Address by General Secretary
A very good-morning to all of you.
Hon’ble Chief Guest Shri R.C.Bhatiaji, ADGM, Respected Guest-of-Honour Shri A.K.Bhatnagarji, ADGM (EREC),Shri B.L.Varmaji, DDGM RMC(N.Delhi), Shri Rajiv Sharmaji,DDGM(A&S), Respected Members on the dais, our most valued invited guest and councilors from all parts of the country.
First of all, I deem it great privilege to extend warm welcome on this wonderful morning to one and all and also thank almighty God for giving us this opportunity to share our views through this platform. [The very presence of the Hon’ble Chief Guest Dr. Shailesh Nayak, Secretary MoES in today’s programme inspite of his extremely busy schedule is a matter of honour to this Organization. We are all inspired by your gracious presence, Sir.]
I wish to express the feelings of all Scientific & Technical employees of the Department through this platform, who despite all odds and repeated testing of patience eagerly awaits all possible opportunity to ventilate their grievances for a viable solution to their genuine problem.
We all are aware that India Meteorological Department (IMD) was established in 1875 and it is the second oldest Department of the country. Out of total sanction strength of 8395, there are presently 6084 men in position. . On an average, 8-10 supporting staff are getting retired every month and by 2012, more than 750 employees of Group B & C will retire. This is a very grim picture and the situation may worsen further if corrective steps are not taken soon.
Though IMD is a service-oriented Department, it is very unfortunate that the most of the benefits awarded to other Scientific Department are not extended to IMD. All entry cadres (Group C) of IMD are having very bleak promotional avenues and working conditions. Needless to mention herein that Science Graduates of IMD soon gets frustrated when they compare themselves with employees of other Scientific Department in terms of pay scales, promotional avenues and allied facilities.
Though in the last 133 years, the mandate of IMD has been fragmented to many autonomous institutions viz. IIG, IITM (1962), NCMRWF (1988) and now EREC. It is seen that the Institute which was separated from IMD, progressed and became professionally competent whereas the status of IMD remained unchanged. This is because IMD has not adopted its importance and expertise as per changed scenario. The progress of IMD is also affected due to number of transition from Ministry of Civil Aviation to Department of Science & Technology (DST) and finally DST to Ministry of Earth Sciences. Though IMD is a Scientific Department, but its cadre structure is neither at par with other Scientific Department nor with any Administrative Department. Its half of the cadre structure in Group A level is organized (Met-II to Director) and other half is vacancy based whereas it is totally unorganized in the foundation Scientific & Technical Cadres. Due to this unstable cadre structure, there is a resentment and frustration in all cadres. Also, as the remedial measures are not taken since last three decades, a saturation level has reached where the motivation factor has become Zero.
As per Govt.’s promotion policy in Scientific Department, the residency period from first feeder to promotional cadre is less as compared to residency period of other promotional post because of motivation factor in employees at the first instant improves efficiency and boosts the productivity of the Department.
In May 1976, Dr. Raja Ramanna Committee reviewed the organizational structure & functioning of IMD and a scheme of Flexible Complementing Scheme (FCS) was partially introduced for three posts (Met-II to Director) of Group A level (comprising of 6.2% of total manpower strength of IMD) only. Even the person in Group A cadre feels frustrated due to stagnation in Director Cadre as the further mobility in higher cadre is vacancy based. Further, a committee under the Chairmanship of Prof.S.Sampath (22ndJune, 1990), Shri Y.S.Rajan (18th Nov, 1998), Dr.K.Kasturirangan (18th May, 1999), Task-Force Committee (1st Oct, 2002), a committee under the Chairmanship of Shri S.K.Das, Advisor, DOS (4th August, 2006) and finally Dr. Shailesh Nayak Committee for the Manpower Restructuring (on the lines of ISRO) of the newly created Ministry and its constituent units. The outcome of all these committee(s) is either an eye-wash or kept in cold-storage. It is surprising that even after three decades of constitution of Dr. Raja Ramanna Committee; no committee has further reviewed the organizational structure of IMD at Gr. B, C & D i.e. at the core/foundation level.
During a seminar on “Forty years of Kothari Commission recommendations: Reforms and Reflections” in Delhi University, Hon’ble Ex. President Dr. A.P.J.Abdul Kalam has said that “Science academics and scientific advisory committee should discuss ways to ensure an assured career growth for science graduates and send recommendations to the cabinet for the same. We should work for the creation of a science cadre with a clear mission goals, well defined growth path and attractive salaries in the organizations such as CSIR, Department of Science & Technology, Department of Earth Sciences, Department of Bio-Technology, Department of Agriculture, ISRO, DRDO, Atomic Energy and the Universities”.
Unfortunately, IMD employees have not got any relief from either of these committees or from the pay commission. Though Pay-Commission has extended Scientific status to IMD and recommended FCS for Grade pay 9000 or lower but its applicability to lower Scientific/Technical cadres is being viewed with doubt due to the outcome of several past committees..
When we compare IMD with Scientific Department like ISRO, DAE etc we are being told that they enjoy special status and there cannot be any parity with them. Also, our comparison with other Department like CPWD, Income-Tax, Central Secretariat etc is also not considered valid. How can feeder cadres with same Degree in Science [B.Sc (Physics)] is treated differently in ISRO/DAE and other Scientific Department like IMD?. Is the applicability of Science differs from Department to Department?. How can a Department given Special Status without giving the same level playing field for other Department?. This seems to be discriminatory and against the vision of Scientific fraternity of the country.
The one important aspect of scientific cadre of IMD is that the posts are spread across the country and there is no level playing working structure wherein all get equal opportunity and exposure to advancement of career and satisfaction of job. This is one of the de-motivating factors and cause of frustration in the scientific cadre. The situation gets further complex when personnel up to the cadre of AM-II may not like to proceed on transfer on promotion due to change of place which may not be commensurate with proper financial pay hike. Sometimes salary gets reduced because of reduced allowance in the new place of posting.
Flexibility of adjustment of posts in each office /field stations may also need to be considered in case person from lower post is not willing to shift on promotion from one station to other uniformly, on all India basis. The lower post employee may need to be adjusted against higher post.
The scientific/technical personnel in all cadres need to be trained in computer operations and may be made mandatory, if any of them are not computer literate. Also, the consolidated training be imparted to fresh recruit like Met-IIs and other training should be job-oriented. This will lead them to perform better in the services of IMD.
To attract fresh good talent and to keep their motivation factor high, points referred above need to be addressed appropriately.
It is very strange and pathetic that a lower most Group C Scientific feeder cadre i.e. Lab-Asstt. Career starts at LA-III and ends up at LA-I (2 Stages), Feeder cadre NI-Mechanic Gr-II either gets 1st ACP or 2nd ACP or retire after one or two promotions in their cadre. The feeder cadre Senior Observer is promoted to next higher cadre S.A. in a span of 18-19 years (six times the DOP&T’s approved residency period).
The Association being scientific employees’ organization is pledged and determined to adopt systematic peaceful means of discussions with justifications and concluding solutions in the welfare interest of the employees as well as of the Department. Friends, we believe that every accomplishment, great or small, starts with the right decision, I’ll try”. We know that every person has ambition and ambition without determination has no destination. It is only this determination and hope which is the guiding force of IMD employees.
Though, Modernization and Manpower Restructuring should go parallel but the former is given priority. Until and unless the root cause of problem in IMD is sorted out, no reforms or Modernization will help IMD in long run.. We need to take corrective steps so that the mistakes of the past are rectified timely and the cadres are streamlined as per their qualifications and field of experience.
Today, IMD is heading towards a two-year modernization programme worth 950 crores during the course of which IMD is going to get 550 Automatic Weather Stations (AWS), 1350 Automatic Rain Gauges (ARG), five GPS stations, three high performance computing systems, Integrated and automated systems for the Airport, radiosonde equipment besides this, (there are only five Doppler Radars in India- Visakhapatnam, Machilipatnam, Sriharikota, Kolkatta and Chennai) IMD plans to get 12 more Doppler Radars and equipment concerning upper air cyclonic circulation. This Modernization programme may turn out to be a failure if the manpower behind this is not restructured as per the changed scenario and the vacant posts are not filled up. The staff strength is so depleted that the existing staff is over-worked and the compensatory-off gets accumulated beyond availing limits. The only viable solution visible is cadre restructuring and FCS to all Scientific/Technical Cadres as per other Scientific Department. There can be only one stable structure either vacancy based from foundation to apex cadre or FCS .This Association strongly recommends FCS for all Scientific/Technical Cadres of IMD with normalization and rationalization for existing employees.
If this is not done, it will seriously jeopardize “operational” and “functional” harmony between organized and unorganized cadres whenever they operate together.
This Association is constantly knocking all possible doors and in pursuit of redressal of genuine grievances of foundation cadres of IMD through appropriate forum. But, as such, the matter remains unresolved. Despite pathetic working conditions and bleak promotional avenues, the Association adopts and honour democratic and peaceful process in resolving problems with a ray of hope that someday someone will definitely understand the plight of IMD employees and place them in their right place.
Finally, I must mention my deep sense of appreciation for all the office-bearers for their immense support. I may also like to express my sincere thanks to all Advisors for lending their valuable time and piece of Advice on various issues concerning the cadre.
An event of this dimension cannot happen overnight. The wheels start rolling well in advance. It requires meticulous planning and execution and an eye for details. I thank everyone for the involvement they have shown and the willingness they have expressed to take on the completion of tasks beyond their comfort zones and making this Meet a grand success.
Thank You very much!
