Pay panel to submit report to Chief Minister today

SHILLONG: The empowered committee that finalised the Fifth Pay Commission recommendations will submit the report to Chief Minister Mukul Sangma on Thursday.
An official source said the committee had examined the recommendations of the Fifth Pay Commission during the several meetings held in the past.
The empowered committee headed by Rebecca Suchiang was formed after the Pay Commission headed by former chief secretary PJ Bazeley submitted its report to the government on July 31.
“Though the deadline for the empowered committee to finalise the report is November 16, the final report is ready and it will be submitted to the chief minister much before the deadline,” the source added.
However, the matter will not be discussed in the cabinet meeting on Thursday.
The pay fixation report will be discussed at a later stage, the official added.
The empowered committee did not make many changes in the recommendations of the Fifth Pay Panel except a review on certain allowances and kept the overall pay hike of 25.6 per cent intact.
The Cabinet meeting scheduled for Thursday evening will discuss the decision of the empowered committee to cancel four projects for inordinate delays.
The four projects on the state government’s red list are Umduna (57 MW) and the Umjaut (69 MW) hydro power projects, which were to be developed by ETA Star Infrastructure Ltd, Mumbai, and the Narringre thermal project in East Garo Hills (300 MW) and the Captive thermal power project at Shallang in West Khasi Hills (60 MW).
The Narringre project was allotted to GC Power Private Limited, Hyderabad, and the one in Shallang to Brijraj Power and Metallics Ltd, Shillong.