NEW DELHI: IPS officers are gearing up to fight another battle against alleged pro-IAS bias of the government which is planning to give an ‘edge’ to babus of the administrative service over officers of similar ranks in the police service by creating a higher salary grade.
If the provocation for the last across-the-ranks mobilization was the ‘pro-IAS tilt’ in the drafting of the sixth pay commission, the trigger for the fresh flutter among cops is what they call a hush-hush effort to create a higher salary slab for the IAS — a move which IPS officers think is aimed at giving IAS a tag of ‘superior service’.
Sources in the government said the proposal to have a higher salary slab of Rs 85,000 per month (fixed) for chief secretaries in states and secretaries at the Centre was being readied for government clearance.
When contacted by TOI, senior department of personnel and training (DoPT) officials denied that any such move was in the works. However, IPS officers remain apprehensive and have already approached high-ranking functionaries from the service to intervene.
Currently, chief secretaries and secretaries get the same fixed salary of Rs 80,000 per month as state police chiefs and directors of central police organisations, Intelligence Bureau and CBI.
The parity between IAS and IPS was brought by the sixth pay commission which had to put high-ranking officers from both services in the same category (salary wise) in the wake of grim battle fought by IPS association last year. The only exception was, however, made in the case of cabinet secretary whose salary was fixed at Rs 90,000 per month.
The fresh proposal to create a higher slab, if cleared by the Cabinet, will restore the previous position where IAS officers used to get a slightly higher salary than their IPS counterparts.
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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