New Delhi: The Seventh Pay Commission has proposed a hefty hike in pay for armed forces, with the introduction of a “fitment factor” of 2.57 that will be applied uniformly which essentially means salaries will go up 2.57 times. The Pay Commission hiked military service pay, hiking risk and hardship allowances that include Siachen allowance, abolished the present system of pay bands and grade pay while “designing a new pay matrix”.
“The salaries of personnel in the pay matrix will go up 2.57 times,” the Pay Commission has recommended. The Seventh Central Pay Commission has also sought to make the short service commission more attractive by recommending that short service commission officers will be allowed to exit the armed forces at any point of time between seven and 10 years of service with a terminal gratuity. They will also be entitled to a fully funded one-year executive programme or an M. Tech programme at a premier institute. The existing exit option is currently at 10 and 14 years.
The starting point of a sepoy (and equivalent), the entry level personnel in the defence forces at the personnel below officer rank level has been fixed in the defence pay matrix at Rs 21,700, a steep hike from the current Rs 8,460 for a sepoy. Compensation for disability has also been hiked sharply. Compensation to next of kin of deceased armed forces personnel was hiked. “The fitment in the new matrix is essentially a multiple factor of 2.57. This multiple is the ratio of the new minimum pay arrived at by the commission and the existing minimum pay,” the report has said, adding, that “the fitment factor is being applied uniformly to all employees”.
“The pay matrix designed for the defence forces personnel is more compact than the civil pay matrix keeping in view the number of levels, age and retirement profile of the service personnel,” the Seventh Pay Commission report has stated.
