Orissa Government approves 30- 60% Pay Hike for Government Employees

Breaking News! The Orissa Government has approved a 30 - 60% pay hike for the government employees in the state as per the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission. The pay hike range will be applicable to all employees according to their grades. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's decision to implement the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations brought huge cheer to all government employees in the state.

The government employees will reap a huge cash bonanza in terms of arrears, as the pay hike will take effect from January 01, 2006. The Cabinet has approved the recommendations of the Fitment Committee, which was set up to consider the recommendations of Sixth Pay Commission. Here are the key features of the implementation of Six Pay Commission Recommendations in Orissa:

• 30 - 60% pay hike for the government employees as per the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission
• On an average, the employees will receive a 36 percent pay hike in salary and perks
• Over 5 lakh government employees will be benefited from the pay hike
• The pay hike will also be applicable to all pensioners
• The pay hike will take effect from January 01, 2006
• 40% of the arrears will be paid in 2008-09 and remaining 60% in 2009-10
• All employees and pensioners will get the revised salary for the month of December, January and February
• The lowest pay scale will be Rs. 4,440 - Rs. 7,440 with a grade pay of Rs. 1,300 per month,
• The highest pay scale will be Rs. 37,400 - Rs. 67,000 with a grade pay of Rs. 9,000 per month
• A state government employee working at the lowest level, will get a minimum of Rs. 9,000 per month, while the highest salary will be around Rs. 1 lakh per month
• The minimum pension hiked to Rs. 3,500 per month for both pensioners and family pensioners. Additional pension after 80 years
• There will be five pay bands instead of existing 28
• Employees in the same pay band, will receive "grade pay"
• The DA (Dearness Allowances) will be calculated as 2% of basic salary on July 1, 2006, 6% on January 01, 2007, 9% on July 1, 2007, 12% on January 1, 2008 and 16% on July 1, 2008
• The gratuity amount has been raised from Rs. 2.5 lakh to Rs. 7.5 lakh
• The commuted value of pension increased to 40%
• Full pension to people who complete 25 years in service
• There will be three promotion slabs for govt. employees - 15, 25 and 30 years
• 20% HRA for employees living in towns with a population of 5 lakh - 50 lakh
• 10% HRA for employees living in towns with a population of less than 5 lakhs
• 5% HRA for employees living in other areas
• The pay hike will cost the government an additional burden of Rs 2,250 crore per annum
• The government will have to bear Rs. 4,200 crore towards the payment of arrear salary and Rs. 2,100 crore towards the payment of arrear pension

Other Key decisions taken by the State Cabinet:

• The block grants given to schools have been raised from 40% to 60%
• All grant-in-aid high schools will have a third peon
• All VLWs(Village Level Workers) will be promoted to the rank of Executive Officer of Gram Panchayats
• VAWs (Village Agriculture Workers) won't get the promotional benefits