7th Pay Commission Allowances may be finalised by Cabinet today – News Sources indicates that Fiance Minister may table the much awaited Lavasa Allowances Committee report vetted by Empowered Committee of Secretaries
The Union Cabinet will put an end to the wait for revised allowances
under the Seventh Pay Commission as a decision is expected to be reached
when it convenes tomorrow. After being dropped from the agenda of the
last Cabinet meeting, chances are good that Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley will table the proposals in this regard at the one tomorrow.
The Empowered Committee of Secretaries (E-CoS) had submitted its
suggestions to Jaitley on June 1 after considering the review report
from Committee on Allowances led by Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa.
Around 50 lakh central government employees have been waiting for
revised allowance rates to be implemented since.
The E-CoS report includes proposals on House Rent Allowance (HRA),
Dearness Allowance (DA) along with others, based on the Lavasa Committee
recommendations. Arrears against revised allowance rates are also
expected to feature in the list of proposals set to be put up before the
Cabinet.
Meanwhile, reports suggest that Cabinet may decide to not pay arrears
for the period of almost a year that allowance rates have been delayed.
Saving funds is cited as one of the reasons behind this probable move.
The government has been able to save Rs 2,200 crore per month or Rs
40,000 crore cumulatively since January 1 last year because of the
delays in revised allowances distribution. The loan waiver extended by
the Maharashtra government to farmers of the state may also be a factor,
stated a Times of India report.
On the other hand, Cabinet may also look into demands of higher
allowance rates raised by the central government employees to compensate
for delays in implementing the said rates. Central government employees
want the rates to be retained at 30 per cent, 20 per cent and 10 per
cent for Class X, Y and Z cities, even if they are not hiked. The
Committee has capped HRA between 2 per cent and 27 per cent. Several
reports suggest that the new allowances will be implemented from July.
The pay commission had recommended abolition of or subsuming of
allowances like acting, assisting cashier, cycle, condiment, flying
squad, haircutting, rajbhasha, rajdhani, robe, shoe, shorthand, soap,
spectacle, uniform, vigilance and washing.
The Lavasa Committee was constituted in June last year after the
government implemented the recommendations of the Pay Commission.
The Seventh Pay Commission had recommended abolishing 53 of the 196
allowances, and subsuming 36 other allowances. It also recommended
slashing the House Rent Allowance (HRA) — for metros, commission
recommended bringing down the HRA from 30 per cent to 24 per cent.
The Seventh Pay Commission had recommended the rate of House Rent
Allowance (HRA) be kept at 24 percent, 16 percent and 8 percent of the
Basic Pay for Class X, Y and Z cities respectively.
Government employees protested the recommendations of the Seventh Pay
Commission, following which the Narendra Modi-government formed a
committee under the Finance Secretary to review the suggestions.
The Committee on Allowances was constituted in July and after an
extended deadline was asked to submit its report to the government by
February 22, 2017. However, it submitted its review report on April 24.
The report was then taken up by the E-CoS for consideration and
consolidation, after passing through Department of Expenditure, so that
it can be presented before the Cabinet.
Source: Business Today
