Bhopal: Monday brought good tidings for the 6.5 lakh employees of the state government with the state cabinet deciding to implement the recommendations of the 7th pay commission with effect from January 1, 2016. The decision would enhance the salaries of the employees by an average of 14 per cent.
No decision was taken vis-à-vis pensioners for want of consent of the Chhattisgarh government. The government also deferred decision on granting the new pay scales to employees of the Adhyapak cadre, Panchayat employees and daily wagers.
The arrears would be paid to the employees in three annual installments beginning from FY 2018-19. The first installment would be paid in May 2018. In case of employees who have died in the period 1 January 2016 – 30 June 2017, the arrears would be paid in one go. The same would be done in the case of employees who pass away after June 30.
The new pay scales would be fixed using the Centre’s formula of 2.57. The new basic salary can be determined by multiplying the current basic with this figure. However, the government will continue to pay HRA, project allowance, scheduled area allowance, deputation allowance and other allowances as per the sixth pay commission pay scales. The DA will be four per cent of the basic.
The decision would entail an annual financial burden of Rs 3828 crore on the state government. This year, it would have spent Rs 2552 crore extra on account of wages of its employees. Arrears would cost an additional Rs 5742 crore to the government.
The pension of the employees who have retired after January 1 would be fixed as per the new pay scales. The amount of gratuity has been capped at Rs 20 lakh. The minimum pension and family pension would be Rs 7750.
Salaries to go up by Rs 4000 to Rs 14000
With the new pay scales, the salaries of the employees are likely to increase by Rs 4000 to Rs 14,000. The hike would be between Rs 12,000 and Rs 14,000 for class one officers, between Rs 7,000 and Rs 8,000 for class two officers, between Rs 5,000 and Rs 7,000 for class three employees and up to Rs 4,000 for class four employees.