BENGALURU: The BJP-led state government is facing a major challenge in the run-up to 2023 assembly polls. The Sixth Pay Commission’s term ended on July 31 and ahead of the formation of the seventh pay commission, government employees are demanding a 20 to 30 per cent hike in their salaries, which means an additional Rs 12,000 crore burden on the state’s exchequer.
Allocating this huge amount will be a big challenge as the government cannot afford to ignore the employees’ demands, especially in an election year. If pay is revised as per their demand, employees will get a hike of Rs 10,000 to Rs 50,000, depending on the cadre.
In 2017, the then state government appointed former IAS officer M R Sreenivasa Murthy as chairman of the Sixth Pay Commission. The first pay commission was constituted in 1966. Speaking to TNIE, President of the State Government Employees Association, C S Shadakshari said,
“In 2017, the Sixth Pay Commission had recommended a 29 per cent pay revision in the basic salary. It has to be done once in five years,” he said. Shadakshari said the pay scale of state government employees is much lesser when compared to the Central government and also other state government employees including Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
‘Pressure on state govt to revise pay’
“We are demanding a 50 per cent hike in the basic salary and DA. Despite having close to 2.6 lakh posts vacant, we are among the top five states in terms of development. The staff shortage increases our workload,” he said. “In an election year, there is a lot of work like distribution of voter ID cards, making arrangements at polling stations and implementing government-announced schemes by the employees.
There is pressure on the government to revise the pay,” said a senior IAS officer. Sources from the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (DPAR) said that Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has not allocated additional funds in the budget. “On the other side, there has been an increase in the collection of funds under commercial tax and excise departments.
The setting up of the new commission and submission of a preliminary report will take not less than three to four months. Once the announcement is made, the government will allocate funds in the budget and arrears will also have to be paid,” sources said. There are 72 departments in the state government which include agriculture, home, urban development, health, tourism, education, food and civil supplies, power, water resources, excise, medical education and other departments.
Variation compared to other states
Group D: Rs 8,000-Rs 10,000
Group C: Rs 15,000-Rs 22,000
Group B: Rs 25,000-Rs 35,000
Group A: Rs 35,000-Rs 50,000