7th Pay Commission Latest News: As the Central government is all set to present the Budget 2021 on February 1, expectations are high among the government employees that there would be some kind of announcement for them. However, they look forwards for increment in their salary and dearness allowance. The Central government employees are also looking forwards for 28% hike in the DA rather than just 21% or even 25%. Will it happen? Well, Budget 2021 is set for February 1 and everyone should tune in to find out if there is any announcement or benefits for them.
Salary Hike: For the last 12 months, the Central government employees have been waiting for the hike in their salary as they have been worst affected by the coronavirus pandemic. The Central government employees had to undergo tough time as the Centre had ordered a freeze on the dearness allowance (DA) hike. Even during high inflation, government employees did not get the money they were supposed to deal with rising prices of goods, due to the freeze imposed to deal with Covid-19 impact on overall economy.
Dearness Allowance: On the other side, the Central government employees are also having troubled time as their Dearness Allowance (DA) has been stopped to tackle the crisis emerging out of Covid 19 pandemic. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, the government employees have been waiting for the hike in DA. These employees were paid DA at 17 per cent instead of 21 per cent to mitigate challenges of Covid 19. Now it is speculated that the government might take the DA hike to 28 per cent instead of restoring 21 per cent to help government employees, who faced financial hardships during the corona times.
Leave Travel Allowance: Moreover, the Centre in the Budget 2021 should make some provision to increase the Leave Travel Allowance of the Central government employees. LTA is part of an employee’s CTC (Cost to Company). Under the Income Tax Act, employees can claim exemption for traveling within the country. However, media reports suggest that LTA benefits could be announced in the budget 2021 to promote new tax regime.
Gratuity: Reports also suggest that the Centre would announce something on gratuity for the government employees. Employees are eligible to receive gratuity, among other allowances, after a few years of service. Both Central and state government employees become eligible for gratuity. As the gratuity payout to employees will increase on introduction of Code on Wages, 2019 and the Code on Social Security, 2020, it is expected that the government would increase the upper limit of Rs 20 lakh to Rs 25 lakh.