7th pay hike
'too less',
says GGEA
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PANAJI
The Goa Government Employees’ Association (GGEA) on Friday stated that the recommendation of the Seventh Pay Commission for a 23.55 per cent hike in salaries and allowances of government employees is ‘too less’.
The seventh central pay commission headed by Justice AK Mathur submitted its report to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday and is set to be enforced from January 1, 2016.
GGEA informed that once the State government adopts the seventh pay commission, it will benefit around 55,000 to 60,000 government employees in the State.
Speaking to The Goan, president of the GGEA John Nazareth said, “While the sixth pay commission had granted a 35 per cent salary hike to central government employees, the seventh pay commission has recommended only a 23.55 per cent hike.”
He explained that the multiplication factor for basic pay and grade pay adopted by the seventh pay commission is 2.57 leading to a total hike of 23.55 per cent.
“It would mean that a person getting Rs 10,000, for instance, would now get around Rs 12,500. This is barely much considering the current levels of inflation. Also, it is almost 10 per cent lower than the hike offered by the sixth pay commission,” Nazareth said, hinting that a hike of 32 to 35 per cent would have been ideal.
Central government employees are also set to receive an annual increment of three per cent and a 24 per cent hike has been recommended in pensions. GGEA termed this as ‘justifiable’ and ‘reasonable’.
The seventh pay commission has fixed the minimum salary for central government employees at Rs 18,000 per month while the apex scale has been capped at Rs 2.25 lakh per month. However, the salary of cabinet secretary, the highest-ranking civil servant, has been fixed at Rs 2.50 lakh a month.
Referring to this recommendation, Nazareth said, “The bracket is too vast and the difference between the highest and the lowest scale is huge. The minimum should have been set at Rs 32,000 to Rs 35,000.”
