RECORD
Reference -
TATIC.O.882/12
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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE. LONDON
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degree. In the latter case the pay of the special grade would be limited to Rs.1,800-200-4,000, but on obtaining a degree a clerk would pass to the full scale, Rs.2,400-5,000. We hope by this means to provide a method of recruitment which will give far more satisfactory results than the present method which rests almost eu- tirely on seniority selections from clerks whose work has been mainly of a routine character. The superior posts to which selected officers will pass from the special grade will be the posts of Chief Clerk on Rs.6,000 and the posts on Rs.7,500 detailed in list II of Appendix III. Through these posts there would be an avenue of recruitment to the higher posts.
22. It is difficult to estimate exactly the cost of these proposals. On the creation of the new posts of Chief Clerk on Rs.6,000 and of the posts on Rs.7,500 (Chief Clerk (General), Chief Cashier, Surveyors of Customs, and the Public Works, Medical, and Post Office Accountants) and also of the Deputy Director of Establish- ments on Rs.9,000, we propose that the existing gegen posts of the Class I of the general clerical service and four posts of Class II should be abolished; the extra cost would be Rs.9,314.
The actual average cost of a clerk on the general list is Rs.3,400, or Rs.3,060 after the 10 per cent. cut, while the maximum annual cost of a clerk on the proposed general grade will be Rs.2,200, assuming retirement at the age of 55; but there must be casualties, and, on the other side, there will be few clerks in the general grade who will remain in service beyond 55, so that it is safe to regard Rs.2,200 as an extreme figure. The reductions which we propose will leave 165 clerks in the general list, i.e., there will be 125 in the general grade and 40 in the special grade. We calculate that the average saving on the 125 clerks in the general grade will ultimately be, at this minimum figure, Rs.107,500. It is impossible to estimate the cost of 40 special-grade clerks, as both the age of entry into the grade and the period of service in the grade before promotion will be quite uncertain; but it is unlikely that the cost, at the rates which we propose, will exceed that of the present general service. On the other hand we propose that 19 clerks of the Post Office and 47 clerks of the Railway Department (3 in abstract A, 3 in B, 15 in C, 22 in E, and 4 in F.) should be brought on to the new general grade. The actual average cost of these clerks is only Rs.1,520 as compared with the new average Rs.2,200. The maximum extra cost of this step will therefore be Rs.44,880. Deducting this sum and the Rs.9,314 due on the special posts the minimum saving of this measure will be Rs.53,000. This is in addition to the saving by the 10 per cent. cut. But this amount is certain to be exceeded, for while we know exactly what each clerk is costing now as an average on the present scales of pay, we have used for the average of the proposed general grade the figure
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Rs.2,200 which represents the average cost on the assumption that every clerk will put in 38 years' service.
We can safely estimate that the proposed scheme will result in substantial saving besides effecting a closer correspondence of work with pay in the grading of the staff.
23. It remains for us to state our recommendations as to the method by which clerks now in the permanent posts should be brought on to the new scales.
These recommendations are as follows:-
(1) All clerks who have already reached the age of 55 should be retired. Every clerk in the general clerical service whose promotion at present is provisional should be reverted to his substantive class.
(2) The new superior posts in list II of Appendix III should be filled by selection and not by seniority.
(3) Every clerk on the general list who has not yet reached the maximum of the incremental scale of his class should continue on the old scale until he reaches the maximum of his class; but the old scale should be reduced by 10 per cent, as we have recommended. There should be no further promotion from one class to another class of the old scale.
(4) As an immediate measure the 40 posts of the special grade should be filled by selection from such members of the general clerical service and Post Office and Railway clerical services as have served for 10 years and are considered capable of filling the higher posts for which that grade is to be the source of recruitment. In making the selection preference should be had to educational attainments.
(5) The clerks who are not selected for the special grade should be regarded as occupying the new general grade posts. Any clerk in Classes II and III of the present general service who has not been selected should until he is retired retain his present scale of pay (less 10 per cent.), and should proceed to the maximum of his present class. All other clerks, subject to condition (3) above, including the 66 clerks of the railway and postal services, should be brought on to the new scale at the nearest point of their present pay (less 10 per cent. in the case of general clerks) and should thereafter draw increments according to the new scales.
24. Several of the witnesses whom we have examined have drawn attention to the very heavy charge on the Colonial budget in respect of pensions and have urged that this charge, like that for personal emoluments, should be reduced. There is no doubt that the pension charges reflect the general increase in emoluments due to the special conditions following the war, and the benefit of these special
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