The government will take a decision on the recommendations of the fifth pay commission as soon as possible, finance minister P Chidambaram assured the Lok Sabha yesterday.
Replying to a spate of supplementaries, he said the government had taken eleven months to decide on the third pay commission report and a little over eight months on the fourth report. we will try to do better this time.
On the question of the commissions recommendation for raising the retirement age of central government employees to 60 years, the minister declined to make any commitment.
I am in no position to make any commitment or offer comments on any of the recommendations of the fifth pay commission at this stage, he said.
The minister clarified that the committee of secretaries was entrusted with the task of processing the report and place their work before the government. It is the government which will take the decision.
He said the process had already been set in motion with the meeting of the committee of secretaries. A meeting of the joint consultative machinery in this respect would be held on march three, he said.Chidambaram said some associations and unions of central government employees had represented to the government against certain recommendations of the pay commission.
He said the views of the employees would be ascertained through the national council of the joint consultative machinery, he added. The report of the pay commission is being examined by a committee of secretaries constituted for the purpose and decisions will be taken by the government keeping in view their suggestions and the comments of the staff side in the national council (JCM), he said.
Former Union minister Rajesh Pilot drew governments attention to what he termed as growing resentment among the defence services who were unhappy with the pay commissions recommendations.
The minister recalled that in the 60s, defence officers were one of the most sought after in matrimonial columns. it is no no longer the case, he said urging the government to ensure that the defence personnel were looked after well.
Pilot said an air force pilot gets less allowances than a BSF pilot.
There were similar disparities between pay scales and allowances of the army and the BSF personnel which needed to be rectified, he stressed.
Pace of reform
The finance minister said the pace of economic reforms has been revived since June, 1995 to promote faster growth. Replying to a starred question in the Lok Sabha, the minister said several reform measures have been undertaken in the area of industrial, delicensing, infrastructure sectors, foreign investment, trade policy, capital markets and financal sector.
Rupee value
The Indian rupee depreciated on average by 0.41 percent a month against the US dollar between April 1996 and January 1997, finance minister P Chidambaram said. In a written reply to a question, Chidambaram said the rupee depreciated on average by 1.22 percent against the British pound during the same period.
Tata SIA
The civil aviation ministry has proposed changes in the 40 per cent foreign equity provision in the proposed Tata-SIA domestic airline, industry minister Murasoli maran informed the Lok Sabha yesterday.
Companies Act
Chidambaram said the government has set up a working group consisting of experts in law, economics and company affairs to prepare a new draft of the Companies Act, 1956.
Rice mill bill
The Lok Sabha today passed a bill which seeks to repeal the Rice-milling Industry (Regulation) Act, enacted way back in 1958 to monitor the progress of setting up and modernisation of rice mills in the country.
