7th Pay Commission: Lavasa Panels seeks ministries views on 14 allowances

The Committee on Allowances headed by Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa may finalise the report after receiving comments from ministries on treatment of 14 allowances and benefits under 7th Pay Commission, PTI reported.

Lavasa panel, which was formed last year to examine the 7th pay Commission recommendations, has sought comments from ministries of defence, railways and posts on treatment of over a dozen benefits, the report said.

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The report quoted a source saying that the 14 allowances were not taken under consideration earlier and now the concerned ministries have been asked for suggestions. 

These allowances include accidental allowance, outstation detention allowance, trip allowance, and ghat allowance, the report added. However, to come out with the final report, the committee will hold another meeting. 

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The government had planned to give out the revised higher allowance under the 7th Pay Commission from the beginning of new financial year but "will take a call on payment of arrears in case the rollout is delayed", the report added quoting the source. 

The Lavasa panel which was appointed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in June last year to examine the suggestions on allowances under the 7th Pay Commission had other recommendations that included a change in the present system of accounting, wherein pay and allowances are clubbed and it would be difficult to bifurcate these.

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Out of 196 allowances, the 7th Pay Commission report had recommended abolition of 52 and subsuming of another 36 into larger existing ones. 

In the next meeting, the committee will also finalise its views on reducing the house rent allowance (HRA) to 24%, 16% and 8% of the new Basic Pay, depending on the type of cities as against HRA at 30, 20 and 10%.