7th Pay Commission: Govt Mulling Minimum Wage Hike, But With No Arrears, Says Report

New Delhi, Jan 29: The Finance Ministry is reportedly considering to hike the minimum wages of central government employees, but remains disinclined towards providing them arrears from July 2016, the date of 7th Pay Commission's implementation, said a report.

The development comes in the backdrop of several pleas made by the National Joint Council of Action (NJCA) -- a consolidated body of central government employee unions -- which had demanded the fair revision of low-level employees.

Finance Ministry officials, while speaking to The Sen Times, said the hike on wages for low-level employees is expected from April this year. "But no arrears on pay hike will be given to employees," the source is quoted as saying.

What the unions have demanded:

The employee forum sought a revision of the minimum wages using the 3.68 fitment factor. As per the 7th Pay Commission recommendations, which were approved by the Centre in July 2016, the wages were hiked using the 2.57 fitment factor.

As the per 7th CPC report tabled by the Justice (retd) AK Mathur-led panel, a 1:14 ratio was adopted for the difference between the minimum and maximum salaries. The NJCA pointed out that the preceding pay commissions had maintained the pay gap at a ratio of 1:12.

The 7th CPC recommendations, after being implemented, raised minimum salary from Rs 7,000 to Rs 18,000, whereas, the maximum pay was hiked from Rs 90,000 to Rs 2.5 lakh.

The union has demanded an upgradation of the minimum pay using the 3.68 fitment factor, which would revise it from Rs 18,000 to Rs 26,000. The NJCA convenor Shiv Gopal Mishra, however, has reiterated that they are "not rigid" over the pay multiplying factor and willing to negotiate over their demand.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 29, 2018 08:31 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).