“Will the authorities announce the Government’s decisions regarding all the allowances for the Central Government employees, including the HRA, at least this week?”

The 7th Pay Commission’s recommendations on the allowances being given to the Central Government employees was nothing short of controversial. The employees were very dissatisfied that the Commission had recommended that the rates of HRA percentage, which they had been receving for the past ten years, be reduced. The various Central Government employees’ unions and federations announced protests to review the recommendations on Minimum Pay, Fitment Factor including HRA.

The centre responded by constituting a special high-level committee, chaired by Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa to review the recommendations on allowances by the 7th CPC. The government had initially instructed the committee to submit its report within four months. Later, citing the stagnation that resulted due to demonetization, the committee was given an additional two months’ time. The extended duration ended last month.

The Allowance Committee was expected to submit its report to the government on February 22. The media – print, websites of all the leading dailies and countless blogs, were full of contradictory reports and guesses. There is no concrete information available on this issue until now.

Meanwhile, the CGDA published a circular on 3rd March 2017 regarding Alloawnce Committee on its official portal. The circular said, MoD has received an Office Memorandum from the Finance Ministry on 23.02.2017 regarding HRA. The O.M. had instructed the Ministry of Defence to submit a detailed report of all its employees, those who were given Government accommodations, and on those who were receiving house rent allowances.

The order said that the step was taken as part of its response to the demand made by the Staff Side of National Council JCM and many other Ministries/Departments, to revise the rates of HRA percentage recommended by the 7th Pay Commission.

Latest reports claim that the government has decided to release its reports after studying the current status of HRA in the Defence sector, which employs the most number of employees among the various Central Government Ministries.

Source: http://teut.in/