AICAEA LETTER TO CGA FOR GRANT OF APPROPRIATE REPLACEMENT PAY LEVEL TO THE EMPLOYEES AND OFFICERS OF CIVIL ACCOUNTS ORGANIZATION 

All India Civil Accounts Employees Association

(RECOGNIZED BY GOVT. OF INDIA)

Central Headquarters

Phone No. 011-23345070, Mob. No. 9868520926 e-mail:- aicaeachq@gmail.com

Central Office: -                                                                                 Address for Communication:

16-A, Akbar Road Hutments,                                                                             17/2 – C, P & T Quarters,

New Delhi: - 110011                                                                                                  Kali Bari Marg,

New Delhi-110001

No: AICAEA/HQ/A-2/7^TH CPC/847-878                                                             Dated: 14.08.2016

To,

            Shri M.J.Joseph,

Controller General of Accounts,

            Ministry of Finance,

            Department of Expenditure,

            Loknayak Bhawan,

            Khan Market,

            New Delhi - 110003

Subject:- Implementation of recommendations of the 7^th CPC – grant of appropriate replacement pay level to the employees and officers of Civil Accounts organization – regarding.

Sir,

I have been directed to refer the Office Memorandum No.A-60015/1/2014/MF. CGA (A)/NGE/7^th CPC/214 dated 10^th August 2016 of your office with regard to the pay scales prescribed by your office in respect of different Cadres of Civil Accounts Organization and state that, as per Gazette Notification G.S.R.721 (E) dated 26^th July 2016, following pay level of the pay matrix shall be the revised pay consequent on implementation of the recommendations of the 7CPC in respect of the posts mentioned below-

		Existing		Revised
Sl No.	Post	As per 6th CPC		As per 7th CPC
		Pay Band	Grade pay	Pay Level(Matrix)
1	Senior Accountant	PB-2(9300- 34800)	4200	Level 7
2	Stenographer Gr.II&I( Merged)	PB-2(9300- 34800)	4200	Level 6
4	Private Secretary	PB-2(9300- 34800)	4600	Level 8 Level 9 after completion of 4 years
5	Sr.Private Secretary	PB-2(9300- 34800)	4800 &  after 4 years5400	Level 12
6.	Assistant Accounts Officer	PB-2(9300- 34800)	4800	Level 8 Level 9 After completion of 4 years

In support of our above claim, we are annexing herewith separate detailed notes as ANNEXURE- I and ANNEXURE-II for your perusal and necessary action. Necessary orders granting revised pay scales in respect of above cadres may kindly be issued at an early date.

Further, the revised pay scales applicable to the cadres like Junior Hindi Translator, Hindi Translator and Canteen employees have not been indicated in the above mentioned O.M. issued by your office. Therefore, necessary orders indicating the revised pay level of the Pay Matrix applicable to these categories of employees may kindly be issued.

Thanking you,

Yours sincerely,

Enclo: as above

(V.BHATTACHARJEE)

Secretary General

ANNEXURE -I

NOTE ON THE PAY SCALES APPLICABLE TO SENIOR ACCOUNTANT AND STENOGRAPHER CADRES OF CIVIL ACCOUNTS ORGANIZATION                                                                                                               IN TERMS OF THE GOVT. OF INDIA NOTIFICATION DATED 26^TH JULY 2016 ON 7CPC RECOMMENDATIONS

            7^th CPC, had discussed the parity of Pay scales with Assistance of CSS and Senior Accountants/Auditors elaborately in the Chapters on “Organized Accounts Staff” in para 11.12. 136 and gave its recommended in para 11.12.137 wherein it has also made recommendations in respect of different categories of Stenographers. Those are as below-

11.12.136 In 1984, the government bifurcated the Audit cadre of IA&AD into Auditors (20percent) and Senior Auditors (80 percent) and granted the pay scale of Assistant of CSS to Senior Auditors. The IV CPC, had, after above consideration, taken the view that there should be broad parity in the pay scales of the staff in IA&AD and other accounts organisations. The recommendation of IV CPC was accepted by the government and implemented w.e.f.01.01.1986 for audit and from 1 April, 1987 for accounts in case of IA&AD and other Accounts Departments and Senior Auditors has been given same pay scale of Assistant of CSS.

Analysis and Recommendations

11.12.137 The Commission, in Chapter 7.1, has already taken a view with regard to pay level of Assistants of CSS. The recommendation there in will settle the parities as have been sought to be established. “

The Commission in the para 7.1.4 J) stated the following:-

7.1.4 j)    Issue of parity of field functionaries with the Assistants of the CSS: It has been demanded that CSS be allowed to retain an ‘edge’ over other services or posts which have claimed parity with CSS. It has been argued by the CSS that parity among various posts and services is to be considered on long established principles of classification of posts, duties and responsibilities, their hierarchical structure, historical parity, mode of recruitment as well as minimum qualification for recruitment at entry level as well as level. Historically, various services in the Secretariat have had an edge over analogous posts in the field offices. The CSS has, in its memorandum, demanded that this edge over other services be retained. This has been justified on various grounds, key amongst which is that office staff in the Secretariat perform complex duties and are involved in analysing issues with policy implications whereas their counter parts in field offices perform routine work relating to matters concerning personnel and general admini-stration, and so on. Apart from retention of the edge, the CSS memorandum also seeks a change in the mode of recruitment. It has been argued that up until 1987, directly recruited Assistants of the CSS were selected through an examination conducted by the UPSC and other categories of employees falling under Group `C’ were recruited through the Staff Selection Commission [SSC]. In 1987, recruitment of Assistants to the CSS was also brought under the SSC and is now carried out through a common examination called the Combined Graduate Level Exam (CGLE) and an All India Merit List.

Analysis and Recommendations

The VI CPC had gone into this issue in considerable detail. It had noted that while at an earlier point in time it may well have been the case that those in the Secretariat ended up performing more complex duties relating to policy formulation, but over a period of time things had changed. It had noted that there was an increasing emphasis on strengthening the delivery lines and with growing decentralization, the importance of delivery points in the field cannot be understated. Therefore, in its view, the time had come to grant parity between similarly placed personnel employed in field offices and in the Secretariat and that this parity would need to be absolute till the grade of Assistant. The VI CPC had noted that beyond this, it would not be possible or even justified to grant complete parity because the hierarchy and career progression would need to be different. Although the recommendation of the VI CPC was accepted in the first instance, a year down the line the Grade Pay of Assistants was increased from Rs.4200 to Rs.4600, thereby squarely going back to the original position in which the Assistants in the Headquarters resided at one level higher than those in the field. In fact this latest modification follows a consistent pattern seen over the decades. This is elucidated in the table below:

Table 1: Upgradation of Pay of Assistant over Successive Pay Commissions
Post: Assistant	Pay Scale as Initially Recommended		Pay Scale as Revised by Government
	Date	Scale	Dates (when issued and when effective)	Scale
IV CPC	1.1.1986	1400-2660	31.7.90, but effective from 1.1.86	1640-2900
V CPC	1.1.1996	5500-9000	25.9.2006. effective from 15.9.2006	6500-10500
VI CPC	1.1.2006	GP 4200	August 2008, but effective from 1.1.2006	GP 4600

It may be seen from the above table that the recommendations of successive Pay Commissions with regard to pay of Assistants, even if initially implemented, has invariably been modified at a later point and they have been placed at one higher level. As a corollary to this, the level of Section Officers also is at one level higher than that of SOs in the field.

While notifying the most recent upgrade in August 2008, the order states that the Assistants in Headquarters are required to be at a higher level since “there is an element of direct recruitment in their case and that too, through an all-India Competitive Examination.”

The Commission notes that certain inherent contradictions prevail. The first relates to the Common Grade Level Examination (CGLE) through which selections are carried out by the SSC for a range of positions, at varying levels of grade pay. No doubt the examination process is a graded one, with applicants for certain positions having to undergo two written examinations as well as an interview and for certain other positions only two written examinations. But in the case of Assistants for CSS and Assistants for certain other organisations, the examination process is common although the grade pay for the two sets are different. This then brings about a situation where those with lower grade pay continuously demand parity with the others while those with higher grade pay seek to set themselves apart. The categorical observations of the VI CPC that the time had come to grant parity between similarly placed personnel employed in the field offices and in the Secretariat are echoed by this Commission, which sees merit in placing all Assistants recruited through the CGLE, whether working in the field offices or in headquarters, at the same level.

The Commission accordingly strongly recommends parity in pay between the field staff and headquarter staff up to the rank of Assistants on two grounds- firstly the field staff are recruited through the same examination and they follow the same rigour as the Assistants of CSS and secondly there is no difference in the nature of functions discharged by both. Therefore to bring in parity as envisaged by the VI CPC, this Commission recommends bringing the level of Assistants of CSS at par with those in the field offices who are presently drawing GP 4200. Accordingly, in the new pay matrix the Assistants of both Headquarters as well as field will come to lie in Level 6 in the pay matrix corresponding to pre revised GP 4200 and pay fixed accordingly. Similarly the corresponding posts in the Stenographers cadre will also follow similar pay parity between field and headquarter staff. The pay of those Assistants/Stenographer who have in the past, been given higher Grade pay would be protected.

           Therefore, 7th CPC vide para No 11.12.137[read with para No. 7.1.4 J)]  has recommen-ded for parity between the Assistants of Central Secretariat and the Senior Accountants of organized Accounts  in order to remove the disturbance arose due to upgradation of the Grade pay of the former to Rs. 4600 in August 2008 retrospectively with effect from1.1.2006.

            Similarly, the corresponding posts in the Stenographers cadre also have been recommended by the 7^th CPC for granting parity with their counterpart in Central Secretariat through the treatment of upgradation.

              As per paras 10 and 11 of the Gazette Notification G.S.R.721 (E) dated 26^th July 2016, Government has accepted the recommendations of the 7^th Pay Commission on upgrading of posts except for those specified at Annexure III of the said notification and concurrently rejected the recommendations of the Commission on downgrading of posts of Assistants to the Grade Pay of Rs. 4200(pre-revised).

            Therefore, consequent on the implementation of the 7th CPC recommendations, the revised the pay scales of following categories of employees of Organized Accounts shall be as below:-

1.       Senior Accountant                                         Pay level 7.

2.       Stengrapher Gr.II&I( Merged)                       Pay  Level 6

3.       Private Secretary                                           Pay Level -8 Level 9 After completion of 4 years   

4.       Sr.Private Secretary                                       Pay Level 12

            Controller General of Accounts is therefore, requested kindly to issue the OM in partial modification of the OM. No.A-60015/1/2014/MF. CGA (A)/NGE/7^th CPC/214 dated 10^th August 2016.

ANNEXURE -II

NOTE ON THE PAY SCALES APPLICABLE TO ASSISTANT ACCOUNTS OFFICERS OF CIVIL ACCOUNTS ORGANIZATION

IN TERMS OF  THE GOVT. OF INDIA  NOTIFICATION DATED 26^TH JULY 2016 ON 7CPC RECOMMENDATIONS

            7^th CPC  has discussed the parity of Pay scales with Section  officers of CSS  and Assistant Accounts Officers elaborately in the Chapters relating to Organized Accounts Staff in para 11.12. 138 and gave its recommendations in paras 11.12.139 and 11.12.140. Those are as below-,

Assistant Accounts Officers

11.12.138  They have contended that the existing parity between Assistant Account Officer(AAO) of organised accounts cadre and Section Officers of CSS was disturbed by granting Non Functional upgradation to GP 5400 (PB-3) after four years of service to the latter. They have stated that in the original scheme of things, Section Officer(A)/ Assistant Accounts Officer of organised accounts were also included for non functional upgradation to GP 5400(PB-3) after four years as evident from English release dated 14 August, 2008 of Press Information Bureau. Para 10 (v) of this English release reads “Government has continued the present position of granting Group `A’ scale to Group `B’ officers after 4 years of service and these officers would be placed in PB-3 instead of PB-2 recommended by the VI CPC. This would benefit Group `B’ officers of the Railways, Accounts Services, CSS, CSSS and DANICS and DANIPS.”

Analysis and Recommendations

11.12.139 The Commission notes that non-functional upgradation from GP 4800 to GP 540(PB-3), on completion of four years of service, has been accorded to a number of posts by the government in 2008 viz., Delhi and Andaman and Nicobar Islands Civil Service, Delhi and Andaman and Nicobar Islands Police Service, Officers of the Central Secretariat Service and those of Central Secretariat Stenographers Service as well as other similarly placed Headquarters Services. This has also been extended to Group `B’ Officers of the Departments of Posts and Revenue. While extending this benefit, officers in GP 4800, both in Headquarters and in the field formations of these two organisations have been covered. In 2015, this benefit was also extended to Section Officers in the Indian Coast Guard.

11.12.140 The Commission is therefore of the view that there is no justification for excluding officers in the organised accounting departments who are at GP 4800 from this dispensation. It therefore recommends that all officers in organised accounts cadres (in the Indian Audit and Accounts Department, Defence Accounts Department, Indian Civil Accounts Organisation, Railways, Post and Telecommunications) who are in GP 4800 should be upgraded, on completion of four years’ service to GP 5400 (PB-2), viz., Pay level 9, in the pay matrix.

            Therefore, consequent on the implementation of the 7th CPC recommendations, the revised pay scale of Assistant Accounts Officers of the organized Accounts shall be Pay level 8 and Level 9 after completion of 4 years (of the Matrix) and Controller General of Accounts may kindly take up the matter with the DOPT and issue the OM in partial modification of the OM. No.A-60015/1/2014/MF. CGA (A)/NGE/7^th CPC/214 dated 10^th August 2016.