7th Pay Commission: Lakhs of Central Government employees are waiting for their 18 months Dearness Allowance (DA) i.e. DA arrears. Finance Ministry has issued a statement on DA arrears of 18 months.
The statement said that the DA was frozen due to the increasing pressure on government finances due to the Kovid-19 epidemic.
7th Pay Commission: Lakhs of Central Government employees are waiting for their 18 months Dearness Allowance (DA) i.e. DA arrears. Finance Ministry has issued a statement on DA arrears of 18 months. The statement said that the DA was frozen due to the increasing pressure on government finances due to the Kovid-19 pandemic. It is coming in many media reports that the central government may soon pay the DA arrears of 18 months.
DA is stuck for 18 months
In response to a question in Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chowdhary said that with effect from January 1, 2020, July 1, 2020 and January 1, 2021, three installments of DA of central government employees and DR of pensioners were frozen. The decision to freeze these three installments was taken due to COVID-19. Due to Kovid-19, there was pressure on the exchequer of the government.
Increased burden on the government due to Covid-19
He also said that in 2020 the financial burden had started increasing due to the pandemic. The pressure started increasing in the financial year 2020-21 to raise money for government schemes. This is the reason why DA and DR were not issued then. States have again increased surveillance to avoid possible danger amid the spread of coronavirus in China. The Central Government on Wednesday held a meeting to review the status of COVID-19 in the country.
Association is demanding
In response, Choudhary said that several government employees’ and pensioners’ associations received applications for release of 18 months’ DA and DR arrears to central government employees and pensioners. These associations include National Council (JCM), National Federation of Indian Railway Men (NFIR), All India Railway Men’s Federation (AIRF), All India Retired Railway Men’s Federation (AIRRF), JCOs/OR Veterans Association (JOVA), Indian Railway Employees etc. are included. Apart from this, applications were also received from Indian Pension Forum, National Ex-Servicemen Coordination Committee and Veteran Association.
Increased financial burden on the government
In August last year, in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said that around Rs 34,402 crore was saved by withholding DA and DR. The moratorium was lifted in July 2021 and since then DA and DR allowances have increased four times.
