Boom sidesteps govt wages

The demand for a 6th Pay Commission to revise government salaries may not be totally out of place. The difference in entry level salaries offered by the government and the corporate sector to professionals like lawyers and engineers has increased in the last few years.

Strong economic growth in the last few years has led to a sharp rise in the demand for professionals resulting in higher salaries, while government salaries remain pegged at 1996 levels.

While a lawyer starts at Rs 12,000 per month (including a dearness allowance of 50 per cent) with the government, companies (like GEnpact) have started signing them up for Rs 25,000 - more than double. Till a few years ago, the difference was only Rs 2,000.

"The current boom in the legal process outsourcing market has ensured that the salaries paid by corporates have risen in the last two-three years. Even graduates in B-grade schools get very big packages and those with an MBA degree get Rs 100,000 per annum starting salary," said Manoj Kumar, Consultant-team leader (ITES), MaFoi Consultants.

"In the case of junior engineers too, the gap has risen from Rs 3,000 to Rs 12,500 now. However, the difference for doctors and teachers has remained stagnant over the last few years due to more number of teachers and doctors passing every year than what is required, according to information made available by MaFoi Consultants. However, other HR experts say, the salaries could vary across organisations in the private sector, particularly for teachers and doctors.

What is more, the salary gap widens as one moves up the hierarchy. While a lawyer after 15 years of public practice qualifies under the junior administrative grade and has a salary of about Rs 21,000 per month, six years of experience in the private sector can earn lawyers salaries of around Rs 125,000 per month.

Still, HR experts said, what continues to draw professionals to government services is the rich experience they get in several domains that can be moved to the private sector.

"Doctors prefer to put in about ten years in a government hospital because they get to treat all kinds of patients who come to them because of the low fees," said LG Electronics vice-president Yasho Verma.

"In terms of raw material and procurement, I would go for somebody from the forest services,' added Lav Kumar Shelat, senior vice-president (HR), Ballarpur Industries, India's largest paper company.

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