By Khabrein.Info Correspondent
New Delhi, Oct 1, 2008: The state government employees in troubled Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) state may be in for some good news soon. Sixth Pay Commission it seems is all set to be implemented in the state that is under virtual siege for the last three months.
The state government has formed a committee to look into the issue of implementation of the sixth pay commission in a state that is under continuous bouts of uprising against India. Both Jammu and Kashmir Valley are under siege due to continuous agitations from two different parties.
In Jammu the issue of land allotted to Shri Amarnath trust stoked fire that continued more than two months.
The agitators not only brought Jammu area to a standstill but were able to block main highway to Kashmir Valley thus imposing an effective blockade of the valley.
The state government of Jammu and Kashmir that was under constant demand to implement the sixth pay commission there has constituted two committees to look into the possibilities of enhancement of retirement age of the state government employees from 58 to 60 years and implementation of 6th Pay commission, sources in the administration told a local news agency. According to the reports, a proposal in State Administrative Council (SAC) meeting of September 24, 2008 for enhancement of retirement age from 58 to 60 and implementation of 6th pay commission for state government employees was to be adopted. However, the decision was put on hold as Youth Federation had submitted a memorandum to the Governor N N Vohra, asking him not to take any final decision in this regard.
Earlier several other governments have announced to implement Sixth Pay Commission. Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh too have now announced to implement the recommendations of the pay panel.
Since the central government announced to accept and implement the sixth pay commission recommendations, states most of whose finances are in bad shape are waking up to the idea of implementing the pay commission recommendations.
But I would advise the state government employees not to be overtly happy as it may still take years before you get your first pay slip as per the sixth pay commission recommendations.
There are states where still fifth or even third pay commission recommendations are in vogue and no one bothers to ask those state governments as to why they failed to implement the previous pay panel recommendations.
Earlier five other states had announced to implement the pay panel recommendations. Those states included UP, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Uttranchal and Mizoram.
Now with the announcement of Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh governments the number of states who have announced to implement 6th pay panel recommendations has risen to seven.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan while making the announcement said, “My government has always been in favour of providing the best possible to its employees and it will also execute the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations as early as possible”.
The announcement will benefit around half a million state government employees in this central Indian state.
Chattisgarh government announced the implementation of the pay panel recommendation by a press release. “The state has taken a decision in principle to implement the new salary structure, recommended by the Six Pay Commission and approved by the central government,” an official release here said.
Despite announcement it is really going to take several months if not years (though it cannot be ruled out) before the states are able to sort out the tricky issues involved in the implementations of the report. There are intricate issues involved like the pay structures, the pay bands, benefits involved and the most important issue of them all, from where the state governments are going to raise the finances.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister has also announced to implement the sixth pay commission recommendations. She has also formed a committee to look into the issue of implementation of the report.
While making the announcement the chief minister Mayawati grandly announced, “I decided to implement these recommendations in the larger interest of the well being of the government employees who are facing an acute crunch on account of the rising prices of essential commodities for which the central government was squarely responsible”.
The chief minister said, “The new pay commission would be brought into force with effect from Dec 1 , though we would implement it with retrospect from Jan 2006”.
There are around 1.5 million employees working for the state government and it would entail an additional expenditure of around Rs 20000 crore. “But we will make it a point to meet that by enhancing our pending recoveries and by plugging wastages. Rest assured, we will not levy any fresh taxes on the people of the state”, Mayawati said.
No previous pay commission has evoked such a great hope and anticipation from government employees like the sixth pay commission.
But there are serious questions when it comes to implement the sixth pay commission recommendations. Several states including Uttar Pradesh and Bihar besides several other states have not yet fully implemented the fifth pay commission report.
In Uttar Pradesh there are over 24 corporations where fifth pay commission is still to be implemented. A report said that there are some state government organizations where employees are still getting salaries as per third pay commission recommendations. At present the employees Jal Nigam, UP State Road Transport Corporation, Housing Board, Forest Corporation, Rajkiya Nirman Nigam, StateWarehousing Corporation, Pollution Control Board and UP State Bridge Corporation are the only ones getting salaries as per the recommendations of the fifth pay commission. However, none these got the revised pay scales in 1996, the year when the recommendations of the fifth pay commission were accepted and implemented.
Maharashtra has so far not announced to implement the sixth pay commission recommendations, but the mainstay of India’s economy, Maharashtra is sure to implement the recommendations of the sixth pay commission.
The Sixth Pay Commission recommendations are likely to increase the state’s salaries and pension bill by around Rs 4,500 crore (Rs 45 billion) annually. Although the state government has provided for nearly Rs 10,000 crore (Rs 100 billion) in the state’s budget for absorbing the impact of the recommendations, it will have to cut down on its development expenditure at least in the coming financial year, if it decides to implement the commission’s recommendations from January 1, 2006.
Source: http://www.khabrein.info
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