New Delhi: The Union Cabinet today approved the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission for higher allowances, including House Rent Allowance (HRA) which will benefit about 47 lakh central government employees and defence personnel. The decision will be effective from July 1, 2017. Briefing newspersons about the cabinet decision, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the HRA that has been approved will be 24 per cent, 16 per cent and 8 per cent of the new basic pay, depending on the type of city. He said the HRA will not be less than Rs 5,400, Rs 3,600 and Rs 1,800 depending on the type of city and calculated at 30 per cent, 20 per cent and 10 per cent of minimum pay Rs 18,000. The HRA revision will benefit more than 7.5 lakh employees. HRA constitutes 60 per cent of the total allowance of a government employee’s pay. The financial implication of revised allowances would be around Rs 30,748 crore per annum, the statement said. He said that Rates of Siachen allowance for soldiers increased from Rs 14,000 to Rs 30,000 per month and from Rs 21,000 to Rs 42,500 for officers per month for extreme risks and hardship. According to him, fixed medical allowance for pensioners increased from Rs 500 to Rs 1,000 per month. Constant attendance allowance for those with 100 per cent disability has been increased from Rs 4,500 to Rs 6,750 per month. As per the cabinet decision, rate of nursing allowance increased from Rs 4,800 to Rs 7,200 per month whereas operation theatre allowance increased from Rs 360 to Rs 540 per month. Hospital patient care allowance/patient care allowance increased from Rs 2,070 to Rs 4,100 per month and Rs 2,100 to Rs 5,300 per month.
