One step forward, two backward?

The struggle over airport modernisation has started and the AAI employees seem to have begun on the back foot. Except for Calcutta, airports all over the country are functioning fairly smoothly, notwithstanding strewn garbage and the occasional morchas. The government seems determined to avoid any rollbacks this time.

Yet, as this reformist plan is implemented, the PM announced yesterday that a 6th Pay Commission may be formed this year. After the disaster that the 5th Commission proved to be, even the thought of a new one sends shivers down my spine. That Commission, formed in 1998 I think, proposed a 20% hike in government employee salaries (over and above the annual inflation linked increment). The burden on the Centre was significant enough, but the states were forced to follow up with their own commissions and the hiked wages crippled many of them. Of course, in addition to the salary hikes, the Commission had recommended a 30% cut in the workforce and a reduction in the number of public holidays as well. None of these steps were implemented. If the action plan recommended by the 5th Commission has still not been executed completely, where's the need for a 6th Commission?

The states have only recently begun to recover from the impact of the 5th Commission. The Centre is committed to the Fiscal Responsibility Act and will have to eliminate the revenue deficit in 3 years, and curtail the fiscal deficit to 3% in 2 years. Money is required for the massive social initiatives like the Employment Guarantee Scheme. We simply cannot afford another pay hike for government employees. Not unless it is preceeded by substantial cuts in the size of the bureacracy.

In the present climate of the country, even the mention of such a commission should be taboo. The economy is doing well enough to not force the hand of policymakers. They can afford to pursue shortsighted policies that might gain them votes in the next election, but which ultimately make the citizens of this nation less well-off than they would otherwise be. Heavens will not fall if a new pay commission is formed, but every such step takes us away from attaining the conditions where we could grow for 25 straight years at 9-10%. China's the benchmark.