Power employees urge CM to remove pay scale anomalies

Tribune News Service

Shimla December 6

The Himachal State Electricity Board Employees’ Union has accused the electricity board of committing various anomalies in pay scales which is bound to get messy when the state government will implement the recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission.

With the anomalies having afflicted other government departments as well, various unions were joining hands to pressure the government to sort out pay scale anomalies, said the employee leaders. The union has urged the Chief Minister to intervene in the matter and direct the state bureaucracy to remove the two-year rider from the enhanced grade pay and grant full benefits of time scale to employees at the earliest.

According to the board union, it is a clever move of the state bureaucracy to make a mess of the pay scale not only of the board employees, but also of other state employees to bar all state employees from getting pay scales on Punjab pattern.

As the state would have to implement the recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission in near future this would be a difficult exercise in Himachal because large anomalies related to previous Punjab Pay Commission report were yet to be redressed, claimed HL Verma, general secretary, of the union.

In case the pay scales anomalies were not removed in time, these would become complex paving the way for departure from Punjab pattern, Verma claimed.

The employees on promotion to the posts on the basis of direct recruitment were being deprived of the benefit of the enhanced grade pay. This had resulted in discrimination among employees, the union alleged here today.

On the other hand, the time scale scheme had been implemented partially which had not benefited employees, the union added. All these pay scales related anomalies needed to be settled prior to next pay revision so that it could be implemented in consonance with the coming Punjab pay scales, Verma claimed.

On the other hand, officials said the government had to take a call on the recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission. The question of barring the state employees from the new grade pay on Punjab pattern did not arise so far, they added.