Sixth Pay Commission: Centre, state have different policy on family planning in govt

Vadodara, November 17 The state government, it seems, is not conforming to the Central policy on family planning. While old timers in the state government have been receiving benefits under the family planning programme, the young generation of professionals in the public sector have not been that lucky.
According to a Gujarat Government Resolution (GR), adopted a few years ago, all state government employees entering family planning programme between 1982 and 2003 will be given increment. This, however, is in stark contrast with the Centre’s initiative on the family allowance revision following the Sixth Pay Commission’s recommendations of 2008.

B V Purohit (50) is the only senior clerk at the Vadodara District Panchayat to enjoy benefits under this scheme.

“I still get Rs 100 extra, which shows that the state government appreciated my move. Further, it led others to come under the family planning programme. However, after 2003, the programme was stopped and newcomers in the public sector have been left out,” Purohit said. Many other officials of the panchayat refused to come on record.

Soon after the Narendra Modi government came to power, the family planning GR was withdrawn. Officials said, “The move was a cost cutting measure by the state government.”

While state Health Secretariat authorities were clueless about the issue, the Gujarat State Finance Department, which drew up the GR, refused to comment on it.

A K Jyoti, Additional Chief Secretary, Gujarat State Finance Department, however, said, “Although I have to find the precise reason, one reason could be that the state government wanted to promote individual effort in family planning.”

The facts available with Newsline say that the state government had passed a GR, which specified that the entire scheme would be withdrawn in May 2003. However, after facing opposition, the GR was revised for the elderly.

According to M S University authorities, there are more than 25 professors and 100 Class IV officials, in the university alone, who are beneficiaries of the programme.

A professor from MSU Commerce faculty, who has now retired and is living in Pune, said on the condition of anonymity: “Family planning was my individual initiative, but I took benefit of the scheme, which had been implemented about 30 years ago.”

Professor Arun Arya, Head of Department, Botany, MSU, said: “We had special privileges under which we were given green card so that we didn’t have to stand in queue for family planning at any government hospital. I remember, I used to get Rs 50 as increment after family planning.”

Source: http://www.expressindia.com/