Yesterday, April 21, was Civil Services Day. This time the civil servants focussed on complaining about their salaries even when, following upon the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission, we, the people of India shall be paying an additional Rs 18,060 crore to them this year and an additional Rs 7,975 crore each year after that for their entire working life. All are unhappy. Everyone in government claims that they could earn much more than their present salaries in the private sector. We also know that the private sector is desperately short of managers. Yet government officers do little to leave the government and look for a private sector job unless they are compelled by circumstances such as blocked promotion routes. So there has to be something mysterious that keeps government officers tied to their jobs even as they complain continuously about their low salaries, convince themselves about the importance of their work to the nation and the corresponding need for higher salaries. The military specifically claims that its officers are leaving the service in large numbers because military salaries are low.

Whether all government officers would really get analogous compensation packages in the private sector is a matter of conjecture. Group B, C and D employees of the government, for example, are paid two to three times the salary of their counterparts in the private sector for much less work. Yet the union leaders of the C and D employees have already announced plans to bring out morchas against the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission. Group A employees have an additional grouse regarding the higher scales being given to the IAS.

... contd.