7th Pay Commission: Minimum pay hike unlikely, says report

Mumbai: The Union government is unlikely to raise minimum basic pay and fitment factor beyond the recommendation of the 7th Central Pay Commission. 

According to several media reports, anonymous sources from the finance ministry have said that there are little chances of the government revising the minimum basic pay of the Central government employees. 

The government staff unions have been demanding that their minimum pay is hiked to Rs 26,000 from Rs 18,000 that was defined on recommendations from 7th pay panel.

The Sen Times has reported that there is no scope for a change in minimum basic pay Rs 18,000 recommended by the 7th Pay Commission and approved by the Union cabinet. 

"The cabinet will not clear any proposal on hike in minimum pay including others pay related matter under the 7th Pay Commission recommendations because the cabinet had already passed it,” unnamed sources told the newspaper. 

Several employee unions had staged a three-day dharna earlier this month to protest against the delay in minimum wage hike.

Earlier media reports had said the government may walk a middle path and increase the wage threshold from Rs 18,000 to Rs 21,000 from the existing 2.57 fitment factor to 3.00 and its report will be submitted in December, and after the cabinet approval, the new pay hike will be implemented from April 2018.

The Rs 21,000 cap will help bring in over six million more employees under the social security net without putting a strain on the government exchequer.

In June, the Union cabinet raised several allowances, including that for house rent, for a majority of the 4.7 million government employees, by more than what the seventh pay panel had suggested last year.

Announcing the government's decision, Union finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said government salaries have to be respectable in comparison to private sector, for which the Commission had engaged IIM-Ahmedabad for making a comparison.