1st Pay Commission
First pay commission was constituted in 1946 in the chairmanship of Shri Srinivasa Varadacharia. The first pay commission was based upon the idea of “living wages” to the employees. The recommendations were accepted and implemented in 1946.
The minimum basic pay for Class IV staff has been raised from Rs. 10/- to Rs. 30/- and for Class III from Rs. 35/- to Rs. 60/- per month. The Commission had fixed Rs. 55/- as minimum salary (Rs. 30 plus Rs. 25 as Dearness Allowance) and Rs. 2000/- as maximum salary.
The idea of living wages was derived by the commission from the report of Islington Commission. The commission observed that “the test formulated by the Islington Commission is only to be liberally interpreted to suit the conditions of the present day and to be qualified by the condition that in no case should be a man’s pay be less than a living wage.