Lavasa panel on central allowances submits report to Jaitley

The committee headed by Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa on allowances to be paid to central government employees has submitted its report to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, an official said on Friday.

The committee was constituted in June last year following the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission.

"The 7th CPC had recommended that of a total of 196 allowances, 52 be abolished altogether and 36 be abolished as separate identities by subsuming them in another allowance," the official said in a statement.

The Pay Commission had recommended hiking the house rent allowance (HRA) in the range of 8-24 per cent.

"The report, now being examined in the Department of Expenditure will be placed before the Empowered Committee of Secretaries (E-CoS) set up to screen the 7th CPC recommendations and to firm up the proposal for approval of the Cabinet," it added.

Besides the Finance Secretary, "the Committee had Secretaries of Home Affairs, Defence, Health and Family Welfare, Personnel and Training, Post, and Chairman, Railway Board, as its Members and Joint Secretary (Implementation Cell) as its Member Secretary," a Finance Ministry release here said.

After submitting the report to Jaitley on Thursday, Lavasa told reporters here that the committee has taken into account representations made by various stakeholders.

--IANS

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