Pay panel does away with bands, grades
Introduction of a health insurance scheme for employees and pensioners has been recommended
New Delhi: The Seventh Central Pay Commission has suggested abolition of the pay band and grade pay, though it retained the annual increment of three per cent. It has also recommended a fitment factor of 2.57 which will be applied uniformly to all employees.
In the case of retired government servants, it said, their pension should not be deducted from their consolidated pay. The consolidated pay package should be raised by 25 per cent and dearness allowance by 50 per cent. Without calling it one-rank, one pension, the pay commission recommended a revised pension formulation for Central government employees, including paramilitary personnel as well as for defence staff who retired before January 1, 2016.
Meanwhile, agencies reported that the chairman and another member, Dr. Rathin Roy, recommended the age of superannuation for all Central armed forces personnel be raised to 60 years from the current 58 years. Another member, Vivek Rae, did not agree with it and endorsed the stand of the home ministry. The formulation will bring parity between past pensioners and current retirees for the same length of service in the pay scale at the time of retirement.
It also enhanced the ceiling of gratuity from the existing Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh. And the same will be raised by 25 per cent whenever DA is raised by 50 per cent. In the new pay structure grade pay has been subsumed in the pay matrix, and the status of the employee, currently determined by grade pay, will now be determined by the level in the matrix.
Introduction of a health insurance scheme for employees and pensioners has been recommended. Meanwhile, for the benefit of pensioners outside the Central Government Health Scheme areas, CGHS should empanel those hospitals which are already empanelled under CS(MA)/ECHS for catering to the medical requirement of these pensioners on a cashless basis. All postal pensioners must be covered under CGHS.
Under the Central government employees group insurance scheme, the rates of contribution as well as insurance coverage have now been enhanced suitably. Monthly deduction has been raised from Rs 120 per month to Rs 5,000 and insurance cover from Rs 1.2 lakh to Rs 50 lakh for the seniormost level. At the bottom of the matrix, it has been raised from Rs 30 per month to Rs 1,500 and the cover hiked from Rs 30,000 to Rs 15 lakh.
The commission recommended abolition of all non-interest-bearing advances and increased the limit for interest-bearing advances for buying homes from Rs 7.5 lakh to Rs 25 lakh. In view of grievances relating to the New Pension Scheme, it suggested steps to improve the functioning of the scheme and establishment of a grievance redressal mechanism.
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