In the last two years, the number of central government babus alone has grown from 3.42 million to 3.49 million. This, despite the fact that, at the time of the Fifth Pay Commission, the recommendation was very clear: cut the number of staffers by a third over a period of time, while increasing salaries. The United Front government, as is well known, however, accepted just one part of the recommendation.
So, when the BJP came to power, it set up an Expenditure Reforms Commission (ERC), and based on its recommendations, various ministries and departments were asked to identify surplus staff, transfer them to a surplus pool to begin with, and later offer them voluntary retirement packages
