Karnataka Splurge: State Govt Employees Salary, Pension To Increase. Details Here

Bengaluru: In a move that is going to cost Karnataka exchequer an additional Rs 17,440.15 crore per year, the state government has decided to raise basic minimum salary and pension of its employees by 27.5 per cent. The latest decision is part of the revision of salaries and pensions of government employees in Karnataka. 

The decision of the major hike was taken after the state Cabinet decided to implement the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission. The Commission, headed by former chief secretary K Sudhakar Rao, has recommended a 27.5 percent hike on basic salary of government employees.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah also addressed the revision of pay and pension of State government employees as recommended by the 7th State pay commission which was originally constituted in 2022 and later submitted in 2024. As part of this revision, salary and pensions of government employees in Karnataka will increase by 58.50 per cent and the house rent allowance by 32 per cent. 

The minimum basic pay of employees will increase from ₹17,000 to ₹27,000 while the maximum pay will be revised from ₹1,50,600 to ₹2,41,200. The minimum pension of employees will be increased from ₹8,500 to ₹13,500, and the maximum pension from ₹75,300 to ₹1,20,600.

This salary revision will incur an additional expenditure of ₹20,208 crore per annum and necessary budgetary provisions have been made in the Budget of 2024-25.

 The Karnataka cabinet on Monday decided to implement the recommendations of the seventh Pay Commission effective from August one, official sources said.

The Chief Minister is expected to make an announcement regarding the pay hike to more than seven lakh state government employees in the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday, the sources said.

The Siddaramaiah-led Karnataka government was under pressure to decide on a pay hike, after the Karnataka State Government Employees Association announced its plans to go on an indefinite strike from August.

In March 2023, the then Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai had granted an interim 17 per cent salary increase. The Siddaramaiah administration is likely to add another 10.5 percentage points, totaling a 27.5 percent hike in the basic salary as recommended by the Seventh Pay Commission, the sources said.