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Committee on Allowances likely to submit report on February 20 : Sen Times

New Delhi: The ‘Committee on Allowances’ is likely to submit higher allowances report to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on February 20 which is due for implementation from August 1, 2016.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley formed ‘Committee on Allowances’ for examination of the recommendations of 7th Pay Commission on allowances other than dearness allowance.

48 lakh serving central government employees and 52 lakh pensioners will be impacted by the report, the Committee on Allowances is likely to ditto the 7th Pay Commission report, said the Finance Ministry sources.

The ‘Committee on Allowances’, headed by Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa, was appointed in July 2016 for 4 months. Its terms was extended in December 2016 till February 22, 2017.

However, the Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa said in October, “We are ready to submit our report, when the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley calls up.”

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley formed ‘Committee on Allowances’ for examination of the recommendations of 7th Pay Commission on allowances other than dearness allowance as the pay commission had recommended abolition of 51 allowances and subsuming 37 others out of 196 allowances.

The ‘Committee on Allowances’ recommendation will guide how the various allowances of central government employees will be revised. The report would also impact all states government employees after some modifications.

“The government plans to pay pay higher allowance, under 7th Pay Commission recommendations, with retrospective effect from August 2016, central government employees unions demanded for implementation of the allowances with retrospective effect from January 2016,” the sources told The Sen Times.

Until acceptance of the report of ‘Committee on Allowances’, the allowances are now paid to the Central government employees according to the 6th Pay Commission recommendations.

According to the Finance Ministry, after getting the report on the allowances, the Union cabinet is expected to give nod the higher allowances in mid-March after the completion of five states assemblies’ poll process as the model code of conduct has come into effect from January 4 and the higher allowances under 7th Pay Commission may be implemented from April this year.