7th Pay Commission: Higher allowances, what central govt employees can expect

The commission had suggested that HRO should be reduced for central government employees irrespective of their place of deployment.

There is unlikely to be any major change in the higher allowances as recommended by the 7th Pay Commission. Central government employees may not gain much and the Empowered Committee of Secretaries may not consider the higher allowances other than what has already been recommended by the pay panel.

This would mean that the government will go with the recommendations made by the pay panel only. Employees have been complaining that the recommendations of the commission was not enough and hence the allowances must be higher.

Quantum not to vary much

The government feels that it should stick to what the 7th Pay Commission had already recommended. Hiking it further will not be feasible, the government also feels. Central government employees have been awaiting a meeting of the E-CoS scheduled for June 1.

Government not bound

Even if the E-CoS recommends higher allowances, the government is not necessarily bound by it. The committee can only make a recommendation, but the final call will be taken by the government. For now, the mood of the government is to go ahead with the allowances that have been recommended by the pay panel only, sources say.

In the dark

Several government employees say that they are not aware of anything. They are not sure if the allowances will be given. Even if it is, then none are aware of the date. Nothing has been made known including what reforms have been made in the structure.

A letter submitted by National Council (Staff Side) Joint Consultative Machinery for Central Government Employees to Cabinet Secretary Pradeep Kumar Sinha suggests that the central government employees have not been told about the recommendations by Lavasa Committee about allowance reforms under the 7th pay commission.

The Committee on Allowances took longer time while finalizing its recommendations, but it is a matter of deep regret that, even after submission of the report by the said committee, the same has not been made available to the Staff Side (JCM), therefore, we do not know what recommendations have been made by the said committee, the letter stated. Staff Side (JCM), therefore, requests that the recommendations of the Allowances Committee should be made available to the Staff Side (JCM). Moreover, it would be highly appreciated that, the Allowances should be implemented without any further delay, and the date of the implementation should be w.e.f. 01.01.2016," the letter also read.

What was the recommendation?
The pay panel had recommended that 52 allowances out of a total of 196 should be abolished completely and 36 allowances should be merged with existing ones instead of being treated with separate identities. The Lavasa Committee was formed to look into these changes regarding allowances and to address the representations sent in by various staff associations and ministries.

Allowances

The commission had suggested that HRO should be reduced for central government employees irrespective of their place of deployment. For employees living in metros, the 7th CPC has recommended their HRA be reduced to 24 per cent, 16 per cent and 8 per cent of basic pay for Class X, Y and Z cities respectively against the outgoing rates of 30 per cent, 20 per cent and 10 per cent.

The Lavasa Committee has suggested the rates be revised to 27 per cent, 18 per cent and 9 per cent when DA is more than 50 per cent, and revised to 30 per cent, 20 per cent and 10 per cent when it is more than 100 per cent.

The recommendations made regarding salaries and pensions have been approved by the Cabinet in June last year, but those about allowances have been put on hold considering the radical changes suggested. Employees and pensioners are getting paychecks and pensions according to the new pay scale. That is not the case with allowances, though, which are being paid on old rates. Central government employees have demanded that the changes regarding allowances should be put into effect from January 1, 2016 and relevant arrears be paid against the allowances.

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