Seventh Pay Commission will be Mindful of Fiscal Concerns – Finance Ministry

Seventh Pay Commission will be Mindful of Fiscal Concerns – “We have communicated our concerns with regard to sustainability of public expenditure to Pay Commission. I am sure the members and chairman of the commission are aware of and will be sensitive to our concerns,” finance secretary Ratan Watal told reporters in New Delhi.

Finance ministry on Monday said the Seventh Pay Commission will be mindful of the fiscal concerns of the government while giving its report on new pay scales and remunerations for central government employees and pensioners.

The Commission, headed by Justice A K Mathur, has been given time up to December 2015 to submit its report on revising emoluments of nearly 48 lakh central government employees and 55 lakh pensioners.

“We have communicated our concerns with regard to sustainability of public expenditure to Pay Commission. I am sure the members and chairman of the commission are aware of and will be sensitive to our concerns,” finance secretary Ratan Watal told reporters in New Delhi.

The Commission has time till December to submit its report, he said, adding thereafter it would be scrutinised by a secretariat to be set up in the finance ministry. Watal said although the recommendations would be implemented from 1 January, 2016, the burden on the exchequer would not be much in the current financial year.

However, he added, it would have implications in next fiscal. The Commission, headed by Justice A K Mathur, was appointed by the previous UPA government in February 2014 for 18 months. Its terms was extended in August 2015 by four months till 31 December, 2015.

The government constitutes the Pay Commission almost every 10 years to revise the pay scale of its employees and often these are adopted by states after some modifications.

As part of the exercise, the Commission holds discussions with various stakeholders, including organisations, federations, groups representing civil employees as well as Defence services.

Source : PTI – Live Mint