Government employees earn (much) more than private sector ones – but only at the entry-level -Mayank Jain

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However, 32 lakh employees are still not happy.

 

People working for the Indian government have a reason to celebrate. The Narendra Modi government has just doled out a Rs 1.02 lakh crore pay hike for some 10 million current and ex-employees, whose salaries are likely to get a jump of 23.55% on average. On Wednesday, the Cabinet approved the recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission and the wage hike should follow soon.

But not everyone is happy. A section of central government employees have threatened to go on strike, arguing that the increase is not good enough. While the minimum Central government salary has more than doubled to Rs 18,000 a month now, these people say it should be raised to Rs 26,000.

The All India Defence Employees’ Federation have demanded that the government should increase the minimum pay and also throw in five promotions for everyone over the course of their careers. To press for this, some 32 lakh employees are set to on an indefinite hunger strike starting July 11, according to reports.

The government, however, is standing firm.

On Wednesday, the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that salaries in the public sector are “distinctively higher” than the private sector after this round of raises, so there should be no reason to complain or protest.

Jaitley wasn’t making a tall claim. In pure numbers, government employees at the entry level makes much more money than their counterparts in the private sector. That was established by a survey done by the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad to help the Seventh Pay Commission make its recommendations.

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