Recommendations of 7th CPC: Views of Indian Audit & Accounts Department : 7th CPC  has recommended for replacement pay level for AAO, AO and Sr. AO

Recommendations of 7th CPC: Views of Indian Audit & Accounts Department : Issues related to pay of (a) main stream cadre (b) Da cadre and (C) other cadres such as Rajbhasha DEO, Staff Car Drivers

Recommendation of 7th CPC : The 7th CPC, under para 11.62.20 (page 836) has recommended for replacement pay level for AAO, AO and Sr. AO. Further under para 11.12.140 (page- 526) of its recommendations, the 7th CPC has recommended that all officers in organized accounts cadre (in Indian Audit and Accounts Department, Defence Accounts Department, India Civil Accounts Organization, railway, Post and Telecommunications) who are in GP Rs.4800/- should be upgraded, on completion of four years’ service to GP Rs.5400, viz Pay level 9, in the pay matrix.

(a) Main Stream Cadre : The recommendations of 7th CPC in respect of pay scales of Sr. AO, AO and AAOs in IA &AD are as mentioned below:

Cadre/Post	Pay band and Grade Pay (6th CPC	Pau Scales Recommended by 7thCPC
		Pay Level	Reference para No.and page No.
Sr.Audit Officer/Sr.Accounts Officer	PB-3, GP Rs.5400/-	Level 10 (PB-3, GP Rs.5400/-	11.62.20 (Page No.836)
Audit Officer/Accounts Officer	PB-2, GP Rs.5400/-	Level 09 (PB-2, GP Rs.5400/-	11.62.20 (Page No.836)
Asstt. Audit Officer/Asstt. Accounts Officer	PB2, Gp Rs.4800/-	Level 08 (PB-2, GP Rs.4800/-) After 4 years Level 09 (PB-2, GP Rs.5400/-)	11.12.140 (Page No.526)
Sr.Auditor/Sr.Accountant	PB-2, GP Rs.4200/-	Level 06 (PB-2, GP Rs.4200/-)	11.62.17 (Page No.836)
Auditor/Accountants	PB-1, GP Rs.2800/-	Level 05 (PB-1, Gp Rs.2800/-)	11.62.15 (Page No.835)

Views of Indian Audit and Accounts Department 

We reiterate the demand submitted in the memorandum before the 7 th CPC in respect of the main stream cadre as well as Divisional Accountant cadre, which are as mentioned below:

(a) Main Stream cadre:

Cadre/Post	Pay band and Grade Pay  (6th CPC)	Pay Level (7th CPC)
Sr.Audit Officer/Sr.Accounts Officer	PB-3, GP Rs.5400/-	Level 12 (PB-3, GP Rs.7600/-)
Audit Officer/Accounts Officer	PB-2, GP Rs.5400/-	Level 11 (PB-3, GP Rs.6600/-)
Asstt. Audit Officer/Asstt. Accounts Officer	PB2, GP Rs.4800/-	Level 08 (PB-2, GP Rs.4800/-) After 4 Years Level 09 (PB-2, GP Rs.5400/-)
Sr.Auditor/Sr.Accountant	PB-2, GP Rs.4200/-	Level 07 (PB-2, GP Rs.4600/-)
Auditor/Accountants	PB-1, GP Rs.2800/-	Level 06 (PB-1, GP Rs.4200/-)

Auditor / Accountant cadre: The job profile of Auditor/Accountant requires technical skills to perform Audit/Accounting duties. They are appointed on direct recruitment through the Combined Graduate Level Examination (CGLE) conducted by the Staff Selection Commission. As their job profile demands greater Audit /Accounting skills higher Grade pay of Rs.4200/- is justified for Auditors/Accountants.

Sr. Auditor / Sr. Accountant cadre: Consequent to the revision of the Recruitment Rules for the post of Sr. Auditor/Sr. Accountant, which is currently under process, the direct recruitment of Sr. Auditors/Sr. Accountants will take place through the Combined Graduate Level Examination (CGLE), ‘Scheme A’ conducted by the Staff Selection Commission. CGLE ‘Scheme A’ is at present for Assistants of the Central Secretariat Service and has an additional computer paper and a personality test as compared to the normal CGLE. Therefore, the qualification, mode of recruitment, selection procedure etc. in respect of Sr. Auditors/Sr. Accountants in the Indian Audit and Accounts Department will be the same as in the case of the Assistants in CSS.

Further, both Sr. Auditors/Sr. Accountants and the Assistants in CSS were placed in the same grade pay of Rs.4,200/- by the 6th Central Pay Commission with effect from 01.01.2006. However, the Ministry of Finance vide OM No.F.No.1/1/2008-IC dated 13.11.2009 unilaterally increased the grade pay of the Assistants of the CSS to Rs.4,600 with effect from 01.01.2006. Therefore, the grade pay of Sr. Auditors/Sr. Accountants should also be enhanced to Rs.4,600/- to restore the parity provided by the 6th Central Pay Commission.

Senior Audit/Accounts Officer Cadre :  The changing economic scenario and the liberalization of the economy have thrown up requirements for more comprehensive and effective Auditing. It has also broadened the ambit and scope of auditing by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, from transaction and regulatory audit, to performance evaluation auditing (to evaluate comprehensively the effectiveness and achievement of a scheme, project etc). The Sr. Audit Officer/Sr. Accounts Officer, besides conducting the audit, also performs multifaceted roles such as vetting audit Inspection Reports submitted by the field Audit Parties and follow up of action taken by the audited entities on these reports, ensuring adherence to auditing standards, compilation of accounts, preparation of annual State Government Accounts, and audit of Treasury functions, etc.

The Accounts Officer / Audit Officers and Sr. Accounts Officer / Sr. Audit Officers cadres constitute the cutting edge of the professional workforce of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India. The highest level of supervision below the Senior Time Scale of the Indian Audit and Accounts Service is provided by these officers. These are promotional posts, the feeding cadre being Assistant Audit Officers and Assistant Accounts Officers. The appointment to this feeder cadre of Assistant Audit/Accounts Officers is made through a professional qualifying examination conducted for various specialized branches such as Civil Accounts, Civil Audit, Commercial Audit, Defence Audit, Railway Audit, and Posts and Telecommunications Audit. The promotion to the Audit Officer or Accounts Officer cadre takes place only after putting in about 17 to 20 years in the feeder cadre of Assistant Audit/Accounts Officer, and further promotion to Sr. Audit/Accounts Officer cadre after another 2-4 years of service as Audit/Accounts Officer.

The Sr. Audit/Accounts Officers and Audit/Accounts Officers are eligible for induction to the higher grade of Indian Audit and Accounts Service (IA&AS). 1/3rd of the vacancies in IA&AS are filled by induction of Sr. Audit/Accounts Officers/Audit/Accounts Officers. The prescribed eligibility criteria are 5 years of combined regular service as Sr. Audit/Accounts Officer and Audit/Accounts Officer and age below 53 years at the time of induction. There are limited vacancies (14 to 15 each year) which restrict the number of inductions into IA&AS to 0.2% of the total sanctioned strength of Sr. Audit/Accounts Officers and Audit/Accounts Officers (combined cadre strength – 5059) each year. Therefore, the cadre of Sr. Audit/Accounts Officers deserve better grade pay and need to be placed in pay level 12 ( replacement of PB-3 with a grade pay of Rs.7600/-).