Fresh extension given to Bengal pay commission

Despite the setback in the Lok Sabha elections, the TMC-led West Bengal government extended the term of the Sixth Pay Commission by another six months. The commission is supposed to submit its recommendations for restructuring the salary of the state government employees.

“The governor is pleased to extend the term of the office of the Chairman and the member of 6th Pay Commission, West Bengal, constituted under Finance Department Resolution,” a notification issued here said.

The 6th Pay Commission headed by economist Abhirup Sarkar was constituted in November 2015. It was supposed to submit its report within six months. However, to the great chagrin of the employees and their organisations, the body has kept getting periodic extensions resulting in an inordinate delay in the revision of salaries

In the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, the tally of the ruling TMC dropped to 22 from the 34 seats won by the party in 2014.

In fact the BJP maintained a steady lead over the TMC in the postal ballot department.

In 39 of the state’s 42 seats, postal ballots favoured the BJP. The TMC secured a majority of votes in only two constituencies only while CPI (M) was ahead in one constituency.

The resentment of state government employees over the shortfall in the dearness allowance (DA) and the government’s dilly-dallying approach on the Sixth Pay Commission is said to be the main factor behind TMC’s poor performance.

At present, central government employees receive 23 per cent more DA than the employees of the West Bengal government.