The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval for regularization of Pay scales of below Board Level Executives in National Hydroelectric Power Corporation Ltd. (NHPC), North East Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO), THDC India Ltd. (formerly Tehri Hydro Development Corporation Ltd.) and Satluj Jal Vidhyut Nigam Ltd. (SJVN), w.e.f. 01.01.1997 adopted by them consequent upon the orders of Ministry of Power dated 04.04.2006 and 01.09.2006.
Implementation strategy:
After the approval, the pay scales adopted by Hydro CPSEs consequent upon the order of the Ministry of Power dated 04.04.2006 and 01.09.2006 shall be regularized.
Impact:
About 5,254 Executives of Hydro CPSEs enrolled before 01.01.2007 will be benefitted by this approval. It will motivate and boost the morale the Executives of Hydro CPSEs,
Expenditure:
The total expenditure to the tune of Rs. 323 crore will be incurred for the regularisation of pay scales.
Background:
Anomalies existed in the pay scales of Executives of NHPC, NEEPCO, THDCIL and SJVNL w.e.f. 01.01.1997 due to revision of pay scales of unionized category of workmen/non-executives in line with the NTPC/Oil sector within the organizations. The pay scales of workmen and Supervisors were higher than the pay scale of Executives in the E-1 grade.
The proposal was earlier considered by the Committee of Secretaries (CoS) and the Cabinet on several occasion. The Cabinet in December, 2013 decided as below:
- The deviant pay scales fixed w.e.f. 01.01.1997 shall not be regularized.
- However, no recovery shall be made for the excess pay drawn from 01.01,1997onwards considering the difficulties in effecting recovery and also considering thatsuch a recovery may de-motivate the staff.
- The pay scales shall be fitted w.e.f. 01.01.2007 after correcting the aberration in payscales fixed w.e.f. 01.01.1997.
Aggrieved with the order, various Employee Associations of Hydro PSEs filed Writ Petitions in different High Courts. The High Court of Uttarakhand&Meghalaya quashed the above decision. SLP was filed in Supreme Court on-12.04.2017 against the judgment of High Court of Uttarakhand which was dismissed on 08.05.2017. A Contempt petition has been filed in the High Courts of Meghalaya and Uttarakhand. Ministry of Power is left with no option other than seeking approval of Cabinet for regularizing the pay scales of NHPC, SJVNL, NEEPCO and THDCIL w.e.f. 01.01.1997 adopted by them consequent upon the orders of Ministry of Power dated 04.04.2006 and 01.09.2006.