7th Pay Commission Report and the Need for Timeliness Background of the 7th Pay CommissionThe 7th pay commission report – when is it going to be submitted?The announcement about the 7th pay commission
report came out on September the 25th of 2013. This pay commission
unlike the 6th pay commission was set up well in advance. This became
possible due to significant efforts of various organisations, union
lists and the finance commission report. Announcements say that the 7th
pay commission will be implemented from 1.1.2016 and it will take
approximately 18 months time for the report to be submitted.
Recently, the 7th pay commission Chairman and
the members gave out a public statement on 4.2.2014 and after that on
22.2.2014 the important 7th cpc terms and references were released. Now,
the thought that floats on everyone’s mind is whether the 7th pay
commission report will be submitted within the 18 months time period and
will the employees be able to get the benefits along with their salary
from 1.1.2016.
Recently, in the Lok Shaba during the
question and answer session, it was pointed out that no specific time
limit can be specified as of now for the implementation of the 7th pay
commission. However, the finance ministry is now recruiting people for
the 7th pay commission pay cell on deputation basis. This is a good
attempt which boosts our confidence in the fact that the 7th pay
commission will be put into effect on time.
Reports of the Earlier Pay Commissions
If the employees get the benefits of the 7th
pay commission along with our salary on 1.1.2016, then, this will be the
first time we are given the pay commission benefits without arrears. I
am providing a link containing reports about when the previous pay
commissions were set and when they were implemented.
Pay Commission
Date of Appointment
Date of submission of report
Financial impact(Rs. In crores)
Time
First Pay Commission May, 1946 May, 1947 N.A 1 YEAR
Second Pay Commission August, 1957 August, 1959 39.62 2 YEARS
Third Pay Commission April, 1970 March, 1973 144.60 3 YEARS (aprx)
Fourth Pay Commission June, 1983 3 reports submitted in June, 1986; Dec. 1986 and May, 1987 1282 4 YEARS(aprx)
Fifth Pay Commission April, 1994 January, 1997 17,000 3YEARS (aprx)
Sixth pay commission July 2006 March 2008
18 months
Arrears of the 6th Pay Commission :- When you
see the timetable above, you can understand that none of the previous
pay commissions were implemented on time and without the payment of
arrears. When the 6th pay commission was implemented, the government
paid a huge amount as arrears in two installments. This impacted the
economy considerably and caused changes in inflation rate and GDP. This
shocking fact was revealed by the 13th finance committee report.
The Benefits of the Timely Implementation of
the 7th Pay Commission :- What benefits will the employees get if the
7th pay commission is implemented on 1.1.2016? Let us have a look.
Firstly, all the allowances and benefits can
be got on 1.1.2016. When the benefits are paid as arrears the employees
will not get some of the allowances due to exclusion.
Secondly, the government will not have to pay a huge amount as arrears and thereby can avoid economic burden.
Thirdly, if a National Anomaly Committee is
set up and the shortcomings of the 7th pay commission are corrected
immediately, employees can receive the benefits easily. We have to note
that several points mentioned the anomaly committee report of the 6th
pay commission still remain problematic and uncorrected.
Fourthly, let us have a look at the elements
of ACP and MACP. Like the ACP and MACP, the financial up gradation is
going to be introduced in the 7th Pay Commission; the issues that may
arise due to this have to be resolved in a timely manner so that
everyone may be benefitted by it. In the 5th pay commission, the time
limit for promotion through ACP remained at 12 years, and in the 6th pay
commission the time limit for promotions through MACP remained at 10
years. In the 5th pay commission, a new method of promotion through
hierarchy was introduced. In the 6th pay commission promotions happened
through grade pay structure.
The main aim of introducing ACP and MACP is
to make sure that an employee gets minimal promotion at least thrice in
his life time of service. If this is the case, the minimal service
period of an employee should be at least 30 years. But presently,
employees are appointed even at the age of 37 and so their service
period is just 23 years. Such problems have to be carefully considered
well in advance and solved before the 7th pay commission is implemented.
Let us believe that the 7th pay commission
will be the first arrears-free pay commission and implemented on time as
per the guidelines of the 13th finance commission.
