J-K approves 7th pay commission, employees to get over 20% hike from next month

In a bonanza to more than five lakh state government employees and pensioners, the Jammu and Kashmir government today approved implementation of the seventh pay commission recommendations with effect from January 2016.

With the immediate implementation of revised pay scale, employees will get more than 20 per cent hike in the salary for the month of April, state Finance Minister Syed Altaf Ahmed Bukhari told reporters after the meeting of the state cabinet here.

The measure, however, would put extra burden of Rs 4,201 crore per year and Rs 7,477 crore in one-time arrears on the exchequer, he said.

The finance minister claimed that Jammu and Kashmir is the first state to implement the 7th pay commission proposals.

The decision was taken by the state cabinet meet headed by Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti.

The cabinet approved implementation of the 7th pay commission recommendations for state government employees and pensioners, Bukhari said.

The state government employees can now draw the salary for the month of April 2018 as per the revised scales, he said.

For the purpose of implementation of the 7th Pay Commission Recommendations, basic pay as on December 31, 2015, of employees shall be multiplied by uniform factor of 2.57 and then adjusted in the matrix recommended by the Pay Committee.

The benefit of House Rent Allowance on revised pay shall be available from April, 2018 and all allowances except Dearness Allowance (DA) shall continue as before while DA from January, 2016 onwards shall be paid on revised pay on new rates to be notified by Finance Department, he added.

According to the decision, gratuity shall be enhanced from the existing ceiling of Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh with effect from January 1, 2016, with increase in the ceiling on gratuity by 25 per cent whenever DA rises by 50 per cent as recommended by 7th CPC/ as per Central Government pattern.

The pensioners shall be given option to choose revision of pension by any of the two formulations suggested by the Pay Committee.

Arrears of pensioners shall be paid in cash in three six monthly instalments while arrears of all employees shall be drawn and credited to their G.P Fund accounts with moratorium of 3 years for withdrawal of same, Minister said.

However, there will be no moratorium for withdrawal in case of employees retiring up to March 31, 2021. The implementation of 7th pay commission recommendations for PSUs and autonomous organisations will depend on the availability of resources with the respective organisations, he added.

Regarding pay anomalies, the cabinet decided that the existing Pay Committee shall look into and address the issue of anomalies starting with the issue of anomalies of the Clerical Cadre, he added. The cabinet also approved a slew of administrative reforms to streamline the functioning at various levels in the government.