Central government employees will have to wait for yet another week to receive any update on the revised allowance structure as recommended by the 7th Pay Commission. The Empowered Committee of Secretaries (E-CoS) is expected to convene next week to ponder on the recommendations before being presented before the Union Cabinet for their nod.The 7th pay commission had proposed a total of 196 allowances; a Committee of Allowances was formed under the Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa to screen them. On April 24 this year, the Committee submitted its report to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, recommending that 52 allowances suggested by the pay commission be entirely scrapped and 36 of them be incorporated with other allowances instead of dealing with them separately.
The recommendations made by the Lavasa-led review committee regarding allowance structure were to be tabled before the E-CoS after consideration by Department of Expenditure. Following which committee of secretaries will table the proposal for implementing the recommendations made by the 7th pay commission, complete with the suggestions from Committee of Allowances, will be presented before the Cabinet for approval.
Cabinet Secretary PK Sinha will preside over the E-CoS meet, as per reports. Officials from Home Affairs, Finance, Health and Family Welfare, Railways, Personnel and Training and Post will also take part in the meeting.Central government employees have been waiting for months for an update on the allowances suggested by the 7th pay commission. It was rumoured earlier this week that some union ministers might meet some senior officials to seek updates on the recommendations, inciting expectations in the Centre staff and pensioners.
The employees’ union has been pressing for an update. A member of the union informed that they are hopeful that the proposal regarding the allowances would be cleared by next week. Government sources informed that the E-CoS is looking into the recommendations on allowances made by the 7th Pay Commission. It would submit its report to the Union Cabinet following which the same would be cleared the source also confirmed.
However, reports of no such meeting were confirmed by either the Finance Ministry or officials who sat in the review committee, adding to the month-long frustration that central government employees waiting for an update since the report landed in the Finance Ministry.
