DRAFT Letter to PMO For Upgradation Of Pay.. Suggestions are Invited

To

Shri Narender Modi
Hon’ble Prime Minister of India
South Block, New Delhi

Sub:- Request for upgradation of pay of Clerical Cadre staffs of the A&N Administration.

Respected Sir,

The Non Gazetted Govt. Officers Association, A&N Islands affiliated to Confederation of Central Govt. Employees & Workers, New Delhi avails this opportunity to convey your honour its best complements and warmest regards while putting the following anomalies in pay of LGCs and HGCs from the 5^th  Central Pay Commission to 7^thPay Commission for your favourable consideration please.-

The Andaman & Nicobar Amalgamated Clerical Cadre was formed to provide administrative support upto the level of Assistant Secretary in the Secretariat and Assistant Director (Admn) in various departments under the A&N Administration. The organizational structure of the Cadre starts from Lower Grade clerk at the entry grade and extend upto the Assistant Secretary / Assistant Director (Admn), as the case may be. Members of the Cadre are transferable from one department to another right from Diglipur in the north to Campbell bay in the south and Offices of the UT Administration located at New Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai. 

As per instruction issued by the DoP&T, an incumbent in the grade of LGC is eligible for promotion to next grade i.e., HGC after putting 08 years of regular service, but the AC Cadre, an LGC is promoted to the next grade of HGC after completion of more than 10 years of service. Similarly, 05 years regular service is prescribed by the DoP&T for promotion from the grade of HGC to Head Clerk/ Assistant, while the HGC in the AC Cadre normally get a promotion to the next grade after completion of 10 to 12 years’ service. Thus an LGC in the AC Cadre takes more than 20 years to become Head Clerk/ Assistant as against 13 years of service prescribed by DoP&T to reach the same stage. The stagnation in the Cadre do not end there as a HC/ Assistant again has to wait another 8 to 9 years for his turn for promotion to the next grade of Superintendent as against 03 years regular service prescribed in DoP&T’s instructions.

Further, due to the geographical location of the islands and scattered location of inhabited islands, every major departments under the A&N Administration are required to locate its unit in these islands, necessitating the posting of clerical staff in each unit to manage its office work. The lone Lower Grade Clerk or Higher Grade Clerk posted in such units are responsible to attend all works of a normal office, involving application of different set of rules and regulations, scrutiny and preparation of bills, handling of cash, maintenance of Service Books, finalization of Pension cases etc. The multifarious functions that were handled by them warranted higher academic qualifications but also requires high skills and knowledge as compared to their counterparts in the Central Secretariat and subordinate offices, hence the Recruitment Rules for the post of LGC in the AC Cadre was amended to enhance the minimum educational qualifications prescribed therein from ‘Pass in XII th standard /AISSCE or equivalent’ with ‘Knowledge in Computer Education’ in addition to the normal typing speed in Hindi or English. Although the educational qualifications for appointment to the grade of Lower Grade Clerk in AC Cadre was enhanced and their duties and responsibilities are much higher than that of their counterparts, they continue to draw the same pay and allowances applicable to other LGCs/ LDCs under the Central Government, whose duties and responsibilities are limited to typing, diarizing, flagging of references etc.

As a result of implementation of the recommendation of the Fifth Central Pay Commission, another anomaly had cropped up in the A&N AC Cadre when the ‘Assistant’ in the Central Secretariat and few other subordinate offices were extended the pay scale of Rs. 5500-9000 while their counterparts in the AC Cadre were placed in the pay scale of Rs. 5000-8000. Recently the said anomaly has been further widened by the Govt. of India by extending the pay scales of Rs. 6500-10500 to ‘Assistants’ in the Central Secretariat with effect from 15.09.2006.

Similarly, the 5^th Pay Commission has allowed the higher pay scale of Rs. 6500-10500 to the Section Officers in the Central Secretariat who perform the same duties of Superintendents in the AC Cadre, who are in the pay scale of Rs. 5500-9000. It is also understood that the pay scales of Section Officers in the Central Secretariat has again been upgraded to Rs. 8000-13000 by the Govt. of India, thereby bringing huge anomaly in the pay scale of the above categories, whose nature of work is similar.

Due to merger of pre-revised pay scale of Rs. 5000-8000 (Head Clerk/ Assistant) and Rs. 5500-9000 (office Superintendent) to a single pay band of Rs. 9300-34800 and grade pay of Rs. 4200 by the 6^th Central Pay Commission. Although the CCS (RP) Rules, 2008 provides for merger of the posts in the above two Grades, since the duties requirements of the Cadre does not permit to do so. Presently, the HC/AIC/Assistants are being promoted to the post of Superintendent but they continue to draw the same pay and Grade Pay without even benefit of pay fixation on promotion.

Sixth Pay Commission has denied and appropriate pay structure not provided to the LGCs &HGCs serving in various offices of Andaman & Nicobar Administration in the light of raised academic and technical qualification & responsibilities assigned to them. Clerks are responsible for smooth functioning of offices but they are given simple replacement GPs in VI pay commission. In fact the GP granted to the post of LGC is Rs.1900, which is just Rs. 100 More than MTS staff, i.e Rs. 1800/- The pay commission has recommended the merger of various GP ‘D’ posts & upgraded their GPs from Rs. 1400/- to Rs. 1800/- & also given them additional benefit of 3 MACPs to the merged posts. On the other hand LGC under MACP would get Rs.2000/- Rs.2400/-, & Rs.2800/-

Over the years, the scales of pay of various posts below the ministerial post at the lowest rank (Viz. LGC) as well as posts at higher levels have been upgraded from time to time. However, the scale of pay of the post of LGC has not been revised since 01.07.1959 while minimum educational qualification for the post of LGCs has been increased to 10+2 from Matriculation with effect from 1995 onwards. The job profile of LGCs has undergone significant changes after introduction of Information Technologies and modernization in Govt Offices. In the wake of Govt’s plan of office automation, e-tendering, e-procurement and e-governance. the workload & strain on LGC has already grown up but Inspite of above the Grade Pay of LGCs is only Rs.100/- more than, that of MTS Staff.

Duties assigned to the LGCs as per the Administration’s Office Procedure Manual are as follows:-

Carry out routine office work e.gfiling in cases, linking of references, writing simple routing notes and drafts, maintain library and registers, carry out amendments to regulations and orders, maintain construction accounts. Type neatly and accurately at 35 words per minutes. Being Union Territory without legislation, the Administrative setup has been established in such a manner that the employees have to render service in each department following different rules and regulations formulated by the Govt. of India, viz., Industrial Dispute Act, Minimum Wages Act, Cooperative Regulations, MV Act, Explosive Act, etc. and are actually dealing assistants. The employees posted in various departments have to be well versed with each act and regulation for discharge of their assigned duties. In other words, the service rendered by the Clerical Cadre Employees of the Andaman & Nicobar is peculiar in nature, and the work extracted from each employee is much higher as compared to the counterparts in the rest of the country.

The pay scales of other categories which were equal to the pay of LGC during 3rd, 4th and 5th CPC had been revised and they have been placed at GP higher than of LGCs. Pay scales of some categories which had same grade pay in Vth Pay Commission and whose Grade Pay have been increased in VI Pay Commission are given below for your perusal:-

Slr No.	Post	Pay Scale in V CPC	RevisedPay Scale in VI CPC	CorrespondingPay Band & Grade Pay		No. of the
1	Assistant Class-II in Calcutta  Mint	3050-4590	4500-7000	PB-l	2800	7.15.9
2.	Constable in CPMFs	3050-4590	3200-4900	PB-l	2000	7.19.35
3.	Constable in CBI	3050-4590	3200-4900	PB-l	2000	7.32.18
4.	Postman in Dept of Post	3050-4590	3200-4900	PB-l	2000	7.6.17
5.	Mail Guard in Railway	3050-4590	3200-4900	PB-l	2000	7.6.17
6.	Naik	3050-4590	3200-4900	PB-l	2000	7.10.26

Postal Assistant in Deptt of Posts have same minimum qualification and typing speed requirement i.e. 10+2 and 35 wpm but have Grade Pay of Rs. 2400/-

SSC conducts Combined 10+2 Level Examination and places LGCs and Data Entry Operators in various Ministries and Deptts on the basis of their Merit list. Where Data Entry Operators are given Grade Pay Rs. 2400/-, the LGCs are given Rs. 1900/- only. The academic qualifications required for both LGC & DEO are the same i.e. 12th class pass or equivalent. As regards the technical qualification the candidate appearing for the post of LGC requires 10500 KDPH/9000 KDPH English and Hindi typing respectively on computer whereas the candidate appearing the DEO requires 8,000 KDPH on Computer. But the grade pay granted/fixed for the post of LGC is 1900 and the same for DEO is 2400. Moreover, the DEO has only to entry the readymade data given to them whereas the LGCs have to create data/draft letters and then to type on computer, putting up the matter through file note with justification with the support of rules and procedure. Thus LGC does more work in qualitatively and quantitative terms with less grade pay than that of the DEO. It is pertinent to mention here that LGC has more work to do by linking and correlating the case with various policies where Data Entry Operators have just to type the data.

Even though the raising of academic qualification of MTS from 8th Standard to Matriculation, duties prescribed for the earlier Group D and the present MTS are the same. Whereas the academic & technical qualification of the LGC have been upgraded and assigned heavy responsibilities on them by the office concerned. Majority of the persons selected for the post are graduates and even post graduates and qualified to handle any kind of assignment. The job profile of the post has undergone significant changes after introduction of modernization in Government offices. Now, computers have taken the place of typewriters. During the 5th Pay Commission, pay scale 8-1 to S-4 were granted to the group D posts and pay scale S-5.was granted to LGC i.e. one step above than the pay scale of the Group D posts which never crossed over the pay scale of LGC. In the 6th Pay Commission the pay band of MTS (formerly group D), LGC & HGC are same and Grade pay of LGC is 1900/- and that of MTS through MACP is 2400/.

Most of the offices under the A & N Administration  are functioning smoothly virtually due to the fact that LGCs & HGCs are shouldering heavy responsibilities. But the Pay Commission has not considered equal pay for the work done by them. This has been a demoralizing effect on the already desperate young and talented cadre in the Government offices. From the above it is evident that the upgradation of the grade pay of LGC & HGCs is a genuine issue. We, therefore, justifiably request you to put a case for revision of Grade Pay of LGC to Rs. 2400/ and that of HGC to Rs. 2800/. It is to be noted that cases of several cadres in the Administrative branch were considered and favorable decision was taken by the 6th CPC but the case of LGC & HGC were left out. The LGC and the HGC also deserve higher grade pays than the present one, to commensurate with the qualifications and assignments attached to these posts after the implementation of the recommendations of the 6th Pay Commission.

In the sub-ordinate offices of the A & N Administration, the works that are being looked after by the Accountants are being entrusted and carried out by the LGCs and HGCs of the A&N Administration. The Accountants are given pay 2800/- grade pay. It is pertinent to mention here that Andaman & Nicobar Islands has been placed in Zone (d) for carrying out work in Hindi and the Hindi Translators are posted only in the Head of Departments, whereas the works in Hindi are being carried out by the Clerical staff in the Head of Offices without the assistance of any Hindi Translator, moreover the Hindi Translators are also being given 2800/- grade pay. The GOI’s stepmother treatment towards the Clerical Staff working in the Sub-ordinate Offices must be stopped. There should be parity between the CSCS & the Clerical Staff working in the Sub-ordinate Offices of the Ministry. We have seen that the Govt. has wisely protected the CSCS by implementing NFSG Scheme & Cadre Restructure after the 6^thCPC. But the same procedure has not been extended to Sub-ordinate services.

This is for your information that this issue of Up-gradation of Pay of LGCs and HGCs has been identified as an anomaly by DoP&T and under consideration in National Anomaly Committee and the issue has been ignored by successive pay commissions which is against the natural justice of equal pay for equal work.

With the current level of inflation it is becoming very difficult for LGCs to sustain a dignified life in such a low salary which is against the Right to live granted to every citizen by the constitution of India.

In accordance with the recommendation of 6th Pay Commission, Government India has raised the academic qualification from Matriculation to 12th class pass or equivalent and technical qualification of typing from manual typewriter to sophisticated computer or getting selected to the post of LGC through Staff Selection Commission. It is to be noted that typing on computer is far different from the typing on typewriter because for typing on computer one should have the knowledge of the operation of computer for whichonerequired to undergo a computer diploma programme. The academic qualifications required for both LGC & DEO are the same i.e. 12th class pass or equivalent. As regards the technical qualification the candidate appearing for the post of LGC requires 10500 KDPH/9000 KDPH English and Hindi typing respectively on computer whereas the candidate appearing the DEO requires 8,000 KDPH on Computer. But the grade pay
granted/fixed for the post of LGC is 1900 and the same for DEO is 2400. Moreover, the DEO has only to entry the readymade data given to them whereas the LGCs have to create data/draft letters and then to type on computer, putting up the matter through file note with justification with the support of rules and procedure. Thus LGC does more work in qualitatively and quantitative terms with less grade pay than that of the DEO.

In view of the above I request your honour to please take up this case with appropriate authorities to bring justice to the deprived low paid but highly responsible employees of Govt of India by increasing the Grade Pay of LGCs from Rs. 1900 to Rs. 2400, HGCs from Rs. 2400 to Rs. 4200, Head Clerk/ AIC/Assistants from 4600 to 4800 and Office Superintendent from 4600-5400 corresponding in the 6^th CPC to relevant pay band as per the 7^th Central Pay Commission.

Thanking you,

Yours faithfully

-sd-

(R. Raji)

Secretary

Clerical Cadre Branch

Non-Gazetted Govt. Officers Association

A&N Islands, Crusade House, Phoenix Bay

Port Blair, South Andaman – 744101

Copy to :-

1.    The Home Secretary, Govt. of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, North Block, New Delhi-110001.

2.    The Director(Expenditure), Ministry of Finance, Department of Expenditure, Room No. 76, New Delhi – 110001.

3.    The Secretary General, Confederation of Central Govt. Employees and Workers, New Delhi, Delhi.

4.    The General Secretary, All India Association of Administrative Staff (Non-Gazetted), Hall No. 201 & 205, Vijay Stambh, Zone I, MaharanaPratapNagar, Bhopal – 462011.

5.    The General Secretary, Non-Gazetted Govt. Officers Association, A&N Islands, Crusade House, Phoenix Bay, Port Blair.