7th Pay Commission: Will Modi govt pay heed to Central govt employees’ woes?

Taking cognizance of the brewing resentment among the Central government employees, the Narendra Modi-led BJP government is likely to hike the minimum pay as the National Anomaly Committee (NAC) is expected to meet this month to discuss on the issue. However, the question still lies… Will there be a hike as per the employees’ demand?

With a large number of Central government employees eagerly waiting for an increase in their minimum pay (as they are not satisfied with the increase in the hike recommended under the 7th Pay Commission), the current situation is getting intense. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had promised to give a bonanza to the lakhs of employees but the so called ‘bonanza’ seems to have turned into a huge disappointment for them.

The Central government employees’ unions are demanding Rs 26,000 as the minimum pay as against the recommended Rs 18,000. However, if sources are to be believed, the NAC is mulling to increase the minimum pay to around Rs 21,000 which is much below the demand.

The employees are already against the mere Rs 3,000 hike stating that it will have no impact on their financial position. “A hike of at least Rs 8,000 can be something for us to cheer about, putting aside other arrears issues,” said a Central government employee.

“If the NAC recommends raising the fitment factor to 3 times from 2.57 times, we will have nothing to celebrate. Expectations were high from the Modi government in terms of arrears, House Rent Allowances and pay gap issue too, but in vain. Since the NDA government coming to power, we have been put to extra work but we understand… that’s all for the people of the country; but in return, we were cheated and deceived in the name of the 7th Pay Commission,” he added

What Will Be The NAC’s Work?

In case the committee meet this month, a hearing will be there on the hike in the minimum pay which has to be passed by a majority vote of all its stakeholders.

It will then make a detailed report of the same which will be later examined by the Department of Expenditure.

The new pay will be then, as considered by the department, come into force from January 2018.

Will It Be Increased To Rs 26,000?

If we look into the excuses being made by the government post-implementation of the 7th Pay Commission, it seems to be a fairy tale.

Even though the government had stated that there would be hike in the minimum pay at regular intervals as a sudden hike (Rs 26,000) was likely to put the country in a state of inflation, one can hope that after increasing the pay to Rs 21,000 in January further hike will follow.

However, separating the facts from the assumptions, it seems far from reality. Besides, nothing is clear for now as the government is still silent on the issue.

Who Will Get Benefit?

Once the new hike in pay comes into effect, the salary fitment calculations will be changed.

In such a case, not only the working employees but also the pensioners will get benefited.

Meanwhile, it is worth mentioning that the government may hike the minimum pay if recommended, but…“without arrears on the hike”.

Source : http://odishatv.in