of treatment of self and dependents. Cost of treatment for illness particularly of critical/life threatening ailments, such as heart transplant/ cancer/ kidney transplant etc., even under CGHS rules, is extremely expensive. It is also pertinent to note that many hospitals even in emergent situations insist on advance payment before commencing treatment/surgery. It is very difficult for a low paid employee such as MTS/LDC/UDC etc or even for group ‘B’ and ‘A’ officers to make available large amounts required for medical treatment. Without medical advance, an official will have great difficulty in getting proper/appropriate medication.

Therefore, it is submitted that medical advance may be continued with as per existing practice.

TA Advance:

The main function of IA &AD is auditing of Central/State Government/ PSUs etc. These auditee units are spread across the states down to the block/Panchayat level. In order to discharge audit responsibility, touring is a continuous requirement. It is not an occasional tour for short period, expenditure of which can be met out by the individual and reimbursement claimed subsequently.

The officials have to be on tour continuously for upto a quarter (i.e 03 months) or even more.

For an official at pay level 6(Senior Auditor), as per the recommendations of the 7th CPC, the tour allowance for a day works out to Rs. 1770/- (Rs. 750 for accommodation+225 for travelling +Rs. 800 for food bills) and for a month it would be Rs. 53250/-. Besides, he has to incur expenditure for to and fro (i.e Hqrs. to field office and back) train/ bus fare. Monthly salary of a pay level 6 employee, as per recommendations of 7th CPC is Rs. 35400/-. As is clearly brought out, the likely monthly expenditure on tour will be significantly more than the employees’ monthly salary.

Therefore, advance is necessary to defray tour expenditure for performing official duties. This will create huge administrative issues in the department and adversely impact the Audit functions.

In view of the above, TA Advance, requires to be continued and paid as per extant provisions.

LTC Advance:

Under LTC facility the expenses incurred on travel to visit the destination is reimbursable. Advance upto 90% of expenses on travel to visit the destination place is admissible. This amount serves as great help to the employees to undertake the journey in arranging train/air tickets. Without this advance, the employees will find it difficult to purchase train/air tickets for his family.

Besides travelling expenses, an official has to incur expenditure on account of Boarding and lodging/local travel also.

As per the recommendation of 7th CPC, officials of pay level 05 to 08 are entitled to travel by train. The travel tickets for family of four will cost more than Rs. 18000/- for a journey from Delhi to Thiruvananthapuram. Further, for level 9 and above the return tickets in economy class for the same destination

i.e. Delhi to Thiruvananthapuram will cost more than

 Rs. 2 lakh.

A government official cannot afford such a huge amount to spent upfront for performing journey for availing home town LTC or All India LTC. Hence LTC advance is required to be continued as per extant provisions.

Bicycle Advance, Warm Clothing Advance

These advances may continued to be paid as per existing rules as these are admissible only to low paid employees upto Grade Pay of Rs.2800/- (Level 5)

Festival advance, advance in the event of natural calamities like Flood, Drought, Cuclone etc

These advances may continue to be paid as per existing rules as these interest free advances are payable to Group ‘B & C ‘employees as a welfare measure.

Advance of TA to a family of a deceased Govt. Employee.

This advance may continue to be paid as per existing rules as this helps the family of a deceased Govt. employee to cope with immediate expenses for travel to their place of settlement.

Interest Bearing Advances:-

The Pay Commission has recommended abolishing of Motor Car/Motor Cycle Advance.

The Pay Commission has abolished the Motor Car/Motor Cycle Advance on the plea that there are several schemes available in market. There are several schemes in the markets for House Building Advance also. However, the Pay Commission has not only recommended to continue with HBA but also proposed to increase the ceiling. Therefore, the plea of the commission to discontinue MCA on the basis that schemes for purchase of vehicles are available in the market does not hold good.

Further, several documentation/guarantees are required for seeking the said advances from the market. As it is convenient and safe for a Government Servant to avail such advances from the office without any hassles, these interest bearing advances may be continued as per the extant provisions.

4.

Common Issues

Fixed Medical Allowance (FMA) to retired Govt. Servants:

The Commission has maintained status quo of the Fixed Medical Allowance which is presently paid @ Rs. 500/- per month.

The costs have increased for medicines, consultations fees and Pathological Tests required for day to day medical treatment. This has risen at a much steeper rate than that of the General Price Index. A large number of pensioners are residing in remote areas or villages having no access to CGHS dispensaries and as such are wholly dependent on the paltry amount of Fixed Medical Allowance for day to day treatment.. Therefore it needs to be revised to at least Rs. 2000/- per month.

Modified Assured Career Progression Scheme (MACPS):

Assured Career Progression was introduced in 1999 with a view to grant at least two financial up gradations at an interval of 12 and 24 years where officials are stagnating for want of promotion. It was further modified to 03 financial up gradations on the recommendations of the 6th CPC. However, the 7 th CPC recommended continuing with the same without any change. Also the bench mark has been increased from ‘Good’ to ‘ Very Good’

There should be at least four financial upgradations in entire service career of an employee at regular interval of 8 years. Hence, the MACPS may be granted to an employee after completion of 8, 16, 24 and 32 years of service.

Further, the bench mark for financial up gradation may be continued as per the existing practice – i.e. the bench mark prescribed for the post for promotion.

Central Government Employees Group Insurance Scheme (CGEGIS):

The following rate of contribution and insurance coverage has been proposed by the 7th CPC;

Since, there is steep rise in the monthly deductions, the following deductions and insurance amount is proposed:

Transport Allowance (TPTA)

The 7th CPC has just revised the Transport Allowance by merging 125% of DA with the existing rate of transport allowance. The revised rates are as mentioned below:

The following is proposed for the revised Transport Allowance (TPTA)

Child Care Leave (CCL):-

The 7th CPC has proposed that CCL should be granted at 100 percent of the salary for first 365 days, but at 80 percent of the salary for the next 365 days. However, CCL has been extended to single parent also

It is proposed that the CCL be paid at 100 percent of salary for the entire period.

Children Education Allowance (CEA):

The Commission has recommended CEA @Rs.2250/- per month and Hostel Subsidy @Rs.6750/- per month.

Keeping in view the steep rise in tuition fees, cost of stationery, Books, Uniform etc. the CEA and Hostel Subsidy may be increased @ Rs.3000/- and @ Rs.8000/- per month respectively.

Special Casual Leave (SCL):

SCL is granted to employees to cover their absence from duty for various occasions like sports events, cultural activities, participation in Republic Day Parade, voluntary blood donation, Trade Union meetings, etc. Full pay is granted during SCL and it can be sanctioned with retrospective effect also.

The Pay Commission has expressed its concern at the widespread use of SCL as a means of getting away from duty. However, because of the extensive scope and case specific nature of this leave, no concrete recommendations have been made.

It has suggested that the government may, however, consider the following:

(a) Review the purposes for which SCL is presently granted.

(b) Limit the number of purposes for which an employee can be granted SCL in a year.

(c) Limit the total number of days that an employee can be granted SCL in a year.

Since SCL is granted to employees to cover their absence from duty for various occasions like sports events, cultural activities, participation in Republic Day Parade, voluntary blood donation, Trade Union meetings/ casting votes in their constituency, it may be continued to be granted as per existing practice.