7th Pay Commission: Good news for government employees! PM Modi likely to approve this major decision

7th Pay Commission: The move to allow central government employees to visit these countries is aimed at increasing India's footprint in the strategically important Central Asian region.

7th Pay Commission: Around 50 lakh central government employees who are waiting for their demands to fulfill beyond the recommendations of the seventh pay commission are likely to get a good news! (PTI)

7th Pay Commission: Around 50 lakh central government employees who are waiting for their demands to fulfill beyond the recommendations of the seventh pay commission are likely to get a good news! Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to bring cheer to the government employees as he might allow central government workers to avail an option of traveling abroad under LTC, according to the report by DNA. The website quoted the report of Zee News stating that the employees initially might be allowed to visit at least 10 nations. The report further said that according to DopT, this facility will be announced and it's framework will be decided once the Prime Minister would give his approval. Earlier, a report by PTI cited a communique by the officials saying that the plan, which has been mooted by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), proposes to include five central Asian countries -- Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan -- under the LTC scheme. The move to allow central government employees to visit these countries is aimed at increasing India's footprint in the strategically important Central Asian region. Also, the move might help Modi government to have an adavantage in upcoming 2019 general elections. Earlier in March, the government said that it has shelved a proposal to allow LTC to its employees to visit SAARC countries. The LTC allows grant of leave and ticket reimbursement to eligible central government employees. "A proposal of LTC facility to government employees to SAARC countries with a purpose to enhance people to people contact and boost relations in the SAARC region was examined by the government and after thorough examination of all aspects involved, the proposal was found not feasible and decided not to take it forward," Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh had said then. The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is a group of eight nations comprising Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. There are about 48.41 lakh central government employees, according to a latest data, reported PTI.