New Delhi, December 25: In last 18 months there is no confirmed news about the hike in minimum wage under 7th Pay Commission except a large number of media organisations have speculated the issue. According to a report, the central government employees’ minimum pay has been below what’s needed to keep a family of four out of poverty since 2016. It’s also well shy of the peak of its buying power almost one-fourth of ten years ago.
Many believe that it’s now time to raise the minimum pay which is currently Rs 18,000 per month.
In last 18 months, the government has not arrived at an objective answer. It also depends on the political slant of the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley or the views of Committee of Secretaries looking into pay anomalies, The Sen Times reported.
Several central government employees’ unions claim that the 7th Pay Commission recommended pay hike is the lowest in the last seven decades.
Since last two years, the unions had threatened to carry out an indefinite strike but they called off after the government announced that a High-Level Committee would be formed to address their demands.
Earlier Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had agreed to resolve the problems of minimum pay hike of central government employees on June 30, 2016. a day after the Cabinet cleared the 7th Pay Commission recommendations, the union leaders had met Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and had requested that issues raised by them regarding the fitment factor and pay scales to be raised before a Committee of Secretaries looking into different aspects of grievances of employees.
After this meeting, a 22-member National Anomaly Committee (NAC) has been formed in September 2016 instead of High-Level Committee to look into pay anomalies arising out of the implementation of the 7th Pay Commission’s recommendations.