The central government has cleared its attitude on the 18 months’ overdue DA arrears of central employees. The federal government has explained everything. The federal government has been under pressure from numerous employee groups to pay back 18 months’ worth of Dearness Allowance (DA) that has been overdue. The Minister of State for Finance, Pankaj Chaudhary, has answered this clearly in the country’s Parliament.
The MP had raised the topic in Parliament.
On February 3, in the Lok Sabha, MP Anand Bhadoria asked a question about releasing the pending DA arrears (Dearness Allowance). During COVID-19, the lawmaker wanted to know if workers and pensioners would get their 18 months’ worth of outstanding dearness allowance. If the release is underway, please provide specific details. He also inquired why it had not been released until this point.
In response, the Minister of State for the Treasury.
According to Pankaj Chaudhary, minister of finance, the government’s welfare programs and the negative financial effects of COVID-19 led to a fiscal impact in 2020. Therefore, there was no distribution of Dearness Allowance. Given that it was out of the question. We will not pay these allowances in arrears. We should inform you that the central government saved Rs 34,402 crore during the Corona period by temporarily halting DA for 18 months.
The objective was to alleviate monetary strain on the state.
According to Pankaj Chaudhary, Minister of State for Finance, COVID-19 caused economic dislocation. This led to suspending the outstanding DA arrears (DA update). Less strain on public coffers was the driving force behind this. Meanwhile, when asked about the exceptional DA arrears, he stated that it is impossible to pay them.
Workers are always putting out new requests.
Various employee organizations, including JCM Staff Side, demand Rs 34,402 crore (DA arrears) from the government. The Finance Ministry has also received a memorandum from numerous similar organizations. Even the response to the question in Parliament has disappointed the workers. The administration had previously offered an identical response.
The Supreme Court’s ruling also serves as a reference.
According to the employee groups, the Supreme Court has decided that employees in such situations must pay the amount plus six per cent interest. There was much bad news for the government when the DA arrears were halted. Stopping the payment of 11% DA to employees had saved the central government crores of rupees. Now that the situation has improved, the employees continuously demand the outstanding amount.
The Minister of Finance was also the recipient of a letter.
Employees have submitted a letter to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in this regard through an email. The pending DA is one of several demands made in this. But the government has refused to give it. Central staff demands that DA be released to the employees in one lump sum or three instalments.
