7th Pay Commission: Karnataka Cabinet Approves 27.5% Pay Hike for State Government Employees

Bengaluru: The Karnataka cabinet has decided to implement the recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission starting August 1, according to official sources. 

The Chief Minister is expected to announce the pay hike for over seven lakh state government employees in the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday.

"Seventh Pay Commission was one of the demands of the people and it was also there in our manifesto. Yesterday we brought it into the Cabinet and saw the blueprint of the financials. It will benefit around 14 to 15 lakh state employees," Priyank Kharge said.

The Seventh Pay Commission, chaired by former chief secretary K. Sudhakar Rao, has proposed a 27.5 per cent increase in the basic salary for government employees. This adjustment is projected to cost the government an additional Rs 17,440.15 crore annually.

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 percent 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.