Congress calls 7th Pay Commission 'worst pay hike'

New Delhi: Terming the 7th Pay Commission increment announced by the government on Wednesday as "lopsided and inadequate", the Congress termed it the "lowest pay hike in the last seven decades". "The Sixth Pay Commission had recommended a 20 per cent hike in salaries and allowances but the then Congress government doubled it to 40 per cent. The 7th Pay Commission recommended a hike of 14.29 per cent and Modi government merely raised it to a pittance of 15 per cent," Congress spokesman Randeep Surjewala said. He pointed out that the ratio between the lowest and the highest salary has increased. "For example, the highest salary has increased from Rs.90,000 to Rs.2,50,000 but the lowest salary has been increased from Rs 7,000 to Rs 18,000 only. The ratio is 1:14, earlier it was 1:12," he said. "Naturally, employees at the lower rung of the salary will suffer the most," he added. Surjewala said the hike in salaries and allowances is "mere 15 per cent on basic pay and not 23.5 per cent as is being wrongly claimed" by the government.