New Delhi: Millions of central government employees and pensioners are waiting for the Finance Ministry’s decision regarding the dearness allowance (DA) arrears. A meeting between Central government servants' (CGS') representative body National Council of JCM, officials from the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) and Ministry of Finance is set to take place on Saturday (June 26). Previously, the Central government has already announced that all its employees and pensioners will get the pending hike in the DA will from July 1 under the 7th Pay Commission.
The DA will be increased from the current 17% to 28% of the basic salary from July 1, 2021. However, even before the meeting, the government has introduced a slew of other benefits for central government employees under the 7th Pay Commission.
7th Pay Commission: Travel allowance claims deadline extended
The deadline for submitting the claims for travel allowance or TA has been increased by the government from 60 days to 180. The decision stands effective from June 15, which is the same day the order was passed by the government, which is even before the meeting on DA arrears.
7th Pay Commission: Benefit under House Building Advance (HBA) scheme
Central government employees are offered the House Building Advance (HBA) scheme to help them avail loans at cheaper interest rates for the construction of their homes. Recently, the Union Ministry for Housing and Urban Affairs had announced that the last date to take a loan under the HBA scheme has been postponed to March 31, 2022, from October 1, 2020. At present, employees can get an HBA loan at 7.90% basic interest.
7th Pay Commission: National Pension System (NPS) benefits
Central government employees who are offered benefits under the National Pension System (NPS) can now use the pension corpus available with the Old Pension Scheme (OPS). Also Read: Telegram rolls out group video calling feature with latest update
7th Pay Commission: Monthly Pension Slips
In a big relief to 60 lakh Central government pensioners, pension disbursing banks have been directed to issue pension slips with a complete breakup via SMS, WhatsApp and e-mail. Also Read: Private players in India can now build and operate rocket launch sites
