7th Pay Commission: Cabinet brings cheers for Armed forces; salary more than doubled

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: Bringing cheers for India's armed forces, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday more than doubled their salary by adhering to the recommendations made by the 7th Pay Commission.

The cabinet's approval is set to benefit India's Military personnel. Military Service Pay (MSP), which is a compensation for the various aspects of military service, will be admissible to the defence forces personnel only.

The Military Service Pay will be payable to all ranks up to and inclusive of Brigadiers and their equivalents.

MSP for service officers more than doubled to Rs 15,500 per month from Rs 6,000 currently; for nursing officers to Rs 10,800 from Rs 4,200; for JCO/ORs to Rs 5,200 from Rs 2,000 and for non-combatants to Rs 3,600 from Rs 1,000.

Short service commissioned officers will be allowed to exit the armed forces at any point in time between 7 to 10 years of service.

The starting salary of a sepoy (the army's entry rank) too has been more than doubled from Rs 8,460 currently to Rs 21,700 a month. The salary of a lieutenant general has been revised above Rs 2,00,000 per month.

In a bonanza for over 1 crore government employees and pensioners, the Cabinet approved implementation of the 7th Pay Commission, which had recommended an overall hike of 23.5 percent.