Foreign Training: How much an Indian officer gets as monthly allowance, warm clothing allowance et al; list of allowances post DoPT review

SENDING officers abroad under the Domestic Funding of Foreign Training (DFFT) programme is not an inexpensive affair, and the rate needs to be fixed from time to time according to the variation in purchasing power of a nation. For example, the Government of India pays an officer $1,803 (approx. Rs 1.27 lakh) per month as allowance if she pursues a course in Philippines whereas the same allowance goes up to $2,205 (approx. Rs 1.55 lakh) for studying in Switzerland. Here below is list of allowances including for warm clothing ($500 or Rs 35,200), departure ($500 or Rs 35,200), arrival ($375 or Rs 26,400) and…

No daily allowance for travel on LTC; 6 new LTA conditions here that you may like to know

YES, for the Central government employees, there will no longer be daily allowances being admissible for travel on LTC. Following the decisions taken by government on the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission relating to travelling allowance entitlements of Central Government employees, the TA rules have undergone changes according to an office memorandum dated July 13, 2017. It is also clarified that the travel entitlements of government servants for the purpose of LTC shall be the same as TA entitlements as notified in the same order except the air travel entitlement for Level 6 to Level 8 of the Pay Matrix, which is allowed in respect of TA only and not for LTC. Here are 6 key new LTA conditions that you need to know:

Rs 900-desk allowance for CSS officers gets abolished; Govt decides to give extra benefits to women employees with disabilities

THE government on Wednesday issued an office memorandum stating in clear terms that the desk allowance given to desk officers belonging to Central Secretariat Service (CSS) is no longer available. “Desk Allowance stands abolished”, said the OM with the subject titled “Implementation of government’s decision on the recommendations of the Seventh Central Pay Commission- Abolishing Desk Allowance - Reg”. The OM reads as follows:

7th CPC Proposes, Govt Disposes: Cycle allowance, funeral allowance etc. to continue

IF YOU thought the government blindly followed the 7th Central Pay Commission (CPC) recommendations in abolishing allowances, you could be wrong. Let’s first take this example: Central Pay Commission said, abolish cycle allowance. The government said “no”. The cycle allowances will not only be retained but it was also directed that the existing rate of allowances would be increased from Rs 90 to Rs 180 per month. Similarly, the 7th CPC recommended funeral allowance to be abolished. The government retained it but yes, changed its…

Govt abolishes sumptuary allowance for training institute chiefs; entertainment allowance to cabinet secretary also done away with

IN LINE with the 7th Central Pay Commission recommendations, the government on Tuesday issued an order abolishing sumptuary allowance in all the training establishments, academies and institutes with effect from July 1, 2017. This allowance is out of the purview of the income tax and given to directors, course directors and councillors in national and central training establishments mainly to entertain small groups of students and faculty. The order however did not mention about entertainment allowance (Rs 10,000 per month) given to the cabinet secretary (to entertain distinguished visitors), entertainment allowance in Indian Railways, official hospitality grant in defence forces and…

Finally, Centre okays enhanced allowances under 7th Central Pay Commission; 10 major changes

AFTER 7th Central Pay Commission (CPC) recommended abolition of 53 allowances, the Central government on Wednesday decided not to touch 12 of those allowances, apart from continuing with three of the 37 allowances recommended to be subsumed by the 7th CPC, as separate identities. The total financial implication for the enhanced allowances, as approved by the Cabinet on Wednesday, will be to the tune of ₹30,748.23 crore per year out of which ₹1,448.23 is on account of government's tweaking of the 7th CPC recommendations on allowances. But the delay in announcing the allowance hike (pay was hiked with effect from January 1, 2016) also means some savings for the government, as allowances are not doled out retrospectively unlike the increased amount of a hiked pay. As of now, 7.5 lakh employees will benefit from enhanced HRA, Siachen allowance to get doubled; dress allowance for SPG personnel will increase etc. Here are the 10 changes for Central government employees:

Allowance hike only after finance secretary-headed panel submits report: Govt in Lok Sabha; Any proposal to include Yoga in UPSC syllabus?

THE 7th Central Pay Commission (CPC) has already been in force, but when will there be a hike in allowances other than dearness allowances, as recommended by the CPC? The question cropped up in Lok Sabha on Monday to which MoS personnel Jitendra Singh informed in a written reply that…

Ready for rock-climbing or beach trekking? Govt to sponsor its employees to tackle “alarming situation of stress”

THE Central government has unveiled a new scheme under which a government employee is eligible to receive up to Rs 20,000 as reimbursement for undertaking one of the adventurous sports such as trekking, mountaineering, rock-climbing, cycling in difficult terrain, skiing, surfing,  boat sailing, rafting, parasailing, balloning, beach trekking, etc. In a DoPT office memorandum (OM) released on Friday, the government said, it is an attempt to tackle “alarming situation of stress” on Central government employees and also to foster...

More allowances for officers studying at foreign universities

IF YOU are an Indian government officer selected for a foreign university, the revised allowances could make you happy. You can now afford to stay at a decent hostel, take a taxi and do some shopping while studying abroad.

According to the revised Domestic Funding of Foreign Training (DFFT) scheme, the monthly allowance for long term courses has been increased to USD 1549 in case of USA, and USD 1518 for Australia. For Netherlands, the allowance (USD 1580) is even more than that of UK ($1538).

That’s not all. The accommodation allowance is $1000 per month in big cities. And other one-time allowances include warm clothing allowance of US$ 500, departure allowance of $500, arrival allowance of $375 and books and assignment allowance of $1000.

The revised rates have been applicable from August 1, 2010.

The financial assistance under partial funding scheme for top 30 universities has been revised upward to $45,000.

Also Read

List of Eligible Foreign Universities   

High Harvard Fees questioned in US

Six new posts including one at JS level created

The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved the opening of Consulate General of India in Australian city of Perth and creation of six India-based posts including one post of Consul General in the level of joint secretary and six local posts. The establishment of a Consulate General of India in Perth is likely to benefit the growing Indian community in Western Australia, which numbers around 45,000.

Action and Appointments

a) Commerce secretaries of both India and Pakistan will meet in Islamabad on April 27 and 28. Last month, home secretaries of the two countries met, followed by an informal meeting between the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan Prime Minister Yosuf Raza Gilani on the sidelines of India-Pakistan cricket World Cup semi-final match in Mohali.

b) Justice Prakash Chandra Verma, Judge, Allahabad High Court has been transferred to the Patna High Court and Justice Mool Chand Garg, Additional Judge, Delhi High Court has been transferred to the Madhya Pradesh High Court.