Prior to the Lok Sabha elections this year, Odisha government seems to be trying its best to woo service class voters with pay hike.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday announced implementation of the 7th Pay Commission recommendations for the employees of all urban local bodies (ULBs) in the state.
"The revised pay structure will be effective retrospectively from April 1, 2016," according to a statement released by the Chief Ministers Office (CMO).
As per the notification issued by the State government, ULBs will have to meet the additional expenses from their own revenue.
The development comes after the State government after announced a hike of dearness allowance (DA) by 3 per cent for its employees and pensioners with effect retrospectively from January 1, 2019. Earlier, in April 2018, the DA for Odisha government employees was revised by two percent.
The move comes on the heels of an increase in dearness allowance (DA) by the Union Cabinet on February 19. In two major announcements under 7th Pay Commission, the Narendra Modi government has approved 300 per cent hike in the allowance for the central government employees handling cash and treasury and over 200 per cent increase in the running allowance for the railway employees.
The methods of paying the arrears to Odisha state government employees are yet to be decided, though. Odisha government could pay the arrears to its staff in instalments or can deposit the amount in their general provident fund (GPF) accounts.
(with inputs from PTI)
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Edited by Chitranjan Kumar