In a pre-poll bonanza for a total of 5.4 lakh Punjab Government employees, both serving and retired, the State Cabinet on Friday decided to implement the recommendations of Punjab Sixth Pay Commission from July 1, 2021, with retrospective effect from January 1, 2016. The Cabinet, in its virtual meeting, has decided to accept the Commission's majority of the recommendations, which has all along been demanded by the state government employees.
As per the decision, the minimum pay for a government employee will increase from Rs 6,950 to Rs 18,000 per month. With the implementation of the recommendations, there would be a 2.59 times increase in salaries and pensions over the previous pay commission recommendations, with an annual increment rate of three percent resulting in pay scales of all existing employees.
The pension will go up from Rs 3,500 to Rs 9,000 per month, and the minimum Family Pension would increase to Rs 9,000 per month under the revised structure. The divorce or widowed daughter shall be eligible for family pension, and the eligibility criteria of income for family pension has been enhanced from Rs 3,500-plus dearness allowance (DA) to Rs 9000 plus DA per month.
The expected amount of net arrears from January 1, 2016, to June 30, 2021, is estimated to be around Rs 13,800 crore.Punjab Government employees have already been getting five percent interim enhancement since 2017. The net arrear amount of employees and pensioners for the year 2016, estimated at Rs 2,572 crore, will be paid in two equal installments in October 2021 and January 2022.
The implementation of the pay commission’s major recommendations will lead to an annual additional burden of Rs 8,637 crore to the state exchequer, with a prospective additional net annual burden expected per annum to be Rs 4,700 crore.