Orissa State cabinet nod for revised staff salary

With the assembly elections just few months away, the Naveen Patnaik government today decided to implement the revised pay scales for the government employees as per the recommendations of the sixth pay commission.

Orissa cabinet, chaired by the chief minister Naveen Patnaik, approved the recommendations of the Fitment Committee to implement the revised pay scales for the state government employees. The move will benefit about 3.57 lakh government employees, 30,479 employees of educational institutions receiving 100 percent grant in aid, employees engaged Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and employees working as workcharges.

The new pay scale will be implemented from 1 January 2006 with retrospective effect with the cutoff date being 1 December 2008.These employees will be given current salary for 3 months (Dec-2007, Jan-2008 and Feb-2008) along with the 40 percent of the arrear for 35 months.

While the 40 percent arrear will be given in cash during the current fiscal, the remaining 60 percent may be given in the next fiscal, sources said. While the details will be announced in the State Assembly on Monday, sources said, the increase in the minimum pay band is between 30.39 percent and 36.35 percent. Similarly, in the higher pay band the increase is between 39.25 percent to 62.25 percent. The state government will have to foot a total annual bill of about Rs 6300 crore for meeting the obligations arising out of increased salary and pension. The salary component in the total burden is estimated to be Rs 4200 crore and the pension burden will be about Rs 2100 crore for a period starting from 1 December 2006 up to 1 December 2008. The additional annual burden on the state exchequer will be Rs 2100 crore per annum with the salary component being Rs 1400 crore and the pension burden being Rs 700 crore, sources added.

However, the revised pay scale will not be applicable to NMRs and DLRs who work on contractual basis and to the members of Orissa Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC), statutory bodies, autonomous bodies, corporations, employees receiving UGC pay scale and aided educational institutions not getting full grant-in -aid. In a significant measure to please the government employees, the cabinet accepted the recommendation of the Fitment Committee for assured promotion. These promotions will happen in 15 years, 25 years and 30 years of service of a particular employee. Maximum 3 increments can be given to the employees. Similarly, house rent at the rate of 20 percent will be given to the employees working in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, which have a population of above 5 lakhs. However, it will be 10 percent for the towns having population less than 5 lakhs.

source : Business Standard.