The Sen Times reports that a top official of the finance ministry today told The Sen Times on condition of anonymity that Central government employees’ salaries for January will be in line with the higher allowances.
When asked whether the arrears would be paid too, he said, “This depends on the cabinet. If the cabinet gives the nod higher allowances with retrospective effect from August 2016, the arrears will be paid.”“The government faces severe attack for cash crunch because of demonetisation. But the situation will return to normalcy after the deadline of December 30 for deposit of invalid Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes.”He added, “It’s better if delayed till sufficient cash is available with the banks.”The government in June approved the 7th Pay Commission recommendations for its employees with higher basic pay, which has been paid with arrears, effective from January 1, 2016 but the hike in allowances other than dearness allowance referred to the ‘Committee on Allowances’ headed by the Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa for examination as as the pay commission had recommended of abolishing 51 allowances and subsuming 37 others out of 196 allowances.Until acceptance of higher allowances, existing allowances are to be paid according to the 6th Pay Commission recommendations, says an earlier official statement issued by the finance ministry.However, the committee on allowances head Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa said recently, “We are ready to submit our report, when the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley calls up.”
Source: tkbsen.in
