7th Pay Commission: Cabinet to approve HRA allowance next week?

Even as nearly one crore employees and pensioners of Central Government wait for clarity on 7th Pay Commission's arrears and allowances like House Rent Allowance (HRA) and Dearness Allowance (DA), the question many are asking is whether the Cabinet will clear proposals before Goods and Services Tax (GST) on July 1, 2017 or not. 

The issue of these arrears and allowances have been pending for over a year now as it was June 2016 when Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had ordered setting up of Committee on Allowances under leadership of Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa. 

Central Government employees have been demanding HRA at 30%, 20% and 10%, as against 7th Pay Commission's recommendation of 24%, 16% and 8%, depending on cities. 

However, Lavasa Committee has proposed that HRA be increased to 27%, which still is lower than demands of employees but higher than the recommendations made by 7th Pay Commission. 

National Joint Council of Action's (NJCA) Shiv Gopal Mishra told a TV channel that the government is likely to fix and finalise the 7th Pay Commission's pending arrears and allowances issue before the end of June 2017.