7th Pay Commission – Employees seeks duty allowance @25% of basic pay

GUWAHATI, May 18 – The Regional Co-ordination Committee of Central Government Employees and Workers, North Eastern Region, has submitted a memorandum to the Chairman of the Seventh Central Pay Commission regarding special duty allowance. 

The issue of special allowance for officers belonging to the North-east cadre of all-India services as additional monetary incentive was taken up for discussion in the National Council of JCM and Confederation of Central Government Employees and Workers through their memoranda already submitted to the Seventh Central Pay Commission on June 30, 2014 and July 28, 2014 respectively.

The committee also placed before the Chairman and other members of the commission a brief background of the demand. 

The Central Government employees working in the northeastern region had persistently been urging the Government of India for granting special allowance on the grounds of difficult conditions peculiar to the North-east. Following persistent demand by the employees, the UC Agarwal Committee set up by the Centre recommended to the Government to honour the demand.

“The Government of India issued an order on December 14, 1983 granting special (duty) allowance to the officers belonging to Group ‘A’ and partly to Group ‘B’ having all-India transfer liability on their being posted to any station in the northeastern region, depriving the other categories of employees belonging to Group ‘C’ and ‘D’ working in the region which is arbitrary and discriminatory. Then, on recommendations of the Sixth Central Pay Commission, the Government of India, Ministry of Finance, Department of Expenditure granted special (duty) allowance to all the Central Government employees and all-India services officers serving in the northeastern region @12.5 per cent of basic pay with effect from September 11,2008,” it said.

The memo added that the Government of India, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pension, Department of Personnel and Training vide its OM F. No.14017/4/2005-AIS (11) dated February 10, 2009 granted special allowance for officers belonging to North-east cadres of all- India services @ 25 per cent of their basic pay + grade pay in addition to special (duty) allowance @ 12.5 percent currently paid to them, depriving the other Central Government employees working in the region.

“This has again generated resentment among the employees in the region. If the grant of the allowance is justified on the ground of remoteness, arduous environment, endemic insurgency etc., it cannot be denied to the employees who are to face the same situation throughout their service career. The order is discriminatory and repetition of the efforts of DOPT while granting SDA earlier which had to be rescinded on the recommendation of the Sixth CPC,” it said, adding that the Seventh Central Pay Commission must look into the issue and recommend that the employees and officers working in the northeastern States should be extended “special duty allowance @37.5 per cent of pay to end the discrimination once and for all.”