Salary hike to be effective from Apr 1, announces CM

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday clarified that the salary of government employees would be hiked by 30% from April 1, 2018, as recommended by the sixth pay commission.

"The government has accepted the recommendations of the commission to hike salary of government employees," Siddaramaiah told reporters. The hike will apply to 5.93 lakh employees and 5.73 lakh pensioners.

When pointed out that his budget speech did not specify if and when the hike would be implemented, Siddaramaiah said it was a continuous process. "I have mentioned in the budget speech that the pay hike will cost the government Rs 10,508 crore. There is in-principle approval for the budget and we will get it approved in the Cabinet as well," he said.

An order for the hike, giving it effect from April 1, will be issued before the the election code of conduct kicks in, he said.

The pay hike, coupled with last year's farm loan waiver amounting to Rs 8,165 crore, have not resulted in any budgetary allocation cuts for priority departments, Siddaramaiah pointed out. "There are no cuts in social sectors, education, rural development, energy, irrigation, public works and agriculture," he said.