Indian Public Service Employees' Federation - IPSEF

sector. While the world over the term ‘Public Service’ is widely used to describe the category of employees and workers in the official sector, the concept is yet to take roots in our country and we are the first to use it. The adversarial relationship implied in this idea has a negative psychological impact. While the government treats its employees as ‘necessary evil’, the employees, often called ‘government servants’ feel that they are not a part of a larger scheme and have lost interest. Consequently, the government sector has become a rudderless ship floating around without any purpose or direction. We, therefore, consider that the introduction of the new concept of ‘Public Service’ which is limited to higher services at present will also energize the entire government machinery with a new spirit of unity and missionary zeal to serve the people of this country. We believe the time has come for various terms used to describe employees of all hues to make way for a common descriptive title: ‘Public Service Employees’. This sector caters to the social, cultural and welfare-related needs of the people and plays an important role at the grassroots level in the implementation of government policies. All public service employees have to be treated as equal. Though the Constitution of India has provided for a quasi-federal structure, the economic policies implemented by not only the Central government but by all state governments is the same – down sizing, outsourcing, contractual service, no new recruitment, no pension for new employees appointed after 1 January 2004. This way the quasi-federal form of the government has, in practice, turned into a unitary form of government. We, therefore, believe that all employees, whether belonging to the Central Government or to all state governments, Autonomous bodies, Panchayats, and municipal bodies are employees of one and the same government. The employer is one, and employees of whatever hue constitute a single body. IPSEF also believes that instead of Central Pay Commissions, the government should appoint a National Pay Commission for all Public Service employees. We invite all employee organizations to unite under the banner of IPSEF to protect their interests.