7th Pay Commission – Non Grant of 3 Percent Pay Leads to Major Anomaly

7th Pay Commission – Non Grant of 3 Percent Pay Leads to Major Anomaly

The anomaly has arisen due to the non-grant of 3 per cent of pay towards annual increment following the implementation of the 7th Pay Commission.

This was brought to the notice of the Railway Board by the NIFR. An explanation to this effect has also been provided.

Terms of Reference

Clause (c) of terms of reference of the National Anomaly Committee says that the Official Side and Staff Side are of the opinion that any recommendation is in contravention of the principle or the policy enunciated by the commission itself without the commission assigning any reason, constitutes an anomaly.

The recommendations of pay panel regarding Annual Increment state that Annual Increment- The rate of annual increment is being retained at 3%. The prevailing rate of increment is considered satisfactory and has been retained. The various stages within a pay level moves upwards at the rate of 3% per annum.

Retaining Annual Increment at 3 per cent

The rate of annual increment is being retained at 3 per cent. The vertical range of each level denotes pay progress within that level. That indicates steps of annual financial progression of 3% within each level. However, contrary to the above principle laid down by pay panel, the actual increment rate in the following pay level of the pay matrix are less than 3% as illustrated in the following table.

Less than 3 per cent

However, contrary to the above principle laid down by pay commission, the actual increment rate in the following pay level of the pay matrix are less than 3% as illustrated in the following table. From the table it can be concluded that: The recommendations of commission regarding increment rate is in contravention of the principle or policy enunciated by pay panel hence it constitutes an anomaly.

In many stages even though the increment rate shown is 3 per cent, it is rounded off to next below amount causing financial loss to the employees. In the 6th Pay Commission, while calculating increment, if the last digit as one or above, it used to be rounded off to next 10. So in this pay matrix, if the amount is 10 and above, it should be rounded off to next 100.

No Rectification can Lead to Frustration

The existing pay matrix the stages of pay are same in most of the levels such as level 2&3, 6&7, 7&8 etc. In this situation, if an employee is upgraded under MACP from one level to another level, his pay will be almost (Exactly) same as he may have drawn even without receiving the benefit under MACP. NFIR therefore requests the Railway Board to take necessary action for rectification of anomaly so as to ensure that the increment at 3 per cent of pay is granted to employees in whose cases where the actual amount is less than 3 per cent under the 7th Pay Commission.

Source: OI