7th Pay Commission : Allowances Report to be Delayed by a Week As FM too busy with political agenda

7th Pay Commission : Allowances Report to be Delayed by a Week As FM too busy with political agenda

The submission of report on allowances is likely to be delayed by a week, primarily because of the Uri terror attack on an army base in Jammu and Kashmir and partly because of the BJP national executive meet held in the Kerala city of Kozhikode.

Sources said, The report of special committee on allowances recommended by the 7th Pay Commission is to be delayed because of Uri attack and BJP national executive meet held in Kozhikode, Kerala.

An official in Anonymous said, The report of special committee on allowances recommended by the 7th Pay Commission is to be delayed because of Uri attack and BJP national executive meet held in Kozhikode, Kerala. The committee on allowances recommended by the 7th Pay Commission could not submit its report as Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was too busy due to political developments post attack on Army camp in Jammu and Kashmir’s Uri and BJP’s national executive meet.

The report of the committee on allowances, headed by Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa was to submit last week but the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was too busy with political agenda for the both incidents that so fatter allowances was not prioritised, sources in Finance Ministry quoted.

The committee on allowances was ready to submit its report even two months in advance. The committee is likely to call on Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in this week, if the political situation returns to normal, sources added.

The 7th pay commission had recommended abolition of 51 allowances and subsuming 37 others out of 196 allowances. The government while issuing the notification for the implementation of the 7th Pay Commission had announced to set up a special committee to examine the recommendations on allowances. The Committee was given four months to submit its report on allowances. The committee met employees unions leaders on August 4 and September 1 respectively before preparing its report. However the submission of the report is likely to be delayed by a week now.

The pay commission resolution issued on July 25 said, till a final decision on allowances is taken based on the recommendations of this Committee, all allowances will continue to be paid at existing rates in existing pay structure, as if the pay had not been revised with effect from January 1, 2016. The allowances had been a major bone of contention amongst majority of the central government employees.

The government issued the notification for the implementation of the 7th Pay Commission recommendations in July. The 7th Pay Commission notification confirmed that central government employees will get 14.27 per cent hike in basic pay at junior levels, which is the lowest in 70 years. The Cabinet also approved the increase in minimum pay Rs 18,000 from existing Rs 7,000.