Seventh Pay Commission: Allowance Hike Announcement Likely Soon

Expectations are rising that the government may soon announce a hike in allowance as part of the Seventh Pay Commission awards. The second half of the Budget session starts from March 9. Union officials had held final round of talks on February 22 with members of the Ashok Lavasa panel on Seventh Pay Commission allowances, according to Shiv Gopal Mishra, the convenor of National Joint Council of Action (NJCA), a joint body of unions representing central government employees. Some union officials said that the panel on Seventh Pay Commission allowances has already submitted its report. 

The unions have demanded HRA at the rate of 30 per cent, 20 per cent and 10 per cent. The Seventh Pay Commission had recommended that HRA be paid at the rate of 24 per cent, 16 per cent and 8 per cent of the new Basic Pay, depending on type of cities.

The Seventh Pay Commission had also recommended that the rate of HRA be revised to 27 per cent, 18 per cent and 9 per cent respectively when DA crosses 50 per cent, and further revised to 30 per cent, 20 per cent and 10 per cent when DA crosses 100 per cent.

The panel headed by Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa had reviewed Seventh Pay Commission allowances. The government had in June accepted the recommendation of Justice AK Mathur-headed Seventh Pay Commission in respect of the hike in basic pay and pension but its suggestions relating to allowances were referred to the committee. The Seventh Pay Commission had examined a total of 196 existing allowances and, by way of rationalisation, recommended abolition of 51 allowances and subsuming of 37 allowances.

The committee on allowances was initially given a time of four months to submit its report to the finance minister. Allowances form a significant chunk of government employees' salary.