Sixth pay commission to be set up in Punjab: Badal

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today asked the personnel department to notify the Sixth Punjab Pay Commission for employees and pensioners of the state government within a month.
A decision to this effect was taken by the Chief Minister during a meeting with a delegation of Mulazam Front Punjab led by its President and Chairman Punjab Employees Welfare Board Surinder Singh Pehalwan here this evening, said an official spokesman.
Briefing the representatives of the delegation in the meeting, Badal asked the Chief Secretary to get the notification, for constituting the Commission thereby stipulating its composition, terms and conditions, issued by the State Personnel Department within a month.

He also asked the Principal Secretary Finance to provide the requisite terms of reference of the new pay commission to the Personnel Department within next fifteen days to ensure issuance of its notification by the stipulated time-frame.
The chief minister apprised the representatives that the commission would be mandated to submit report based on its recommendations with regard to new pay scales for the Punjab government employees and revision in the pension of its pensioners/family pensioners to the state government within a year.
Referring to the long-pending demand of state employees for the implementation of Assured Career Progression (ACP) Scheme of 4-9-14, the Chief Minister said that the state government after thoroughly examining the recommendations of the three-member committee already constituted for its implementation would take a final call in this regard by March 31.

Badal also directed the chief secretary to issue detailed instructions to all the Administrative Secretaries and Head of the Departments to ensure promotion of all eligible categories of employees by holding the meetings of departmental promotion committees in their respective departments within next two months.

Conceding another demand of the state employees, the Chief Minister also announced that the balance amount of arrears on account of 6 per cent Dearness Allowance (DA) of government employees and pensioners/family pensioners from July 1, 2015 would be released before March 31.
An amount of nearly Rs 400 crore was due, of which Rs 200 crore was already paid by the state government and the balance would be released by the end of the current fiscal.

Badal also assured the employees' front that the state government was already sincerely looking at all aspects to regularise the services of contractual and work-charged employees working in various departments since long within the ambit of law.
Badal also agreed to their demand to hold meeting of employees with the representatives of union once in every three months so that the genuine demands and grievances of employees could be redressed through a mutual dialogue across the table to their satisfaction.