Byline: Ashish Sinha

NEW DELHI: With government keen on implementing the recommendations of Sixth Pay Commission before inflation gallops further north, the 3rd Civil Service Day, to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at Vigyan Bhawan on Monday, promises to be an interesting

The pay proposals, which have drawn criticism from almost all services, are likely to be a topic of keen debate at least on the sidelines as top bureaucrats and academicians lecture on various aspects of civil services.

The bureaucracy is awaiting the findings of a committee headed by cabinet secretary K M Chandrasekhar set up to examine the pay panel's report before the government approves it.

The function is slated to discuss recruitment and training, performance appraisal and readiness of civil services to meet new challenges as part of separate discussions. But a civil servant said the open house of 60-minute each is sure to invite queries and comments on the pay report.

"The opportunity to discuss this matter has come at a good time, especially because the PM and the cabinet secretary would be present. We expect the attendance to be better than last two years," he said.

"Civil Service Day is being observed since 2006 by all central services to "rededicate and recommit themselves to the cause of the people", and to also provide them "a unique opportunity for introspection as also chalking out future strategies to deal with the challenges being posed by changing times".

The theme for the year is 'Innovations in Administration' and Singh would give away the 'PM Award for Excellence in Public Administration' to 13 initiatives from different states, ministries and organisations.

Performance appraisal of civil servants is likely to be another hot topic of debate as government has introduced a new system for IAS from this year.

A theme paper said, "We are of the opinion that as a system, the present system (particularly the one introduced by DoPT for IAS) is not so bad that it warrants outright rejection. Drawbacks happen because of lack of training on performance appraisal and not giving it the priority in one's work."

Another paper on "current challenges" admits that globalisation and a surging private sector have ensured a "growing disparity in pay and other terms of emoluments between the cadres in the public and private sectors".

"The salary of a civil servant in many cases is less than that of his/her son or daughter employed in the private sector; and many of these children are not even motivated to join the civil services, losing a valuable service ethos that informs these families," the paper says.

"The recommendation of the Sixth Pay Commission may to some extent correct the position - though the gap will continue to be large and will require a civil servant to value his role and status more than the pay and perquisites that the government provides," it adds.

ashish.sinha1@timesgroup.com