7th Pay Commission report: Government employees wait, but will PM Modi implement it in this state?

7th Pay Commission carries with it the promise of effecting one of the biggest salary hikes government employees have ever seen and it has scope of changing lifestyles completely. Needless to say, millions of staff members have already got the good news, but there are millions of others who are waiting for the same to happen to them. Clearly disappointed, these employees have been arguing for a 7th CPC based hike ever since it was first unveiled and cleared by the Centre. The wait has been long and interminable especially for the employees of various states in India.

While some have received the good news weeks and months ago, Odisha and Gujarat government employees got it within the last 2 days or so. Overall, nearly 2 mn employees in these 2 states will see their salaries soaring as per the 7th Pay Commission recommendations. However, in the news today was the state of Tripura. Significantly, PM Narendra Modi and FM Arun Jaitley, during campaigning for the assembly polls, had promised to implement the same if and when the party was elected to power. This was one of the biggest promises made by the BJP and that too at the highest levels.

Today, after the counting of votes and declaration of results, it has emerged that BJP has  beaten the Manik Sarkar led Left government and will be forming its own government there. Current election result count shows that the BJP-IPFT combine has won majority in Tripura by securing 35 seats - this is till 5 pm and that it is leading in 8 seats in an assembly consisting of 60 members. Now, the question on the minds of Tripura state employees is whether the BJP promises will be implemented. And a secondary question is about when.

Well, most likely the same will come through. After all, with BJP government in both Tripura state and at the Centre, there should not be too much of a problem. Having said that, the cost of implementing the 7th Pay Commission is huge. State coffers are not generally in great shape. And so, the economic situation will have to be evaluated by the new chief minister, most probably Bipleb Deb, and the necessary steps taken to implement 7th Pay Commission in the state.

Notably, PM Modi took to Twitter today to post this message: "It is a win for democracy over brute force and intimidation. Today peace and non-violence have prevailed over fear. We will provide Tripura the good government that the state deserves.