BENGALURU: A day after the state cabinet approved an increase in salaries and pensions of present and former state government employees, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said in the Assembly on Tuesday that the government will incur Rs 20,208 crore per annum because of this decision. The provision for the salary revision has already been made in the budget presented for 2024-25, he added.
He said as per the recommendations of the 7th State Pay Commission, the salary, salary-related allowances and pensions of government employees will be revised with effect from August 1, 2024. “This includes a 31 per cent hike in Dearness Allowance (DA) and fitment of 27.50 per cent of the basic pay of employees as on July 1, 2022. This will increase the basic salary and pension of employees by 58.50 per cent. There will be an increase of 32 per cent in house rent allowance too,” he said.
Explaining further, he said that by accepting the pay commission recommendation, the minimum basic pay of employees will increase from Rs 17,000 to Rs 27,000 and the maximum pay will be revised from Rs 1,50,600 to Rs 2,41,200.
Similarly, the minimum pension of employees will be increased from Rs 8,500 to Rs 13,500 and the maximum pension will be revised from Rs 75,300 to Rs 1,20,600. “The revision will be applicable to non-teaching staff of universities, employees of aided educational institutions and local bodies,” he pointed out.
He said the Seventh Pay Commission was constituted in November 2022 to address the demands for revision of pay, allowance and pensions. The commission submitted its report in March 2024.
The commission headed by former chief secretary K Sudhakar Rao had recommended a 27.5% increase on the basic pay of employees. The previous BJP government led by Basavaraj Bommai, had approved a 17% hike as interim relief. The state cabinet on Monday decided to add another 10.5% to make it 27.5% as recommended by the commission.