Is Interim Relief Likely for Central Government Employees?

Is Interim Relief Likely for Central Government Employees?

Is it really possible for Central Government employees to get an interim relief this time? Let us look at it in detail.

‘Interim Relief’ may be defined as the temporary relief given to employees before the new Pay Commission’s recommendations are implemented. ‘Interim relief will be treated sui generis’, most of the Finance Ministry orders included the sentence when sanctioning interim relief.

If one looks at the interim relief granted in 1983 and 1993, it can also be inferred that interim relief is granted in order to correct the errors in salary revision once every ten years. One gets the feeling as if an entire Pay Commission was lost simply for the sake of a small hike.

During the previous Pay Commission, particularly in 5th CPC, since 50% DA Merger was granted, there was no interim relief.

Here are some of the reasons why interim relief is normally granted :
* It has been granted a number of times before, in the past.
* DA Merger hasn’t been sanctioned this time
* Prices have touched the skies
* Some errors in the formulation of once-in-a-decade Pay Commission…etc.,

Reasons cited for the Government’s refusal to sanction DA Merger/interim relief:
* 7th Pay Commission was constituted at the right time.
* There was no recommendation for DA Merger in the 6th Pay Commission
* There was a recommendation against DA merger in the 6th Pay Commission (the Commission is, therefore, not recommending merger of dearness allowance with basic pay at any stage).
* In the event that the Price Index is taken as 115.76 instead of 306.33 for the DA calculations.

All the Central Government Employees Unions and Federations are functioning with the intention of getting the DA merged with the basic pay. If that doesn’t happen, these federations are hoping that interim relief will be offered through the 7th Pay Commission’s interim report.

This is very much possible if Modi Government is willing to accept the demand.