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Ground water scientists resent “raw deal”

JAIPUR: Close on the heels of Indian Police Service and Armed Forces officers resenting the insufficient pay hike, the ground water scientists of the Central Government have taken strong exception to the Sixth Pay Commission’s “complete failure” to revise their salary structure and carry out cadre reviews.

The Central Ground Water Board’s scientists have expressed dismay at what they describe as near total rejection by the Pay Commission of their presentation for a substantial increase in the salary. The career prospects for scientists have hit a roadblock despite their work demanding specialised knowledge and experience of hydrogeology.

“The Pay Commission has not given any consideration to uplift the morale of the scientific community and acted as if it was meant solely for bureaucrats and Central Secretariat Service staff,” said All India CGWB Officers’ Association general secretary M. Nasir Khan here on Sunday. Even the post-graduate teachers had been offered a better pay band, he added.

While the minimum qualification for Indian Administrative Service and CSS staff is graduate in any discipline, the minimum entry level qualification set by the Union Public Service Commission for the scientific cadres in the CGWB is masters degree in specific branches, such as geology, geophysics and hydrogeology.

Dr. Khan – Senior Scientist at the CGWB’s regional office here – said the Pay Commission had also returned a file on restructuring proposal for group-B officers to the Union Ministry of Water Resources with the remarks that it was a temporary body constituted for a limited period and was not in a position to carry out cadre reviews or approve restructuring.

Incensed at the “raw deal” offered by the Pay Commission, the CGWB scientists have convened a meeting in New Delhi this month-end to devise a strategy to protest against the recommendations. Dr. Khan said the Association had invited former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam as chief guest at the meeting coinciding with the annual general conference.

Dr. Khan pointed out that promotional avenues for scientific officers in the Board were limited, with the Flexible Complementary Scheme (FCS) not extended uniformly to all cadres and group-B scientists languishing in the same cadre for the last 20 years. “Despite the interviews for group-C scientists held in 2002, no appointments have been made so far.”

The Association has called upon the Union Water Resources Minister, Saifuddin Soz, to take up the case of scientists with the government on the lines of Defence Minister A.K. Antony holding a meeting with the military personnel over the week-end to take note of their grievances and remove misgivings.

“The scientific community looking after ground water as a precious natural resource vital for development of the country expects a better deal in the salary structure and working conditions,” said Dr. Khan, and added that any act demoralising scientists will be detrimental to the nation.

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