Keeping its promise on implementing the 7th Pay Commission in Bengal after coming to power, CM Suvendu Adhikari led BJP government has approved the formation of the Seventh Pay Commission for state employees. Another big decision that the state government took in today’s cabinet meeting was paving the way for launching the Annapurna scheme under which women will be given financial assistance of Rs 3,000 per month from June 1.
Ahead of the state assembly polls, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had promised that 7th Pay Commission will be rolled out to West Bengal employees within 45 days if BJP wins the upcoming state Assembly election. West Bengal government employees are covered by the 6th Pay Commission currently. In a press conference in Kolkata, Shah vowed to implement the benefits of 7th Pay Commission to Bengal employees as a part of the sixth guarantee.
Launching the BJP’s manifesto for the West Bengal polls 2026, Shah announced Rs 3,000 monthly financial aid for women, implementation of the Uniform Civil Code among other things.
7th Pay Commission recommendations 2016
The recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission, were approved by the Union Cabinet in June 2016. The official implementation date was set as 1 January 2016 for central government employees along with arrears. The pay and pensionary benefits were rolled out within the 2016-17 financial year.
The recommendations of the pay commission benefitted over 1 crore employees. This includes over 47 lakh central government employees and 53 lakh pensioners, of which 14 lakh employees and 18 lakh pensioners are from the defence forces.
7th Pay Commission minimum pay
The minimum pay was been increased from Rs 7000 to 18000 per month. Starting salary of a newly recruited employee at lowest level was set at Rs 18000 whereas for a freshly recruited Class I officer, it was set at Rs 56100, reflecting a compression ratio of 1:3.12. It also signified that pay of a Class I officer on direct recruitment will be three times the pay of an entrant at lowest level.
7th Pay Commission fitment, gratuity
For the purpose of revision of pay and pension, a fitment factor of 2.57 was applied across all Levels in the Pay Matrices. Rate of increment was retained at 3 percent.
The Gratuity ceiling was enhanced from Rs. 10 to 20 lakh and ceiling on gratuity is to increase by 25 percent whenever DA rises by 50 percent.
The Commission also examined a total of 196 existing Allowances and, by way of rationalization, recommended abolition of 51 Allowances and subsuming of 37 Allowances.
