Maha govt to clear 7th Pay Commission arrears this year

The Maharashtra government today informed the state Legislative Council that the Seventh Pay Commission arrears will be paid to its employees this year.
State Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said the move will put a burden of Rs 21,500 crore on the state exchequer.
Replying to a debate on a starred question raised by Kapil Patil of Janata Dal (United) during the question hour, Mungantiwar also said that an allocation will be made in the 2018-19 state budget for the payment of salary difference with retrospective effect from January 1, 2016.
He assured the House that the government is also considering the demand for granting Child Care Leave (CCL) for two years (730 days) to women government employees and 15 days of paternal leave for male workers.

"Earlier, the state government did not accept the Sixth Pay Commission's recommendation of CCL for two years, but the state government is now positive about accepting the recommendation," he said.
Replying to supplementary queries, Mungantiwar said the demand for raising the retirement age for government employees from 58 years to 60 years was being considered by the B C Khatua committee.

"The government will have to consider the additional financial burden of Rs 500 to Rs 700 crore the decision will put on the state exchequer while increasing the retirement age of the government employees," he said.
The General Administration Department (GAD) will take a decision on the demand.

Mungantiwar added that the GAD is also studying the proposal of a five days week for government employees.
"The GAD will also study the proposal for increasing the working hours of the government employees by 15 minutes against a weekly off on every Saturday. Although the GAD is seized of the matter, no committee has been set up so far to deliberate on the proposal," he said.