With the Centre approving the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission, the Karnataka government has begun to feel the heat with the 600,000 state government employees getting ready to intensify their demand to remove the disparities in the pay for central and state government employees.
“We will study the difference in the payscales between the centre and state government employees following the hike. Following this, we will mount pressure on the state government to increase our pay on a par with the central government staff,” Karnataka State Government Employees Association president L Byrappa said.
The state government had, in February 2007, accepted the first report of the state fifth pay commission which recommended a 17.5 per cent increase in the basic pay of the state government employees.
The government had given a green signal to implement the report with retrospective effect from 2006. The revision reportedly cost the state exchequer Rs 1,350 crore.
However, the second report effecting hike in salaries for primary school teachers is likely to be notified next week.
The association will also demand constitution of the sixth state pay commission, Byrappa added.
