The 6th Central Pay Commission (CPC)has submitted its recommendations to the Union Government. What are the key features of the 6th CPC recommendations?

The CPC has called for abolition of Group-D employees altogether. The work that is carried out now by this category of employees will be done by contract labour and by outsourcing jobs. Some of the jobs in the class 3 categories will also be replaced with contract labour and outsourced.

The 15th Indian Labour Commission had proposed a minimum wage of about Rs 10,000 at the present time. The CPC has ignored this. The lowest paid employee would get roughly Rs 4,440, while the top IAS and military officers will get Rs 80-90,000 a month, apart from many perks. The ratio of the highest salary to the lowest salary in government service has been increased as compared to what exists at present.

As Justice Sri Krishna, Chairman of the Commission explained after submitting the Report, "The officers of the private sector enjoy better salary than those in the Govt service. Other discrepancies also exist. So, considering all aspects, we have prepared the Report". This announcement gives the direction of the Recommendations.

In the corporate world, the salary differential between the highest paid executives and the lowest paid contract labour is rapidly increasing. The 6th CPC has obviously been influenced by this in its recommendations.

The Commission has recommended corporatisation of the Indian Railways and defence ordnance factories, thus giving a boost to the Govt's spree of privatisation.

The Commission has proposed that those employees joining after 1.1.2004 will be denied statutory pension. The Commission has suggested abolition of CGHS for the new recruits and the new retirees and a much inferior new Medical Insurance scheme has been recommended for them.

While the 6th CPC sets the pay and other working conditions of Central Government Employees, its impact does not stop there. There are millions of state government employees and also lakhs of school and university teachers, as well as employees on government hospitals and other institutions whose salaries and working conditions are also due for revision. Within the next few months, we can expect these sections of the working people to come onto the streets to highlight their demands and concerns.