Seventh Pay Commission: Update on allowances likely soon

The union leaders of central government officials are likely to seek an update on the 7th pay commission allowances from government officials, according to a NDTV report.

The Ashok Lavasa Committee on Allowances submitted its report to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on April 27.

Also read: 7th Pay Commission: Cabinet approves review panel's recommendations on pay, pension

The Committee was formed to review the recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission.

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.

Also read: 7th Pay Commission: Army, Navy and Indian Air Force personnel to get enhanced pay from May

The 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 Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa 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.

If the government implements pay commission recommendations on allowances, then as per estimates the cost to the exchequer will be Rs 29,300 crore.