Every govt employee set to get at least Rs 2,880 monthly hike

The Karnataka Sixth Pay Commission, which submitted its report to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday, has used the methodology of increasing the basic pay of each government employee as on July 1, 2017 by 30% and then adding dearness allowance of 45.25% payable from that date.

The three-member commission headed by retired IAS officer M R Srinivasamurthy in its report has stated that new basic pay arrived at will be the basis for calculating the House Rent Allowance (HRA), other benefits and release of future installments of dearness allowance.

In effect, the minimum hike for any government employee will be at least Rs 2,880 per month, sources in the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (DPAR) said.
The panel has recommended the HRA rates be revised to 24%, 16%, and 8% of the revised basic pay replacing the present rates of 30%, 20% and 10% respectively of the existing basic pay. "This revision actually increases quantum of HRA by 40% from the present level, being calculated on the increased basic pay," Srinivasamurthy said.

The commission has recommended increase in City Compensatory Allowance (CCA) from the present
Rs 350 to Rs 400 per month.
The panel has proposed increase of subsidy for purchase of motorised/mechanical vehicles for the differently-abled employees from the present Rs 25,000 to Rs 40,000 per month. The education allowance of physically challenged children of employees is proposed to be doubled from Rs 500 per month
Rs 1,000 per child.

Scheme for retd staff

The commission has recommended extension of medical reimbursement to retired employees and family pensioners to receive cashless treatment in empanelled hospitals as in the case of "Jyothi Sanjeevini" scheme. The expenditure on this account is estimated at Rs 500 crore per year.
The commission has sought that Death-cum-Retirement Gratuity should be paid to employees who are now covered by the New Pension Scheme. Similarly, the benefit of family pension is also proposed to be extended to dependents of deceased employees covered by the New Pension Scheme.

The panel has noted that the state government has 5.2 lakh employees in service as against 7.73 lakh sanctioned posts representing a vacancy position of about 33%. It has suggested that the government should undertake a reappraisal of personnel requirement of all departments to evolve a new staffing pattern and staff strength.
Srinivasamurthy said the commission has only addressed issues related to revision of pay, allowances and pension in its first report, submitted on Wednesday. The panel has now commenced the work on preparing a report related to increasing productivity of employees and various departments in government.

In this report, the commission will also look into representations from various departments and service associations regarding specific grievances of anomalies in pay scales of individual cadres of employees.
The existing pay and allowances were last revised with effect from April 1, 2012 on the recommendations of the Officials Pay Committee, 2011.