M R Srinivas Murthy, former Indian Administrative service officer handed Chief Minister Siddaramaiah the first volume of the 6th Karnataka pay commission recommendations document. The commission recommended that Karnataka state government employees and pensioners receive a 30% hike in their salaries effective from July 1, 2017, and a resulting financial benefit to be paid from April 1, 2018.
It came as a bonanza for the employees and pensioners as the move will benefit 5.73 lakh pensioners, 5.2 lakh government employees and 73,000 employees of government-aided educational institutions and non-teaching staff of Karnataka state universities and colleges.
Specifics of Pay Commission Recommendations
Srinivas said that if the revision pay is implemented, the revision allowances and pensions pay is expected to cost the state’s exchequer about Rs 10,508 crore annually. He claimed that the revised minimum pay scale is Rs 17,000 while the upper limit is Rs 1,50,600 plus allowances per month.
He then went on to declare that the minimum revised pension is Rs 8,500 while the maximum limit is fixed at Rs 75,300 per month plus dearness allowance (DA). Dearness allowance is an adjustment allowance paid to India’s government employees. Its objective is to revise salaries of government employees due to changes in the cost of living caused by inflation. Murthy stated that the family pension will be different as its upper limit is set at Rs 45,180.
Srinivas explained that the commission came to their decision of revising salaries and pensions by increasing each employee’s basic pay by 30% as on July 1, 2017, then adding dearness allowance of 45.25% payable from July 1, 2017.
Other Recommendations
Karnataka’s pay commission agreed that the retirement age should be maintained at the age of 60 years. However, it recommended that the minimum voluntary retirement age is reduced from 15 years to 10 years while eligibility to receive full pension be reduced from 33 to 30 years.
Among other recommendations, Murthy stated that the rates of house rent allowance be revised from 30-24%, 20-16%, and 10-8% of the revised basic pay. He added that the maximum limit for death-cum-retirement gratuity is increased from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh.
CM Siddaramaiah said that the second volume of recommendations will be submitted in three months. He added that the second volume of recommendations will only be implemented when their government comes back to power.
