MUMBAI: In a major decision ahead of the Lok Sabha and state Assembly polls next year, the Maharashtra government on Thursday approved the implementation of recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission from January 1, a move that will benefit more than 20 lakh employees and pensioners.
The approval to the pay hike of government employees, which will cost the state exchequer Rs 38,655 crore, was given by the Cabinet at its meeting here and comes just months ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. The state will face Assembly polls in the second half of 2019.
With this decision, the Group D employees will get a hike of around Rs 4,000- Rs 5,000, Group C will get Rs 5,000- Rs 8,000 more, while Group B and Group A officers will get an increase between Rs 9,000-Rs 14,000 per month. Finance Mungantiwar, speaking to reporters at Mantralaya (secretariat), said the Cabinet had approved the 7th Pay Commission’s implementation from January 1, 2019, with retrospective effect from January 1, 2016.
The New Year-eve bonanza will also bring cheers to more than 360 retired government employees who are over 100 years of age. He said retired employees in the age of 80-85 years would get a hike of 10 per cent in their monthly pension, 15 per cent for those in 85-90 age bracket, 20 per cent for 90-95 years and 50 per cent hike for those who are 100 and above.
Mindful of the cascading effect that the decision of the pay hike will have on other sections of the society, especially the farmers, the state government has already begun work on granting some relief to farmers, Anganwadi Sevikas, home guards, police patrols and other such sections who are paid honorariums by the government for the services they render in implementing government programs.
Mungantiwar stated that keeping in mind the likelihood of a demand being made by these workers, the government has begun working on the proposal to grant them some relief and a decision to that effect will be taken soon.