State will follow 7th Pay Commission

Mumbai: The state government will have to bear an additional burden of Rs 40,000 crore as it has planned to follow the recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission from January 1, 2019.

Minister of state for finance Deepak Kesarkar told the Legislative Coun-cil that the state government employees would be paid in accordance to the Seventh Pay Commission from January 2019.

Mr Kesarkar was replying to a query raised by Council member Kapil Patil during question hour.

Mr Patil raised the question of the Seventh Pay Commission for employees of the state government, semi-government, and teachers of primary and secondary schools and junior colleges in the Legislative Council. They had gone on strike over the issue on August 9.

Mr Kesarkar said that the salary as per the Seventh Pay Commission would be paid to government employees, including teachers.

Mr Kesarkar said that the Seventh Pay Commission will put an additional burden of Rs 40,000 crore on the state exchequer.

Mr Kesakar also said that since January, 2016, the arrears had been pending which would further burden the state by Rs 10,000 crore, which would be disbursed over a period of five weeks.

Mr Kesakar said that the arrears would be paid retrospectively from 2016, while dearness allowance would be paid retrospectively for the past 14 months.

Close to 20 lakh state employees are waiting for the Seventh Pay Commission as the Centre has already approved it.