No family planning allowance for Central government staff

NEW DELHI: Central government employees will no longer get a family planning allowance and the cabinet secretary his monthly entertainment allocation. Also gone are the diet, haircutting and ‘soap toilet’ allowances given to select categories of employees.

With the government accepting many of the recommendations of the Committee on Allowances (COA), headed by Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa, a raft of grants and allocations made to various sections of government employees have been done away with or revised, an official said.

Funeral and cycles allowances have been retained and revised.

The decision on revising the allowances was approved at a meeting of the Union cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on June 28 and formal orders were issued on July 6.

The COA referred to the seventh Central Pay Commission’s report, which had examined 196 allowances given to different categories of central government employees.

The COA submitted its report on April 27 after which the government decided to accept its recommendations with 34 modifications.

Giving details, an official said an entertainment allowance of Rs 10,000 per month granted to the cabinet secretary, the country’s top bureaucrat, to entertain distinguished visitors has been abolished.

The ‘secret’ allowance given to officers working in the Cabinet Secretariat has also been done away with. This is granted for dealing with top secret papers and performing sensitive duties.

It is paid as a flat sum per month based on the post held by the official concerned.

Discussing the implementation of the pay commission’s recommendations, an official said the family planning allowance is given to central government employees as an encouragement to adhere to the small family norm.