7th Pay Commission

Pay Commission	Key Highlights
First	This is based on the idea of ‘living wages’ to the employees The Commission had fixed Rs. 55 as minimum wage (Rs. 30 plus Rs. 25 as Dearness Allowance)
Second	Pay scales revised by merging 50% of the Dearness Allowance with Basic Pay Recommended Rs. 80 as the minimum remuneration (Basic Pay of Rs. 70 and DA of Rs. 10)
Third	Minimum remuneration of Rs. 185 per month was recommended However, govt modified few recommendations taking into consideration the employee’s views and the minimum wage was raised from Rs. 185 per month to Rs. 196 per month
Fourth	Recommended the government to constitute permanent machinery to undertake periodical review of pay and allowances of Central Government employees which was not implemented
Fifth	Recommended reduction in the number of pay scales and increased the minimum pay from Rs. 750 to Rs. 2,550
Sixth	To remove stagnation, running pay bands were introduced Minimum salary at entry-level pay band was fixed at Rs 7,000 and maximum salary at secretariat/equivalent level was Rs 80,000

Seventh Pay Commission was set up by Manmohan Singh led UPA Government on 28 February 2014 under the chairmanship of Justice Ashok Kumar Mathur.  The 7th pay commission report suggested a 23.55% hike in pay and allowances across all sectors. Government employees eagerly await the implementation of the 7th pay commission to witness the respective pay hikes and benefits in store for them. 

By recommendations from the 7th pay commission, the government has revised the pension limits for both teaching and non-teaching staff of central and state universities. 

Annual increment: The rate of annual increment is retained at 3% Fitment factor: A fitment factor of 2.57 is being proposed to be applied uniformly for all employees Military Service Pay: Unlike earlier where Military Service Pay (MSP) was payable to all ranks up to and inclusive of Brigadiers and their equivalents will now be admissible only to Defence forces personnel Allowance: The Commission has recommended abolishing 52 allowances altogether. It was recommended to increase the House Rent Allowance (HRA) as there is an increase in the basic pay and further increase based on the change in DA Medical facility: Introduction of a Health Insurance Scheme for Central Government employees and pensioners, covering postal pensioners under CGHS and merging of postal dispensaries with CGHS Pension: Revised pension formulation for civil employees including Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) personnel and defence personnel retired before 1 January 2016 Gratuity: Ceiling of gratuity enhanced from Rs 10 lakhs to Rs 20 lakhs. The ceiling on gratuity may be raised by 25% when DA rises by 50% Pay based on performance: Introduction of the Performance Related Pay (PRP) which will subsume the existing bonus scheme for all categories of Central Government employees, based on quality Results Framework Documents, reformed Annual Performance Appraisal Reports and some other broad Guidelines was recommended. Disability pension for armed forces: Slab based system for disability pension regime is recommended to an existing percentile based disability pension regime

Here are the recommendations made by the seventh pay commission:

Minimum Pay for Government Employees

The minimum pay of a new government recruit at an entry-level is now Rs. 18,000 per month. As for a newly recruited Class I Officer, the minimum salary now stands at Rs. 56,100 per month.

Maximum Pay for Government Employees

This commission has recommended increasing the maximum pay for government employees to Rs.2.5 lakh for the apex scale of employees such as Cabinet Secretary and others at the same scale.

Pay Matrix

Once the 7th Pay Commission is implemented, the salary of a government employee will not be decided by the previous system of Grade Pay but by the level in the new Pay Matrix.

New Pay Structure

The New Pay Structure recommended by the 7th Pay Commission has included all existing levels in the pay matrix and has not introduced any new levels or hierarchy.

*Please note that the above mentioned are some of the recommendations made by the 7th pay commission and are subject to change.

Existing Pay Bands	Existing level of Grade pay	Available For	New Levels
PB-1	1800	C	1
	1900	C	2
	2000	C,D	3
	2400	C	4
	2800	C,D	5
PB-2	3400	D	5A
	4200	C,D	6
	4600	C,D	7
	4800	C,D	8
	5400	C	9
PB-3	5400	C,D,M	10
	5700	M	10A
	6100	D	10B
	6100	M	10B
	6600	C,D,M	11
	7600	C	12
PB-4	7600	M	12
	8000	D	12A
	8400	M	12B
	8700	C	13
	8700	D	13
	8900	C	13A
	8900	D	13A
	9000	M	13B
	10000		14
HAG			15
HAG+			16
Apex			17
Cabinet Secretary, Defence Chiefs			18
*C: Civil, D: Defence, M: Military Nursing Service (MNS)

All of the above demands have been incorporated into the new 7th pay commission pay matrix. The grade pay has been taken into consideration and the levels are now rationalised. Government employees can now look up their current pay level and evaluate their current status as well as their growth potential over the years of their career. Procedures have also been made simple for the calculation of pension.

According to the recommendations made in the 7th Pay Commission, the pay scale for Defence Personnel will be based upon the officer’s rank, area of posting, branch, and designation. The below table shows the detailed pay structure:

Structure	Amount
Minimum grade pay for Defence Personnel	Rs. 5,400
Pay band	Rs. 15,600
Military service pay	Rs. 6,000
Kit maintenance	Rs. 500

Structure	Amount
Pay Scale	Rs.29,900 to Rs.1,04,400 per month
Grade Pay	Rs.5,400 to Rs.16,200 per month

What is the latest update in 7th pay?

2020 and 01.01. 2021 will be restored prospectively and will be subsumed in the cumulative revised rates effective from 01.07. 2021.” Central employees and pensioners are currently getting a 17% dearness allowance which may now jump to 28% leading to a huge rise in the employees’ 7th CPC salary.

How is the entry salary calculated?

The method to calculate your salary as per the 7th CPC is simple. The salaries are obtained by multiplying the existing basic pay by a factor of 2.57 and the figure so arrived will be added to all the applicable allowances such as Transport Allowance (TA), House Rent Allowance (HRA), Medical Allowance, etc.

What is the 7th CPC pay matrix?

The rationalised 7th Pay Commission Pay matrix presents the whole universe of pay levels in one simple chart. The pay matrix will help chart out the likely path of pay progression along the career ladder of any employee. The minimum pay at each level will be the entry pay for direct recruits for those levels.

Is Da paid monthly?

Every government employee is entitled to receive DA, calculated as a portion of an individual’s basic salary. Every 6 months, this allowance is increased, i.e., the change in DA percentage applies on 1st January (for months from January to June) and 1st July (for months from July to December).

How is the central govt salary calculated?

The monthly salary of a central government employee under the Seventh Pay Commission is calculated by multiplying one’s basic salary by the 7th Pay Commission fitment factor, which is 2.57.

How much salary an IAS officer gets?

The basic per month salary of an IAS officer starts at Rs. 56,100 (TA, DA, and HRA are extra) and can go on to reach Rs. 2,50,000 for a Cabinet Secretary.

How much pension do central govt employees get?

The amount of pension is 50% of the emoluments or average emoluments whichever is beneficial. The minimum pension presently is Rs. 9000 per month. The maximum limit is 50% of the highest pay in the Government of India.