Govt. looking to axe 52 out of 200 allowances

The government is planning to scrap 52 of the nearly 200 allowances.

Why?

It is because the Seventh Pay Commission found inadequate the justifications offered by the Ministries for these allowances. Besides recommending that 52 allowances be abolished, the Commission suggested that another 36 be subsumed in an existing allowance or in new allowances it proposed.

Background:

• The Pay Commission found the entire system of nearly 200 allowances haphazard. Hence, the government was asked to suggest rationalisation of a variety of allowances.
•  The commission found that many allowances were meagre cash payments and have lost significance.
• Allowances which will be abolished include family planning allowance, cycle allowance to postal officials and the briefcase allowance. 

What are allowances?

Allowances are paid to employees — both in civil and defence jobs — over and above the basic pay, either as a percentage of it, or as a specified amount, which usually varies with employees’ “level or status”.