New Delhi, Apr 17: Central government employees may soon get a good news on salary hike as the Centre is looking at raising minimum pay and fitment factor beyond the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission or 7th CPC, said a media report quoting a Finance Ministry official. The official said a decision on salary hike beyond the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission might be taken shortly as “Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is serious about his promise on minimum pay and fitment factor”. (ALSO READ: 7th Pay Commission: Key Update on Announcement on Increase in Minimum Pay, Fitment Factor For Salary Hike)
“The government is certainly looking at pay hike, and the FM Jaitley takes seriously his promise in Rajya Sabha to be fiscally responsible,” the official told Sen Times. He also said that salary should be raised beyond the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission to provide some financial comfort to central government employees. Jaitley had said in Rajya Sabha on July 19, 2016, “The minimum pay Rs 18,000 was made on recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission. But the government will consider hiking it after discussions with all stakeholders.”
The official reiterated the government is considering to raise salary, beyond the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission, of central government employees upto the pay matrix level 5. The official also said the decision would be taken once Arun Jaitley completely recovers from illness. Suffering from a kidney problem, he was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences on April 6. He was slated to undergo a kidney transplant but was discharged after dialysis for three days since the donor’s organ “did not match”.
“The works of the Finance Ministry get badly affected without FM Jaitley. However, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) directly oversees only the critical matters of the Finance Ministry and not routine works till Jaitley recovers completely,” the official was quoted as saying. Earlier, a report from the same media house said the government may hike the salaries of central government employees to woo them before the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections.
The 7th Pay Commission had recommended a 14.27 percent hike in basic pay, raising minimum pay from Rs 7,000 to Rs 18,000 month with fitment factor 2.57 times. However, the central government employees have been asking to raise minimum pay to Rs 26,000 and fitment factor 3.68 times. The government may raise minimum pay to Rs 21,000 from Rs 18,000 and fitment factor to 3.00 times from 2.57 times that were recommended by the 7th Pay Commission, multiple reports said.
Here, it may be noted that the Minister of State Finance, P Radhakrishnan, last month, told Rajya Sabha the government was not considering a hike in minimum pay and fitment factor beyond the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission.