Just examine the incentive structure for a bright university pass out were she to opt for the civil service today. She would march into one of the bhawans with a gross salary of Rs 16,000 per month and walk out at the age of 60 with a package of about Rs 70,000 per month. She would need the pension of 50 per cent of her last paid salary as her savings would never stretch enough to yield any decent post retirement income. To make it up, typically in her most dynamic years, she may be one of the 10 per cent from her batch that would stay away or quit from active government service. Just check the postings of civil service recruits between 1978 and 1985 and it would be apparent.

But her peon would do much better. In the private sector for instance, a huge percentage of clerical employees qualify for bonus payments, when basic pay less than Rs 3,500 per month. But hardly any non-executive government employee would qualify, as they all draw a basic salary of more than Rs 3,500. (Jettison the question of whether a government employee should get a bonus.)

Since the terms of service of a government employee is also secured by Article 311 of the Constitution, the lower grade staff in government service, then, are in an aspirational job. And political parties promise to expand recruitment in government beyond the current 3.3 million civil employees (plus another 2 million in armed forces). They are also the numbers who swarm the canteens, the corridors, and the Delhi roundabouts during office hours.

... contd.