7th Pay Commission : Govt employees likely to receive higher allowance from 1st April

As per the recommendations by the 7th Pay Commission headed by A. K. Mathur, the employees of the Central government are rumoured to receive higher allowances. Though the report on higher allowances was supposed to be submitted by 20th February, the deadline was missed, as the report wasn't completed by then. However, the government is looking forward to getting done with the process for implementation of higher allowances.

The Central government employees are expected to get a higher allowance from April 1 onwards. Earlier, on June 29, 2016, the Union Cabinet had cleared the 7th Pay Commission recommendations with respect to higher pay and pension. However, the suggestions made by the Commission with respect to allowances were put on hold till they were referred to a Committee headed by Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa.

The report has already been submitted to the Finance Ministry by the Committee on Allowances. The report also includes the review on recommendations by the 7th Pay Commission made regarding allowances.

According to NDTV, House Rent Allowance (HRA) was demanded at a rate of 30 percent, 20 percent and 10 percent by the Union. As per the 7th Pay Commission, the HRA was suggested to be provided at the rate of 24 percent, 16 percent and 8 percent of the basic pay, based on the cities. Another recommendation made by the Commission was to give the HRA at the rates of  27 percent, 18 percent and 9 percent when the DA crosses 50 percent, and at 30 percent, 20 percent and 10 percent when DA crosses 100 percent.

The Committee under the Finance Secretary is expected to have suggested that the allowance provided for house rents not be brought down as was recommended by the 7th Pay Commission, and instead be kept the same. The remaining allowances are believed to have been changed a little.

The second half of the budget session will start on March 9, 2017, and all are eagerly waiting to see the announcements to be made by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

With the pay hike being the lowest in the last 70 years under the 7th Pay Commission, it is likely that the allowances might be increased to keep government employees satisfied.

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