Govt approves performance related pay for Coal India officers

Firm's officers had earlier sought PM's help in implementing performance-related pay

The government today approved the implementation of performance related pay for the officers of Coal India Ltd.

"We will give performance related pay to managerial and supervisory level official of Coal India," Communications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said after the Cabinet meeting.

Welcoming the government decision, Coal Secretary Anil Swarup tweeted, "Coal India rewarded for sterling performance. Government approves Performance Related Pay (PRP)."

There are nearly 19,000 officers at CIL.

Coal India executives had earlier sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention for implementation of performance related pay (PRP) for officers of the world's largest coal miner.

The issue has been pending for long despite a high-level panel recommending its implementation.

Executives had last year called off a three-day strike after the first day as they received assurances from CIL management in this regard.

"We solicit your intervention with a high hope considering your reputation and image all over the world for fast and timely decision making so that a genuine case which unfortunately got so delayed does not suffer any more," Coal Mines Officers' Association of India (CMOAI) had earlier said in a letter to the Prime Minister.

CMOAI had earlier said that PRP is a part of pay implemented since January 1, 2007 and has been paid to all executives of other entitled PSUs, barring Coal India (CIL).

Earlier, the Coal Ministry had sought comments from various ministries, including Finance, on the draft Cabinet note for implementation of PRP of CIL employees.

The government had earlier floated a draft note to seek the approval of the Cabinet for permitting loss-making and marginally profit-making subsidiaries of CIL to adopt 2007 pay revision as an exception to the prescribed affordability clause and payment of performance related pay to the executives of all subsidiaries of CIL.