Thiruvananthapuram: The cabinet has recommended to increase the salary and pension of the PSC chairman and members. The recommendation suggests that they should receive a super time scale equivalent to that of District Judges, along with a Dearness Allowance (DA) at the central rate.

Even though the matter came up for consideration at the last cabinet meeting, no decision was taken. As the government is facing a severe financial crisis, it is understood that the recommendation will be re-evaluated and decided.

At present, the monthly salary of the chairman is Rs 2.24 lakhs and that of the members is Rs 2.19 lakhs if the benefits are added to the basic salary. The new recommendation proposes to pay Rs 4 lakh to the chairman and Rs 3.75 lakh to the members, including benefits. Similarly, there is also an increase in pension.

It is recommended that the current pension of the chairman be increased from Rs 1.25 lakh to Rs 2.5 lakh and that of members from Rs 1.20 lakh to Rs 2.25 lakh.

It has also been proposed to give effect to the revised salary from 2016 onwards. The Finance Department was of the opinion that the DA should be waived by giving a unified salary to the PSC chairman and members. However, the file also pointed out a counter-argument that according to the 2007 government order, the PSC chairman and the members can be paid DA along with the salary just like the District Judges are paid with the central rate.

It is estimated that if DA is included, there will be an additional liability of Rs 4 crore per year.

The reason for the salary increase is that, since the PSC Chairman and members hold constitutional posts, their salary and benefits should align with those of equivalent posts in the central government.

However, while UPSC has nine members, Kerala PSC has 21 members. PSC members are also appointed on a political basis. There is no specific educational qualification to become a member of the PSC, which selects officers from attenders to the Kerala Administrative Service.

Hiring list is getting shorter

Even as there is a move to increase the salary in the PSC, the figures indicate that recruitment through this method is decreasing.

2016-37,530, 2017-35,911, 2018- 28,025, 2019-35,422, 2020-25,914, 2021-26,724 and 2022-22,393 are the number of appointments in each year.