7th Pay Commission: The wait is not over yet! Final report on allowances next week

New Delhi: A high-level committee headed by finance secretary Ashok Lavasa is likely to submit its final report on HRA and ther allowances to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley next week.

The final recommendations on allowances will benefit over 47 lakh central government employees and 53 lakh pensioners.

The allowance committee is likely to take 4-5 days more to submit its final report to the government, as per NDTV report quoting a top employee union official.

The committee was expected to submit its report to the government this week.

The committee, which was asked to examine the 7th Pay Commission recommendation for abolition of 53 allowances out of a total of 196 and subsuming another 36 into larger existing ones had held a conclusive meeting on April 6, as per sources familiar with the matter.

The committee, at its previous meeting on March 28, had sought comments from the ministries of defence, railways and posts on treatment of 14 allowances. These allowances include accidental allowance, outstation detention allowance, trip allowance, and ghat allowance.

The Lavasa Committee was constituted in June last year after the government implemented the recommendation of the 7th Pay Commission.

The 7th Pay Commission had earlier proposed the rate of House Rent Allowance (HRA) at 24 percent, 16 percent and 8 percent of the Basic Pay for Class X, Y and Z cities respectively.

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

The Pay Commission had recommended abolition of or subsuming of allowances like acting, assisting cashier, cycle, condiment, flying squad, haircutting, rajbhasha, rajdhani, robe, shoe, shorthand, soap, spectacle, uniform, vigilance and washing.

Out of a total of 196 allowances, it had recommended abolition of 53 and subsuming of another 36 into larger existing ones.