Allowance hike only after finance secretary-headed panel submits report: Govt in Lok Sabha; Any proposal to include Yoga in UPSC syllabus?

THE 7th Central Pay Commission (CPC) has already been in force, but when will there be a hike in allowances other than dearness allowances, as recommended by the CPC? The question cropped up in Lok Sabha on Monday to which MoS personnel Jitendra Singh informed in a written reply that…

finance secretary-headed committee of secretaries (COS) that has been examining  the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission on Allowances (other than dearness allowance), is yet to submit its report to the government. “Decisions on implementing the Report will be taken after the Report is submitted by the Committee”, the minister said in his reply in Lok Sabha on Monday, thereby raising doubt whether the implementation of enhanced allowances will actually take place from coming April 1.

The 7th CPC recommended scrapping or merger of 53 out of 196 allowances that the Central government employees were entitled to. The government, however, postponed implementing the allowance part of the CPC though it enforced the pay hike last year.

The COS was set up by the department of expenditure under the ministry of finance on July 22, 2016. The Committee, according to the minister’s reply, held 13 meetings so far, and had interacted with the representatives of employees’ associations such as — All India Railwaymen Federation (AIRF), National Federation of Indian Railwaymen (NFIR), All India Train Controllers Association (AITCA), All India Guards Council (AIGC), Federation of National Postal Organization, National Federation of Postal Employees, Bhartiya Postal Employees Federation, Bhartiya Postal Employees Association (Group-C), Joint Action Council of Service Doctors Organization (JACSDO), All India GDMO Association (AIGDMOA), Delhi Administration Doctors Welfare Association (DADWA), Faculty Association (Maulana Azad Medical College and associated hospitals), Faculty Welfare Association (Lady Hardinge Medical College), Safdarjung Hospital Medical Officers Association, All India Government Nurses Federation (AIGNF), Railway Nurses of India, All India ESIC Nurses Federation, PGI Nurses Welfare Association, Trained Nurses Association of India (TNAI) and National Federation of Atomic Energy (NFAEE).

Meanwhile, in reply to another question in Lok Sabha, the Central government has made it clear that there was no proposal under its consideration to introduce Yoga in the list of optional subjects in UPSC examination. In fact, the UPSC has constituted an expert committee under chairmanship of BS Baswan to comprehensively examine various issues, raised from time to time regarding the civil services examination, with respect to the eligibility, syllabus, scheme and pattern of the examination according to a notice dated August 12, 2015. The report of Baswan committee is currently under the consideration of the UPSC and the recommendations of the UPSC on the report are yet to be received, minister Jitendra Singh informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply.