Memo to Chief Minister from Manipur Finance Service Officers' Association

Officers of Manipur Finance Service *

An Open Letter to The Chief Minister and State Cabinet of Manipur

Dear Sir,

First of all, we take this opportunity to compliment the Government of Manipur under your progressive leadership for bringing about fiscal improvement and for a vision of all round development of the State (both hill and valley). And also we pledge our commitment for actualizing the vision of the Government through more efficient and sincere discharge of the responsibilities by the members of the Manipur Finance Service all over the State (both hill and valley).

2. We, members of the Manipur Finance Service Officers’ Association, have the honour to lay the following few lines for your kind perusal and sympathetic consideration:-

3. That, the Manipur Finance Service was initially constituted in the State of Manipur vide Department of Personnel’s Notification No. 1/21/73-S/DP dated 03/07/1979 under the name and style “Manipur Finance Service Rules, 1979” effective from 21/07/1979, the date of publication of the said Rules in the Manipur Gazette Extraordinary No. 122 dated 21/07/1979.

4. That, while the entry level status/pay scale of the Manipur Civil Services and the Manipur Police Service, was upgraded under successive Manipur Services (Revised Pay) Rules, the entry level status/pay scale of the Manipur Finance Service was either downgraded or kept at a lower level. This is evident from the table below (Table.1.):

Table. 1.

5. That, from the above, it will be seen that, there are five grades in the Manipur Finance Service and as per the existing MFS Rules, 1998, as amended from time to time, the post in Grade – III in the pre-revised pay scale of Rs. 6500-200-10500 is the entry level pay scale of MFS officers. (In case of Mizoram, it is 8000-275-13,500).

6. That, from the above, it will be also seen that, the entry levels of the MCS and the MPS which were not equal till ROP 1982 have been made equal under the Manipur Services (Revised Pay) Rules, 1990 effective from 01/01/1986 and onwards. However, as also stated earlier, the entry level of Finance Service is much lower vis-à-vis the MCS/MPS. It may be mentioned that the first direct recruits of the MFS were appointed in August, 2007 after being selected in the Manipur Civil Services Combined Competitive Examination conducted by the MPSC.

7. That, Finance & Accounts Service in other States in the country also has entry level parity (in terms of pay structure) with their counterparts in Civil/Administrative Service and Police Service as summarized in the table below (Table.2.):

Table. 2.

8. That, other organized service in the State viz. Manipur Forest Service, Manipur Veterinary and AH Service, Manipur Health Service etc, which are quite similar to the Manipur Finance Service in so far as the specialized and technical nature of the service is concerned also have entry level parity with the MCS/MPS in terms of the pay scale i.e. Rs. 8000-275-13500/- (pre-revised) similar to that of the MCS/MPS.

Table. 3.

9. That, in the Central Government, there is a recent Office Memorandum No. AB.14017/64/2008- Estt (RR) dtd 24/04/20009 on the subject: Non-Functional upgradation for officers of Organised Group “A” Services in PB-3 and PB-4. The O.M. says “whenever an IAS officer of the state of Jt. Cadre is posted at the Centre to a particular grade carrying a specific Grade Pay in PB-3 and PB-4, the officers belong to batches of Organised Group “A” Services that are senior by two years or more and have not so far been promoted to that particular grade would be granted the same grade on non-functional basis from the date of posting of the IAS officer in that particular grade at the centre.

Thus, we have seen that there is little disparity among the All India services and Central Organised Group “A” Services including many organized Finance/Accounts Services. This can also be seen from the Table given (Table.3.), which depicts pay scales in different grades during the 3rd Central Pay Commission, the 4th Central Pay Commission and the 5th Central Pay Commission.

In Manipur, the disparity between Finance/Accounts Service and other organized Group “A” service is so huge that it may completely demoralize the Finance officers. It is against all norms existing in the administration and establishment system and is quite unconstitutional. In the light of the above O.M. after the 6th CPC and the 3rd CPC, the 4th CPC, and the 5th CPC, Hon’ble CM may look into the woes of the MFS officers.

10. That, direct recruits of Finance service cadres are posted in various Departments as Accounts Officers/Assistant Financial Advisors at the entry level. They deal with budgetary matters, accounts and audit, vetting of financial proposals etc. These duties demand higher status and authority in the Departmental hierarchy. Presently, there exists a huge mismatch between the duties & responsibilities that are entrusted to the MFS officers and their position/status in the Departmental hierarchy. Thus, a comprehensive ameliorative step may be taken up for reinvigorating and strengthening the MFS so that MFS officers do not have to play second fiddle (to their counterparts).

11. That, the Manipur Finance Service is not a feeder to any other organized Civil Service. The mode of functions and duties of the MFS is quite UNIQUE and different from those of the MCS. It is regrettable that the MFS is clubbed with the Jr. MCS or SDC whose functions and duties are quite similar to the MCS and usually they (SDCs) form the feeder service to the MCS.

12. That, Finance and Accounts is the backbone of the Government. The complexities of the present day administration particularly in the context of changed perspective when Liberalization, Globalization, Look-East Policy, and Border Trade have become the basic determinants in policy formulation and for that matter governance of this border state, the role of the MFS officers has assumed greater importance. Hence commensurate pay scales including better service conditions are an imperative to safeguard the morale of the Finance Service Officers. In fact, the MFS should be given the status and position it deserves.

13. In view of the above, it is earnestly requested that the following pay scales (pre-revised/revised) may be given to the members of the Manipur Finance Service (see Table.4.).

Table. 4.

*The above pre-revised scales and Grades had been adopted by the Mizoram Government for the Mizoram Finance and Accounts Service since 2003. Then, why not in Manipur. The MFS has no avenue for selection to the All India Service Cadre unlike the MCS, the MPS, and the Manipur Forest Service. So, a Grade Pay of 10,000 or HAG scale is recommended for the MFS, so as to boost the morale of the MFS officers, considering the nature of work/duty and the responsibility involved. This may be a step towards arresting the acute stagnation in the MFS. A choking in the channel of promotion may demoralize highly experienced Finance Officers. This may result in brain drain in the state administration because highly experienced Finance Officers may like to seek for greener pastures as they are in great demand in other parts of the country as well as in abroad.

14. A sound financial system is required for a sound administration. With the wind of Globalizations and Liberalizations blowing over nearby and Free Trade system and interconnectivity with the South East Asian nations in the offing, it will be unwise to neglect the MFS officers, and the MFS should be treated as an ELITE SERVICE. It is, therefore, requested that the proposals and justifications given in the paras above may kindly be considered for approval.

Jai Hind, Jai Manipur.

Yours faithfully,

Dr Laishangbam Sanjitkumar Singh,MFS,
Rojendrakar Nongthomba, MFS,
Ranendra Nandeibam, MFS,
Salam Somorendro Singh, MFS and all other MFS officers in Manipur.