By Special Correspondent
Bhopal: If an officer were paid the salary of a tehsildar but asked to perform the duties of a patwari, it would be considered a serious financial irregularity. Yet this, employees argue, is precisely what is happening in Madhya Pradesh.
Despite being granted the third and fourth time-scale pay grades, many employees are not being assigned the corresponding higher responsibilities or designations. According to service rules, time-scale increments are sanctioned only for those who fulfil the criteria for promotion, and the process mirrors that of the Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC). Logically, once employees receive these higher pay grades, they should also be given the associated posts and duties. The General Administration Department (GAD) has already issued a circular authorising all departments to do so.
Several cadres, including the State Administrative Service, Treasury and Accounts, Health, Education, and Tribal Welfare departments, have implemented the system without difficulty. In these areas, long-standing promotion disputes have been resolved. However, in many other departments, officials cite obstacles such as non-availability of sanctioned posts or vacancies to avoid compliance.
The real burden of this impasse falls on lower-level staff. Senior officials in Class I and Class II face no such hurdles. They benefit from both the higher pay grade and the upgraded designation, making further promotions redundant. This dual pathway has effectively safeguarded the interests of higher officers, while leaving junior employees frustrated and disillusioned.
The prevailing imbalance, critics say, exposes systemic bias and deepens inequality within the state bureaucracy.
