No of US bureaucrats earning over $1.5 lakh annually continues to grow under Obama regime, Republicans may stall pay hike

US MIGHT have faced the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression of 1930s, but the number of highly paid bureaucrats has continued to soar in America, giving the Republicans new ammunition to take on the Democratic regime led by Barack Obama. The number of bureaucrats earning $150,000 (about Rs 70 lakh) or more a year has soared 10 times during the past five years and doubled since President Obama took office, a USA TODAY report said. In India, the senior most bureaucrat cabinet secretary receives an annual salary of Rs 10.8 lakh.

The debate over the rise of high-paid bureaucrats in US may challenge Obama’s plan to give a 1.4% across-the-board pay raise to 2.1 million federal workers. In fact, federal employees’ average compensation has grown to more than double what private sector workers earn, the USA TODAY analysis said.

Action and Appointments

a) Bhushan Chander Gupta, a 1975 batch Punjab cadre IAS, presently in the cadre, has been appointed as secretary, department of food and public distribution, ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distribution in the vacancy of Ms Alka Sirohi, a 1974 batch MP cadre IAS.

b) Rajbir Singh Rana, a 1983 batch IDAS has been appointed as joint secretary in the department of animal husbandry, dairying and fisheries in place of Arvind Kaushal, a 1979 batch IDAS.

c) Niraj Kumar Gayagi, a 1997 batch IDAS, who was recommended for Central deputation by the ministry of defence, has been selected for appointment as deputy secretary in the department of science and technology for a period of four years from the date of taking over charge.