7th Pay Commission: Cabinet's decision on arrears, allowances today?

A Bank employee shows Rs 2000 rupee currency notes at the State Bank of India branch in Ranchi. Photo: IANS

Government employees and pensioners waiting to hear about their 7th Pay Commission arrears and allowances may have some good news by May 25, 2017.

Media reports suggest that the Empowered Committee of Secretaries is going to place the recommendations this week in front of the Cabinet.

Union Cabinet, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets every week.

The Government has already accepted most of recommendations under the 7th Pay Commission barring allowances. For allowances like HRA, TA, DA, etc, the finance ministry set up a committee under Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa last year.

The Committee has now given its recommendations.

7th CPC had recommended house rent allowance (HRA) to be paid at the rate of 24%, 16% and 8% of the new Basic Pay, depending on the type of cities. But, employees' unions have demanded HRA at 30, 20 and 10%.

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In April, while accepting the report from the recommendation panel, Finance Ministry had said, that the report will be examined in the Department of Expenditure and will be placed before the Empowered Committee of Secretaries (E-CoS) set-up to screen the 7th CPC recommendations and to firm-up the proposal for approval of the Cabinet.

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]Other recommendations that included a change in the present system of accounting, wherein pay and allowances are clubbed and it would be difficult to bifurcate these. Out of 196 allowances, the 7th Pay Commission report had recommended abolition of 52 and subsuming of another 36 into larger existing ones.

While submitting the report in April, Lavasa panel had said, "Representations and demands for modifications were received in respect of 79 allowances which have been examined in detail by the Committee."

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