New Delhi: Get promotion, face salary cut. That’s precisely why a large number of Delhi government bureaucrats do not want to get promoted. If ad hoc Delhi Andaman Nicobar Service (Danics) officers are promoted to regular Danics cadre, they not only face salary cut but also lose a portion of their housing allowance. If this is not enough, the ones who will be promoted will also be bound to face hard postings outside Delhi in faraway places like Arunachal Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Lakshadweep. There are about 200 ad hoc Danics officers serving in the Delhi government. Only the Delhi Administrative Subordinate Service (Dass) cadre officers are promoted to ad hoc Danics cadre by the Union home ministry. The serious lacuna in the promotion process is such that despite a series of reminders by the MHA (ministry of home affairs) to hold DPC (departmental promotion committee) for induction of Dass officers into the Danics cadre, the city government is yet to provide names and details of these officials. The reason why the government has not sent its list of officers is that the ad hoc Danics officers are not keen to apply for regular cadre posts as it would cause them monetary loss.
A bureaucrat said that a Dass cadre officer gets promoted as ad hoc Danics officer after 15 to 16 years of service. Once promoted as ad hoc DANICS cadre, the officer gets the pay scale of Rs 6,600. But once the ad hoc Danics officer is made regular cadre, the officers end up getting a lower pay scale of Rs 4,800.
Even the housing rent allowance of the regular Danics cadre officer is slashed by about 30 per cent. The Arvind Kejriwal government had earlier approved a proposal for restructuring of Dass cadre of the Delhi government but the file is pending with the lieutenant-governor. As per Delhi government decision, the ad hoc DANICS would be entitled to get promotion after 12 years in service.
