New Delhi, November 27: Around 48 lakh central government employees have been eagerly waiting for the minimum wage hike under the 7th Pay Commission since last 18 months and their dream shattered last week when one the report claimed that the government has no plans to increase the minimum wage. From Monday, central government employees union have started pushing the government to increase the minimum monthly pay to Rs 21,000 from Rs 18,000 a month. 
“The central government employees unions’ leaders argued that the current minimum pay Rs 18,000 is not enough to live on,” a union leader said to The Sen Times.

“Looking at the current inflation, the minimum monthly pay should be Rs 21,000, so the minimum pay that we ask would not be too much for the government,” the central government employees unions’ said to media.
The lowest earning central government employees will now get Rs 18,000 per month on the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission from Rs 7,000 under the 6th Pay Commission recommendation while the maximum pay from Rs 80,000 to Rs 2.25 lakh per month and Rs 2.5 lakh for the top position.
The government has implemented a fitment factor of 2.57 to apply uniformly for all employees.
The employees said that they can’t ask for a hike in other allowances except for Dearness Allowance (DA).
Since last two-years, most the Union leaders have been arguing that the current minimum pay of Rs 18,000 is not enough to bear their other household expenses. Employees argue that the government must take responsibility to solve the minimum pay issue of central government employees.
The National Joint Council for Action (NJCA) also demanded that the pay gap between the highest maximum pay and the lowest maximum pay in the 7th Pay Commission recommendations is 1:14, which was 1:12 in the 6th Pay Commission.
On Sunday, central government employees union expressed their desire to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to raise the issue of the minimum hike.
“We still have faith in our system. We have faith in PM Modi. We are sure that he will try to keep a good industrial relation in the country and will fulfil our demands,” said one of the union member.