7th pay panel report not out, ‘supremacy’ fight between IAS & non-IAS gets bitter

Even as the final report on the Seventh Pay Commission (CPC) has not been “officially submitted” before the Finance Ministry, the fight for ‘supremacy’ between the Indian Administrative Service officers (IAS) and non-IAS officials is set to get bitter. According to sources, young IPS officers have reached out to their organisations for holding a protest march at Jantar Mantar on the lines of OROP. 

The Confederation of Civil Services Association (COCA), comprising various civil service associations, including Indian Police Services (IPS), Indian Forest Services (IFS) and 18 central services group A (Audit and Accounting, Indian Revenue Services, Indian Postal Services, etc), have also taken up the matter to the 7th CPC secretary.

The COCA, in a letter to Seventh CPC, has dubbed Central IAS Association’s move of asking officials to shoot letters to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) for maintaining their ‘privileged position’ as immature. 

Speaking to Millennium Post, P Venkata Rama Sastry, secretary of Central IPS Association, said: “The move of writing some 200 letters by IAS officers is an avoidable step, when the pay panel is yet to finalise its report. It is also premature to even think of what the commission will recommend.”

“When all associations have made their presentation before the 7th CPC, it is the responsibility of the panel to recommend their suggestions after analysing the ‘demands’ of each organisation. We have made a strong presentation for equality in promotion and pay structure,” Sastry added.

However, a senior office-bearer of COCA termed the IAS officers’ move a manufactured dissent. “There was no need to ‘provoke’ young minds to jump into this row. Since they hold every coveted post, they have the right to fix their own privileges, but they cannot dictate their terms to get ‘fixed’ others’ privileges,” the official said, adding that some junior non-IAS officers are reaching out to COCA to lodge their protest by staging a dharna at Jantar Mantar.

Meanwhile, Central IAS Association’s secretary Sanjay Bhoosreddy has rejected the allegation made by non-IAS body. “The charges are totally false. It is neither manufactured not deliberate, though it is the outcome of frustration of junior officers, who have joined services after giving up their lucrative jobs. The young officers are feeling hurt after the reports about midway change in the ‘edge’ entitlement to them by panel,” Bhoosreddy said.