Punjab hikes staff’s basic pay by 15%

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Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 26

The Punjab Cabinet on Thursday announced increase in the basic pay of its employees by a minimum of 15 per cent, as recommended by a Cabinet subcommittee on August 4.

Other important Cabinet decisions

• Approval for jobs to 104 legal heirs of deceased agitating farmers
• Waiver of loans up to Rs50K to SC/BC beneficiaries
• Jobs for sportspersons for outstanding performance

With this, the total average increase in salary/pension per employee has gone up to Rs 1.05 lakh per annum from the earlier Rs 79,250 per annum that they were getting following the government’s decision to accept the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission.

The latest decision to raise the pay over and above the basic pay as on December 31, 2015, was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh.

This would entail an additional bonanza of Rs 1,500 crore for state government employees and pensioners, over and above the hike of Rs 4,692 crore that was recommended in the Sixth Pay Commission. The new pay scales will be implemented from July 1 onwards. There are 2.85 lakh government employees and 3.07 lakh pensioners in the state. With this, the annual salary and pension bill of the state government would be Rs 42,673 crore.

During the meeting today, Capt Amarinder Singh directed all ministers, administrative secretaries and heads of departments to talk to their respective employees for early redressal of their grievances. While all reasonable demands of the employees should be resolved following today’s announcements, he made it clear that strict action should be taken, as per rules, if the employees continue to agitate.

Captain Amarinder pointed out that all operational allowances have not only been retained but also doubled in absolute terms over what they were being paid earlier, with the Cabinet decision to restore common allowances, such as fixed medical allowance, mobile allowance, conveyance allowance and city compensatory allowance at the revised rates with effect from July 1, 2021.

The Cabinet also approved treating of non-practising allowance (NPA) admissible to doctors at the rate of 20% of revised basic pay as pay, with secretariat pay for employees (working in Punjab Civil Secretariat) to be doubled from July 1, 2021, and also to be treated as pay.

Further, employees covered under National Pension Scheme have now been given cover under family pension in case of death-in-harness, with the adoption of family pension guidelines of 2009.