6th Pay Commission: Punjab govt employees to get increment from July 1

6th Pay Commission: The minimum pay for a government employee in the state will now increase from ₹6,950 per month to ₹18,000 per month and the minimum pension will go up from ₹3,500 per month to ₹9,000 per month.

The Punjab government on Friday announced that it has decided to accept the majority of the recommendations of the 6th Pay Commission and implement them from July 1, with retrospective effect from January 1, 2016.

The eligibility criteria of income for family pension has also increased from ₹3,500 +DA to ₹9,000+DA per month. (PTI file photo)

The move is expected to benefit over 540,000 serving and retired state government employees. The minimum pay for a government employee in the state will now increase from ₹6,950 per month to ₹18,000 per month and the minimum pension will go up from ₹3,500 per month to ₹9,000 per month. The minimum family pension will also rise to ₹9,000 per month under the new structure, an official spokesperson said after a Cabinet meeting that approved the 6th Punjab Pay Commission (PPC) recommendations.

The implementation will revise the salaries up to 2.59 times and pensions over the previous pay commission recommendations, with an annual increment rate of 3 per cent, leading to pay scales of existing employees continuing to be greater than in the neighbouring state of Haryana.

Further, the new structure will make divorced or widowed daughters eligible for family pensions. The eligibility criteria of income for family pension has also increased from ₹3,500 +DA to ₹9,000+DA per month.

"It has been decided that the date of implementation of the new allowances/revised allowances would be from 01.07.2021. Percentage based allowances, like House Rent Allowance, NPA etc. have been rationalised under the new structure, while design allowance, special allowance to chowkidars and special allowance to drivers, has been doubled," an official statement from the state government said.

The expected net arrears from January 1, 2016, to June 30, 2021, is estimated to be ₹13,800 crore and the Punjab government employees already receive 5 per cent interim enhancement since 2017. The state government said that the net arrears amount of employees and pensioners for 2016, estimated at ₹2,572 crore, will be paid in two equal installments in October 2021 and January 2022.

Additional bonanza decisions for the state government employees include enhancement of Death-cum-Retirement Gratuity (DCRG) from ₹1 million to ₹2 million, and the current rates of Ex-Gratia Grant have also been doubled. Both the DCRG and Ex Gratia have been extended to the employees covered under the National Pension Scheme. The state government also accepted the restoration of Commutation of Pension to 40 per cent, effective July 1.

The implementation of these major recommendations will create an annual additional burden of ₹8,637 crore to the state exchequer, with a prospective additional net annual burden expected per annum to be Rs. 4,700 crore, an official spokesperson said.

The 6th PPC report submitted the first part of its report to the Punjab government on April 30 this year. The report broadly comprised the recommendations on revision of pay scales, allowances and pension and retirement benefits.

In a new development, the state government is also introducing a new allowance, called the higher education allowance, in form of a lump sum incentive to all employees who attain higher educational qualification during the employment and in the field directly relevant to the employee's job.

However, new employees will be paid as per the central government pay scales that now apply to all new recruits.