Chandigarh admn employees to receive salary hike from October

Salaries of UT employees are set to increase by a minimum of 15% from October with the Chandigarh administration adopting the recommendations of the Sixth Punjab Pay Commission.

The administration has notified the Punjab Civil Services (Revised Pay) Rules, 2021, in respect of the UT employees who draw pay on Punjab pattern. These will also apply to employees on deputation from Punjab.

Most of the 20,000 UT employees stand to gain from the decision.

The Sixth Punjab Pay Commission had submitted the first part of its report to the Punjab government on April 30, 2021, broadly comprising recommendations on revision of pay scales, allowances, and pension and retirement benefits.

The Punjab government notified the revised pay rules on July 5 with effect from January 2016, followed by Chandigarh also deciding to roll out the pay hike from October this year.

“Decision on payment of arrears for January 1, 2016, to September 30, 2021, will be taken in due course of time,” states the UT notification.

“A salary increase of ₹8,000 to ₹16,000 per month is expected depending on the grade/post of the employee,” said a UT official.

An employee currently getting ₹56,038 monthly pay can expect a hike of ₹9,454 to ₹14,910 per month, with the difference being mainly due to the rate of dearness allowance –17% or 28%.

The rate of future increments in salary will be 3% of the basic pay, uniformly for all government employees.

The notification states, “The level of posts shall be determined in accordance with the grade pay assigned to the post as per the recommendations of the Fifth Punjab Pay Commission notified by the government in 2009.” The Fifth Pay Commission was applicable from 2006.

Gopal Dutt Joshi, general secretary, UT Powermen Association, said, “While the Punjab government doesn’t have the funds to release arrears of employees, the UT administration doesn’t have such constraints. It should immediately disburse the arrears due from January 1, 2016.”

Balwinder Singh, president, Chandigarh Subordinate Services Federation, said, “The pay rise does not match the level of inflation in the country. The relief for UT employees has come too little, too late.”