DA Arrear – If you are an employee then this news is for you. Actually, recently a new update has come regarding 18 months DA arrears of employees. Due to which it is being said that the DA/DR of more than one crore employees and pensioners in the Central Government has been increased by four percent…
DA/DR of more than one crore employees and pensioners in the Central Government has been increased by four percent. However, the government did not say anything regarding the arrears of 18 percent ‘DA’ withheld during the Corona period. The issue was raised by C. Sreekumar, general secretary of All India Defense Employees Federation (AIDEF), in the meeting of the National Council (JCM) staff side.
Representing the staff side, Sreekumar has urged the Secretary (P), DoPT, that the arrears of ‘DA’ of 18 months is the right of the employees. Arrears of DA/DR should be issued as a gift to employees and pensioners this Diwali. During the Corona period, the Central Government had saved Rs 34,402.32 crore by stopping the said payment to the employees.
Report has been given to the Finance Ministry –
The issue of DA arrears has been raised many times before. Senior member of ‘National Joint Council of Action’ (NJCA) and General Secretary of All India Defense Employees Federation (AIDEF) C. Sreekumar said, issues related to the interests of the personnel, which include restoration of old pension and many other demands, have been continuously raised. Are going. Along with all this, the fight for payment of 18 months DA/DR that was stopped during the Corona period is also going on. The Cabinet Secretary has already been written to by the ‘Staff Side’ National Council (JCM) for payment of 18 months’ DA arrears. A report in this regard has also been given to the Finance Ministry. The Central Government has also cited the decision of the Supreme Court.
This argument given by the Central Government-
Central Government employees and pensioners have been demanding for a long time for the payment of 18 months DA arrears that were stopped during the Corona period. The Central Government had admitted in the budget session of Parliament this year that applications had been received from many employee organizations for releasing the outstanding amount of DA. However, instead of giving any concrete assurance in this regard, the government clearly said that releasing the DA arrears is not practical in the current circumstances.
Meaning, the Central Government will not pay DA/DR amount of more than Rs. 34 thousand crores to its employees. Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Choudhary had said, the fiscal deficit of the central government is still running more than double the level shown in the FRBM Act. In such a situation, it is not possible to pay arrears of DA/DR. C. Sreekumar explains, the Supreme Court has decided that in such cases the employee has to pay the amount with six percent interest.
Payment of DA was stopped during the Corona period –
The Central Government had stopped 18 months of dearness allowance and 3 installments of dearness relief from January 2020 to June 2021 during the Corona period. At that time the government had said that the economic situation was not good. National Council of Ministers (JCM) Secretary Shiv Gopal Mishra had then raised the issue in a meeting with the Cabinet Secretary. The workers were hopeful that they would get the outstanding amount. In the last budget session, this demand was completely rejected by the Central Government.
According to C. Sreekumar, the government has lost its mind. In the beginning of 2020, under the pretext of Covid-19, the Center had banned DA/DR of government employees and pensioners. At that time, the central government had saved crores of rupees by stopping the payment of 11 percent DA of the employees. After that, representatives of employee organizations had suggested various options to the government regarding payment of 18 months’ arrears. These also included making lump sum payment of arrears.
This is the meaning of the government’s announcement –
Union Minister Anurag Thakur had announced after the Corona period that the employees will get dearness allowance at the rate of 28 percent. At that time he did not say anything about arrears. The announcement of the Union Minister meant that the increased DA rate should be considered as 28 percent from July 1, 2021.
According to this, there was a sudden increase of 11 percent in DA between June 2021 and July 2021, whereas no increase in DA rates was recorded in the period of one and a half years. DA/DR was frozen from January 1, 2020 to July 1, 2021. During the Corona transition period, three installments of DA (1 January 2020, 1 July 2020, 1 January 2021) were stopped. After this, the government reinstated dearness allowance in July 2021. Then the government became silent on paying the remaining three installments of 18 months.
What happened in the 48th meeting of the National Council?
For arrears, the employee organizations had cited several decisions of the Supreme Court to the Central Government. According to Sreekumar, the Supreme Court had said in its decisions that salary and pension are the absolute rights of the employees. The Secretary/Staff of the National Council (JCM) vide their letter dated 16/04/2021 had strongly protested against the decision of the Government to freeze DA/DR. The employees had said that this step of the government was against the accepted recommendations of the pay commissions.
In the 48th meeting of the National Council (JCM) held on 26 June 2021, the Staff Side had demanded that three installments of DA/DR be paid to Central Government employees and pensioners from 01/01/2020. In his letter to the Cabinet Secretary, the JCM Secretary cited a judgment given by the Supreme Court in February 2021.
In this decision, the Supreme Court had said that due to economic crisis, the salary or pension of employees can be temporarily stopped. It will have to be returned to the employees when the situation improves. This is the legal right of the workers. Their payment should be as per law.
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