From my personal experience, certain statboards pay better than Ministry. The benefits are better too. There are those who say that "Oh we are here to serve the country", but we also got to support our families.

The benefits in certain statboards are better, such as flexi-benefits. Some statboards give $800 flexi benefits which you can use to buy items for your family, etc. My Ministry does not have flexi-benefits and also does not build this into the salary. Certain statboards also give $100 - $200 more than the standard increment enjoyed by civil servants. Even the entertainment expenses differs by quite a lot! Some statboards allow much more claim allowances for those in the Ministry. Especially those statboards that are generating their own income.