Committee of Secretaries has finalised its report on 7th CPC recommendations. We will soon draft Cabinet note based on the report: Finance Secretary
The
government is likely to soon announce the implementation of Seventh Pay
Commission that would hike the salaries and allowances for over 1 crore
government employees and pensioners by at least 23.5 per cent.
A Committee of Secretaries headed by Cabinet Secretary P.K. Sinha has
submitted its report on the recommendations of the Seventh Pay
Commission which may be accepted, a financial ministry official said.
Based on the panel’s report, the Finance Ministry is preparing a Cabinet
note and the issue may come up for approval by the Cabinet as early as
June 29.
“Committee of Secretaries (CoS) has finalised its report on Pay Commission recommendations... We will soon (file) draft Cabinet note based on the report,” Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa said here on Monday.
The
government had in January set up a high-powered panel headed by Cabinet
Secretary to process the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission
which will have bearing on the remuneration of nearly 50 lakh central
government employees and 58 lakh pensioners.
The Pay Commission had recommended 23.55 per cent overall hike in
salaries, allowances and pension involving an additional burden of Rs
1.02 lakh crore or nearly 0.7 per cent of the GDP.
The panel recommended a 14.27 per cent increase in basic pay, the lowest
in 70 years. The previous 6th Pay Commission had recommended a 20 per
cent hike which the government doubled while implementing it in 2008.
The 23.55 per cent increase includes hike in allowances.
The entry level pay has been recommended to be raised to Rs 18,000 per
month from current Rs 7,000 while the maximum pay, drawn by the Cabinet
Secretary, has been fixed at Rs 2.5 lakh per month from current Rs
90,000.
Sources said the secretaries’ panel may have recommended higher pay
increase, with minimum entry level pay at Rs 23,500 a month and maximum
salary of Rs 3.25 lakh.
While the Budget for 2016-17 fiscal did not provide an explicit
provision for implementation of the 7th Pay Commission, the government
had said the once-in-a-decade pay hike for government employees has been
built in as interim allocation for different ministries.
Around Rs 70,000 crore has been provisioned for it, officials said.
Mr. Lavasa said the Seventh Pay Commission report will be effective from January 1.
This news was published in 'The Hindu' on 27.06.2016
