Defence Industrial Employees are expected grant of pay scale Rs. 5000 – 8000 to Master Craftsman( MCM) at par with the Railways
Brief facts of case for parity in pay scale of Master Craftsman (MCM)
in MOD at par with Ministry of Railways.
Vth CPC recommended the pay scale of Rs.4500-125-7000 to Master Craftsman, both in Railways and Defence and was implemented.
However, the scale of MCM in Railways was revised upwards to Rs. 5000-8000 in modification of 5th recommendations with the approval of Cabinet. Prior to implementations, the Defence Artisan staff and Railway workshop staff had a common three grade structure comprising of Skilled, Highly skilled II and Highly skilled I.
In the Ministry of Defence the benchmark ratio of Artisans was 65:20:15 respectively to Skilled, Highly skilled GrII and Highly skilled GrI.
In addition to the aforesaid three grades, 10% of the Highly skilled grade I strength was operated in the post of Master Craftsman in some of the trades.
The post of Master Craftsmen was personnel to the holder and lapses with his retirement / posting out. As can be seen, the post of MCM is a personal grade post carved out of HS I grade as an incentive to Senior Highly skilled workers.
5th CPC has reduced the then existing three grades of Artisan staff to two grades by merging Highly skilled Gr II (HS II) and Highly skilled Gr. I (HS I) into one grade of Highly skilled (HS) as shown below,
| Merging of Highly Skilled |
|---|
| Grade | Before 5th CPC | After 5th CPC |
|---|
| Skilled | Rs. 950 - Rs. 1500 | Rs. 3050 - Rs. 4590 |
|---|
| Highly Skilled Gr-II | Rs. 1200 - Rs.1800 | Rs. 4000 - Rs. 6000 |
|---|
| Highly Skilled Gr-I | Rs. 1320 - 3040Rs. | Rs. 4000 - Rs. 6000 |
|---|
Right from 3rd to 4th CPC the scale of pay in respect of MCM both in Railways and Defence was as under:-
| Scale of pay MCM in Railways and Defence |
|---|
| CPC | Railways | Defence | Tehnical Sup / Ch.man Gr.II |
|---|
| 3rd CPC | Rs.425 - 640 | Rs. 425 - 640 | Rs. 425 - 700 |
|---|
| 4th CPC | Rs. 1400 - 2300 | Rs. 1400 - 2300 | Rs. 1400 - 2300 |
|---|
| 5th CPC | Rs. 4500 - 7000 | Rs. 4500 - 7000 | Rs. 5000 - 8000 |
|---|
Revised / Modified
by Govt. from 1.1.96
in Railways only | Rs. 5000 - 8000 | Rs. 4500 - 7000 | Rs. 5000 - 8000 |
|---|
Staff side demand for revision of the recommendations of Vth CPC was
discussed in the meeting held by the then Group of Ministers on 11th
Sep, 1997 and it was agreed that to remove this anomaly the concerned
administrative Ministries will put up proposals directly to the Cabinet
under Business of Transaction Rules, 1961.
Accordingly, the Ministry
of Railways directly put up the proposal to the Cabinet. Railways
demand was accepted by the Government and pay scale of MCM was revised
from 4500 – 7000 to Rs. 5000 – 8000 from 1.1.1996, vide Ministry of
Railways (Railway Board) letter No. PC-V/97/R-II/17 dated 24-11-1998.
The scale of pay of HS grade was de-merged into HS-I and HS-II with
separte scales of Rs.4500 – 7000 and Rs,4000 – 6000 respectively.
Following two proposals were also put up by Defence Ministry to the Cabinet for consideration:-
a. Grant of higher pay scale for highly skilled artisan staff in Defence Establishment;
b. Revision (de-merger) of inter-grade ratio for skilled artisan
staff working under Ministry of Defence nullifying the recommendations
of the Vth CPC.
However in case of Defence Ministry, Cabinet decided that the matter
may, in the first instance, be considered by the Group of Ministeres
(GoM) constituted to consider matters relating to the recommendations of
Vth CPC and thereafter brought up before the Cabinet.
“ The issue of higher pay scale to highly skilled artisan staff in
Defence Establishments could be considered only if the Ministry is able
to confirm that consequent to the proposed de-merger of the pay scale of
highly skilled grade, no proposal seeking higher pay scales for PBORs
will be raised.”
Following pay scales and grade ratio have benn given to them in MOD:-
| Pay scales and Grade ratio |
|---|
| Skilled | Rs. 3050 - 4590 | 45% |
|---|
| Highly Skilled | Rs. 4000 - 6000 | 55% |
|---|
| Master Craftsman | Rs. 4500 - 7000 | 25% |
|---|
The issue was however raised by the staff side members of JCM in Departmental Council as well as in National council meetings repeatedly. To resolve the issue, Defence Secretary had constituted a committee under the Chairmanship of JS(O/N) comprising staff side members from each Federations to look into the matter regarding revision of pay scale of MCM in Ministry of Defence at par with Ministry of Railways.
The committee recommended for up-gradation of pay scale of senior most master craftsman (8% of overall artisan strength) by giving higher pay scale of Rs.5000 – 8000 without disturbing the existing structure. The committee felt that the service personnel and civilian workshop staff are governed by different service conditions and their pay scales and working conditions are not comparable. The committee has come to the conclusion that the demand of the staff side has merit.
The historical parity was disturbed between the workshop staff of Defence or Railways after the scales of Railways workshop staff were improved upon by Government. Based on the recommendations of the committee, a proposal was submitted to Defence (Finance) for getting, it approved by DOP&T of Finance (Department of Expenditure).
Department of Expenditure, Min of Finance has returned the proposal advising the Min of Defence to put the matter before 6th CPC. The issue has again been raised in the 45th meeting of the National Council (JCM) held on 14th Oct 2006 under the Chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary. The Chairman has also directed that it would be appropriate to refer the matter for consideration to the 6th CPC.
