New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on
June 29 cleared the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission headed by AK
Mathur in respect of the hike in basic pay and pension. However, the decision
on 7th Pay Commission suggestions relating to allowances has been referred to a
Committee headed by the Finance Secretary.
The Committee will complete its
work in a time bound manner and submit its reports within a period of 4 months.
Till a final decision, all existing allowances will continue to be paid at the
existing rates.
"The 7th Pay Commission
examined a total of 196 existing allowances and, by way of rationalization,
recommended abolition of 51 allowances and subsuming of 37 allowances. Given
the significant changes in the existing provisions for allowances which may
have wide ranging implications, the Cabinet decided to constitute a Committee
headed by Finance Secretary for further examination of the recommendations of
7th CPC on allowances," as per the press release issued by the government
after the Cabinet approval to Pay Commission recommendations.
Now it is clear that, if
the 7th Pay Commission recommendations come into force with immediate effect
after publication of Gazette Notification, the HRA and TA will be paid to the
central government employees at Sixth CPC rates in pre revised scale up till
the Committee decides on allowances.
The 7th Pay Commission
had earlier proposed the rate of House Rent Allowance (HRA) at 24 percent, 16
percent and 8 percent of the Basic Pay for Class X, Y and Z cities respectively.
The Commission had also
recommended that the rate of HRA will be revised to 27 percent, 18 percent and
9 percent when DA crosses 50 percent, and further revised to 30 percent, 20
percent and 10 percent when DA crosses 100 percent.
The existing rates of HRA for
Class X, Y and Z cities and towns are 30 percent, 20 percent and 10 percent of
Basic pay (pay in the pay band plus grade pay).
Population of City
|
DA above
|
|||
Present
|
Proposed
|
50%
|
100%
|
|
Above 50 lakh
|
30%
|
24%
|
27%
|
30%
|
5 lakh to 50 lakh
|
20%
|
16%
|
18%
|
20%
|
Below 5 lakh
|
10%
|
8%
|
9%
|
10%
|
Assumingly, if the Committee
accepts the bare recommendations of A K Mathur-led 7th Pay Commission then the
HRA component of central government employees will increase ranging between 106
percent and 122 percent.
Take, for instance, a central
government employee at the very bottom of the pay scale, where the basic pay
(pay of pay band + grade pay) is now Rs 7,000, would currently be entitled to
an HRA of Rs 2,100 in a Class X city. As per 7th Pay Commission, the new entry
level pay at this level is Rs 18,000 per month against which the new HRA for a
Class X city would be Rs 4,320 per month, that is 106 percent more than the
existing level.
Similarly, at the highest level
of the pay scale, the Cabinet Secretary and officers of the same rank have a
basic pay of Rs 90,000, which means they are entitled to current HRA of Rs
27,000 in Class X towns. After the revised pay scale, the new basic pay is Rs
2.5 lakh, for which the HRA would be Rs 60,000, meaning a hike of 122 percent.
As far as Transport Allowance
(TA) is concerned, Pay Commission had proposed no increase.
Source : http://zeenews.india.com
