While pitching for higher salaries before the Sixth Central Pay Commission, associations of IAS and IPS officers have pointed to the corporate word to underline how poorly paid they are. The IPS Association’s presentation says that while a DGP earns roughly three times more than a fresh recruit to the IPS, a CEO in the corporate sector gets as much as 30 times the salary of a management trainee.

The IAS Association, meanwhile, points to the enormity of the job that they undertake—from managing human beings and resources in the face of competing agendas, vested interests and coalition politics—to seek better pay.

Pointing out that poor pay affects governance and poor governance can bring down economic growth from 9 per cent to 3.5 per cent, the association says the morale officers are so low that they are lobbying for economic avenues such as postings in the World Bank.

The association pleads for monetarisation of perks, market-linked salary and performance-linked incentives. It says that the fixed part of the pay should be calculated on the basis of the cost to government which, in turn, should be linked to the Consumer Price Index.

The association has requested the Pay Commission to utilize this opportunity to rework the pay structure to attract and retain the best talent available. It also asks for freedom of “lateral movement” for the officers to government, private and non-profit organizations “as per the terms of the borrowing organisation.”

The IPS Association, on the other hand, says that in metros such as Delhi and Mumbai where a three-bedroom flat costs between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 1 crore, the EMI for a 20-year loan will be around Rs 50,000 which is beyond the means of officers.

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