Chandigarh & Himachal Pradesh staff await sixth pay panel rollout in Punjab

CHANDIGARH: The protracted delay in implementation of the 6th pay commission by the Congress-led Punjab government, has not only affected the employees and pensioners of Punjab, but also those of UT Chandigarh and the hill state of Himachal Pradesh, which follow the Punjab panel.
So, like the 2.85 lakh employees and 3.07 lakh pensioners of poll-bound Punjab, nearly nearly 20,000 employees and 16,000 pensioners of UT Chandigarh' and around 2.25 lakh employees and 1.50 lakh pensioners of HP are waiting for the Punjab government to act.
UT follows Punjab
As UT Chandigarh is also the capital of Punjab, it follows the Punjab pay commission. UT Subordinate Services Federation Chandigarh president Ranjit Singh Hans said, "Capt Amarinder Singh did not do anything in 4.5 years and mainly the finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal…is responsible for such a delay."
6th pay panel: Finance minister had set aside Rs 9,000 crore in budget
Punjab finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal, while presenting the last budget of the incumbent Congress government on March 8 earlier this year, had announced implementation of the 6th pay commission from July 1 this year.
The finance minister had set aside Rs 9,000 crore in the budget for it while announcing that the arrears will be given in instalments over the years to employees and pensioners. But till date employees and pensioners, who are considered to be a major vote bank, have not got a single penny linked to the new pay commission in their bank accounts and have been continuously protesting against the state government in the run-up to the state assembly polls scheduled early next year.
Convener of the joint employees’ forum of Punjab and UT Chandigarh Gurmail Singh Sidhu says though Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi had on October 5 ordered to pay revised pension to pensioners worth Rs 1,887 crore with effect from July 1 this year, they are not hopeful of getting this amount in October pension. “The state government has failed to address employees’ and pensioners’ grievances. Earlier, the government had assured us a meeting with the chief minister on October 21, but that was postponed to October 25. Meeting is now with PWD minister Vijay Inder Singla,” said Sidhu.
The Punjab government employees and pensioners are getting 148% dearness allowance on the salary of the 5th pay commission and claim that the state government has failed to release at least four dearness allowance instalments to them.
Delayed pay commission
While the sixth pay commission is due from January 1, 2016, neighbouring Haryana had announced implementation of the 7th central pay commission in October 2016.
The Punjab government, during the previous SAD-BJP regime, had constituted the sixth pay commission in February 2016 by appointing retired chief secretary RS Mann as its chairman.
After the incumbent Congress government came to power in March 2017, Mann resigned from the post and retired 1968-batch IAS officer and former chief secretary Jai Singh Gill was appointed as head of the commission in April 2017, and submitted the first part of its report to then Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh on April 30.
The report recommended a two-fold jump in salaries and pensions. But unhappy over the recommendations of the pay commission and the manner in which the Punjab government has decided to implement it, Punjab government employees and pensioners are continuously protesting against the state government.
Himachal Pradesh employees helpless
Himachal Pradesh came into existence on April 15, 1948 by integrating the Punjab hill states and some princely states. But after the re-organisation of Punjab in 1966, some more districts including Shimla were merged with then UT Himachal Pradesh.
It was given statehood on January 25, 1971. This is why the Himachal Pradesh government follows the Punjab pay commission as many employees of the Punjab government became part of the Himachal government. The current dearness allowance in Himachal is 159%, more than Punjab.