Government's I-Day gift to its employees: salary hike

PAY BACK TIME: Govt announced an average increase of 21 per cent in salaries along with arrears from '06.

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New Delhi: The Central Government on Thursday accepted the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission and raised the salaries of all its employees, with big hikes for the military and the paramilitary forces.

The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, said Minister for Information and Broadcasting Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi. He added that more details would be announced by the Prime Minister during his Independence Day address from the ramparts of the Red Fort on Friday.

The minimum basic pay for a Central Government employee will be Rs 7,000 a month now, which will translate to around Rs 10,000 after adding allowances, Dasmunsi said.

The extra pay will cost the Central Government Rs 157 billion from its annual budget and Rs 64 billion from its Railway Budget this fiscal, he added.

Dasmunsi said Central Government employees would get 40 per cent of their arrears this fiscal and 60 per cent in the next fiscal (2009-10).

The Sixth Pay Commission, which was headed by Justice B N Srikrishna, had in March submitted its report to the Government, recommending an average 28 per cent hike for Central Government staff and defence personnel.

Highlights of the report:

• Minimum entry level pay raised to Rs 7,000 from Rs 6,660 per month recommended by the Commission.
• Financial implication of Pay Commission on General Budget Rs 15,700 crore; Rs 6,400 crore on Railway Budget in 2008-09.
• Average increase in pay 21 per cent, says Expenditure Secretary Sushma Nath.
• Scientists continue to get special allowance.
• In the defence sector, the Government approved at least three assured promotions for all defence forces personnel and civilian employees under the modified Assured Career Progression scheme. Also, military service pay increased from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000.
• A separate pay scale for DGPs and others high ranking police personnel. IPS and Indian Forest Service pay packages have been appropriately modified.