SEBI employees came out of their offices on Wednesday to protest for the second time in the past four days against the regulators’ internal policy on staff promotion. The employees of SEBI told BusinessLine that the regulator had short-changed its own staff in the name of implementing better career progression.

SEBI recently changed its minimum service requirement for promotion to five years from three.

The last time such a protest took place was in 1997 over appointment of Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officers as division chiefs. This time, the protest followed SEBI’s move to change its promotion policy that had been in place for over 15 years.

“The new promotion policy says that it is better for career progression but it truly makes matters worse for us than it has been so far,” said an employee on condition of anonymity.

Promotions elsewhere

An entry-level official at SEBI could hope to be a manager in three years and an assistant general manager in six years. But now, the same employee will have to put in 10 years of service to reach that level. At the RBI, new recruits become assistant general managers in seven years. Public services employees joining as Under Secretary can become Deputy Director — a position considered senior to assistant general manager — in around eight years.

SEBI is looking to recruit 120 officials at the entry level but the new policy may make it difficult for the regulator to attract talent, a former regulatory official said. Employees are demanding the withdrawal of the new policy.

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