7th Pay Commission – Higher Allowances, HRA, What Government Employees can Expect this Week

7th Pay Commission – Higher Allowances, HRA, What Government Employees can Expect this Week

Central Government employees can expect some news (good or bad god only knows) on the higher allowances and HRA as per the 7th Pay Commission this week. Employee union leaders say that they have been told that a decision is likely this week itself on two crucial aspects of higher allowances and HRA.

The leader also said that the Empowered Committee of Secretaries met on June 1 to screen the report on 7th pay commission allowances, including HRA to prepare proposals for consideration by the government.

According to some reports, the Lavasa committee has suggested some modifications in some allowances that are applicable universally to all employees as well as certain other allowances which apply to specific employee categories, the Finance Ministry said in a statement.

The Union Cabinet had earlier approved some modifications in recommendations of 7CPC relating to the method of revision of pension of pre-2016 pensioners and family pensioners based on the recommendations of a high-level panel.

What central government employees can expect this week

The Empowered Committee of Secretaries or E-CoS has submitted its report on higher allowances and HRA. Apart from capping the HRA, the report speaks about a pay hike which will be approved by the Union Cabinet on June 7. The Union Cabinet is scheduled to meet on June 7 and the same will be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Cabinet may give nod to pay hike

The Cabinet is likely to give the nod for a salary hike. The announcement will be made after June 7 following the Cabinet meeting. There has been a proposal to hike the salary. This will need the nod of the cabinet. Now that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is back from his foreign tour, the Cabinet is likely to meet on June 7.

Nervousness on HRA update

There is considerable anxiety among the employees regarding a HRA update. The employees had demanded that the HRA slab ranging between 30%, 20% and 10%. However the E-CoS after studying the recommendations as per the demands and the 7th Pay Commission has capped the HRA between 25 and 27 per cent.

What is Cabinet likely to do?

The Cabinet can reverse the decision on HRA. The Cabinet has the power to consider the HRA slab of 30, 20 and 10 per cent as demanded by the employees. The Cabinet can take a call on whether it should implement the E-CoS recommendation or the demands made by the employees. As per the Cabinet Secretary, P K Sinha, all demands of employees would be taken into account and placed before the Cabinet which is the final authority on this matter.

The E-CoS report on higher allowances and HRA

E-CoS has submitted its report on higher allowances like House Rent Allowance (HRA), Dearness Allowance (DA) and Transport Allowance (TA). The E-CoSrecommended HRA slab ranging between 25%-27% of the basic as against demands of 30%, 20% and 10%. The proposal will be accepted by the Prime Minister and his Cabinet. The announcement to this effect will be made next week by June 7. The most crucial discussion was on HRA.

Government employees have demanded a higher HRA and better pay hike. It was pointed out during the discussions that the HRA must be paid at a rate of 30 per cent, 20 per cent and 10 per cent of their basic pay. The Central Government Employee Unions had said that “If the 6th Pay Commission before the 7th Pay Commission had not increased the HRA rates they had not also decreased the rates”. It was pointed out that this was a key grievance and the Cabinet must look into the same.

Source: India.com