VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Friday announced 23% fitment for government employees and increased their retirement age to 62 years from 60. The new Pay Revision Commission (PRC) report will be implemented with retrospective effect from July 1, 2018. Monetary benefits will be implemented with retrospective effect from April 1, 2020. The new pay scales will be paid from January 1, 2022. The government decision will put an additional burden of Rs 10,247 crore on the state exchequer per annum.
Expressing their satisfaction over the PRC announcement, leaders of the employees’ unions said they were given more than what they had asked for. The unexpected announcement with regard to the enhancement of the retirement age by two years came as a sweet surprise to government staff. Making the PRC announcement at his camp office after a day-long meeting with officials, the Chief Minister reiterated his government’s commitment to the welfare of employees as they are part of the state governance.
“Without you, it is not possible to effectively implement various welfare and development programmes in the state,” he said. Jagan said even when the committee headed by the Chief Secretary emphasised the need for fixing the fitment at 14.29% citing the economic reality of the state, considering the aspirations and welfare of employees, it was decided to give 23% fitment. Stating that the fitment is 9% more than recommended, he urged employees to understand the financial situation of the state and cooperate with the government.
Contract and outsourcing staff will be paid the revised pay scales from January 1, 2022, along with regular employees. Though the committee on PRC recommended the revised pay scales from October 2022, the government decided to pay them 10 months in advance, he added. The Chief Minister said as announced earlier, pending Dearness Allowance will be paid to employees along with their January salary. “All the pending dues pertaining to PF, GLI and leave encashment will be cleared by April,” he said.
Though the committee recommended payment of monetary benefits to employees as per the new PRC report from October 2022, it was decided to pay them from April 2020. He also promised to take a decision on the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) by June 30.
The Chief Minister said his government stands by its promise to take care of the families of employees, who fell victim to Covid-19. “Jobs will be provided to family members of the deceased employees under compassionate grounds by the end of June,” he announced.
The Chief Minister constituted a committee headed by Chief Secretary Sameer Sharma to revamp the Employee Health Scheme (EHS) for better implementation and told to resolve all the issues within two weeks. For village and ward secretariat staff, revised pay scale will be given from July after the completion of their probation by June 30, he added. Jagan also announced that 10% plots in the Middle Income Group layouts in Jagananna Smart Townships will be reserved for employees who don’t own a house at 20% rebate.
Parts of the PRC announcement