7th Pay Commission: Will Modi govt announce sops for employees in Budget 2018?

This year is going to be very crucial for lakhs of central government employees who are eagerly waiting for the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission to be finally be implemented.

According to sources, the Modi government may allocate funds for the salary hike of its employees in the Budget 2018. This will be over and above the recommendations of 7th Pay Commission, sources have said.

In a bonanza to 48 lakh central government employees, the Union Cabinet in June last year approved recommendations of 7th Central Pay Commission with 34 modifications with an expected additional annual burden of Rs 30,748 crore on the exchequer.

This has been in line with the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission, where Modi government has hiked the salaries of judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts to over two-fold.

The High Court and Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Amendment Bill, 2017 hikes salary of judges of the Supreme Court and Chief Justices of High Courts to Rs 2.5 lakh a month, up from the current Rs 90,000. Judges of High Courts, who get Rs 80,000 per month, will now draw a salary of Rs 2.25 lakh a month. The salary hike is in line with the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission for officers of all-India services, will come into force retrospectively from January 1, 2016.

The move will also benefit 2,500 retired judges. Now the salary of judges will be at par with those of the bureaucrats following the implementation of the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission. The Bill will also revise the rates of house rent allowance with effect from July 1, 2017, and the rates of sumptuary allowance with effect from September 22, 2017.