The state cabinet has decided to remove the deadline for exercising the option for pay fixation under the Modified Assured Career Progression Scheme (MACPS), a move aimed at addressing pay anomalies where senior government employees receive lower salaries than their junior counterparts.
According to a press release issued by the Finance Department on Thursday, government employees are entitled to financial upgradation under MACPS after completing 10, 17 and 25 years of continuous and satisfactory service without promotion, in accordance with the ROP Rules, 2017.
The department said pay anomalies had emerged in cases where senior employees received MACPS benefits between January 2 and July 1 of a calendar year. Following the financial upgradation, their Date of Next Increment (DNI) was deferred to January 1 of the following year, in some cases leaving them drawing lower salaries than their juniors.
To address the issue, the Finance Department had issued a memorandum on September 30, 2023, allowing employees whose DNI had been deferred to January 1 to opt for MACP benefits on their next increment date for the purpose of pay fixation.
However, employees were required to exercise the option by October 31, 2023. According to the government, the deadline meant that the anomaly persisted in cases where eligible employees were unable to submit their option within the stipulated period.
The state cabinet, at its meeting held on Wednesday, decided to withdraw the October 31, 2023 deadline, allowing eligible employees to exercise the option for MACPS pay fixation on their DNI without being restricted by the earlier cut-off date.
The Cabinet also decided to extend the benefit to employees who could not exercise the option earlier for any reason due to the prescribed deadline.
The government said the decision is expected to benefit a large number of employees and eliminate disparities in pay between senior and junior personnel arising from the timing of MACPS financial upgradation.
The measure is expected to provide relief to affected employees by ensuring that eligible senior personnel do not suffer a financial disadvantage merely because of the timing of their career progression benefits.
