What are the expectations of the Central Government employees from the 7th Pay Commission?
“It is impossible for the 7th Pay Commission to fulfill all the demands of the Central Government employees. The question is – will it at least address the concerns of majority of them?”
The media is full of unconfirmed reports on the submission of 7th Pay Commission report to Central Government. Recently in an interview with a leading English newspaper, Neelakanth Mishra, India equity strategist of Credit Suisse expressed his strong opinions about the 7th Pay Commission and the implementation of its recommendations.
The big question is – what are the expectations of the Central Government employees from the 7th Pay Commission?
In an exclusive interview to NDTV, Neelkanth Mishra said that there are possibilities of a 40% hike in the salaries of Central Government employees. He believed that the 7th Pay Commission will submit its report to the Government in the month of September and the recommendations will be implemented next year.
The employees are likely to get a hike of 30-40%. This time around, the implementation wouldn’t be like it was previously, during the 6th Pay Commission, due to the amount of arrears (it is worth mentioning that the arrears dues were paid in two installments during the 6th Pay Commission). He said that the economic status of Central Government employees would increase enough to afford a car.
His forecast has to be taken seriously. On August 15, 2008, the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had announced that the 6th Pay Commission will come into effect from September onwards. More than the salary hike, the employees were curious to know about the arrears and how they were going to get it, because the sum was huge.
The employees didn’t make such a huge fuss about the increment they had received. Instead of small hike that was added to the salary, they were more interested in the lump sum arrears. Since it was impossible to clear 30-months’ arrears in a single payment, the government was forced to release it in two installments.
But this time, the government is particular about giving an increment in salary and allowances without keeping any pending arrears. Therefore the employees are curious to know about their salary hikes.