Seventh Pay commission Estimated pay Hike

The approval for seventh pay commission came in September 2013 by the then Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh. The seventh pay commission would come into effect on 01^st January, 2016 and almost every central government employee has quite high hopes with the 7^th pay commission.

The 4^th, 5^th and 6^th pay commissions came into effect on 01^st January, 1986, 01^st January 1996 and 01^st January 2006 respectively. The Pay Commission has for years taken an average of around two years to prepare their report and come up with the final pay commission.

More than 50 lakh central government employees and more than 30 lakh central government pensioners are looking ahead for the much talked about seventh pay commission and are eagerly waiting to cherish the hike in their salaries, allowances and pensions.

Chairman and Members of Seventh Central Pay Commission

The chairmanship of seventh central pay commission would be headed by Justice Ashok Kumar Mathur, along with Vivek Rae, Dr. Rathin Roy and Smt. Meena Agarwal, all of whom come from a varied and enriching public service from various streams.

Constitution and Scope of 7^th Pay Commission

As per the books, the constitution of seventh pay commission is no different from the previous pay commissions. It would be the same as that of previous central pay commissions. The commission would holistically examine every aspect pertaining to emoluments of different categories of central government employees, including those belonging to Defense Forces.

Anticipated Salary Structure after 7^th Pay Commission

Salary structures in any pay commission are quite predictable based on the trends of previous pay commission, unless there is something quite extraordinary in the next pay commission. In fact, the salary structure of every pay commission has to be in line with the overall health of the economy.

Moreover, it is also a comparison of equivalent profiles in private sector companies and government makes every effort to bring central government employees in comparable salaries to their private sector counterparts as well as facilitate them enough to fight with the rising inflation.

Any prediction which could be made regarding 7^th pay commission would absolutely be just a prediction and nothing sure shot could be made out. However, considering the trends of previous few pay commissions and proposed revisions, we could say that the revisions would be three times the current salary of the employees.

Allowances in Seventh Pay Commission

As anticipated, allowances like travel, convenience, annual allowance, etc are said to become double of what they are currently. It is said that the dearness allowance would increase after every 6 months, to match up to the ever rising inflation.

Moreover, house rent allowance may however remain intact. Having said all this, what comes out in the pay commission on black and white is the only thing which is definite. Rest everything is a mere speculation.

Can good Salaries attract good Talent?

This question comes straight from the 7^th pay panel asking whether the current salary structure being followed by the government agencies can attract good talent or not. We all agree that there is a big gap between the salaries offered by private companies and the salaries given by government to the same expertise employees.

Quite often, the salary structure in government agencies leads to either good talents not joining government services or if joining, then looking for additional sources of income, which often leads to malpractices like bribery.

Last but not the least, it is noteworthy here that the salary structure of employees at lower level of hierarchy in government sector is not yet good enough to match up the rising inflation and day to day needs of their families.