Sixth Pay commision report

Justice B N Srikrishna on Monday submitted the Sixth Pay Commission's report to Finance Minister P Chidambaram. The Commission has recommended a hike of about 40% in salaries of Central government staff and officers, along with their counterparts in defence and paramilitary forces. Among other recommendations, the Commission has asked the government to retain the current HRA in A1 cities. For HRA in non-A1 cities, the panel has recommended a hike of 10-20%.

The panel has recommended ending all gazetted leaves except three national holidays, but has recommended the increase in the duration of maternity leave to six months.

Among some of the most welcome suggestions is the hike in pension at the age of 80, 90, 95 and 100. Further, the Commission has recommended that the pay scales of Central government staff and officers, and their counterparts in the defence and paramilitary forces be revised from January 1, 2006.

Central government employees' remuneration includes a basic salary, a 50% dearness pay merged with the basic and a 47% dearness allowance of the total.

Excluding the arrears that would accrue to the 55 lakh employees, the annual impact of the new wage jump is estimated at Rs 12,561 crore.

The Commission, headed by Justice B N Srikrishna, was constituted in October 2006. It had been given 18 months to submit its report.

The panel's recommendations are likely to benefit an estimated 4.5 million Central government employees.