7th Pay Commission Allowance – Bureaucratic hurdle cleared allowances report submitted, now political will required to clear arrears

Date : 1.5.2017

7th Pay Commission Allowance – Bureaucratic hurdle cleared allowances report submitted, now political will required to clear arrears

In 2016, the Committee on Allowances was constituted, a week after the government implemented the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission. On Thursday the committee headed by Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa submitted its report to Finance Ministry.

New Delhi, May 1: Last week on Thursday, the Committee on Allowance, headed by Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa, submitted its final report to the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. As the big bureaucratic hurdle is now cleared, now a strong political will is required to clear off the arrears of and dues of 47 lakh central government employees who have been waiting for almost 10 months for the higher allowances under the 7th pay Commission. As of now, the details of Lavasa committee report have not been disclosed yet. The recommendations will now be approved by the union Cabinet, once it is approved by Empowered Committee of Secretaries. The National Joint Council of Action (NJCA), a joint body of union, who had been pushing hard for higher allowances believe that the non-release of arrears will remain a point of contention.

Earlier when India.com, spoke to NJCA chief Shiv Gopal Mishra he said that the arrears on higher allowances is one of the integral demands made by them. “Government is bound to provide arrears on allowances. The Pay Commission is implemented once in a decade and if centre fails to implement the 7th Pay Commission on the scheduled date, then why the employees must bear the loss?”

Shiv Gopal Mishra further said that they have kept forward their demand in front of Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa to provide allowances, along with arrears from January 1, 2016. “If the government fails to do so, we will raise this issue on all platforms and if needed we will also call for an organised form of protest,” Mishra said while speaking to India.com.

He further added, “If the Union Cabinet do not approve our demands we will approach Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He is our last hope and we believe in him. As PM Modi is a good negotiator and I am sure that he want’s a good industrial relation in the country”.

Earlier in April, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had reportedly said that arrears on the higher allowances for 47 lakh Central Government employees would put a huge burden on government exchequer. The Apex Bank also claimed that it would significantly impact the rate of inflation by 1-1.5 per cent.

Dismissing the concerns raised by RBI, the NJCA convenor said, “The delay has been done by the Lavasa committee, why must employees pay the price? If RBI thinks that it would cause an adverse impact on inflation, then they should think of an alternative method to control inflation.”

“For a large number of employees, Government of India is an employer and an ideal employee has to revise wages whenever required,” he said. Mishra who seems to be optimistic about arrears said it would not cause a major impact on the exchequer. “During the Budget 2016-17, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had allotted Rs 1,02,100 crore for implementation of 7th pay Commission. The amount has not been paid to central government employees completely. Even if the government implement higher allowances along with arrears, I don’t think it would cost any additional amount to the exchequer,” Mishra said to India.com.

In 2016, the Committee on Allowances was constituted, a week after the government implemented the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission.

Source:- India.com