7th Pay Commission: Did tussle with RBI delay pay hike announcement to March

New Delhi, Nov 12: There could be some good news regarding the 7th Pay Commission very soon.

Central Government employees have in fact given up hope regarding a pay hike beyond what the pay panel had recommended.

When will pay hike come

There have been conflicting reports regarding the pay hike. For one, it is not clear what lines the government is thinking on. While some reports suggest that the pay hike would be announced in January, a new media report suggests that it could come in March 2018.

Sorting issues

If the pay hike beyond what the pay panel had recommended is to come in March, it would mean that there is another delay. The government had started to move forward on this issue, but owing to several problems which includes a tiff with the RBI, the decision was yet again delayed. This is one of the primary reasons why there has been a delay.

In other states:

The issues being faced by the Central Government and its employees has not stopped the other states from announcing benefits. In Odisha a two percent hike in DA has been announced for the employees of the state public sector undertakings. The DA has been increased from 7 per cent to 9 per cent with effect July 1 2018. In Bihar the government announced a DA hike for employees and pensioners by two per cent. The DA now stands at 9 per cent and this would add an additional burden of Rs 419 crore on the state's exchequer. The Arunachal Pradesh government announced a hike in the DA and DR to 9 per cent from the existing 7 per cent. The hike would be effective from July 1 onwards. In UP too there was some news relating to the 7th Pay Commission. Apart from a DA hike, a 30 day bonus was announced. This would add an additional amount of Rs 967 crore to the state's exchequer. The DA hike would be effective July 1 2018.

Will it happen at all

These constant delays and conflicting reports have led to CG employees wondering if a pay hike would be announced at all. The 7th Pay Commission had recommended a salary hike of Rs 18,000. The CG employees had demanded Rs 26,000 as the basic minimum pay, but the government feels that it could hike the salaries only up to Rs 21,000.