Some Highlights of Cabinet approval on 7th CPC Allowances,wef 1st July 2017.

 Number of allowances recommended to be abolished and subsumed: Government has decided not to abolish 12 of the 53 allowances which were recommended to be abolished by the 7th CPC. 

 House Rent Allowance : HRA is currently paid @ 30% for X (population of 50 lakh & above), 20% for Y (5 to 50 lakh) and 10% for Z (below 5 lakh) category of cities. 7th CPC has recommended reduction in the existing rates to 24% for X, 16% for Y and 8% for Z category of cities. As the HRA at the reduced rates may not be sufficient for employees falling in lower pay bracket, it has been decided that HRA shall not be less than ?5400, ?3600 and ?1800 for X, Y and Z category of cities respectively. This floor rate has been calculated @ 30%, 20% and 10% of the minimum pay of ?18000. This will benefit more than 7.5 lakh employees belonging to Levels 1 to 3.

 Dress Allowance : At present, various types of allowances are paid for provisioning and maintenance of uniforms/outfits such as Washing Allowance, Uniform Allowance, Kit Maintenance Allowance, Outfit Allowance etc. These have been rationalised and subsumed in newly proposed Dress Allowance to be paid annually in four slabs @ ?5000, ?10,000, ?15,000 and ?20,000 per annum for various category of employees. This allowance will continue to be paid to Nurses on a monthly basis in view of high maintenance and hygiene requirements. Government has decided to pay higher rate of Dress Allowance to SPG personnel keeping in view the existing rates of Uniform Allowance paid to them (which is higher than the rates recommended by the 7th CPC) as also their specific requirements. The rates for specific clothing for different categories of employees will be governed 

separately.

Children Education Allowance

(i) Rate of Children Education Allowance (CEA) has been increased from ?1500 per month / child (max. 2) to ?2250 per month / child (max.2). Hostel Subsidy will also go up from ?4500 per month to ?6750 per month.

(ii) Existing rates of Special Allowance for Child Care for Women with Disabilities has been doubled from ?1500 per month to ?3000 per month.

(iii) Higher Qualification Incentive for Civilians has been increased from ?2000 – ?10000 (Grant) to ?10000 – ?30000 (Grant).

 Recommendations in respect of some important allowances paid to Indian Railways

i. Rates of Additional Allowance have been increased from ?500 / 1000 per month to ?1125 / 2250 per month. This has also been extended to Loco Pilot Goods and Senior Passenger Guards also @?750 per month.

ii. In view of strenuous nature of the job, new Allowance namely Special Train Controller’s Allowance @5000 per month for Train Controllers of Railways has been introduced.

Recommendations in respect of some important allowances paid to Pensioners

Rate of Fixed Medical Allowance (FMA) for Pensioners has been increased from ?500 per month to ?1000 per month. This will benefit more than 5 lakh central government pensioners not availing CGHS facilities.

i. The rate of Constant Attendance Allowance granted on 100% disablement has been increased from ?4500 per month to ?6750 per month.

Allowances paid to D/o Posts

i. The recommendations of 7th CPC to abolish Cycle Allowance, granted mainly to Postmen and trackmen in Railways, has not been accepted. Keeping in view the specific requirement of this allowance for postmen in Department of Posts and trackmen in Railways, the cycle allowance is retained and the rates have been doubled from ?90 per month to ?180 per month. This will benefit more than 22,200 employees.
Conclusion

While increasing the rate of allowances affecting the central government employees, especially the Defence, CAPF and Coast Guard personnel, the staff of Railways, Postal department and nursing staff, the total number of allowances have been rationalized from 197 to 128. Thus, the Government has shown a great deal of fiscal prudence and at the same time addressed the genuine concerns of the employees and responded to some of the administrative exigencies necessitating the modifications.

Source:-CGENews