7th Pay Commission: Maharashtra government to clear arrears this year, will spend Rs 21,530 cr

7th Pay Commission: The state finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said that the decision will put a burden of Rs 21,500 crore on the state exchequer. (Source: PTI)

In a good news for the government employees, Maharashtra government, on Tuesday, informed the state legislative assembly that it will pay the arrears under the 7th pay commission to its employees, this year. The state finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said that the decision will put a burden of Rs 21,500 crore on the state exchequer. Reassuring that the state government is positive about accepting the 7th CPC recommendations, Mungantiwar said, “Earlier, the state government did not accept the Sixth Pay Commission’s recommendation of CCL for two years, but the state government is now positive about accepting the recommendation,” he said.

Mungantiwar, while replying to a debate on a starred question raised by Kapil Patil of the Janata Dal (United) during the question hour, ensured that an allocation will be made in the 2018-19 state budget for the payment of salary difference with retrospective effect from January 1, 2016.

He also assured the house that the government is considering the demand for granting Child Care Leave (CCL) for two years (730 days) to women government employees and 15 days of paternal leave for male workers.

However, on the demand of raising the retirement age of government employees from 58 years to 60 years, the state finance minister said that it is being considered by the B C Khatua committee as it will add some financial burden on the government.

“The government will have to consider the additional financial burden of Rs 500 to Rs 700 crore the decision will put on the state exchequer while increasing the retirement age of the government employees,” he said.

The senior leader said that the final decision on this demand will be taken by the General Administration Department (GAD). Mungantiwar added that the GAD is also studying the proposal of a five days week for government employees.

“The GAD will also study the proposal for increasing the working hours of the government employees by 15 minutes against a weekly off on every Saturday. Although the GAD is seized of the matter, no committee has been set up so far to deliberate on the proposal,” he added.