7th Pay Commission: Cabinet clears 78 day wage bonus, but mum on DA hike, salary increase

New Delhi, Sep 19: There is good news for some and bad for many others on the 7th Pay Commission.

On one hand, the Cabinet announced that 11 lakh railway employees would get 78 days wage as bonus, while on the other hand the anticipated Dearness Allowance hike was not announced by the Union Cabinet.

For 11 lakh railway employees, this government has consistently for the last 6 years, been giving record bonus, equivalent to the wage of 78 days. This year also, 11,52,000 employees will get 78 days wage as bonus. This is the reward for productivity, union minister, Prakash Javadekar said.

Several reports suggest that ahead of Diwali, the government may announce some perks for the Central Government employees. There are a couple of pending issues where the CG employees are concerned.

The first is the pay hike and increase in fitment factor. The second is the much-awaited hike in Dearness Allowance by 5 per cent. The government has been under immense pressure to meet these two demands.

While reports have claimed that both these announcements could be made ahead of Diwali, our sources tell us that as of now there is no such proposal on the cards. There has been no discussion on this issue and the only time the finance minister took up this matter was a day after being sworn in. She was only briefed about the pay panel and its updates.

While the issue relating a pay hike is completely ruled out, for now, CG employees would hope that the DA is hiked. In case the DA is hiked then the CG employees would get arrears for the months of July, August and September 2019. A hike of 5 per cent in H2-2019 DA is what is being expected.

The question is what the CG employees can expect ahead of Diwali. The pay hike beyond what the 7th Pay Commission had recommended is completely ruled out for now. The news of a wage bonus for the railway employees comes as a relief ahead of the festival season.