Rs.70,000 crores set aside to implement 7th Pay Commission recommendations

Rs.70,000 crores set aside to implement 7th Pay Commission recommendations

According to sources, the government has set aside a sum of Rs.70,000 crores to implement the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission for the Central Government employees. The officials of the Ministry of Finance informed that the money was set aside based on the information received from the various ministries.

In order to implement the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission for the Central Government employees and pensioners, a sum of Rs.1 lakh crores was needed. Rs.70,000 crores has been allocated with an intention to set aside 60 to 70 percent of this requirement in the budget. The officials said that additional allocations will be made if required.

The recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission will be implemented from the Financial Year 2016-17 onwards. It is impossible to calculate the extent of financial burden that it would impose on the government. The numbers were arrived at based on the approximate calculations were made by each ministry.

A high-level committee was constituted under the chairmanship of PK Sinha, the cabinet secretary, in the month of January. The committee is taking steps to implement the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission. It will calculate the amount required to implement the recommendations for the 47 lakh Central Government employees and 52 lakh pensioners.

Similarly, the government is all set to implement the One Rank One Pension scheme for the defence pensioners. The finance ministry has already made budgetary allocations for this purpose.

In all likelihood, final decision on the implementation of the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission will be made only after the report of this Empowered Committee. Meanwhile, workers unions all over the country have announced strikes and protests. The indefinite strike, beginning April 11, will demand, among other points, an increase in the minimum wages, and the revocation of the new pension scheme.

The Central Government employees are hoping that the salaries based on the 7th Pay Commission will be issued from the month of June this year.