7th Pay Commission: Implementation soon! Cabinet to decide on final report tomorrow

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: The Union Cabinet is likely to accept on Wednesday (June 29) the report of the Committee of Secretaries headed by Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha on the recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission.

The implementation of Seventh Pay Commission would hike the salaries and allowances for over 1 crore government employees and pensioners by at least 23.5 percent. The Seventh Pay Commission report will be effective from January 1.

As per PTI report,  the Committee of Secretaries headed by Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha has already submitted its report on the recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission to the Finance Ministry.

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.

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 percent overall hike in salaries, allowances and pension involving an additional burden of Rs 1.02 lakh crore or nearly 0.7 percent of the GDP.

The panel recommended a 14.27 percent increase in basic pay, the lowest in 70 years. The previous 6th Pay Commission had recommended a 20 percent hike which the government doubled while implementing it in 2008.

The 23.55 percent 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.

Meanwhile, PTI has also reported quoting sources that 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.