Pay Commission award won’t cut existing facilities: Sources

The Finance Ministry sources said the 7th Pay Commission award won’t cut the existing facilities enjoyed by Central government employees despite the pay commission recommendation to abolish it.

“The Finance Ministry is constantly in touch with the Prime Minister’s Officer (PMO) and discussed scrapping of advances and allowances issues with them, which were recommended by the pay commission for abolishing,” sources said.

“The PMO has sent its directive and it says that existing privileges cannot be curtailed. Betterment must be done for central government employees by protecting the current facilities.”

According, the government had no intention to cut current scope and facilities, they stressed.

They said neither any Pay Commission nor any Cabinet had suggested any curtailment of the facilities of advances and allowances being enjoyed by central government employees except 7th Pay Commission, and the government, also would not do it.

Central government employees associations and Trade Unions at various levels have been complaining of the abolition of risk allowance, small family allowance, festival advance and motor cycle advance etc, recommended by the 7th Pay Commission.

“These organisations have raised a number of objections about the 7th pay commission recommendations. They have met several ministers and secretaries. Everyone wants a positive solution to the issues at stake.”

But they said such a solution would be impossible to offer in a day, adding that it could take another one to two months.

They again rebutted the fear by central government employees’ associations and trade unions that the facilities of advances and allowance were being scraped.

The Pay Commission recommendation of scraping of the risk allowance, small family allowance, festival advance and motor cycle advance etc had given rise to the apprehension, they said, but Finance Ministry assured them that “there was no move to scrap these facilities but the government is likely to increase two times of its existing rate.”

The Finance Ministry admitted there was a huge pay disparity between a tops Indian government officer and lower paid employee under recommendations of 7th Pay Commission.

“The Finance Ministry doesn’t want to have such disparity. A solution has to be found. There are a few small issues that will take one or two months of Empowered Committee of Secretaries to sort out.” they added.

The report of the 7th Pay Commission was presented to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in November with a recommendation for raising minimum pay to Rs 18,000 per month from current Rs 7,000 while the maximum pay, drawn by the Cabinet Secretary, has been fixed at Rs 2.5 lakh per month from current Rs 90,000, which will be effective from January 1, 2016.

The panel recommended a 14.27 per cent increase in basic pay. The overall increase in salary, allowances and pensions is 23.55%. The increase in allowances will be higher by 63% while pensions will rise 24%.

The government set up a 13-member Empowered Committee of Secretaries (CoS) headed by Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha on January 27 for early processing the report of the 7th Central Pay Commission before cabinet nod.