Circular No 6

To
The National Executive Members &
The Secretaries of the Affiliates

Dear Comrades,

The response to the call of the Association for the Week long programme of Black Badge wearing from 19th to 23rd October is heartening. The success on account of the participation by a great majority of the members is a definite step forward towards our goals- for better recognition, respect, the status we deserve and the pay scales we deserve. The overwhelming response to the call has sent a clear message to the authorities that our pursuit shall be relentless, unified and mass based. But it is not enough to reach our ultimate destination.
Meeting with Pr.Director of Staff: Com.S.V.Deshpande President and Com.S.Mohan, Secretary General of the Association met the Pr.Director of Staff on 30th October 2009 in her Chamber. The meeting is informal and discussed various issues including our demand for up gradation of Grade pay of AOs/Sr.AOs. From the responses, official and unofficial, a message emerges loud and clear. The message is that the top bureaucracy of the Ministry of Finance is in no mood to consider our just demand brushing aside all our representations, justifications and recommendations from various quarters.
This deliberate casualness and cultivated resistance with which our demands are treated needs to be countered with determination and unity. The Association has drawn up various agitational programmes aimed at breaking the bureaucratic resistance and to force the powers heed to our demand. The Association is confident that the members shall make every programme a resounding success by participating without exception and ensuring the participation of other comrades.
Observe Reminder Day on November 18th: The immediate action is the observation of “Reminder Day” to be observed by every one of us on November 18th.On this day everyone of us shall sign the personal memorandum (Enclosed) and hand the same over to the General Secretary of the respective Association (In duplicate) in the general body meeting to be held on the same day. One set of the memorandums thus received shall be handed over to the respective heads of Institutions for on ward transmission to C&AG in a mass deputation.
This programme is aimed at ensuring that the authorities are made aware of the fact that the agitation shall continue till our goal is achieved. Our success lies in unceasing united action. Ensure success of the programme “Reminder Day” on November 18th.Let us build a rock like unity of All India Audit and Accounts Officers to cause of our Up Gradation of Grade pay.The members must show that we cannot be demoralized or demotivated by denying our genuine demand of up gradation of pay scales. But that such heinous denial by the Pay Commission, by the Government and by the Department will only make us stronger.

Indivadual representation
To
The Comptroller & Auditor General of India,
No 9, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg,
New Delhi 110024.

(Through Proper Channel)
Sub: UpGradation of Grade Pay for AO/Sr.AO

Sir,

I--------------------------------------------------member of the ---------------------------------------------------------------------Association submits the memorandum for the kind consideration of Comptroller and Auditor General of India.

In all pay revisions and cadre restructure, only one cadre which has received a raw deal was the cadre of AOs/Sr.AOs The vertical relativity between the cadre of Audit/Accounts Officers and that of Sr. Divisional Accounts Officers is that the Audit/Accounts Officers is at the higher level than that of Sr. Divisional Accounts Officers. This vertical relativity has been disturbed when the recommendations of the VI pay commission was implemented by the Notification dated 29th August 2008. In this notification the cadre of Sr.Divisional Accounts Officer of Indian Audit & Accounts Department has been granted the scale of Rs.8000-13500 and placed them in PB3 with a grade pay of Rs.5400 treating them on par with the Sr.Audit/Accounts Officers in the same Indian Audit & Accounts Department while placing the Audit/Accounts Officers in PB2 with the same Grade Pay. Thus the Audit and Accounts Officers have been placed below the Sr.Divisional Accounts Officers. This has disturbed the vertical relativity established by the recruitment rules leading to an anomalous situation defeating the very recruitment rules which place the Sr.Divisional Accounts Officers in the scales applicable to the Assistant Audit/Accounts officers of the department and hence necessarily require placing the Sr.Divisional Accounts Officers below the Audit/Accounts Officers.It is further submitted that historically the cadre of Divisional Accountant was placed below the cadre of Section Officer of the IA & AD. Following hierarchal setup was maintained for decades in IA & AD.

Auditor /Accountant
Divisional Accountants
Section Officer
Asstt. Audit /Accounts Officer
Audit / Accounts Officer
Sr.Audit/Accounts Officer

Even the Pay Scale of Divisional Accountant up to IV Central Pay Commission was lower than the Pay Scale of the Section Officer. It was during the cadre of Divisional Accountant was restructured and the post of Divisional Accounts Officer Grade III, Grade II & Senior Divisional Accounts Officer were created. The Pay Scale of Divisional Accounts Officer Grade II was brought at par with Section Officer; however the Pay Scale of Sr. Divisional Accounts Officer was one scale below the Pay Scale of Audit / Accounts Officer.

The Audit/Accounts Officer supervise the work of S.O.G Examination passed Section Officers. Every Audit and Accounts Officer supervises the work of 4 to 5 S.O.G. passed Section Officers and 16 to 20 Sr. Auditors/Accountants; where as the Sr. Divisional Accounts Officer supervises the work of Clerk in the Division.

This fact was taken note of by the 6th Central Pay Commission which decided that “this parity will need to be maintained” and placed the Sr.Divisional Accounts Officers in the scale of 8000-13500 with grade pay of 5400 and placed them in PB3. However the Pay Commission ignored its own conception and placed the Audit/Accounts officers in the PB 2 (8700-34800), merging them with the Assistant Audit/Accounts Officers, with a Grade pay of 4800 in PB2 without any logic. Though the Government did make an attempt to correct this anomalous recommendation, it was only half step as Audit/ Accounts Officers were continued to be placed in PB2 with grade pay of Rs.5400. This resulted in placing the cadre of Audit/Accounts Officers below that of Sr.Divisional Accounts Officers.

The Audit/Accounts officers are better qualified (SOG Examination) and are eligible for consideration for promotion to the cadre of IA&AS after promotion to the cadre of Sr. Audit/Accounts Officers. They also supervise the Sr.Divisional Accounts Officers. This being the actual relative status in the Department, it is illogical and anomalous to retain the Audit/Accounts Officers in PB 2. They should, in fact, be placed at a higher status by granting them the Grade Pay of 6600 in PB 3. The Sr. Audit/Accounts Officers being a higher cadre to Audit/Accounts Officers and constituting the promotional channel to the cadre of IA&AS, should, in all fairness and equity, be granted the Grade Pay of 7600 in PB 3. The present scales and Grade Pays granted to Audit/Accounts Officers & Sr. Audit/Accounts Officers are anomalous.

The revised scales, it is the considered opinion; only perpetuate injustice to Audit/Accounts Officers / Sr. Audit/Accounts Officers which has been suffering since long. The Association is, therefore, constrained to reiterate its arguments.

1. The reasons cited in the Pay Commission report to deny higher pay scales to Sr. Audit/Accounts officers and Audit/Accounts officers is very hollow and unscientific. Traditionally Audit/Accounts Officers of IA&AD were always on a grade higher than that of Section officers of Central Secretariat Services. In that background only the Sr. Audit/Accounts officers were in the scale of 8000-13500 as per the recommendations of the V CPC. It is another issue that the VI CPC did not attempt proper evaluation of the work and status of the cadre. This horizontal relativity was disturbed by a decision of the government to grant the Section Officers of Central Secretariat Services with four years of service pay scale of Rs.8000-13500 in October 2003, which was not recommended by any Pay Commission. The Section Officer with four years of Service is a feeder cadre to Group A posts in Central Secretariat Services. The VI Pay Commission has examined their case and approved it. Therefore logically the Section officers of our department who become Assistant Audit/Accounts officers after 3 or 4 years should have been granted this scale of pay instead of the scale of 7450-11500. Unfortunately this scale has not been extended to Assistant Audit/Accounts Officers.

2. The Commission has placed the Section Officers in the Pay Band of 8700-34800 on the logic that the merger of the scales 5000-8000, 5500-9000 and 6500-10500 would place the posts of Sr.Auditors/Accountants and the Section officers in an identical pay and grade pay even though the former are a feeder cadre for promotion to the latter and hence the post of the Section Officer had to be upgraded to the scale 8700-34800 with grade pay of Rs.4800. According to the pay commission, this necessitated up gradation of the scales of Assistant Audit/Accounts officers and Audit/Accounts officers. However it has recommended the same scale and grade pay of Section officers to the Assistant Audit/Accounts officers and Audit/Accounts officers, without any stated logic. Going by the same logic which determined the vertical relativity between Sr.Auditors/Accountants and Section officers that the commission has recognised, the scales of Assistant Audit/Accounts Officers, to which the Section officers constitute the feeder cadre, should have been upgraded to higher grades. By the same logic, the position of Sr. Audit/Accounts Officers should have been arrived at as follows.
Cadre Pre revised pay scales Grade Pay
Section officers 7500-12000 4800
Assistant Audit/Accounts Officers 8000-13500 5400
Audit/Accounts officers 10000-15200 6600
Sr. Audit/Accounts officers 12000-16500 7600
3.The recruitment Rules framed by the President of India under Article 148(5) maintain a clear vertical relativity of the cadres placing the Audit/Accounts officers above the Assistant Audit/Accounts officers and the Sr. Audit/accounts officers above the Audit/Accounts officers . As per MSO (Admn) Volume I, the Accountant General’s are assisted by the Audit/Accounts/Senior Accounts/Senior Audit Officers. All outgoing correspondences (Authorisations / Audit notes and observations) bear their signatures. Moreover, the Audit/Accounts officers invariably partake as a member of DPCs for Group C&D cadres. The statutory role under Provident Fund, Pension Acts, contains ‘Authorisation responsibilities’ to Audit/Accounts officers /Sr. Audit/Accounts officers for expenditure out of Public Fund. Special powers to approve Inspection Reports and settle observations and objections of minor nature are significant nature to the post of Sr. Audit/Accounts Officers/Audit/Accounts Officers. The Sr. Audit/Accounts Officers and Audit/Accounts Officers function as Branch Officers. They have been delegated technical and administrative powers that require them to take independent decisions. They are subject to only partial supervision and they act as independent field officers. Going by the logic of the Pay Commission, they constitute the cutting edge and have to be granted higher scales and Grade Pay.
4.When the implementation of MACP in the department most of the seniors in the merged cadre of SOs/AAOs would, on account of the run away stagnation in the department, become eligible for placement in the Grade pay of Rs.5400 placing the supervisors and the supervised in the same Pay Band and Grade Pay. This has fuelled the frustration already existing in the minds of Audit and Accounts Officers and Sr.Audit and Sr.Accounts Officers further. With the implementation of MACP Scheme there will be less motivation factor to take up SOG Examination seriously unless Grade Pay of the Supervising Cadres is suitably upgraded and further promotional avenues are opened up for the AOs/SAOs.
I---------------(Name of the member), therefore, urges that the anomaly is rectified by revising the scales as above.

Signature
Name of the Member
Name of the Association.