Mumbai, July 22: The Maharashtra government, led by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, on Sunday announced that its employees will start getting salary hike as per the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission from Diwali (which falls in November, 2018). The state government approved the 7th Pay Commission recommendations in March this year.

"The 7th Pay Commission will be our Diwali gift to employees," state finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar told PTI. Nearly 19 lakh state government employees and retired officials will get hiked salary and pension as per the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission from Diwali. The implementation of the 7th Pay Commission recommendations will put a financial burden of Rs 21,530 crore on the state exchequer.

"The finance department made provisions of Rs 10,000 crore in its annual budget presented in March this year," he said. The remaining provisions will be made through supplementary demands or in the next year's budget, he said.

The government is also considering the demand for granting child care leave (CCL) for two years (730 days) to women government employees and 15 days paternal leave for male staffers, Mungantiwar said.

The state government is also studying a proposal to start a five-day week working system for its employees, he said. "The proposal for increasing the working hours of government employees by 15 minutes against a weekly off on every Saturday is being studied," he added. As per the 7th Pay Commission, the minimum basic salary must be increased to Rs 18,000 with the fitment factor 2.57 times.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 22, 2018 01:37 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).