NIA tells its cops, return ‘extra pay’

Hyderabad/ New Delhi: While the NIA tries to contain terror networks in the country, things seem to have gone a wee bit wrong when it comes to paying its staff.

Cops in the anti-terror agency have been told that there has been an “inadvertent accounting error” and, as a result, some have been paid an “excess amount”. These cops have been asked to return the extra money.

Notice served to 63 employees

In some cases, the ‘extra’ money that some of the cops in the NIA have been asked to return to the agency runs into lakhs of rupees over the past three years. For instance, a police official received a notice to repay '8 lakh. Another official has been asked to repay '3 lakh.

Around 63 employees, including superintendents of police (non-IPS), DSPs, ASPs, programmer, assistant programmers, administrative officers, inspectors, and sub-inspectors on deputation have been served such notices.

An official who received the notice in Hyderabad said that officers from state police forces had joined the NIA, attracted by its hefty pay packets and special incentives.

“In 2012, the Centre stopped paying state deputation employees the grade pay on par with the Central government staff in the agency. The state deputation staff went to the Central Administr-ative Tribunal. The tribunal has asked the ministry of home affairs to look into the request of employees and take a decision,” he explained.

Sources at the NIA Delhi revealed that some of the officers had been paid excess deputation and special incident allowance, which is normally calculated on the basic pay plus dearness allowance.

“It seems to be a case of an accounting error since the deputation allowance ranges from 5 to 10 per cent. Now it is a subjective matter as some officers may argue that they are entitled to a 10 per cent deputation allowance. Since the matter is sub judice, the court order will be followed by both sides,” an official at NIA Delhi said.

As the NIA is among the premier security and intelligence agencies of the country, officers from the state police as well as central para-military organisations try for a deputation as the extra allowances is a big incentive.

Recently, the deputation rules were relaxed enabling NIA to take staff on deputation from other government departments without them going through the Union Public Service Commission. The relaxation in rule is for select class of employees up to the level of deputy inspector-general (non-IPS category)

The NIA has about 600 personnel. Delhi is the headquarters and there are branch offices in Hyderabad, Guwahati, Kochi, Lucknow and Mumbai.

The agency is probing at least 71 terror related cases involving the Laskhar-e-Tayyabba, Indian Mujahideen, Maoists and fake Indian currency rackets.