7th Pay Commission: Will PM Narendra Modi give green signal for arrears on allowances?

7th Pay Commission: Will PM Narendra Modi give green signal for arrears on allowances?
After the submission of the report on the higher allowances under the 7th Pay Commission, the ball is now Prime Minister Narendra Modi's court.

Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa led Committee on Allowances has submitted its report on higher allowances under the 7th Pay Commission and the government is most likely to accept it. Besides higher allowances under the 7th Pay Commission, the issue of arrears is also making central government employees worried. After the submission of the report on the higher allowances under the 7th Pay Commission, the ball is now Prime Minister Narendra Modi's court. The National Joint Council of Action (NJCA) chief Shiv Gopal Mishra will meet Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha today and discuss the arrears on allowances for the central government employees.

The report on hiked allowances under the 7th Pay Commission was submitted last week by Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa. The report is being examined by the Department of Expenditure, and will be subsequently placed before the Empowered Committee of Secretaries (E-CoS). After the clearance, it will be sent to Union cabinet for approval. The Ashok Lavasa led panel held as many as 15 minutes with the representatives of National Council (Staff Side), Joint Consultative Machinery (JCM) and representatives of defence personnel in last 10 months.

The NJCA chief Shiv Gopal Mishra was hopeful about arrears for central government employees. "Arrears would mostly be provided to the employees. I will meet Cabinet Secretary tomorrow in this regard. He is heading the Empowered Committee of Secretaries which is scrutinising the report submitted by the Lavasa committee," Mishra told India.com. "No insights from the report is available so far. We (NJCA) would study the recommendations of the report tomorrow after meeting the Empowered Committee of Secretaries," he added.

"Modifications have been suggested in some allowances which are applicable universally to all Central government employees as well as certain other allowances which apply to specific employee categories," the Finance Ministry said in a statement on April 28. The 7th Pay Commission had suggested the abolition of 52 out of the 196 existing allowances, apart from subsuming 36 smaller allowances. The 7CPC panel led by Justice (retd) A K Mathur had also reduced the house rent allowance (HRA) from existing 10, 20 and 30 per cent to 8, 24 and 16 respectively.

The basic pay of the central government employees was hiked from January 1, 2016 as per the 7th Pay Commission recommendations, but for last 10 months, the central government employees have been waiting for the higher allowances. While the government has provided arrears since January 1, 2016, the scheduled date of 7th Pay Commission's implementation, NJCA has demanded a similar release of arrears on allowances as well. All eyes will be on PM Narendra Modi who may bring 'achhe din' for the central government employees announcing arrears on allowances.

Source: India.com