The Karnataka government has reportedly decided to implement the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission effective from August 1. In a meeting on Monday (July 15), the Congress-led government in Karnataka decided that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will make an announcement in this regard very soon which is expected to affect more than seven lakh state government employees.
The state government employees will now see a 27.5 per cent salary increase from August 1. The state government's decision to complement the 7th Pay Commission recommendations is expected to cost the state exchequer approximately Rs 17,440 crore annually.
Confirming the news, Karnataka Deputy CM DK Shivakumar wrote a post on X: "Sweet news for government employees: The Cabinet meeting held today decided to implement the much sought after 7th Pay Commission recommendations. The recommendations will come into effect from August 1."
The approval was given after the Karnataka State Government Employees Association threatened to gon an indefinite strike starting in August if the salary increase was not implemented.
In March 2023, former CM Basavaraj Bommai approved a temporary 17% pay increase for employees. The current Siddaramaiah government is implementing an additional 10.5%, bringing the total raise to 27.5% in basic salary, in line with the 7th Pay Commission's recommendations.
Central government employees transitioning from the 6th to 7th Central Pay Commission (CPC) saw an increase in their pay scale. In order to streamline the new pay structure for employees, the Government introduced a pay matrix table. Every Central Government employee is now entitled to a minimum pay of Rs.18,000 per month, as approved by the cabinet. This resulted in a significant increase in payouts for Central Government employees.
Additionally, with the rise in the minimum pay scale, the minimum pension for Central Government employees has also seen an increase. Following the Central Pay Commission's guidelines, the pension amount has now been raised by 2.57 times. As a result, the minimum pension for central government employees has increased from Rs.3,500 to Rs.9,000.
In the middle of 2017, the Ministry of Finance issued an updated list of allowances and benefits for Central Government workers, which were directly linked to the implementation of the 7th Pay Commission (7 CPC).
While there are some ongoing concerns with the 7 CPC, especially within the Armed Forces, adjustments were made to the House Rent Allowance (HRA) and travel allowance levels for all Central employees.
Nevertheless, many states continue to provide benefits to their employees based on the 6th Pay Commission guidelines, leading to variations in conveyance allowance provisions between Central and State employees.