7th Pay Commission: Relief to lakhs of central govt employees

The Union government has on Tuesday published the implementation notification of the 7th Pay Commission. The notification is dated July 25, 2016. The decision comes as a sigh of relief to lakhs of employees who were hopeful that the new pay will figure in their August salary. Central government employees will now get the revised pay from their August salaries.

The Cabinet, in June, approved the recommendations made by the 7th pay commission. Speaking at a press conference, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley accepted the recommendation to increase minimum pay from existing Rs 7,000 to Rs 18,000 per month. He announced that a fitment factor of 2.57 would apply for pay revision of all employees. And the rate of annual increment has been retained at three per cent.

The government also announced that CBSE chief Rajesh Kumar Chaturvedi will be given additional charge of chief of the implementation cell of the Seventh Central Pay Commission. Chaturvedi will serve as Joint Secretary in the cell for three months or till appointment of a regular incumbent, an order issued by Department of Personnel and Training said.

The pay panel had in November last year recommended 14.27 per cent hike in basic pay at junior levels, 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 Seventh Central Pay Commission recommended changes in the pay of around 1 crore individuals — 33 lakh central government employees, 14 lakh armed forces personnel, and 52 lakh pensioners. Meanwhile, during a discussion in the Rajya Sabha, the government said it is‘not appropriate to compare 7th pay panel with previous ones’.