17 lakh employees of Maharashtra government to get salary hike in January

Move, ahead of polls, will put a burden of ₹23,000 crore on exchequer

The state government will accept the recommendations of the seventh pay commission for its employees from January 2019, minister of state for finance Deepak Kesarkar said on Friday, while responding to an issue raised by Kapil Patil in the legislative council.

6.5 lakh retired personnel will also benefit from the implementation of the seventh pay commission. (HT File)

The decision will benefit 17 lakh employees of the state government and 6.5 lakh retired personnel, but put a burden of ₹23,000 crore on the state exchequer. The arrears of the seventh pay commission will be given with retrospective effect from January 2016, from when the pay scales were revised, while the dearness allowance will be given retrospectively for the past 14 months.

Kesarkar, while replying in the upper house of the state legislature, said the state has appointed a committee under former additional chief secretary KP Bakshi to solve the issue. “However, we will not wait for the report. The implementation [of the seventh pay commission] will start from January 1. A government resolution (GR) on the decision will be issued soon,” Kesarkar said. The announcement is significant as Assembly elections are due in Maharashtra next year.

The Maharashtra State Gazetted Officers’ Confederation (MSGOC), however, said the decision to give three years’ arrears has not been taken yet. “Along with the implementation of the commission’s recommendations, they government should give the arrears of three years in January 2019. We also need transport and house rent allowance, according to the standards of the Centre. We have asked the government to take a decision on these demands by December-end,” said GD Kulthe, chief convener, MSGOC.

Patil asked if the state government would extend the work hours of the staff by an hour daily to introduce a five-day week. Kesarkar said the decision would be taken once the report of the Bakshi committee is received.