Five to six per cent annual pay hike of Central Government employees is likely to be linked to tangible performance criterion. Under-performers are likely to be retired by 55 or 30 years of service, according to the Seventh Pay Commission report to be submitted soon.
The overall hike being recommended by former Justice A K Mathur-headed 7th Pay Commission is around 30 per cent. The Central Government employees are scheduled to get salary hikes on the basis of the recommendations by January 1, 2016. According to sources, the house rent allowance too would see an increase by 20 per cent. But the most significant recommendation is that 5 to 6 per cent of the annual increment would be performance-based. There is also likely to be a provision of retiring underperforming employees by the age of 55 or 30 years of service, whichever is more. “The Commission has spoken to all stake-holders and the recommendations are ready. We are expecting to submit the report any time soon,” sources said.
Set up by the erstwhile UPA government in February 2014, the Seventh Pay Commission was given a four-month extension by the NDA Government. Its term is till December 31. The commission may also raise salary-levels of PSU employees. The Sixth Pay Commission led to a six percentage point increase in dearness allowance for Central government employees from 16 to 22 per cent. The commission’s recommendations are usually accepted by the government with minor adjustments.
