Shillong, July 7: The Meghalaya cabinet today approved the formation of a Fifth Pay Commission, which will study and submit its recommendation on the new pay structure of state government employees.

Chief minister Mukul Sangma said here that former chief secretary P.J. Bazely has been approved as chairman of the panel while retired bureaucrats Uttam K. Sangma and Lambha Roy are its members.

He said the terms of references would be set for the commission to carry out its work, including time for submitting its recommendations to the state government. An effective date for implementing the new pay structure will be decided by the cabinet, he added.

With Meghalaya reeling under a financial crunch, the chief minister admitted that there would be an extra burden on the state exchequer once the new pay scales are implemented. He, however, said the financial implication would be known by the time the Fifth Pay Commission hands over its recommendation to the state government.

Under the Fourth Pay Commission, the pay hike was effective from January 1, 2007.

The cabinet also approved the proposal to augment the corpus of the state's contingency fund from Rs 105 crore to Rs 205 crore.

The cabinet discussed and approved matters like an amendment to the Meghalaya State Language Act, 2005 for making provisions applicable to the four newly created districts in the state. Khasi and Garo languages were declared as associated official languages under the act.

The Meghalaya Minor Minerals Concession Rules, 2016, relating to issuing of quarry permits was approved too.

According to the chief minister, the rules provide the authorities concerned to keep a tab on people who operate the quarries through benami transaction.