Seventh Pay Commission

It is nice that the government has accepted the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission as this will benefit about 10 million central government employees and pensioners. With such and some benefits, serious accountability, from the highest-paid to the lowest, also has to be ensured. The old concept of an easy-going government job is no longer tolerable. These new payscales and emoluments are almost as good as the best in the private sector. LIC employees recently got better hike than bank employees, and there lies the grouse of bank employees. By and large, a bank employee never gets his due, given the quantum of workload and financial risk when compared to her counterpart in any other public- sector/central government job. Government staff need to ask themselves whether they discharge their duties honestly. While there may be defensible arguments for the hike, better accountability in all government jobs might help reduce grudge against similar pay hikes in future. There is re- sentment only because there is no accountability. Performance-linked wage-hikes or incentives are required to bring competition and a good outcome in discharging the official responsibilities is need of the hour. The Editor, TheFinancialExpress, B1/B, Sector - 10, Noida - 201301. Distt: Gautam Budh Nagar (U.P.).or e-mail at: feletters@expressindia.com or fax at Delhi: 0120-4367933