It's almost thirteen months since the 7th Central Pay Commission (CPC) recommended its report (November 2015) on raising salaries and allowances covering about 47 lakh Central government employees and 53 lakh pensioners, but the implementation is still not complete.
On the other hand, state governments, especially most of the poll-bound, have stolen a march over the Modi government in taking, what could turn out to be a vote-clinching decision encompassing lakhs of voters who are state government employees and pensioners.
Read: Higher payout to employees has not affected costs much, says Railway minister Prabhu
For instance, there are 13.85 crore voters in Uttar Pradesh and about 24 lakh state government employees and pensioners.
Except for Manipur and Punjab, the other three states — Uttar Pradesh, Goa and Uttarakhand — announced implementation of the CPC's proposals much before the model code of conduct kicked in from January 4, 2017, when the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the schedule.
In case of Uttarakhand, the PTI had reported on December 18 last year, citing official sources, that the Harish Rawat government has taken a decision on implementing the CPC recommendations
The three states could influence about 28 lakh employees and pensioners, in addition to dependents, during polls, other things being equal.
The Modi government would have to wait on taking a decision with regard to raising allowances as recommended by the 7th CPC. The earliest that the Central government employees can look forward to on the issue post the last phase of elections (March 8) and much after the presentation of Budget 2017. Of course, the government would use the budget to announce sops that could be seen as influencing voters in these states.
The CPC examined 196 allowances and gave its recommendations on abolishing or raising some of them while recommending others to be subsumed with other perks. It had proposed 138.71 percent hike in HRA and 49.79 per cent for other allowances, while submitting its voluminous report in November 2015.
Here is the state-wise update on the implementation of the7th CPC recommendations:
Goa
No of employees and pensioners covered: 1 lakh (55,000 employees, 45,000 pensioners)
Financial implication: ~ Rs 607 crore
Effective from: January 1, 2017
Uttar Pradesh
No. of employees and pensioners: 24 lakh (the Business Standard put it at 16.52 lakh employees and 10.50 lakh pensioners)
Financial implication: ~ Rs 18,000 crore
Effective from: January 1, 2017
Uttarakhand
No of employees and pensioners covered: 2.5 lakh
Financial implication: ~ Rs 3,000 crore
Effective from: January 1, 2017
Punjab
No of employees and pensioners: ~7.1 lakh (4.1 lakh employees, 3 lakh pensioners)
Implementation status: Not available
Manipur
No of employees and pensioners: ~68,000
Implementation status: Not available
