The Ashok Lavasa committee examining 7th pay recommendations on
allowances is in the final stage of preparing its report, which is
likely to be submitted to the government soon, a top employee union
official said. The allowance committee is in the process of preparing
notes for it to be taken up by the government, he added. There has not
been any official word on whether the allowance committee has been
submitted. The government had earlier said that the decision on
allowances will be taken after the committee on 7th pay commission
recommendations submits its report. Earlier, another union official had
attributed the delay in submission of the report to non-availability of
allowance panel members. "I believe that there has been some delay in
the finalisation of the report as some allowance panel members were
outside the country on an official visit," the union official said.
The allowance committee had held a meeting in this regard on April 6
which some employee union officials termed as "conclusive". The 7th pay
commission had examined a total of 196 existing allowances and
recommended abolition of 51 allowances and subsuming of 37 allowances.
The 7th Pay Commission had recommended that house rent allowance or HRA
be paid at the rate of 24 per cent, 16 per cent and 8 per cent of the
new basic pay, depending on the type of city. The 7th Pay Commission had
also recommended that the rate of HRA be revised to 27 per cent, 18 per
cent and 9 per cent when DA crosses 50 per cent, and further revised to
30 per cent, 20 per cent and 10 per cent when DA crosses 100 per cent.
With regard to allowances, employee unions have demanded HRA at the rate
of 30 per cent, 20 per cent and 10 per cent.
At a meeting held on March 28, the allowance committee on 7th Pay
Commission recommendations had sought comments from the ministries of
defence, railways and posts on treatment of some allowances. The
government had in June accepted the recommendation of Justice AK
Mathur-headed Seventh Pay Commission in respect of the hike in basic pay
and pension. But the 7th Pay Commission's recommendations relating to
allowances were referred to the Ashok Lavasa committee.
Meanwhile, a delegation of faculty members of various universities had
on April 19 approached the UGC seeking redressal of their demands
including the request to make public a committee's report on the 7th pay
commission. Union HRD Minister Prakash Javdekar had earlier said that a
committee to review the recommendations made by a UGC panel on
implementation of the 7th pay commission in educational institutions has
been formed.
Source:NDTV
