Odisha Government – Revised pay and higher allowances to be delayed as Fitment Committee fails to submit report

Odisha Government – Revised pay and higher allowances to be delayed as Fitment Committee fails to submit report.

The implementation of the 7th Pay Commission recommendation is likely to be delayed as the Fitment Committee set up by the Odisha government failed to submit its report within the deadline. It means government employees and pensioners in Odisha will have to wait to get revised salary and higher allowance under the 7th Pay Commission recommendations.

Odisha government constituted a 6-member Fitment Committee on October 31 last year to finalise the modalities pertaining to grade pay, pay scale, various categories of salaries and allowances as per the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission. The Fitment Committee was given four months time to submit its report. Though the panel held meetings with several employees’ associations, but hasn’t submitted its report till now.

The Odisha Secretariat Service Association has written letter to the finance secretary asking the Odisha government to implement the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission. “We have been demanding and would like to reiterate that the Chief Minister should announce the new pay scales as soon as possible. It will motivate the employees,” Krushna Prasad Mohapatra, general secretary of the Association was quoted as saying.

What makes government employees worried is that the Odisha government didn’t clarify whether it has made any budgetary allocations for implementation the 7th Pay Commission recommendations in the state budget. The state government has proposed Rs 47,466 crore in the 2017-18 budget of which Rs 22,000 crore has been allocated for salaries and Rs 11,313 crores for pension. Principal Secretary of finance Tuhin Kant Pandey has assured that the Fitment Committee will soon submit its report in regard of 7th Pay Commission.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik led Odisha government is incurring Rs 29,836 crore for salaries of its employees and with the implementation of the 7th Pay Commission recommendations, the State Exchequer will have additional burden of around Rs 5,000 crore. The government is expected to announce 23 per cent raise in the basic pay of a government employee.

Source: India.com