The Seventh Pay Commission, headed by justice A.K. Mathur, has sought a one-month extension from the finance ministry and is preparing to submit its report by the end of September. The commission is unlikely to recommend the lowering of the retirement age as rumoured earlier or push for lateral entry and performance-based pay.
The commission, set up once in every 10 years to review pay, allowances and other benefits for central government employees, was appointed by the previous government on 28 February 2014 and was asked to submit its report in 18 months, which falls on 31 August.
“There are some data points that are missing, which we hope to get by this month end. We are trying to submit the report by 20 September,” an official of the commission said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The Sixth Pay Commission had submitted its report a little ahead of its deadline on 24 March 2008. The revised pay scales were implemented retrospectively starting 1 January 2006, while recommendations relating to allowances were implemented prospectively.
The finance ministry apprehends that salary and pension expenditure will both rise by around 16% in 2016-17 as a result of the implementation of the Pay Commission recommendations. This may allow capital expenditure to grow by no more than 8% during the year, leaving little room to aggressively push for an infrastructure build-up.
