The opposition of the CPC recommendations by WRMS
The recommendations of the seventh pay commission are on one hand being welcomed by the certain sectors of the central government such as IAS, IFS while on the other hand it is receiving criticism from other bodies that find it very discriminating. One of such bodies is Western Railway Mazdoor Sangh (WRMS) that has been constantly raising its voice against the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission (CPC).
These recommendations that rid the railway employees of all the allowances those were in force for last 50 years are being opposed strongly by the railway’s western wing. WRMS has put forth their demand of a minimum wage of Rs 26,000 and also establishing of the pay scale by the factor of 3.7. Also the demands are to keep the allowances same as before and not increasing the disparity between minimum and maximum wages more than 1:8.
It is to be noted that the inflation has gone up very high and the value of money has come down considerably. Both these factors are important to be considered while deciding the pay of the employees who are bound by several laws including one that states they cannot have another source of income if they are taking salary form the government.
WRMS has protested against the recommendations of the 7thh CPC basing their protest on the fact that they being devoid of their right to the allowances which have been for their benefit and help them sustain the ever increasing prices of the commodities. They have a valid point though because the government employees are worst struck by the inflation due to the fact that they cannot have any other source of income.
A senior officer from WRMS says that the report has no logic behind it and it has nothing but increased the dissatisfaction among the railway employees. The Western Railway employees therefore wore black badges to work on Friday as they claim that this report is an infringement of their right. The Western Railway employees have also threatened to go on strike if their demands are not met with. This is not a very happy situation for anybody as this strike will almost stop everything in the country.
It is to be noted that the 7th CPC has recommended a 23.5% increase in the pay and pensions of all the employees of central government becoming effective from 1st January of the coming year putting an extra expense of 0.65% of the GDP.