The proposal covers employees recruited after July 17, 2020. Their basic pay follows the Central government’s 7th Pay Commission matrix, while their DA has been based on Punjab’s pay pattern. Employees recruited before the cutoff, who are governed by the Punjab Pay Commission’s pay matrix, are not covered.
The recommendation was made by a three-member Cabinet Sub-Committee comprising Cabinet Minister Aman Arora, Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema and Social Security Minister Baljit Kaur. It will now be sent to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann for final approval.
Why is Punjab proposing the hike?
The change follows a pay structure introduced for employees recruited after July 2020. According to Arora, it created a disparity between newer recruits and employees who continue to receive salaries under Punjab’s earlier pay structure.
Arora said Punjab employees have historically received higher salaries than their Central government counterparts under state-specific pay scales, with employees in several major cadres earning 30% to 70% more.
However, he said this difference does not apply in the same way to employees recruited after July 2020, as they do not receive the higher Punjab entry pay scales.
The Punjab government has also placed its position on the post-2020 employees’ DA before the Punjab and Haryana High Court and subsequently before the Supreme Court through a Special Leave Petition.
DA dispute amid employee protests
The proposal comes amid a wider dispute between the state government and employee unions. More than three lakh government employees went on a statewide strike on August 27 over various demands, including the release of pending DA.
Employee unions have threatened mass casual leave on September 8 if the government does not withdraw a notice on disciplinary action against employees who were absent on August 27.
The state government has appealed to employee unions to resolve the issues through dialogue.
-With PTI inputs
