7th Pay Commission: All you need to know about how states are stealing a march on Centre

IndiaToday.in  | Posted by Kritika Banerjee

New Delhi, January 17, 2017

While implementing the recommendations of the pay commission will come at a huge economic cost, several states have gone ahead with it from January 1.

It has not been a happy new year for the employees and pensioners of autonomous bodies as the revision of their salaries and pension under the Seventh Pay Commission gets further delayed.

In a recent notification, the Finance Ministry said the Seventh Pay Commission will not directly apply to autonomous organisations.

The note asked autonomous organisations to work out their affairs in a way that it does not put extra burden on the central exchequer.

 The administrative ministries concerned will consider such cases keeping in view whether these pay scales are justified based on functional considerations and recruitment qualifications, the notification said.

Here's all you need to know about the Seventh Pay Commission story so far:

1. The seventh central pay commission submitted its report in November 2015 and the Narendra Modi government approved it in June last year. Over six months later, the Modi government is yet to implement the recommendations of the seventh pay commission in its entirety.
    
2. The seventh pay commission had recommended a 14.27 per cent hike in basic pay--the lowest in 70 years. The previous sixth pay commission had recommended a 20 per cent hike, which the government doubled while implementing it in 2008.
    
3. The recommendations will result in a hike in salaries of nearly 50 lakh central government employees and payouts of 58 lakh pensioners.
    
4. While implementing the recommendations of the pay commission will come at a huge economic cost, several states have announced that they will go ahead with it.
    
5. Jammu and Kashmir government, for instance, announced in its budget that it will implement the recommendations of the seventh pay commission from April 2018 to give a massive 23.5 per cent hike to lakhs of government employees and pensioners in the state.
    
6. Among other states, poll-bound Uttarakhand was among the first to implement the pay commission's recommendations from January 1. Nearly 2.5 lakh government employees and pensioners are likely to benefit from the decision.
    
7. Manahor Lal Khattar government in Haryana too announced that state government employees will get the benefit from the new year. The chief minister said contractual employees like Anganwadi workers and data entry operators will also be covered under the revised pay package scheme.
    
8. The Uttar Pradesh government too said the seventh pay commission will be implemented January 1 onwards. Ahead of the crucial Assembly elections in the state, the decision will benefit 16 lakh government employees and six lakh pensioners.
    
9. Goa also announced it will implement the seventh pay commission recommendations before the model code of conduct came into force on January 4.