Kerala Govt to face liability of 35 crore if salaries in PSC hiked with retrospective effect 

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Changes have been made in the decision to increase the salaries of the chairman and members of Kerala Public Service Commission (KPSC) with retrospective effect. The move follows an assessment that if the salaries are increased with retrospective effect from 2016, the government will face a huge financial liability.

The government will have a liability of Rs 35 crore if salary is paid retrospectively from 2016. With this, it has been decided to rearrange the hike from January 2025. The government has given a salary increase of about Rs 1.5 lakh to the PSC chairman and 21 members appointed politically. The cabinet meeting decided to revise the salary and benefits.

The revised salary for the chairman will be equivalent to the maximum amount of the super time scale of district judges, while for the members, it will be equivalent to the maximum amount of the selection grade scale of district judges. The government will have an additional liability of more than Rs 4.5 crore. The chairman’s salary presently is Rs 2.24 lakh and this will become 3.81 lakh. The members' salary will be 3.73 lakh from 2.19 lakh. House rent will be Rs 35,000, vehicle allowance Rs 10000. The pension of former chairman will be doubled to Rs 2.5 lakh from Rs 1.25 lakh. The pension of the members will be Rs 2.25 lakh from 1.20 lakh.

The justification is that the service pay system in other states has been considered. Only Kerala has so many members in PSC. Tamil Nadu has 14, Karnataka has 13, and UP has only 6 members. The increase had been sought with retrospective effect since 2016. If granted, the chairman will get Rs 1.75 crore and members Rs 1.59 crore each. This alone needs Rs 35.18 crore. The PSC members are representatives of CPM, CPI, Kerala Congress (M), and NCP.