Centre to hike pay todayNEW DELHI, June 28:

The Cabinet tomorrow islikely to approve higherincrease in basic pay than thenearly 15 per cent recommend-ed by the 7th Pay Commissionfor over 1 crore Governmentemployees and pensioners.

The pay panel had inNovember last year recom-mended 14.27 per cent hike inbasic pay at junior levels, thelowest in 70 years. The previous6th Pay Commission had rec-ommended a 20 per cent hikewhich the Government doubledwhile implementing it in 2008.

After considering theincrease proposed inallowances, the hike in remu-nerations comes to 23.55 percent.

"Considering the tight fiscalposition this year, theGovernment may improve uponthe Pay Commission recom-mendation for basic pay to 18per cent or at best 20 per cent,"a senior official said.

The 7th Pay Commissionreport will be effective fromJanuary 1, he said, adding thatthe Cabinet will decide if thearrears for the six months haveto be paid in one go or in install-ments.

A Secretaries' panel, headedby Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha,has already vetted the 7th PayCommission recommendationand its report is being translatedinto a note for Cabinet.

"It in most likelihood willcome up before the Cabinettomorrow," the official said.

The Government had inJanuary set up the high-pow-ered panel to process the recom-mendations of the 7th PayCommission which will havebearing on the remuneration ofnearly 50 lakh CentralGovernment employees and 58lakh pensioners.

The Commission had rec-ommended 23.55 per cent over-all hike in salaries, allowancesand pension involving an addi-tional burden of Rs 1.02 lakhcrore or nearly 0.7 per cent ofthe GDP.

The entry level pay has beenrecommended to be raised to Rs18,000 per month from currentRs 7,000 while the maximumpay, drawn by the CabinetSecretary, has been fixed at Rs2.5 lakh per month from currentRs 90,000.

The Secretaries' panel mayhave recommended raising min-imum entry level pay at Rs23,500 a month and maximumsalary of Rs 3.25 lakh.

While the Budget for 2016-17 fiscal did not provide anexplicit provision for imple-mentation of the 7th PayCommission, the Governmenthad said the once-in-a-decadepay hike for Governmentemployees has been built in asinterim allocation for differentMinistries.

Around Rs 70,000 crore hasbeen provisioned for it, the offi-cial said. (PTI)

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Air India to fly unconfirmed first AC passengers of Rajdhani

NEW DELHI, June 28:

State-run Air India will nowfly unconfirmed passengers ofRajdhani trains at the faresmatching with the AC first classticket prices under a specialscheme for a limited period.

Rajdhani Express passen-gers who remain wait-listed cannow book the tickets four hoursprior to the flight departure at afare which is equivalent to theticket price IA class of thesetrains, Air India said today.

Under the 'Super Saver'scheme, Air India offers an all-inclusive economy class oneway fare on its select domesticroutes, starting June 26 tillSeptember 30, it said.

Currently 21 RajdhaniExpress trains run across theIndian Railways network andclose to 20,000 passengers trav-el in these train everyday.

As on date, 1A Rajdhanifares for Mumbai and Chennaistood at Rs 4,755 and Rs 6,335,respectively.

Similarly, the first AC faresfor these trains to Kolkata andGuwahati were Rs 4,815 and Rs5,990, respectively.

"However, thousands of pas-sengers are unable to get con-firmed tickets due to non-avail-ability of seats. Air India willbridge this gap as passengers,"the airline said.

By availing the scheme, pas-sengers will not only reach theirdestination at the same cost ofRajdhani Express, but in muchlesser time, it said. (PTI)

8 CRPF men to beconsidered martyrs

NEW DELHI, June 28:

Eight CRPF personnel whowere killed by militants in anambush in Jammu and Kashmirwill be considered as martyrs,Union Minister of State forHome Kiren Rijiju said today.

“There is no policy to for-mally declare martyrs. ButGovernment considers as mar-tyrs all those who sacrifice theirlives serving the nation,” hetold reporters here.

Rijiju said the eight CRPFpersonnel who lost their lives inPulwama in Jammu andKashmir on Saturday will cer-tainly be considered as martyrs.

The 7th Central PayCommission has also batted forgranting martyr status to per-sonnel of central paramilitaryforces, on the lines of the armedforces.(PTI)