Personal Thought: Performance related pay 

It is reported that one of the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission suggested is performance related pay. Yes, it is a fact that in the government services, performance based pay and promotions are a far cry. In my over 28 years of central government service what I gathered was that flattery, or rather chamchagiri (the fittest word) is what really matters. You be a chamcha of the boss, daily in the first hour or the closing hours, show up your face, pass on a broad smile or bow down and pay the traditional charan sparsh and speak some nice words, praising the glory of the boss by pointing out some of his great deeds, or praising hallucinations of his near/dear ones, you will be the one in boss's good book.

By doing nothing, the least for which you are paid for, you are rest assured of outstanding reports in your CRs that makes sure of your promotions, even before time. Most of the chums in government services gathered promotions that way only. And this, in a way, would be at the cost of the real, merited, loyal and humble servants. As is well known, promotions are the mainstay in career uplift in central or State services, therefore, the recommendation the Sixth Pay Commission has now suggested viz performance related pay is a new concept. It is neither thought of nor any previous commissions ever bothered. Whereas, the reason Justice BN Srikrishna and other members of the sixth pay commission might have recommended it seems to be looking at similar practice in vogue in private sector. This concept was adopted by the private sector despite the hefty pay packages in order to eke out maximum from an individual employee. Honouring the loyal, faithful and trust-worthy persons is a universally accepted principle. But the reason as to why the central and State services avoided it this far and instead preferred to prop up the cult of chamchagiri as pre-requisite for promotion was not understood.