7th Pay Commission: Central government employees can expect revised allowances by November
The BJP-led NDA government is likely to take a decision about the hike
in allowances for Central government employees by November this year
when the panel appointed to examine it submits its report.
The committee headed by finance secretary has secretaries from home
affairs, defence, health and family welfare as its members; the first
meeting of the committee that was constituted on July 22 was held on
August 4.
The information was given by finance minister Arun Jaitley to the Rajya
Sabha on Tuesday in response to a question pertaining to the pay
commission.
The hike in the salary component as recommended by the 7th Central Pay
Commission (CPC) was accepted with retrospective effect from January 1,
2016. The arrears have been paid to the 47 lakh employees while 52 lakh
pensioners are expected to get their arrears in due course.
A study by Tata Strategic Management Group had estimated the quantum of
allowances at Rs. 34,000 crore. This could change if the committee
differs from the hike proposed by the 7th CPC.
The committee has been asked to submit its report within four months.
Therefore, a decision on increased allowances for about 1 crore
employees and pensioners can be expected by November.
While approving the recommendations of the 7th CPC, the government has
said in an official statement on June 29 that the committee to examine
the allowances will submit its report in a time-bound manner.
The pay commission had recommended abolition of 51 allowances and subsuming 37 others after examining 196 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. 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
statement said.
The Union Cabinet also decided to appoint two separate committees to
examine implementation of pension under the National Pension Systems
(NPS) and discrepancies/anomalies that could stem from implementing the
7th CPC.
The recommendations of the 7th CPC cover 47 lakh Central government
employees and 53 lakh pensioners, of which 14 lakh employees and 18 lakh
pensioners are from the defence forces.
Source : http://www.ibtimes.co.in
