Also visit http://www.india.gov.in/govt/paycommission.php for Revised CSS Rules, DA, CCA details etc.
The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved recommendations of Sixth Pay Commission. The pay panel recommendations will come into effect from January 1, 2006.
Arrears will be paid in cash in two instalments, 40 per cent will be paid this year and the rest next year.
Now, minimum basic pay of a government employee has been raised to Rs 7000.
All the details of new approval are available at http://pib.nic.in/archieve/others/2008/aug/r2008081405cab.pdf and/or at http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=41333
Original report is available at at http://www.india.gov.in/govt/paycommission.php.
A wage hike higher than those recommended by the Sixth Pay Commission, marginal increase in annual increments and the payment of arrears in cash are some of the sweeteners incorporated in the proposal for Thursday's Cabinet meeting after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s intervention
The new pay package for the 55 lakh Central government employees, to be announced on August 15, proposes a 20 per cent raise over the pay bands suggested by the Commission. The panel in May suggested a gross 40 per cent hike, which means an effective 25 per cent after taxes. “The net jump in pay would be upwards of 30 per cent with the additional increase more for lower grade staff to narrow their difference with the (pay of) senior officials,” said sources.
This raise takes into account the Commission’s miscalculation of the dearness allowance - absorbed in the new basic pay—as 74 per cent whereas it should have been 83 per cent, they said. The proposed annual increment in the basic pay would also be a tad higher than the 2.5 per cent suggested by the Commission.
The Cabinet proposal talks of a uniform 3 per cent raise every year. The current norm is a Rs 500-increase in the basic pay annually within the grade scale.
But what would be music to the bureaucrats’ ears is that the PM has shot down Finance Minister P Chidambaram’s suggestion that the new wage be effective from January 2007 instead of January 2006 because of the heavy run on this year’s Budget. Chidambaram had also wanted that the past dues be parked in the General Provident Fund to be provided as pension after retirement of the employees so that this year’s outgo from the Budget would be limited to Rs 12,500 crore.
But the PM would have none of that. He has ensured that the new pay would be effective from January 2006, as recommended by the Commission, with 40 per cent of the arrears paid in the current fiscal and the remaining 60 per cent next year.
The actual pay-out would come in November after the monsoon session of Parliament in September passes the Finance Ministry’s supplementary Demand For Grant to fund the wage bill, said sources.
What has also been shot down, though by the Committee of Secretaries, is the inclusion of heads of other services in the rank of Cabinet Secretary. The CS will remain primus inter pares, the first among equals, and that position would not be granted to the head of Intelligence Bureau, the three service chiefs or the Chairman Railway Board—as had been demanded.
There would also be no scrapping of Group D personnel (peons in ministries and coolies in Indian Railways). The Commission had suggested that these posts be subsumed in Group C of clerks, fresh induction be stopped and jobs be outsourced.
As for the armed forces, the good news is that military service pay for persons below the officer rank (POBR) would be Rs 2,000 per month. The forces had demanded Rs 3,000 as against Rs 1,000 introduced by the commission.
There would also be a significant improvement in the salaries of Brigadiers as the government has agreed to put them in Pay Band 4 (Rs 39,200-67,000) as against the suggested pay band 3 (Rs 15,600 - 39,100).
For the Indian Police Service and Indian Forest Service, relief would come in the form of abolition of the Deputy Inspector General scale. There would also be no discrimination between Group B and Group A service officers in the form of a differential basic pay at the time of joining, as suggested by the Commission. They would both start at the same scale, as is prevalent now, said sources.
Key Points :
The Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) is working overtime to ensure that the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission are deliberated and approved by the Cabinet on Thursday so that the Prime Minister could announce it on Independence Day.
Sources said that DoPT officials were readying the note for the Cabinet which would retain the Commission’s recommendation of an average 25 per cent increase in the basic pay of the Central government employees, including the armed forces.
However, there would be minor changes from the panel’s advisory with the proposal to introduce the raise from January 2007, as is being pushed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram, instead of January 2006 suggested by the panel.
The wage hike would be available in hard currency from April 2008 with past dues—or arrears—parked in the general Provident Fund to be provided as pension after retirement.
The aim of this exercise is to limit the outgo this year to Rs 12,500 crore, or else Chidambaram would have to shell out Rs 30,000 crore in one go, said sources.
The proposal would also incorporate the wish of the armed forces to improve the emoluments for jawans posted at frontiers by doubling the military special pay to Rs 2,000 per month.
The Indian Police Service and Indian Forest Service would get relief with the abolition of the Deputy Inspector General scale as this position was getting to become a resting place for them thereby delaying their promotion.
There is no mention of the retirement age being raised to 62 years from current 60 years as has been frequently reported in the media, said sources.
The ball was set rolling last Thursday when the Principal Secretary to the PM, TKA Nair, was shown a presentation on the Committee of Secretaries’ approvals on Pay Commission recommendations.
The timing matches with the likely monsoon session of Parliament in September when the Finance Ministry would have to move for a supplementary demand for grant to fund the wage bill.
Defence Minister A K Antony is meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday to take a final decision on the pay hike revision for the armed forces. The meeting, which will also be attended by the Finance Minister, will take a final call on salaries for the armed forces who have expressed their dissatisfaction with the Sixth Pay Commission Report.
Sources said while the main change would be doubling of the Military Service Pay (MSP) for soldiers to Rs 2,000 per month, the pay structure of officers will not be changed much. However, allowances for Lt Gen rank officers posted at Service Headquarters are expected to be increased and brought at par with Commander in Chiefs posted across the country.
Ministry sources said that Antony would also be pitching for an increase in pay over and above the recommendations of the Committee of Secretaries before the PM. The minister is expected to push for an MSP of Rs 3,000 for soldiers due to the hardships faced by them.
