7th Pay Commission – Centre Sets Up High-powered Panel – The Empowered Committee of Secretaries will function as a Screening Committee to process the recommendations with regard to all relevant factors of the Commission in an expeditious detailed and holistic fashion.
After inflation, weak global economy and falling exports, the implementation of the 7th Central Pay Commission’s recommendations is the next key challenge for the central government. It’s a double-edged sword for the government, and holds the key to its commitment to fiscal discipline.
The implementation of the new pay scales is estimated to put an additional burden of Rs 1.02 lakh crore on the exchequer in 2016-17. Subject to acceptance by the government, they will take effect from January 1, 2016.
Major trade unions such as the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), Congress-affiliated All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) and BMS are against the report. “It is totally disappointing… least hike (proposed) during the last 30 years. Considering the inflation, it is unsatisfactory,” said AITUC general secretary Gurudas Dasgupta.
“We are opposing the report in totality as the real increase is just 16% and not 23.5% as is being proposed,” said Pawan Kumar, zonal secretary of BMS.
The challenge will be in the form of managing retail inflation, which was 5.61% in December 2015, higher than the 14-month high of 5.4% registered in November 2015.
Rising prices, especially of food items, could backfire on the BJP during the year when four states — Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal — go to polls.
In the heat of this, the government today decided to set up a high-powered panel headed by Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha to process the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission which will have bearing on the remuneration of 47 lakh central government employees and 52 lakh pensioners.
The Cabinet has approved the setting up of Empowered Committee of Secretaries to process the recommendations of 7th Pay Commission in an overall perspective, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu told reporters here.
The Empowered Committee of Secretaries will function as a Screening Committee to process the recommendations with regard to all relevant factors of the Commission in an expeditious detailed and holistic fashion, an official statement said.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said earlier that he was not worried about fiscal deficit and government would be able to meet its target despite additional outgo on account of higher pay.
He had admitted however that the impact of implementing the recommendations, which will result in an additional annual burden of Rs 1.02 lakh crore on exchequer, would last for two to three years.
Source: IBN Live
