­Delhi Administration Stenographers' Welfare Association (Regd.) C/o. DGEWF, Room No. 126, 1st Level, Delhi Secretariat, I.P. Estate, New Delhi-110002. E-mail: gnctdss_daswa@yahoo.com gnctdss.daswa@gmail.com

Stenographers of GNCT of Delhi were earlier covered under Delhi Administration Subordinate Service (DASS) Rules, 1967 and were getting dual avenues of promotions, i.e. in their own cadre as well as in DASS Cadre. Services Department of GNCT of Delhi stopped the dual avenues of promotions and further on advice of MHA the Stenographic cadre was re-structured at par with CSSS, GoI in the ratio of 40:40:20 (Grade-III, Grade-II and Grade-I) in accordance with the guidelines of DoPT.

A separate GNCT of Delhi Stenographers Service Rules, 2008 (GNCTDSS) were framed and vide notification dated 21.02.2011; post of PPS was also made available in this cadre after delinking from DASS & DANICS Cadre.  Accordingly, posts in Stenographic cadre were restructured in the ratio of 40:40:20 alongwith19 posts of PPS, which is as under:-

Posts	Sanctioned
Steno.Gr.-III	464
Steno. Gr.-II	464
Sr. PA/Gr.-I	232 (-19)*
Pr. Private Secretary	19* (*these posts were created by upgrading 19 posts of Gr.-I steno)

            The present strength in the following four posts of GNCTDSS is as under:-

Name of Post	Group/ Classification	Scale of Pay	Present sanction Strength
Steno Gr. III	Group C (Non-Gazetted) / General Central Service (Ministerial)	PB-1 – 5200-20200 + GP 2400	566
Steno Gr. II	Group B (Non-Gazetted) / General Central Service (Ministerial)	PB-2 – 9300-34800 + GP 4600	499
Sr. PA/ Gr.I	Group B (Gazetted) / General Central Service (Ministerial)	PB-2 – 9300-34800 + GP 4800 &on completion of 4 years PB-3 – 15600-39100 + GP 5400	228
Pr. Private Secretary	Group A (Gazetted) / General Central Service (Ministerial)	15600-39100 With GP 6600 in PB-3	19

            It was earlier represented that the ratio of 40:40:20 of the Grade-I, II and III has got disturbed due to creation of posts at the level of Grade-III and non-upgradation at the level of Grade-II and Grade-I correspondingly to maintain the ratio as was provided. It has also been pointed out that only 19 posts at the level of PPS are not justifiable to cater the feeder category i.e. Grade-I.

MAGNITUDE OF STAGNATION :

            It was further represented that the magnitude of stagnation in this cadre is increasing to the extent as under with the passage of time:-

1.    A Grade-III Stenographer with more than 18 years of service is still waiting for his first promotion.

2.    A Grade-II Stenographer with more than 28 years of service is still waiting for his 2^ndpromotion.

3.    As there are 19 posts of PPS are available to cater the feeder category of Grade-I/Sr. P.A with the total strength of 228 are not sufficient and thus not appropriately addressed the magnitude of stagnation in the Cadre.

4.    With this structure, the junior most incumbent in the cadre will get only one promotion before superannuation.

5.    In DASS Cadre, a Grade-IV (LDC) is getting three promotions in his service period.

            Stagnation due to non-updation of Service Rules:- Further, it is submitted that O.M. No. AB.14017/61/ 2008-Estt.(RR) dated 24.03.2009 has been issued by the Deptt. of Personnel & Training, Govt. of India which has also been endorsed to Government of NCT of Delhi and moreover it has also been further circulated by the Services Department to all the HODs of GNCTD for taking necessary action in this regard. This O.M. is in continuation of the different O.M.s issued by DoPT after implementation of 6th Central Pay Commission. Vide above-said O.M., minimum qualifying service for promotion between various posts/Grades has also been reduced as per the recommendations of the 6th Central Pay Commission and change in pay structure etc. For instance, in the case of Stenographers Cadre, for promotion from Grade-II (Grade Pay 4200) to Grade-I (Grade Pay 4800) the minimum qualifying service for promotion has been reduced from 8 years to 6 years and moreover it has been reduced to 5 years for CSSS. Further, for promotion from Pvt. Secretary to Pr. Pvt. Secretary it has been reduced from 8 to 6 years.  It has been requested time and again for passing necessary directions for timely updation of Statutory Service Rules/RRs i.e. Government of NCT of Delhi Stenographers Service Rules by making amendments therein as per instructions/guidelines of DoPT, to provide due service conditions to the Stenographers at par with CSSS. 

It is also pointed out that in CSSS, GoI, there are five avenues of promotions available to the Stenographers thereby having better avenues of promotions in GoI. Further, it has also been pointed out that in GoI, entitlement criteria of officers has also appropriately been relaxed to provide sufficient avenues of promotions, therefore, stenographers in GNCT of Delhi are requesting that their cadre be restructured adopting the procedure of up-gradation of posts at par with CSSS, GoI with relaxed entitlement norms (following the precedent set by DoPT) keeping in view the growth oriented management of Human Resources in appropriate manner. Five promotional avenues available to the Stenographers in CSSS, GoI are as under:

Name of the post	Pay Scales of CSSS	Entitlement of officers in CSSS
Steno Grade ‘D’	5200-20200 with GP 2400 in PB-1	Desk Officer/ Section Officers
Steno Grade ‘C’	9300-34800 with GP 4600 in PB-2	Under Secretary & Equivalent in Ministries/ Deptts.
Private Secretary	9300-34800 with GP 4800 in PB-2* *15600-39100 with GP 5400 in PB-3 (On completion of 4 years)	Director/ Dy. Secy. & Equivalent in Ministries/ Deptt.
Pr. Private Secretary	15600-39100 with GP 6600in PB-III	Jt. Secy. & Equivalent
Sr. PPS	15600-39100 with GP 7600in PB-III	Addl. Secy. & Equivalent Rank
Pr. Staff Officer (PSO)	37400-65000 with GP 8700 in PB-IV	Secy./ Spl. Secy. & Equivalent rank

            The Stenographers’ are requesting to upgrade their cadre strength on the above mentioned promotional avenues in parity with CSSS, GoI, in the ratio of percentage presently available or as proposed in CSSS, which is as under :-

Present and Proposed sanctioned strength as per Report of Committee on 3^rd Cadre Review for CSSS, GoI:-

Sl. No.	Grade of CSSS officers	Present   Sanctioned strength	Ratio in %age	Proposed sanctioned strength	Ratio in %age
1	2	3	4	5	6
i)        1	PSO/Sr. PPS	143	13.2%	211	15.3%
ii)        2	PPS	780		855
iii)        3	PS	2090	30%	2090	30%
iv)        4	PA	2627	37.8%	1900	27.3%
v)        5	Steno  Gr. D	1324	19%	1908	27.4%
vi)        6	Total	6964		6964

Accordingly, they have requested to extend parity in terms of ratio of percentage, as applicable in CSSS cadre to Stenographers’ Cadre GNCT of Delhi, which is shown as under:-

Option – 1 :Upgradation as per Ratio of Present Sanctioned Strength in CSSS

Steno Gr. III	Steno Gr. II	Sr. PA/ Gr.I	Pr. Private Secretary
249	496	394	173 (includes posts of Sr. PPS/PSO)
19%	37.80%	30%	13.20%

OR

Option – 2 :Upgradation as per Ratio of Proposed Sanctioned Strength in CSSS as per Report of 3^rd Cadre Review Committee

Steno Gr. III	Steno Gr. II	Sr. PA/ Gr.I	Pr. Private Secretary
359	359	393	201 (includes posts of Sr. PPS/PSO)
27.4%	27.3%	30%	15.30%

In view of the submissions made as above, following points may kindly be considered favourably before proceeding further in the matter of restructuring of stenographic cadre in GNCTD :-

1.       In the past it was considered that non-secretariat / sub-ordinate organizations are one step below vis-a-vis CSSS.  But recently this anomaly has been removed by MHA in consultation with Finance Department, GOI and considered the services of GNCTDSS at par with CSSS alongwith pay scales.  Moreover, the 7^th CPC has also specifically considered this point and recommended in para _______ established the parity between GNCTDSS with that of CSSS setting aside the established mindset that the non-secretariat / sub-ordinate organizations staff has less workload.  Therefore, it will not be appropriate to emphasise at this juncture that the workload/responsibilities of officers in administrative set up in any department of Government of India is higher than GNCT of Delhi and employees of Government of India are entitled for better service conditions for greater work responsibilities. 

2.       As already pointed out that the stenographers cadre was restructured in the year 2008 in the ratio of 40:40:20 as per DoPT guidelines and vide notification dated 21.02.2011; 19 posts of PPS were also made available in this cadre after delinking from DASS & DANICS Cadre.

3.       On the point of magnitude of stagnation there may also be presumption that there may be creation of posts of Grade-III Stenographers on need basis and subsequent upgradation at upper level may not have been done, but it may be seen that in the matter of cadre review of CSSS by DOPT vide OM no.20/51/2009-CS.II(A) (Vol.II) dated 25.02.2011 they have created and upgraded the posts of stenographers at upper level, i.e. PS & PPS by reducing the equal number of posts at lower level.  Therefore, same analogy may be adopted in case of stenographers of GNCT of Delhi.  Moreover, it is also informed that recently cadre restructuring in respect of Accounts Cadre has taken place by creating a substantial number of posts at upper level in parity with their counterparts in Central Government.

4.       The pyramid formation in the ratio of 40:40:20 initially adopted both in GNCTD & GOI could not meet out the promotional avenues in the stenographer cadre and got disturbed by creation of posts at the entry level.  Govt. of India, thereby adopted the need base formula by creating more posts at PS and PPS level.

5.       It is a fact that different posts at different levels are created by departments of Delhi Government itself in consultation with AR Department and there is no scope of grant of any specific service condition to the employees by these departments. Any change in service conditions and RRs are to be looked into by the Cadre Controlling Authority.  In case of ministerial staff, such as DASS & Stenographer Cadre, being organized cadre of subordinate staff (this fact that we are a organized cadre has been established by 7^th CPC also), their Cadre Controlling Authority is Services Department.  Any change in condition of services of these categories of employees are to be looked into by the Services Department itself by adopting DOPT guidelines issued from time to time apart from management of total cadre strength/review and to provide them growth oriented service conditions from the perspective of human resource management to cater the demands / needs of the growing population of Delhi in a better way.

6.       It may be noted that having special status being National Capital Territory, with the increasing population, expanding administrative set-up, over the last decade, there has been a sea-change in the work environment of GNCT of Delhi due to IT innovations. This has resulted in increase in efficiency and speed in performance of duties, including those by the GNCTDSS personnel also. Such induction of technological advancement and adoption of best practices of delivery oriented mechanism across the Departments in GNCT of Delhi, workload of skilled and experienced employees has indeed increased manifold. In addition, enactment of different laws, schemes & policies and enforcement & implementation thereof have added more responsibilities. Due to very long processes of creation, upgradation, cadre reviews and recruitment, the Departments/Officers at different levels are facing functional difficulties to perform time bound delivery oriented tasks in accurate and professional way due to shortage of technically/professionally skilled, qualified and experienced staff in ever expanding administrative set-up.

7.       Since the qualification, job responsibilities/duties, mode of recruitment (SSC / DSSSB) are same for stenographers as compared to their counterparts in CSSS, GoI, the service conditions may also be at par in view of the recommendations of 6^th CPC at para 7.57.5 and recent orders of Ministry of Finance and MHA for pay parity etc.

8.       In the present structure the last incumbent at the level of Grade-III is superannuating after getting only one promotion. If we analyze on the analogy of DoPT in the context of CSSS, there are five channels of promotions in stenographers’ cadre and stenographers of GNCT of Delhi are requesting only for ensuring three promotions in the entire service.  Therefore, to distribute the total number of posts in three categories and to provide 2^nd and 3^rd avenue of promotion by re-arranging the total sanctioned strength in a specific structure keeping in view the magnitude of stagnation, relaxation in entitlement norms, functional requirement and financial implications apart from perspective of growth oriented management of human resources in GNCT of Delhi.  

9.       The need to review the cadre structure of the GNCT of Delhi Stenographers’ Services (GNCTDSS) is to harmonize the functional needs with the legitimate career expectations of its members and to suggest measures to enhance the effectiveness of the Service.  We should approach the issue in a holistic manner keeping in view the larger public interest with the hope that the suggested measures would enhance the effectiveness of the Service and usher in better cadre management of the GNCTDSS in future.  Hence, it is requested that the cadre structure of GNCTDSS should be such as to enable it to attract best talent in the service and provides the members of the service with excellent possible career advancement opportunities which, in turn, encourages competence and innovation, ensures capacity building at all level and makes the service more efficient, effective and responsive.

10.     After going through the present cadre strength, magnitude of stagnation, historical parity with CSSS, GoI in terms of service conditions, qualification, duties etc. there is urgent need to upgrade a substantial number of posts at the level of Sr. PA and PPS, as presently Grade-III and Grade-II Stenographers are more sufferers due to prolonged delays in their promotions, hence the Government may propose that these two categories may be ensured at least three promotions before superannuation.  Hence, Government is requested to consider upgrading more posts at upper levels as under by way of adopting methodology by DoPT for CSSS in the year 2011 (OM no.20/51/2009-CS.II(A) (Vol.II) dated 25.02.2011, copy enclosed) :-

S. No.	Name of present post	New Name of Post	No. of Posts	Grade Pay	Qualifying time period as per DOPT guidelines/ CSSS
1	Stenographer Grade-III	Stenographer Grade-III	416+31=447	Rs.4200 PB-2	5 years
2	Stenographer Grade-II	Personal Assistant	363+27=390	Rs.4600 PB-2	5 years
3	Senior Personal Assistant / Grade-I	Private Secretary	400+30=430	Rs.4800 PB-2	4 years
4	Senior Personal Assistant / Grade-I	Private Secretary (Non-functional scale)		Rs.5400 PB-3
5	Principal Private Secretary	Principal Private Secretary	125+9=134	Rs.6600 Group-A	6 years
6	Senior Principal Private Secretary	Senior Principal Private Secretary (For Hon’ble Cabinet Ministers and equivalent)	08	Rs.7600 Group-A	Till Service
Total			1312+97*=1409
*- 97 posts additionally added which shall be available for ST Category if any incumbent of this category joins at later stage but presently there is no ST candidate and all posts are lying vacant.

11.  The relaxation of norms for entitlement of officers for level of stenographic assistance has further been continued to be proposed in the Report of 3^rd Cadre Review of CSSS.  Further, it is also proposed that being important issue this may not be delayed on the pretext that first requisition will be sought from all the departments and then the process of upgradation will be started.  Therefore, process of DoPT may be adopted and after said upgradation, posting of such categories above Sr. P.A. may be posted as per functional requirement in different departments of GNCT of Delhi as has been done in case of CSSS.

At the time of creation of posts of PPS in this cadre, posts of PPS were created after seeking requirement in different offices under GNCT of Delhi as per entitlement and 19 officers were identified by the General Administration Department. At present in Govt. of NCT of Delhi PPSs are attached with LG, CM, Ministers and Pr. Secretaries.  However, in Ministries of Govt. of India PPS posts have been attached against Joint Secretaries and equivalent level officers working in different Ministries/Departments. Therefore, it may also be considered that entitlement criteria of officers is also required to be relaxed as per DoPT OM dated 25.02.2011. With above mentioned structure entitlement of officers for level of stenographic assistance may be as under :-

Name of the post	Proposed entitlement of officers in GNCTD
Steno Grade-III	A.O. (with GP Rs.5400 & above).
Personal Assistant (PA)	Jt. Secy. & Equivalent Rank (with GP Rs.7600 & above.)
Private Secretary (PS)	Spl. Secy. / Addl. Secy. & Equivalent Rank. (with GP Rs.8700 & above)
Principal Private Secretary (PPS)	Pr. Secy. / Secy. /  HODs & Equivalent Rank (with GP Rs.10,000 & above)
Sr. PPS (under consideration)	Hon’ble LG, Speaker of L.A., Cabinet Ministers, Pr. Secy. and Equivalent Rank with pay Rs.80,000/- (fixed)

It was also represented that the posts of PPS are to be attached with Secretaries, Commissioners, Medical Superintendents, Addl. M.S of Hospitals, Directors of Departments in hospitals etc. as they are the Head of their departments and are also looking after the administrative work of different committees, Projects, implementation of welfare schemes, policies and enforcement of different acts and they are on Higher Administrative Grades/Super Administrative Grades.

12.  Nomenclature of posts in respect of Stenographic Cadre are also not changed since a very long time and are required to be updated as per DoPT guidelines and recent 3^rd cadre review report of committee for CSSS dated 16.04.2015, which are almost equivalent in nature.

13.  As per DoPT guidelines and CSSS, residency requirements for promotion from one grade to the next higher grade may also be extended to GNCTDSS, as under:-

From	To	Mode of Recruitment	Residency period for promotion
PPS	Sr. PPS	Promotion	5 years of approved service in PPS Grade
Sr. PA	PPS	Promotion	6 years of approved service in PS grade
Grade-II	Sr. PA	Promotion	5 years of approved service in PA grade
Grade-III	Grade-II	Promotion	10 years of approved service in Steno Grade D
Grade-III		Direct Recruitment

14.     Further, as regards creation of posts of Sr. PPS in GNCT of Delhi to provide 4^th avenue of promotion to the stenographers, it may not be feasible to provide ratio of any percentage or comparison with the posts at lower level in these categories.  However, 8 symbolic posts of Sr. PPS may be considered for creating additional avenue in view of the historical parity with CSSS, GoI.  It may not be out of place to mention here that in GNCT of Delhi itself with the kind approval of Hon’ble Lt. Governor, Delhi, posts in Accounts Cadre have been created upto the level of Controller of Accounts with Grade Pay Rs.8700/-, who are appointed through competitive examination conducted by Principal Account Office and LDCs with qualification of matriculation & Grade Pay Rs.1900/- and above are eligible for the said competitive examination.

15.  All the officers functioning as Head of Office/Secretary of a department needs experienced personnel, who are apt with all types of secretarial duties, interpersonal skills, eloquent while on phone with senior officers, manage and supervise personal section of Secretary/Spl. Secretary/Addl. Secretary.  The stenographer after working for 20-25 years of service has got experience and have knowledge of the key areas and could do the following duties in a very effective way like –

                      i)        Facilitating meetings

                    ii)        E-tracking of files and important papers

                   iii)        Facilitating grievance handling,

                   iv)        Handling phone calls

                     v)        E monitoring management system of important references

                   vi)        Noting & subsequently chalking out of minutes of important meetings taken by Secretary

                  vii)        Handling coordination work.

16.  The restructuring exercise of GNCTDSS should look at the structure of the service which would be sustainable in the long term keeping in view the functional aspects, reporting hierarchy and reasonable career opportunities.  For sustainable cadre structure of GNCTDSS, there is a need to:-

                      i)        Recruitment be done at Steno Grade-III level with minimum qualification to be Graduate.

                    ii)        Decrease the number of posts at Grade-III & Grade-II level.

                   iii)        Increase the number of posts at Sr. PA and PPS level.

                   iv)        Introduce the additional promotional avenue at Sr. PPS level by reducing the number of posts at Grade-III & Grade-II level and distribute the same among Grade-I/Sr. PA, PPS and Sr. PPS level as mentioned in Para 10 above.

17.  As we are requesting for symbolic 4^th avenue of promotion to this category of staff, it is also requested that their duties / responsibilities are also required to be enhanced to the extent of Desk Officers in GoI as this category of employees are technically/professionally skilled, qualified and experienced in administrative set-up.  Later on performance based appraisal system may also be evaluated.

18.  It is pertinent to mention that mode of recruitment of stenographers in GNCTD is same as for CSSS i.e. All India Competitive Examination with similar eligibility criteria and presently all the Stenographers Grade-II and above working in GNCT of Delhi have been recruited through Staff Selection Commission prior to Delhi Subordinate Service Selection Board.

*******************

Clarification of proposed enhanced of stenographic cadre on the basis data as on 01.01.2016

POST	S	Existing %age	F	Proposed	Proposed %age	With additional ST Category reserved posts which are to be kept vacant in the Proposed structure
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Sr. PPS	----	----	----	8	0.57
PPS	19	1.45	8	125+9=134	9.51	9
SR. PA	228	17.38	136	400+30=430	30.52	30
STENO. GR.-II	499	38.03	455	363+27=390	27.68	27
STENO. GR.-III	566	43.14	132	416+31=447	31.72	31
Leave & Training Reserve 10% each total sanctioned strength	131+131 = 262*
TOTAL	1574	100	731	1312+97 = 1409	100	97

            The basis of above proposed tabulation is formulated on the basis of the facts that:-

1.    It may be seen that as per statutory service rules there are 262 posts which have to be kept for leave and training reserve in addition to total strength of 1312 @10% each. These posts may please be considered for addressing the magnitude of stagnation in the cadre by distributing proportionately @7.5% at all levels against the reserved posts of ST category, which comes to 97.  After this arrangement there are still 165 posts left for Leave & Training Reserve.

2.    At present there are 97 posts reserved for ST category at all levels (PPS – 1, Grade-I – 17, Grade-II – 37 & Grade-III – 42) which shall always remain vacant as there is no ST candidate available in entire cadre.  Therefore, additional posts may be created at all levels for ST category, which are going to remain vacant in future also.

3.    8 posts of Sr. PPS (with GP 7600) may also be considered for this cadre.

4.    Presently 129 posts are filled at Grade-III level, who all are eligible for getting their 1^st promotion to the post of Grade-II which are lying vacant (44 including reserved for ST) and likely to be vacant on account of promotion of Grade-II to Grade-I (vacant posts 92 including reserved for ST). 

5.    Out of 437 vacant posts of Grade-III, Services Department has received 72 dossiers in respect of Grade-III from DSSSB.  Consequently for the purpose of providing sufficient avenues of promotion at upper level, 566-129-72=365 posts may be upgraded at upper level. 

6.    Presently out of 228 posts at Grade-I level, 92 posts (including reserved for ST) are lying vacant and more than 92 candidates at Grade-II level are eligible for promotion to the post of Grade-I, resulting therein 136 (92+44) posts are to be vacant at the level of Grade-II thereby creating enough room for accommodating 129 eligible Grade-III stenographers as mentioned in Point No.4.  Therefore, 494 posts at Grade-III level are available (129+365=494) and 7 posts at Grade-II level are available for upgradation at upper level thereby a total of 501 posts will be in hand for upgradation at upper level.

7.    Further, on the basis of above analysis the cadre strength may easily be rearranged as 8 posts of Sr. PPS may be considered, 134 posts of PPS level, 430 posts of PS/Grade-I level, 390 posts at Grade-II level and 447 at Grade-III level may be considered for upgradation by way of adjusting 97 posts, reserved for ST category, out of the Leave & Training Reserve Posts, which is explained in the proposed tabulation and vacant posts of 501 posts at Grade-II & Grade-III levels.

8.    On the basis of rearrangement of number of posts at all levels, the stenographic cadre will get only 8 symbolic posts of Sr. PPS, 115 posts of PPS, 202 posts of PS/Grade-I (total 325 posts) by way of creation / upgradation, whereas there are 501 posts which could be utilized for upgradation at upper levels. 

9.    Since all the senior most Grade-I/Sr.PA are already drawing Grade Pay of Rs.5400 and senior Grade-II are drawing Grade Pay of Rs.4800 there is meagre financial implication involved.

10.  Fresh strength, change in nomenclature of posts and reduction in qualifying service as per earlier proposals, DoPT guidelines and CSSS is reproduced as under for consideration please :-

S. No.	Name of Post	Proposed Number & Name of Posts	Grade Pay	Time Period
1	Grade-III	Grade-III Stenographer (447 posts)	4200	5 years
2	Grade-II	Personal Assistant (390 posts)	4600	5 years
3	Grade-I/Sr. PA	Private Secretary (430 posts)	4800	4 years
4	Grade-I/Sr. PA	Private Secretary (NFSG)	5400 (PB-III)
5	PPS	PPS (134 posts)	6600 (Gr.-A)	6 years
6	Sr. PPS	Sr. PPS (8 posts) for Hon’ble Cabinet Ministers and equivalent	7600 (Gr.-A)	Till service
	TOTAL	1312+97 = 1409