7th Pay Commission – Prime Minister or Finance Minister, who is responsible for delay in Allowances

The source further added that the Union Government is also planning to pay the higher allowances under the new pay scale from the next fiscal year.

New Delhi, March 26: Almost nine months have been passed and the committee on Higher Allowance is yet to submit its report to the union government, which has further delayed the implementation of 7th Pay Commission. More than 56 lakh central government employees are eagerly waiting for the Higher Allowance, the decision on which has not yet reached to a conclusion. Although some reports suggest that the delay in higher allowance has saved crore of rupees this financial year but some reports suggest that neither Finance Minister Arun Jaitley not Prime Minister Narendra Modi responsible for the delay in implementation of higher allowances.

According to The Sen Times report which quoted a senior official from Finance Ministry said on the condition of anonymity that, “neither Finance Minister Arun Jaitley nor the PMO responsible for delaying the implementation of the new allowances”. The source further added that the Union Government is also planning to pay the higher allowances under the new pay scale from the next fiscal year. Some reports suggest that the higher allowances will be paid by April 1, next fiscal year, whereas some report suggests that the government plans to pay higher allowance, with retrospective effect from August 2016.

A source from Finance Ministry who was quoted by The Sen Times also said that a meeting will be held writing next week with members of the allowance committee of 7th Pay Commission. The same was also confirmed by National Joint Council of Action (NJCA) convenor Shiv Gopal Mishra. The NJCA leaders who have been putting forward this issue also added that the Ashok Lavasa committee, which is looking into 7th Pay Commission and allowances may submit their reports after having a discussion with employee representatives. The NJCA is one of the most active joint body of unions representing central government employees. Also Read – 7th Pay Commission: Government likely to make higher allowances effective from April 1, next fiscal year

Arjun Ram Meghwal, Minister of State for Finance had also clarified that the allowance committee on 7th Pay Commission has not yet submitted their report and also confirmed that the decision will be confirmed only after the report is submitted by the committee.

Soon the NJCA is likely to hold a centralised meeting with another panel that is looking into National Pension Scheme (NPS). The Finance Ministry has also constituted a separate committee for suggesting measures for streamlining the implementation of NPS.

In June 2016, the Union Government had accepted the recommendations made by Justice AK Mathur and his high-powered team on 7th Pay Commission in respect to the hike in basic pay and National Pension Scheme. But issues related to higher allowances were referred to the Ashok Lavasa committee. In last one year, the 7th Pay Commission had also examined a total of 196 existing allowances and recommended the abolition of 51 allowances and subsuming of 37 allowances.

The NJCA on the other side has demanded their HRA (House Rent Allowance) at the rate of 30 per cent, 20 per cent and 10 per cent. However, the high-powered committee had recommended the HRA to 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 cities where government employees live.

The committee also recommended when DA (Dearness Allowances) crosses 50 per cent then the rate of HRA be revised to 27 per cent, 18 per cent and 9 per cent and if DA crosses 100 per cent then the rate of HRA has to be revised to 30 per cent, 20 per cent and 10 per cent.

Source:- India.com