Kerala govt appoints 12th Pay Revision Commission for State employees

The Kerala government has issued orders appointing the 12th Pay Revision Commission for submitting recommendations for the pay revision of government employees.

Former Chief Secretary V.P. Joy is the chairman of the commission.

It has as its members advocate M. Rajagopalan Nair and retired Additional Secretary Sreelatha Sukumaran. Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal had announced the 12th Pay Commission in the State Budget 2026-27, which was presented in the Kerala Assembly on January 29.

The commission has been asked to submit its report within three months, Mr. Balagopal said on Monday.

The recommendations will be implemented in a timely manner, he said. The government will issue special orders on the terms of reference of the commission. Finance department additional secretary V.R. Shobha will act as the secretary of the commission.

Mr. Balagopal, in his Budget speech, had stated that “it has always been the policy of the Left governments to follow the five-year principle” regarding pay revision of government employees.

Employees’ organisations have been pressuring the government to set up the commission for some time now. The State government had incurred an additional liability of ₹25,000 crore in implementing the previous revision.

The announcement also comes ahead of the Assembly elections in Kerala.

The 11th Kerala Pay Revision Commission, headed by K. Mohandas, which had fixed the minimum basic salary of State government employees and teachers at ₹23,000 and the maximum at ₹1,66,800, recommended that the retirement age of State government employees be enhanced by one year to 57. Other recommendations had included a proposal for a five-day week for government offices and abrogation of compassionate employment scheme by offering better financial benefits to the kin of employees who die in harness.