Odisha government hikes remuneration of contractual staff by 50%

Three days after hiking the Dearness Allowance of its regular staff and pensioners from 17 per cent to 28 per cent, the Odisha government Monday decided to increase the remuneration of contractual government employees by 50 per cent and henceforth refer to them as “Initial appointees”.

The decision was taken at a state Cabinet meeting helmed by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here, Law Minister Pratap Jena said.

The Cabinet also took 16 other decisions concerning Finance, Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare, General Administration and Public Grievances, Home, Excise, Labour and ESI, Panchayati Raj and drinking water departments.

Jena told reporters that the Cabinet approved a proposal to increase the remuneration of such “Initial Appointees” by 50 per cent in the first year while they will be entitled to regularisation of jobs after six years in service.

“The state government has to incur an additional expenditure of Rs 250 crore per annum for raising the remuneration of the Initial Appointees,” Jena said. They will also be getting reimbursements for medical expenses.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet gave its nod to a proposal to increase the state’s contribution towards the National Pension System (NPS) from 10 per cent to 14 per cent for its employees covered under the scheme.

The hike will be effective retrospectively from April 1, 2019, the minister said adding that around 2.08 lakhs employees will benefit from this decision.

The Cabinet also gave its approval to a proposal to provide a family pension if an employee dies during the service period. The new benefits will also apply to eligible employees of Aided Educational Institutions, and Group-B, C and D category of contractual employees, the minister said.

It was decided at the Cabinet meeting to bring Police Ministerial Officers under the ambit of Odisha Civil Services (Classification, Control & Appeal) Rules, 1962 to bring uniformity in the pay structure of Ministerial Officers across the state.

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