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

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

Demand to increase House Rent Allowance Must Get Stronger!

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.

Click here for the details of the population and town classifications, based on the Population Census that is now in force.
Urban Agglomerations & Towns...

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)	65,60,242	86,96,010
BENGALURU (UA)	57,01,446	84,99,399
HYDERABAD (UA)	57,42,036	68,09,970

Source: http://90paisa.blogspot.in/2014/05/demand-to-calculate-house-rent.html