7th Pay Commission: Government likely to make higher allowances effective from April 1, next fiscal year

A source from Finance Ministry quoted by the 'Committee on Allowances', said a meeting will be held next week with members of the allowance committee on 7th Pay Commission.

New Delhi, March 25: The higher allowances under the 7th Pay Commission for which the central government employees are eagerly waiting is likely to be implemented from April 1, next fiscal year, a government official was quoted by The Sen Times on condition of anonymity. The report also says that the government employees, for sure will get higher allowances under the new pay scale but didn’t mention the exact percentage.

A source from Finance Ministry quoted by the ‘Committee on Allowances’, said a meeting will be held next week with members of the allowance committee on 7th Pay Commission. Also, Shiv Gopal Mishra, the convenor of National Joint Council of Action (NJCA) confirmed the same.

Shiv Gopal Mishra 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. 

Earlier this month, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Minister of State for Finance had clarified that the allowance committee on 7th Pay Commission has not yet submitted its report. The minister also said that they will decide on the implementation of Higher allowances after the report is submitted by the committee. The NJCA is one of the most powerful joint body of unions representing central government employees.

Also, the NJCA under the leadership of Shiv Gopal Mishra is likely to hold discussions with another panel that is looking into NPS or National Pension Scheme. The Union Government has also constituted a separate committee for suggesting measures for streamlining the implementation of National Pension Scheme.

Last year in June, the union government had accepted the recommendation of Justice AK Mathur-led 7th Pay Commission in respect to the hike in basic pay and pension. But issues related to higher allowances were referred to the Ashok Lavasa committee. In last six months, 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.

On the other side, the employee unions have demanded their HRA (House Rent Allowance) at the rate of 30 per cent, 20 per cent and 10 per cent. However, the panel had recommended that the HRA 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.

When DA (Dearness Allowances) crosses 50 per cent, the 7CPC had also recommended that the rate of HRA be revised to 27 per cent, 18 per cent and 9 per cent and further revised to 30 per cent, 20 per cent and 10 per cent when DA crosses 100 per cent.