The West Bengal government on Wednesday constituted a four-member Seventh Pay Commission of the state, headed by former Union economic affairs secretary Atanu Chakraborty, a day after Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari announced his intention to implement the panel’s recommendations within the current fiscal.

Acting on its pre-poll promise, the BJP Cabinet had approved the constitution of the pay commission in May, soon after the party assumed power in the state.

The panel, which will review pay, allowances, service conditions and DA for state employees, has for its members — besides Chakraborty as its chairperson — Partha Mukhopadhyay, senior fellow at Centre for Policy Research, Partha Pratim Pal, a professor of economics at IIM Calcutta, and state finance secretary Devi Prasad Karanam, a resolution of the finance department stated.

Chakraborty is a retired 1985-batch IAS officer who served as secretary in the Ministry of Finance from 2019 to 2020 and subsequently officiated as the part-time chairman of a private bank until his resignation in March this year.

“The Commission will submit their recommendations as expeditiously as practicable but preferably within a period of 6 (six) months from the date of publication of this Resolution or such extended time as the State Government may consider necessary,” the resolution stated.

The resolution outlined the terms of reference of the pay commission, which included examining and recommending “changes that are desirable and feasible in the emoluments including pay, allowances and other benefits, in cash or kind, having regard to rationalisation, contemporary requirements and the specialised needs of various Departments, Institutions, Statutory, Non-statutory Bodies, Corporations under administrative control of the State Government”.

The commission will also examine the conditions of service of state employees and “suggest an emolument structure conducive to attract and retain talent in Government service”.

“It should lead to promoting efficiency, accountability and responsibility in the work culture and ensure a work-life balance,” the resolution said.

The panel will review the Dearness Allowance and recommend an appropriate formulation for the proposed pay structure.

It will also review existing special allowances and other allowances, concessions including Travelling Allowance, of state employees in addition to their pay and recommend their rationalisation keeping in view the multiplicity of allowances, the order said.

“In view of the above, (the Commission will) also recommend the mode of Initial Pay Fixation in the proposed pay structure for existing employees and the mode of revision of pension for existing pensioners,” the resolution said.

The panel will also examine the existing promotion policies and pension and allied benefits under existing death-cum-retirement benefit schemes, including medical benefits, if any, the order said.

“The decision of the Government of India on the recommendations of the 8th Central Pay Commission may also be taken into consideration,” the order said in the context of the state panel’s recommendation purview.

The resolution specified that the headquarters of the Commission shall be at Kolkata, but it may hold its sittings elsewhere in the state or in the national Capital, if it deems necessary.

Speaking at a programme here on Tuesday, Adhikari announced that the Bengal government would constitute the 7th Pay Commission with the aim of implementing its recommendations by March 2027.

The chief minister said the state was committed to narrowing the dearness allowance gap with the Centre instead of making abrupt revisions.

“We will gradually bridge the gap between the Centre and the state in DA. Some of you may have expected that we would announce a 42 per cent DA in one go. There were also reports on social media that we would announce a 10 per cent hike. We did neither. We calculated it carefully and will bridge the difference gradually,” Adhikari had said, referring to the 20 percentage-point DA hike announced in the state budget in June this year.

He also assured state government employees that pending DA would be paid in due course, adding that the proposed pay revision would be accompanied by a restructuring of the salary framework to bring state employees’ emoluments closer to those of their Central counterparts.