With reports coming in of the government’s decision to increase the minimum pay beyond the recommended figures of the 7th Pay Commission for its employees, it certainly is going to be a happy Diwali indeed. The central government is seriously considering to take the raise in minimum pay to Rs.21000 in place of the Rs.18000 suggested by the 7th Pay Commission and supported by the cabinet. The fitment factor will go upto 3 times as per the 7th Pay commission. The current fitment factor stands at around 2.57 times. This increase will lead to the salary and pension shooting up for employees of all sections. The discussion around the raise in minimum pay will be taken up by the cabinet in January 2018.
Union Finance minister Arun Jaitely formed the National Anomaly committee (NAC), to look into the irregularities in the implementation of the suggestions of the 7th Pay commission. It is being reported to be very likely that the NAC will come forward with an extraordinary 17 percent increase in comparison to the RS.18000 minimum pay that has been accepted by the 7th Pay commission. The central government is reportedly in favour of the NAC suggestion for a raise in minimum pay with a 3 times fitment factor.
The National Anomaly committee will submit its report on minimum pay in the near future and this report is likely to be again examined by the Empowered Committee of Secretaries and the Department of Expenditure.
Thursday also saw the extension of these benefits to over 7.5 lakh university teachers. This was done with the intention to attract newer teaching talent to these educational institutions as well as retaining the existing talent. The pay revision will eventually mean an increase in entry pay growth by 22-28 percent. These revisions will also apply to the teaching staff in the centrally funded technical institutions like IIT’s, IIM’s etc.
