“It doesn’t come as a surprise that even bits and morsels of information about the recommendations, which is being eagerly expected by nearly 50 lakh employees and pensioners, make headlines.”
The recommendations of
the 7th Pay Commission have slowly started to make their way to the
media in the form of unconfirmed news. The information that was being
extensively discussed by all for more than a week now has finally made
it to the websites yesterday.
It has now been
confirmed that the 7th Pay Commission will submit is report to the
Government next month. With the report being given a final shape,
certain pieces of information have already started to hit the media.
Some of the workable recommendations of the commission are out.
In 2006, a number of
such unconfirmed reports surfaced, when the 6th Pay Commission report
was being prepared, because the report was not submitted to the
government on time. Due to the delay, there was tremendous curiosity to
find out what the report contained. This led to a lot of rumors. Since
the internet didn’t become that popular in those days, those rumors were
hard to believe. Most of them were circulated by word of mouth.
Now, despite the fact
that there are plenty of news sources, since it has become possible to
trace the point of origin of the information, such rumors have reduced.
This time around, the information was given by the leaders of
Federations. Yet, one can neither completely accept them as true, nor
dismiss them as entirely false.
Since the government and
the major employees federations have their own websites, it has become
possible for the information to spread to the corners of the world
within minutes. Also, retracts and denials too have become equally fast,
thus killing the rumours immediately. With a number of other individual
websites and blogs too covering the news about Central Government
employees, the readers are now able to differentiate between news and
rumours.
There is nothing
surprising or shocking in the news reports that have now surfaced. A
minimum basic pay of Rs.21,000 is an expected one. The recently released
Kerala Pay Commission too has recommended the minimum wage at Rs.17,000
(from 01.01.2014 onwards). The National Council has demanded that it be
Rs.26,000 per month.
It is a well known fact
that the Grade Pay System had been a source of constant irritation. The
dual Hierarchy System (Promotional hierarchy and Grade Pay hierarchy)
will come to an end. There will not be any more confusion about the
promotions that come through MACP.
The Multiplication
Factor of 2.86 does sound very low. NC JCM had pressurized the Pay
Commission to fix it at 3.7. The 6th Pay Commission had fixed it at
1.86, and also given Grade Pay. Since the DA now stands at 125%
(including July 2015 and January 2016), this could end up being
substantial.
Information about
retirement is unexpected. Unconfirmed reports claim that the 7th Pay
Commission is planning to recommend 33 years in service or the age of 60
(whichever comes early) as the criteria for superannuation. Since the
recommendations will be implemented from 01.01.2016 onwards, many are
likely to get affected.
And also some key messages revolving about the recommendations are…
There will be no running Pay band and Grade Pay System. The Pay scales will be open ended to avoid stagnation in the scales. The CCA will be separated into two components as it was in the 5th Pay Commission. CGEGIS Insurance Coverage and Monthly premium will be increased. Classification of Posts will be Modified and the 7th Pay Commission recommendation will be implemented with effects from 1.1.2016.
There will be no running Pay band and Grade Pay System. The Pay scales will be open ended to avoid stagnation in the scales. The CCA will be separated into two components as it was in the 5th Pay Commission. CGEGIS Insurance Coverage and Monthly premium will be increased. Classification of Posts will be Modified and the 7th Pay Commission recommendation will be implemented with effects from 1.1.2016.
