7th Pay Commission Recommendations on PRIS

7th Pay Commission Recommendations on PRIS – Performance Related Incentive Scheme to continue as such. No PRIS for Non-Scientific Staff. DRDO can continue with their existing system.

7th CPC report has been submitted to Finance Ministry for implementation. The recommendations made by the 7th CPC about PRIS is given below.

Performance Related Incentive Scheme (PRIS)

PRIS is operational in Departments of Atomic Energy and Space. PRIS is a variable component of pay and is awarded on the basis of the performance of individual/ group/organization, measured against goals set for a given period of assessment. PRIS is non- additive and non-cumulative. The form of PRIS envisaged is organization and design specific and is payable as a cash incentive either when it becomes due or on a monthly/quarterly/annual basis. It is based on the principle of differential reward for differential performance. The scheme is transparent and centrally implementable. The Scheme has three components- Organizational, Group and Individual.

Organizational PRIS

Organizational PRIS or PRIS (O) is awarded to all personnel in the department and its constituent units based on accomplishment of various objectives at the organizational level, in the form of Special Allowance at the rate of 20 percent of pay, payable on a six monthly basis and subject to fulfilling the following eligibility criteria:

Attendance of not less than 175 working days during the preceding financial year.
Incentive shall not be admissible for the period of EL/HPL/Commuted Leave etc. availed singly or in combination, in excess of 30 days during the financial year for which the organizational incentive is otherwise payable.
APAR grading should be Good/B+ or above.
Should not be under suspension or deputation.

Group PRIS

Group PRIS or PRIS (G) is awarded to all employees belonging to specific groups identified in all Units of the Department–scientific, technical, administrative and auxiliary, exhibiting excellence which have significantly contributed towards the realization of the organizational objective in a particular year, in the form of Special Allowance at the rate of 10 percent of the basic pay of the individual during the financial year, based on annual assessment and which is further subject to fulfilling the following eligibility criteria:

Overall grading in APAR of the preceding reporting year should be Very Good or above.
For SC/ST personnel, the same should be Good or above.
Other criteria remain the same as PRIS (O).

Individual PRIS

Individual PRIS or PRIS (I) are variable additional increments granted to all eligible Scientific and Technical personnel at the time of promotion in recognition of individual meritorious performance subject to fulfilling the following eligibility criteria:

Variable increments awarded to Scientific and Technical personnel are specific to the Grade.
An employee will enter into PRIS (I) only after the first merit promotion.
A promoted candidate should not get less PRIS (I) increments than what the candidate was drawing before the effective promotion date.
Eligibility condition of 175 working days is not applicable for grant of PRIS (I).
The DPC/Standing Selection Committee, after considering the total length of time taken by an employee to earn promotion, will recommend the total number of variable incentives payable under PRIS (I)
Up to six increments can be recommended to the officers in the grade of Scientist H and above (except Officers at Apex Scale), four increments to the officers in the grade of Scientist C to Scientist G and maximum three increments to Technical Staff.
Variable increment will be multiple of one increment, but subject to the ceiling of ₹10,000 per month.
The amount of incentive increment payable as PRIS (I) has no relation with the normal rate of increments under pay fixation/annual increment.

The Commission has been informed that of the three components, only PRIS (O) and (I) are under implementation and that PRIS (G) is yet to be awarded.

Demands

Associations of scientific staff in Departments of Atomic Energy and Space have submitted that PRIS, as presently implemented, has gone a long way in arresting attrition and accordingly need to be continued. They have however sought an increase in the incentive percentage of PRIS (O) and PRIS (G) as lately the attrition rate has somewhat increased. They have also demanded extension of PRIS (I) to the apex level posts of the organizations presently covered under the scheme, the stated justification being that Heads of Organization have a critical role to play in the formulation and implementation of scientific policy of the government. The associations have also requested extension of PRIS (I) to the entire department instead of limiting it to the scientific cadres. Demands have also been made for exempting Medical Leave for fulfilling the conditionality of attendance for being considered eligible for grant of PRIS (O) and PRIS (G). A demand has also been placed to extend PRIS to DRDO.

In response to a query, current data on attrition rate was supplied by Departments of Atomic Energy and Space, as well as DRDO. The attrition rate, defined as the number of scientists resigning/taking VRS during a year as a percentage of total scientists on the payroll at the end of that year, is shown in the table below:

Attrition Rate of Scientists

(percentage)

Years

Space

Atomic Energy

DRDO

2010-11

1.34

0.57

0.87

2011-12

1.50

0.70

1.16

2012-13

1.23

0.51

0.93

2013-14

1.25

0.70

0.82

2014-15

0.86

0.48

0.53

From the table above it is seen that attrition rate has been on decline in all the three scientific departments which would be partly due to PRIS and partly due to salary increase after VI CPC.

Analysis and Recommendations

It is noted that contrary to the assertion by Departments of Atomic Energy and Space, the attrition rate has continued to fall. Therefore, while the Commission sees merit in continuing with PRIS for arresting attrition in these organizations, it is not in favour of increasing the incentive percentage. The PRIS (O) and PRIS (G) taken together already amount to 30 percent of the basic pay, which is substantial. This would be more so when the rise in pay levels post implementation of VII CPC recommendations is taken into account. The demand to bring apex level functionaries under PRIS (I) is not supported as Heads of Organizations have sufficient incentive to perform being in the position they are in and like others are already the beneficiaries of PRIS (O). The Commission is also not in favour of extending PRIS (I) to non-scientific staff. The demand for exempting medical leave from the eligibility conditions of PRIS is a matter that may be dealt with administratively. The Commission also does not recommend extension of PRIS to DRDO as they have a separate system of variable increments in place which is similar to PRIS (I).