Soldiers would get additional allowances for fighting. So will IAS officers while serving in remote districts. However, the Central Pay Commission has left out the country's police force fighting terrorism and Naxalism.
Police officers say the commission's decision not to recognise the challenging task undertaken by security forces was just one example of its inability to appreciate their job profile.
Downgrading the ranks held by police officers – right from the Director Generals of Police in the states to the Deputy Inspector General – and awarding IAS officers on field postings a clear edge over their counterpart in the police was another.
Essentially it is a tussle between the IAS and the IPS. “IAS officers have always managed to get the best deals from pay commissions, decade after decade, and they have done it again,” a senior police officer said.
To add to the 'insult' the pay commission has cut the pay scale of DGP rank officers. A state police chief could reach the top scale of Rs 26,000 (Rs 80,000 under the revised scheme) within three years before the Sixth Pay Commission came up with its report. The new commission's report ensures the DGP would never reach the apex scale but the state chief secretary would.
"Pulling down the scale of the DGP is the worst act that can be inflicted upon a government servant," said a senior police officer.
{{/usCountry}}"Pulling down the scale of the DGP is the worst act that can be inflicted upon a government servant," said a senior police officer.
{{/usCountry}}Holding a presentation on the treatment meted out to policemen, senior officers on Friday knocked on the doors of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Home Minister Shivraj Patil.
AP Maheshwari, joint secretary, IPS (Central) Association, later said Patil had asked them to have faith in the government and assured that police services would get their due. Sonia gave the association representatives a sympathetic hearing and shared their concerns.