7th pay commission: Pay hike announcement on August 15?

Many reports in media at present are doing the rounds that Prime Minister Narendra Modi might announce the pay hike beyond recommendations of the seventh pay commission on August 15. However, the government  in the Parliament had already denied giving any hike beyond the 7th CPC recommendations. 

Earlier, the Minister of State for Finance P. Radhakrishnan in Lok Sabha had said that the Narendra Modi government is not planning to give any hike in minimum basic salary beyond the recommendations of the seventh pay commission.  

Meanwhile, the employees' hope came to life once again when the Modi government had recently hiked MSP. Many feel that the MSP is just the beginning of a slew of measures that the government would be introducing. The government has increased the minimum support price (MSP) of Kharif crops to 1.5 times the cost of production.

Currently, the Central government employees are getting basic pay according to the fitment formula of 2.57 of the basic pay and if this big step is taken, it will come as a massive news for the Central government employees. Fitment factor is a figure used by 7th CPC with which the basic pay in 6th CPC regime (i.e Pay in Pay band + Grade pay) is multiplied in order to fix basic pay in revised pay structure (i.e 7th CPC). Fitment factor formulated by 7th CPC is 2.57.

But a report in the Sen Times claimed that the Modi government in the wake of 2019 elections would announce a salary hike. The report claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his August 15 speech from the Red fort would make the announcement. The report said that he would announce a hike in minimum pay and fitment factor and raise in retirement age. 

The employees were demanding to raise the minimum basic pay to Rs 26,000 instead of Rs 18,000, the amount seventh pay commission recommended. 

Not only this, the report also claimed that following the footsteps of the Madhya Pradesh government, the Centre is also likely to increase the retirement age of the central government employees from 60 to 62 years.

“Taking a leaf from Chouhan ahead of general elections next year, The BJP-led central government is mulling to implement the pay hike for central government employees,” a senior government official told the Sen Times. 

Salary hike happening or not?

Well to answer that question, at present, various conflicting reports have been surfaced claiming that despite of the fact that government had denied any pay hike, salary hike and increase in fitment factor for employees upto the pay matrix level 5 would happen. 

Quoting financial ministry sources, the Sen Times report stated the government is ready to raise minimum pay and fitment factor beyond the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission for employees upto the pay matrix level 5.