NEW DELHI: At a time when civil services aspirants are engaged in street fights over their exam pattern, a similar battle—although sans gore—is being fought vehemently within the realm of India’s top government services. It is between the “elitist Indian Administrative Service (IAS) lobby” and its “poor cousins”.
The moot issue is that of equal pay for all those who clear the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examinations and join the various services.
The non-IAS/IFS (Indian Foreign Service) spectrum of civil services which include the Indian Police Service (IPS), Indian Revenue Service (IRS), Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS) and other Central services are demanding pay parity with the IAS officers and have submitted a set of representations to the Pay Commission, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) and the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) with regard to this. They argue that all of them have cleared the same competitive examination and hence should be given the same pay. But the IAS section counters this by saying that “they are indeed the best as they are the toppers in the UPSC exams.’’
The timing of the tussle is crucial as the 7th Pay Commission is examining a pay revision that may come into effect from April 1, 2016. At present, an IAS officer gets Rs 5,000 more than officers belonging to other services in the initial posting itself. The gap goes up to Rs 15,000–16,000 by 15th year and Rs 20,000 per month by 17th year of service.
“We all have cleared the same examination though there may be slight difference in marks. There cannot be hierarchy among various services recruited by the same exam. All are doing important services to the nation,’’ said an Indian Audit and Accounts Service (IAAS) officer on Central deputation here.
According to the officer, it is a myth that a person who has secured high marks in an exam once will be superior to all others doing similar, if not more taxing jobs.
“It is just a myth being perpetrated by the IAS lobby to have hegemony over other civil services in the country,” he added. Another officer belonging to Indian Postal Service said, “IAS hegemony within the civil services is nothing short of caste system.”