Lavasa panel seeks ministries views on allowances

The high-level committee headed by finance secretary Ashok Lavasa will finalise its report on payment of allowances to 47 lakh central government employees after receiving comments from ministries on treatment of over a dozen such benefits.

The panel, which was asked to examine the 7th Pay Commission recommendation for abolition of 53 allowances out of a total of 196 and subsuming another 36 into larger existing ones, at its meeting today sought comments from the ministries of defence, railways and posts on treatment of 14 allowances.

People familiar with the matter said these 14 allowances had not been factored in previously and the concerned ministries have been asked to give their views on what is to be done with them.

These allowances include accidental allowance, outstation detention allowance, trip allowance, and ghat allowance. The panel will finalise its report after it gets the comments, they said, adding one more meeting of the committee is likely for doing so.

The government is keen to give out the revised allowances from the fiscal year beginning 1April but will take a call on payment of arrears in case the rollout is delayed, they said.

The Lavasa Committee was constituted in June last year after the government implemented the recommendation of the 7th Pay Commission. The Pay Commission had recommended abolition of or subsuming of allowances like acting, assisting cashier, cycle, condiment, flying squad, haircutting, rajbhasha, rajdhani, robe, shoe, shorthand, soap, spectacle, uniform, vigilance and washing.

Out of a total of 196 allowances, it had recommended abolition of 53 and subsuming of another 36 into larger existing ones.

People familiar with the matter said the committee in its next meeting will also finalise its views on the pay commission recommendation of reducing the house rent allowance (HRA) to 24% of basic pay as against the 30% of basic pay employees were drawing under the Sixth Pay Commission.