7th Pay Commission: Update on allowances committee to be announced by June 1

New Delhi: The central government employees might heave a sigh of relief as media reports are pouring that the update on allowances as recommended by the 7th Pay Commission will be out by June 1.

The Cabinet secretary has purportedly assured that the deadline to look into the report on the allowances committee has been set for the month end and by June 1 the update might be announced.

Consequently, the report will be sent to the Cabinet for consideration.

As per news reports, the Empowered Committee of Secretaries (E-CoS) was supposed to present the report to the Union Cabinet yesterday, however nothing of that sort happened.

The Lavasa Committee on April 28 suggested modifications in some allowances applicable universally to all employees and also for those in specific categories, including railways and defence, after examining the 7th Pay Commission recommendations.

Last month, the Union Cabinet approved important proposals relating to modifications in the 7th CPC (Central Pay Commission) recommendations on pay and pensionary benefits in the course of their implementation.

The benefit of the proposed modifications will be available with effect from 1st January, 2016, i.e., the date of implementation of 7th CPC recommendations. With the increase approved by the Cabinet, the annual pension bill alone of the Central Government is likely to be Rs 1,76,071 crore.

There are about 47 lakh central government employees.

While recommendations of the CPC on pay and pension were implemented with the approval of the Cabinet, allowances continued to be paid at old rates.

The CPC had recommended that of a total of 196 allowances, 52 be abolished altogether and 36 be abolished as separate identities by subsuming them in another allowance.