In her maiden Budget on Friday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was seen stressing more on tackling the loopholes in the economy through incremental steps rather than just opting for the announcement route, but the announcement didn't bring any cheer for the lakhs of Central government employees who were expecting hike in minimum pay beyond the recommendations of 7th Pay Commission.
The CG employees were expecting that Modi 2.0 would bring some good news for them as the former Finance Minister was earlier reportedly appraised about the matter after Shiv Gopal Mishra, the Chief of National Joint Council of Action (NJCA), had earlier mentioned in his Facebook post that then Home Minister Rajnath Singh was serious about the minimum pay hike issue and called for a meeting.
Following the meeting, it was expected that a decision would be taken soon related to the minimum pay hike. However, it couldn't be materialised due to the 2019 polls. But after the BJP government formed the government for the second term, expectations were high that a hike will be announced in the Budget. But all hopes of the employees crushed again.
"We are making a genuine demand taking into account the present market condition. The present minimum pay hike must be hiked in the interest of the employees. We have been expecting it since long and hope the Centre will not dilly-dally the matter for long," said a Central government employee.
The CG employees have been demanding a hike in their present basic pay. They are presently getting a minimum pay of Rs 18,000, but demanding an increase of Rs 8000. Which means, they want the Centre to hike the fitment factor to 3.68 times to get a revised pay of Rs 26,000.