NEW DELHI, December 19, 2013
The central government is likely
to constitute the 7th Pay Commission for revising the salaries of its
over 50 lakh employees before the start of process of next general
elections due in May, 2014.
“The Finance Ministry is working
out a Cabinet proposal for constitution of the 7th Pay Commission which
could be taken up for consideration in the next couple of weeks,” a
source said.
According to information
available, the government’s intention to constitute 7th Pay Commission
before going for polls is clear as it has made provision of Rs. 3.5
crore in the second supplementary demands for grants in this regard
which was approved by Parliament in the just concluded Winter Session.
Earlier in September this year,
Finance Minister P. Chidambaram had announced that Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh has approved setting up of the 7th Pay Commission.
According to the announcement, the
Commission will be mandated to submit its report in two years time and
its recommendations would be implemented from January 1, 2016.
However, after that announcement, no formal proposal was put up before the Union Cabinet for constitution of the Commission.
As per the practice, the
Commission is headed by a former Supreme Court Judge and its other
members would include experts and officials.
Meanwhile, the government is also
believed to have approved fixing minimum pension of Rs 1,000 per month
under the Employees’ Pension Scheme 1995 (EPS-95) run by retirement fund
body Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO).
The government is also understood
to have cleared maximum basic wage ceiling of Rs. 15,000 per month for
deduction of Provident Fund from existing Rs. 6,500 per month for
private sector workers, in general, covered under schemes run by EPFO.
