7th Pay Commission: Karnataka announces more than 27% salary hike for employees

7th Pay Commission in Karnataka: Employees will see a 27.5% increase in salaries. Minister Priyank Kharge said that it was one of the demands of people.

The Karnataka government approved a substantial pay hike for its employees following the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission. The decision was confirmed in a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and will be effective starting August 1. Employees will see a 27.5% increase in salaries. Karnataka minister Priyank Kharge said that it was one of the demands of people and it will benefit around 14 to 15 lakh state employees.

7th Pay Commission: The decision was confirmed in a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and will be effective starting August 1.

"Seventh Pay Commission was one of the demands of the people and it was also there in our manifesto. Yesterday we brought it into the Cabinet and saw the blueprint of the financials. It will benefit around 14 to 15 lakh state employees," Priyank Kharge said.

News agency PTI reported that the 7th Pay Commission, led by former chief secretary K Sudhakar Rao, suggested a 27.5 per cent increase in the basic salary of government employees. This is expected to cost the government exchequer an additional ₹17,440.15 crore annually but there was pressure on the Siddaramaiah government to approve a salary increase after the Karnataka State Government Employees Association said that it would launch an indefinite strike in August, PTI reported.

Sources in the know told PTI, “In March 2023, the then Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai gave employees an interim 17 per cent salary hike, to which the Siddaramaiah administration is likely to add a 10.5 percentage points hike, which will total to 27.5 per cent hike on basic salary, as per the recommendation of the 7th Pay Commission.”