Southern States - Karnataka   

Pay Commission for Govt. staff soon

By Our Staff Correspondent

MANDYA SEPT. 27. The Chief Minister, S.M. Krishna, announced here today that a new pay commission would be set up this year to revise the wages of government employees. Inaugurating the State-level conference of the Karnataka State Government Employees' Association, he said that more than 10 years had elapsed since the previous pay commission was set up. "There is no reason why a new commission should not be set up in 2003,'' he said, amid jubilation among the thousands of Government employees who had gathered at the conference.

The constitution of a new pay commission, which will be the fifth, will be in tune with the national consensus on setting up pay commissions every 10 years.

Mr. Krishna said the recommendations of the Fifth Pay Commission would be in force for 10 years. He remarked that the Commission might not necessarily increase wages, and it might even resort to a downward revision.

The Chief Minister said that periodic revision of wages was necessary and added that he had planned to delay the announcement of the constitution of the Fifth Pay Commission till the next Budget presentation. "But I was overwhelmed by the praise heaped on me by the representatives of the association and was forced to disclose the good news,'' he said.

Mr. Krishna said the Government would not withdraw any facility made available to its employees. The Chief Minister's assurance was in response to fears expressed by the president of the association, K. Sippe Gowda, over the reported move to reduce dearness allowance and withhold pension benefits. Although the Government had earlier sought a contribution of one day's wages every month from each employee for the next six months, Mr. Krishna urged the association to discuss the matter at the conference and inform the Government of its decision. "Instead of inviting you for talks on the matter, I leave it to you to discuss the issue during the conference and let the Government know,'' he said.

The Chief Secretary, B.S. Patil, sought the cooperation of the employees for implementing measures to reduce the staff strength and adopt computerisation.

The Minister for Urban Development, D.K. Shivakumar, urged the Chief Minister to consider nominating a representative of government employees to the Legislative Council. "When representatives of local bodies can be sent to the Council, why not a representative from the five-lakh government employees?" he asked.

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