Over nine lakh employees of the Telangana government will get a hike of 30% in their salaries with effect from April 1. The government has also decided to increase their retirement age from 58 years to 61 years, chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao announced in the state assembly on Monday.

The decision was taken based on the recommendations made by the 11th pay revision commission headed by retired IAS officer C R Biswal in May 2018. The earlier pay revision for the employees was done in 2014 soon after the formation of Telangana when the government had given a 43% pay hike for the employees.

Acknowledging that there was a delay in the implementation of pay revision due to the coronavirus pandemic that crippled the state’s economy completely, KCR, as the chief minister is popularly known, said his government had now decided to implement the pay revision to the best possible extent, as the financial position of the state was gradually limping back to normal.

“We have decided to give 30% fitment (hike in basic salary) to the employees with effect from April 1,” the chief minister announced. The pay revision commission, in its report submitted to the government in January, recommended a salary hike of only 7%.

He said the salary hike will be extended to all the government employees, grant-in-aid employees, work-charged employees, daily wages employees, full time contingent employees, part-time contingent employees and pensioners among others. “In all, the salary hike would benefit 9,17,797 employees of all categories,” he said.

The pay hike is effective retrospectively from the last financial year. The chief minister said his government would pay arrears of the salary hike for the last 12 months to the employees, despite the fact that the state’s financial position was precarious due to drastic fall in revenues on account of Covid-19 pandemic. The arrears would be paid to the employees along with their other retirement benefits, he said.

KCR also announced increase in the retirement gratuity to be paid to all the employees from the present ?12 lakh to ?16 lakh. “Similarly, the government has decided to reduce the age of eligibility for the retired employees from 75 to 70 years for the payment of additional quantum of pension of 15%,” he said.

The chief minister said as per the promise he had made before the December 2018 assembly elections, the government was enhancing the age of superannuation of the employees from 58 to 61 years.

The chief minister also reminded that the government had already completed the process of promotions to the eligible employees after holding a series of discussions with the employees’ and teachers’ unions.

“So far, we have completed 80% of the promotion exercise and we shall take up the remaining promotions at the earliest. After all the eligible employees get the promotions, the vacancies arising thereon would be filled in due course,” he said.

KCR announced the constitution of a steering committee with representatives of employees’ unions and government officials to work out new guidelines for the implementation of the Employees’ Health Scheme (EHS) for the state government employees, on the lines of CGHS being implemented for the central government employees.

The government would take up inter-district transfer of employees for spouse cases so that husband and wife working in different districts could now work in the same district. It also decided to repatriate Andhra employees working in Telangana to their native state and orders to this effect would be issued shortly.

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