Suggestions - Western Railway Motor Man Association
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Sixth Central Pay Commission:Suggestions
User Name: Western Railway Motor Man Association
Comparison with public/private sectors
Should there be any comparison/parity between pay scales and perquisites in Government and the public/private sector?
Comparison between Govt. and Pvt. Sector is not fully possible as the private sector has a very wide variations factored by place, sector, industry, ownership etc. However it is possible to make some comparisons between public sector and Govt. sectors companies.
Is it possible to quantify all other benefits, excluding pay, derived by employees in Government and the public and private sectors from security of tenure, promotional avenues, retirement packages, housing and other invisibles? In view of these benefits, can there be any fair comparison between the salaries available in the government vis-à-vis the salaries in the private sector?
First two factors indicated in the question viz. which are security of tenure and the promotional avenues can not be quantified as they subjective in nature. Retirement benefits can be quantified but the comparison for the model employee (in Govt. vis a vis public / Private sector) will largely depend on the life expectancy and on the rate of interest prevalent at the time of tentative retirement. Any such comparison should not neglect the fact that central Government employees are subjected to All India Service Liability (AISL) they are continuously transferred from one place to another that demerit public / private sector does not have. With the lesser security of job, private sector employees have very high opportunity to growth. Opportunity upgrading of skills is less available in the Govt. sector than in private or public sector. Therefore after the similar tenure of experience, a private / public employee gains more value than Govt. Sector employee. In general the Central Govt. employees are considered having high security of tenure, but there are some categories in the Govt. Sector which have very low security of job. This is also coupled with less promotional opportunities for them. E.g. Motor Man (EMU Drivers) and Loco pilots in the Railways are having very low job security. Public sector employees are getting other benefits such as medical, concession loans, special schemes, leave encashment, group housing, etc. which have higher value than benefits for Central Govt. employees. Promotional avenues in the private sector are totally attributed to the performance of the employee whereas this opportunity in the central Govt. is affected by no. of employees in the higher grade, bureaucratic procedures, complex policies and subjective judgment of the administration. On account of these departmental hurdles promotional benefits are not fairly available to deserving Govt. employees.
In order to ensure a fair comparison based on principles of equity and social justice, would it not also be appropriate to take into account the economic conditions of large sections of the community that are less privileged than Government employees and many of whom live below the poverty line?
The question tries to see Government sector Employees and the less privileged section of the community as two mutually isolated entities. Consideration of economical social and personal relationship is required to get the holistic view of the situation. Fairly paid Government Employees have contributed to the up lift of less privileged section of the society. Economically speaking salary given to an employee redistributes to the every section of the society and this is the best way to spread the wealth in the society. Direct distribution of money to under privileged section is just a short term measure with so many drawbacks. Ideally at large the money should be distributed and redistributed with the means of salaries (whether it is through private or public or Govt. sector) against the contribution of the person to the society.
International comparisons
Some countries have raised civil service pay scales almost to levels prevalent in the private sector on the hypothesis that a well-paid bureaucracy is likely to be honest and diligent. To what extent would such a hypothesis be valid and how far would such a course of action be desirable?
We are agreed with this view and it is desirable too.
Impact on other organizations
Salary structure in the Central and State Governments is broadly similar. The recommendations of the Pay Commission are likely to lead to similar demands from employees of State Governments, municipal bodies, panchayati raj institutions & autonomous institutions Their paying capacity is considerably limited. To what extent should this factor be considered in devising a reasonable remuneration package for Central Government employees?
State Government, municipal bodies and other institution are authorized to have there own pay structures. Service conditions to the employee in different organization also vary. Therefore it is up to them to decide and revise salaries in the best interest of the organization and employees. Recommendation of the pay commission is also going to affect salary and package related decision of the private and public sector employees. But, the focus of the respected pay commission should be to achieve the objective of efficiency, productivity and economy related to central Govt. employees and to “transform the central Govt. organizations into modern, professional and citizen friendly entities that are dedicated to the service” as mentioned in terms of reference C and B respectively. Any deviation from these lines with the fear of its effects on decisions of other organizations (private and public) is not fair.
Salaries
How should we determine the salary to be paid to a Secretary in the Central Government? Please suggest an appropriate basic pay for a Secretary? Can appointment to this post be made on a contractual basis where salaries and tenure are linked to the performance in terms of achieving defined targets?
No comment.
What should be the reasonable ratio between the minimum and the maximum of a pay scale?
Along with maximum-minimum ratio, the movement of the graph through different hierarchical levels is also important. Salary Established principals of the personal management suggest that the money is weaker motivation at higher levels. Therefore the rate of increase of salary between different scales should be higher at lower (class D and C) level than higher (Class B and A) level. The issue of Talent Turn over – The issue of talent turn over is a very important issue for central government departments. Holistic view is required to understand the situation. Therefore first we will see features of the problem in government departments. Some important features related to this problem are: The talent is wide spread – The outstanding talent and its switch over from higher level of employees is more in focus. But the fact is that the outstanding talent is quite widely spread over all levels of government employees and therefore assigning some specific benefits to any specific level of employees is not going to solve the problem, rather it may create frustration among talent at other levels. We have to get a widely spread solution to the problem. People with 4 – 8 years experience are more prone to switch over – Family cycle stage, growing aspirations, frustrations out of the slow moving large organization and lucrative demand from the private sector are some factors which make the 4 – 8 years experience group more vulnerable to move out. That segment should be focused more while finding solution to this problem. Work Environment – This is one very important factor contributing to the problem, a decision on pay scales can not affect this factor. The system of Government departments is less rewarding (and some time unrewarding) to people with great potential. For example there is no attractive reward for people attaining the higher qualification. Strict departmental policies restrict people from switching over from one sub-department to the other.
Is it necessary to persist with a pre-determined minimum-maximum ratio on ideological considerations? Or is it more important to ensure efficient administration by preventing flight of outstanding talent from Government?
Along with maximum-minimum ratio, the movement of the graph through different hierarchical levels is also important. Salary Established principals of the personal management suggest that the money is weaker motivation at higher levels. Therefore the rate of increase of salary between different scales should be higher at lower (class D and C) level than higher (Class B and A) level. The issue of Talent Turn over – The issue of talent turn over is a very important issue for central government departments. Holistic view is required to understand the situation. Therefore first we will see features of the problem in government departments. Some important features related to this problem are: The talent is wide spread – The outstanding talent and its switch over from higher level of employees is more in focus. But the fact is that the outstanding talent is quite widely spread over all levels of government employees and therefore assigning some specific benefits to any specific level of employees is not going to solve the problem, rather it may create frustration among talent at other levels. We have to get a widely spread solution to the problem. People with 4 – 8 years experience are more prone to switch over – Family cycle stage, growing aspirations, frustrations out of the slow moving large organization and lucrative demand from the private sector are some factors which make the 4 – 8 years experience group more vulnerable to move out. That segment should be focused more while finding solution to this problem. Work Environment – This is one very important factor contributing to the problem, a decision on pay scales can not affect this factor. The system of Government departments is less rewarding (and some time unrewarding) to people with great potential. For example there is no attractive reward for people attaining the higher qualification. Strict departmental policies restrict people from switching over from one sub-department to the other.
Relativities
Employees in the Secretariat and analogous establishments are entitled to higher pay scales than the corresponding field functionaries. This was supposed to compensate them for the loss of certain facilities available to them in field assignments and the extra effort required for decision-making at the policy level. Are these factors valid even today particularly in the context of decentralization and devolution of administrative powers? Is this discrimination between field and secretariat functionaries even justified today?
normally drivers in the Indian railway are recruited for the post of assistant driver, with ITI certificate as minimum qualification. An assistant driver in turn gets promotion to the passenger driver. On the other hand motorman are either directly recruited (with minimum qualification as1st class B.Sc. with math and physics or 3 year diploma in specific branches in Engineering) or recruited through the promotion of main line drivers. The railway board letter no E(NG) II /85/RC2/70 dated 4.1.1990 states that the motorman should be promoted from the passenger driver. In spite of this the motorman is granted the scale of Passenger Driver This is a serious compromise with the safety of Railways. 5.3 Non provision of Assistant driver/co driver. Trains of Indian railways are provided with two drivers in some important trains there are driver and co-driver to share the work and the job responsibility whereas in Mumbai suburban the sole operational responsibility is rested upon the single person that is motorman. This important point of independent responsibility has been ignored while assigning the grade off motorman. Dual charge allowance should also be granted to the motormen. 5.4 Importance of Mumbai suburban – In running cadre the hierarchy of posts has been decided considering the relative importance of trains worked by the staff. For example Goods train driver passenger train driver and mail/express train driver are placed in the hierarchy in ascending order. On the same line Mumbai suburban train driver are assigned grade at par the passenger driver. At this place the EMU Mumbai suburban service has been highly undervalued. In terms of passenger carried in peak hours a 12 car Mumbai suburban train carries the more than 7000 people (official fig.) this is more than any other Indian railway service. In terms of the class of the passenger Mumbai suburban services have considerable number of executive and business class passengers. The maximum speed of Mumbai suburban trains is 100 Kmph that is comparable to other train service of Indian railways. In terms of traffic congestion Mumbai suburban train run on the most congested network of Indian railways. In turn it shows that a minor detention in Mumbai suburban has more severe cyclic effect than other network. Looking at the importance of Mumbai suburban train services the motorman of these services deserve far higher grade and position than that assigned to them. 5.5 Need of perfection in working – in tough working environment – motorman has scheduled stoppages many times more than any other train driver. These stoppages have to be with very fine perfection. All this requires continuous judgment of speed and acceleration/ deceleration and variable load throughout the journey. On average there is one stoppage in every 3 minute. This stress is coupled with pressure of trespassers, maintenance staff on the track and the continuous pressure of punctuality. At a point the motorman has to observe 2-3 signals and in less than 1 minute he has to cross a signal. This is because of very closely placed signals to allow more trains in a section. This condition also leads to heavy mental stress. We strongly feel that these peculiar characteristics of Mumbai suburban train working have been ignored while assigning the grade to the motorman. 5.6 Public Relation related responsibility of the Motorman- The Motorman is in the centre of attraction and curiosity of millions of commuters of Mumbai suburban. The image of the Motorman affects the overall perception about the Railways. Therefore the Motorman has to be all the time careful about his look, action and behavior. Every action of the Motorman is watched by the public very seriously. In case of abnormal working the Motorman has to handle thousands of people while performing his essential duties. This is not the case with any other Railway employee. 5.7 Growth opportunities- Being as a specialized work, growth opportunity is almost nil, so while assigning grades it should be taken in to consideration. 5.8 7 day a week - 365 working days a year - The motorman has to work in schedule of 7 days a week that is without any weekly off. Facility of availing national holidays is not available to the motorman. Therefore (other than his own leaves) he has to work 365 days throughout the year including major religious festivals. At this time when CPC is examining the appropriateness of the 5 days week working (Q no 1 of the questionnaire) is it not the right time to properly compensate to employees who are working 7 days a week. 6. PROBLEMS OUT OF THIS IGNORANCE: -- whenever there is something wrong in a system there are some indication to warn about the situation. Regarding motorman following problem have emerged out of the said ignorance.
Group-A Services
Is there a case for a Unified Civil Service, merging therein all Central (both technical and non-technical) and All India Services, allowing vertical and horizontal movement ? Or should there be two distinct streams, one embracing all the technical services and the other for non-technical services?
Frequent switch over- looking at the risk the hardship and low growth opportunities involved with the work and its inadequate compensation motorman try to switch from their job as early as possible.
Professional personnel
Should there be a higher compensation package for scientists in certain specialized streams/departments like Department of Space, Department of Atomic Energy? If so, what should be the reasonable package in their case?
It has been seen that a motorman has to be a ‘very efficient engineer’ to diagnose the technical faults and to take corrective action immediately and a ‘very efficient operator’ to keep continuous watch over signals and the track and to take decisions about acceleration and the braking and he also has to be a ‘very good public relation person’ to maintain and improve the image of the Railways. And more importantly, the Motorman is the last person to save the accident in suburban rail system. It means that faults of other systems such as track, overhead equipments, train etc. are avoided to lead the accident by his vigilance and alertness. The problem of the Motorman has emerged due to the generalization of the driving staff. This problem can be solved only by paying a special attention to the category of Western Railway Mumbai suburban Motorman. We have shown that working conditions here are more severe than in any other part of the Railways and due to the generalization of the staff, the Motorman are not being adequately compensated for their hardships and job responsibilities. A justified attention at this category will certainly lead to assigning the higher grade to this category
Classification of posts
Presently, civilian posts in the Central Government are classified into four Groups (A, B, C and D) with reference to their scales of pay. The Fifth Central Pay Commission had recommended their reclassification into Executive, Supervisory, Supporting and Auxiliary Staff. Would you suggest any changes in the existing classification or should the classification recommended by Fifth Central Pay Commission be adopted with/without modifications?
Looking at some critical factors ignored while assigning the grade to the motorman we strongly feel that the justified evaluation of job responsibility and hardships will result in placing the motorman at least 2grades above its present grade. This is the only way to indicate that the government values people who take challenging responsibilities and who put their more than 100% in the service of the nation. In addition to that the dual charge allowance for holding the additional responsibility of the Assistant Driver/co driver should be granted to the Motorman. For economy in expenditure employees directly involved with cost centers should be given cash incentives for efficient working .for ex motor men (EMU drivers) of W Rly in Mumbai suburban are directly handling trains consuming the power of crores of Rs monthly. They should be encouraged by granting monthly cash incentive for working these trains more economically . In such a situation it easy to conclude that at present the Motorman is not getting the required attention and importance by the Railways. For better performance by the Railways in the coming years (where the network is going to be more congested and the technology is going to be more advanced) the post of the motorman deserves to be granted more attention. For this purpose we also suggest to upgrade the post of the motorman to the Gazetted level and to place the responsibility of recruiting the Motorman to the UPSC which is more capable agency for this purpose. this will also help to motor man to stay against the pressurized unsafe working Our suggestion is based on the principle that the level assigned to a post has to be in directly proportion to the responsibility imparted to that post and that the organization should assign the proper value to people doing highly responsible job. That is the only way to put the sense of high level of dignity in their work. We are sure that this special treatment with this special running category will yield better results. A Gazetted level Motorman will be more confident and better bonded with the organization to deliver his best. It is also desirable, after the final report of pay commission, to grant all the old allowances on the basis of new basic with effect from the pay commission implementation, and the arrears given should be of actual amount not lump sum amount. Interim relief should also be paid with effect from back since when it was due and actual payment should be made.
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Comments
Feb 25th 2008, by
Guest
Some of the IT companies are paying 1.5 to 2 lakhs p.m.for a distance MCA educated and just 4 years in service, whereas Central Govt employees in service for nearly 20 years are not even paid 20,000 p.m. & a single promotion in such a long term. Isnt unfair ? The Engineering/Technical staff are the worst effected as they have to work in shifts/night duties with whole night staying awake & cater to the various outages/laid down targets with worst conditions of unhealthy atmosphere/unhygienic with biting mosquitoes. After so many hardships we are ill-treated and are always in tension on both grounds- family wise and job wise. I think nowhere in the world we can see such type of pay scales – We work day & night (shifts & otherwise) for the benefit of the society & mankind and we are the real forces behind the lifeline of the nation (Indian Railways). But these corrupt Babus, Office assistants and clerks who have been posted for look after the statements of our personnel/pay accounts are being paid the “ SAME” salaries as we are paid. There are many cases when these Babus make silly mistakes and we re the sufferers such as extra cutting of loan installments, non incrementing tha pay on the due dates, writing of wrong passes, and many more such simple mistakes and they are never taken up by the higher ups & simple an alteration/correction is done. Whereas we the “ REAL PEOPLE BEHIND THE RAILWAYS” are not paid at par with the Nav ratna companies (Railways is no less than a Nav ratna Co) where the ratio between Technical & Non Technical staff salaries is about 1.5 times & with additional incentives. Further these blood sucker Babus (Some of them) are asking bribes from 5,000/- to 10,000/- for the approval of out of turn quarter. The poor Technical person who cannet pay the large amount of rents ranging from 2,000/- and more for a 2 room house and forced to pay them as they may not get house for years together in the long queue of allotment at major cities like Bombay, Bangalore & Hyderabad. It is a sincere request to at least differentiate the pay between Technical & Non Technical if unable to hike the pay.
