Why are central govt. employees unhappy with the 7th Pay Commission

A few days ago, Justice A K Mathur submitted a 900 page report on the 7th Pay Commission to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

Speaking to this newspaper, M Durai Pandy, the General Secretary of Central Government Employees Federation (Tamil Nadu wing), said, “The 7th Pay Commission has created an image of being as generous towards the central government. But that is not true. We requested for Rs 26,000 as minimum pay for the central government employees. However, Rs 18,000 has been declared as minimum pay.”

The General Secretary further added, “Currently, employees receive Rs. 15,750 as minimum salary. On that basis, only Rs 2,250 is recommended as hike. Within that amount, PF and insurance deductions are Rs 2,580, which works out to Rs 330 less than the current payment.”

Durai pointed out that the new commission does not help employees. “Earlier, employees were getting advances for the purchase of durable goods. Here after, that is suspended. During the festival season, the employees received Rs 2,500 as advance. It was announced that this facility will not be there in future. House rent allowance has been reduced to 26% from the existing 30%, when inflation is going up. Promotions are done on the basis of a confidential report of ‘good’ and now, with the new rules, getting a distinction of ‘very good’ is mandatory. Several concessions to the employees have been plucked away,” he said. “This is the worst Pay Commission report ever submitted so far. In the cabinet meeting, they should make the necessary corrections. In order to insist this, we are holding an attention protest on November 24 before Anna Road HPO,” he concluded.