The Union Cabinet on Wednesday 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 3%.
Gratuity has been increased from Rs 10 lakh toRs 25 lakh and House Building Advance was raised from Rs 7.5 lakh to Rs 25 lakh.
The Ministry of Finance will also be looking to work out a customised group insurance scheme with low premium and high risk cover.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.
After considering the increase proposed in allowances, the hike in remunerations comes to 23.55 per cent.
The 7th Pay Commission report will be effective from January 1, Jaitley said, adding that the Cabinet will decide if the arrears for the six months have to be paid in one go or in installments.
7th Pay Commission: Allowances to pension — here’s everything you need to know
LIVE UPDATES – 7th PAY COMMISSION:
# MoF to work out a customised group insurance scheme with low premium and high risk cover.
# Ex-gratia lump sum compensation for civil and defence forces personnel from 10-20 lakh to 25-45 lakh.
# House Building Advance (HBA) increased from Rs 7.5 lakh to Rs 25 lakh.
# Gratuity increased from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh.
# Rate of increment recommended and accepted at 3% per year.
# Separate pay matrices for civil, Defence and MNS.
# The cost of implementing the recommendations of the 7th pay commission will cost Rs 1,02,100 crore to the exchequer: Jaitley.
# The commission has recommended abolishing 52 allowances altogether. Another 36 allowances have been abolished as separate identities, but subsumed either in an existing allowance or in newly proposed allowances: Jaitley.
# Minimum pay of Rs 18,000 per month recommended against the existing Rs 7,000.
# Based on Minimum Pay, fitment factor of 2.57 approved for revising pay of all employees uniformly across all Level: Jaitley.
# Recommendations will be implemented from January 1, 2016. And the arrears will also be payed this year. Covers 47 lakhs employees and 53 lakh pensioners: Jaitley.
# When 5th Pay Commission recommendations were submitted, it took the then government 19 months to implement them: Jaitley.
# Cabinet approved NMEP. To accelerate exploration activity through enhanced participation of private sector: Jaitley.
# Approved proposal to allow women to work in nights: Jaitley.
# Cleared Model Law — malls and movie theaters can remain open 24*7: Jaitley.
# Cabinet approves Revised Cost Estimates for 8 New IITs at Bhubaneswar, Gandhinagar, Hyderabad, Indore, Jodhpur, Mandi, Patna and Rupnagar.
# Accepted recommendations to regulate working hours of those working in Malls and stores: jaitley.
# Approved three proposals regarding national highways Punjab, Odisha and Maharashtra: FM Arun Jaitley.
“We are waiting for more details after the acceptance of the report,” Ashok K Mathur, Chairman 7th Pay Commission, said, adding “at present it appears that the report as given by me seems to have been accepted in toto.”
“This will involve additional expenditure for the Govt in terms of 1,02,100 crores,” Mathur said.
Over one crore Central government employees, past and present, will benefit from the 7th Pay Commission recommendations approved by the Union Cabinet on Wednesday. But we will have to wait to see what the actual hike will be.
A secretaries’ panel, headed Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha, has already vetted the 7th Pay Commission recommendation and its report is being translated into a note for Cabinet.
“It in most likelihood will come up before the Cabinet tomorrow (Wenesday),” an official had said.
The government had in January set up the high-powered panel 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 Commission had recommended 23.55 per cent overall hike in salaries, allowances and pension involving an additional burden of Rs 1.02 lakh crore or nearly 0.7 per cent of the GDP.
