Demand to calculate House Rent Allowance based on Census 2011 should gain prominence..!

House Rent Allowance to Central Government employees is now calculated on the basis of the population census of 2001. The cities and towns are classified as X, Y, and Z, based on their population. Employees in these towns are eligible for 30%, 20% and 10% House Rent Allowances respectively.

 Population census is conducted once every ten years. The most recent census was held in 2011. Official information and findings of the Census was sent by the registrar General & Census Commissioner to the Finance Ministry a long time ago.  It is well known that the Confederation Secretary General had recently sent a letter to the Finance Ministry reiterating that the House rent Allowance must be recalculated on the basis of the new Census-2011 report.

 Based on the 2001 Census, Central Government employees residing in towns with population of more than 50 lakhs are given a House Rent Allowance of 30% of their basic pay. Employees living in towns with population of more than 5 lakhs are given House Rent Allowance of 20%. Those living in all the other towns are given a HRA of 10%.

 Similarly, Transportation Allowance too is given in two categories A-1, A, and Other places. 13 towns are currently classified as A-1 and A categories.

 The general feeling is that the demand for the revision of HRA based on the Population Census 2011 should come from all sides.

 Take the cities of Ahmadabad and Pune, for example. Populations in these towns have crossed the 50 lakh mark (Ahmadabad’s population is 63,52,254; and Pune’s population is 50,49,968). Similarly, according to Census 2011, the population of many smaller towns have crossed the 5 lakh mark. There is no doubt that a revision of House Rent Allowance based on the 2011 Population Census will benefit hundreds of thousands of employees.

 Here is the difference in the Population Census of 2001 and 2011 for some of the major cities:

 CITY POPULATION

2001 CENSUS POPULATION                             2011 CENSUS

DELHI (UA)                          1,28,77,470                                                                 1,63,14,838

GREATER MUMBAI (UA) 1,64,34,386 1,84,14,288

KOLKATA (UA)                   1,32,05,697                                                                 1,41,12,536

CHENNAI (UA) 6     5,60,242                                                                                  86,96,010

BENGALURU (UA)                         57,01,446                                                                    84,99,399

HYDERABAD (UA) 57,42,036                                                                                68,09,970

Centralgovernment employement news.

Chairpersons Note dt. 19-5-2-2014 – Important points:

• 1.   Notification defining the jurisdiction of the reorganized Zones/Commissionerates/Directorates will be issued on 19-5-2014.
• 2.      Notification allotting staff in  various for the revised formation will be issued after receipt vacancy position is received by all CCAs.
• 3.      Location codes for all the new formation will be given along with creation IT infrastructure like WAN/LAN by DT-G-Systems.
• 4.      Immediately after issue of Notification for Reorganized Formations and staff allocation, Infrastructure Committees will be submitting the proposals along with Budget requirement for creation of all infrastructural facilities.
• 5.      Member(P&V) will be intimating to the CCAs before 28-5-2014 as to whether amendments to RRs are required or not. If amendments to Inspectors RRs are not required then the CCAs can be ahead with conducting of DPCs. If amendments are required, DPCs may be delayed.
• 6.      For promotion to 2118 Group-A posts, over 10,000 APARs have to be scrutinized, verified and finalized before forwarding them to UPSC so that Date(s) for conducting of DPCs can be obtained from UPSC.   Mammoth task indeed
•     In Chairpersons words: “conducting of DPCs to 2118 posts is unprecedented and one matter which will involve a lot of work for UPSC as well”.
•  With the kind of time-frame given by Chairperson, lets hope that all formations are put in place with all facilities and promotions to atleast Group-B and C are given by June end.