7th Pay Commission- Big news for central government employees. If you yourself are a central government employee or any member of your family is a central government employee, then read this news carefully. You will remember that the government had stopped three installments of Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) during the Corona epidemic (Covid-19).
The DA and DR of central employees are revised every six months by the government. In this way, stopping three installments means stopping DA and DR for 18 months. The Finance Ministry had stated the reason for taking this decision as financial difficulties and reducing the burden on the government treasury.
Employee organizations demanded payment of arrears
The central employee organizations have demanded several times to give the DA and DR arrears of the year 2020 and 2021. The employee organizations also met Nirmala Sitharaman regarding this. MP Anand Bhadauria asked a question about the DA arrears of central employees in the Lok Sabha on August 11. Responding to this question, an official statement was given by the Finance Ministry. The ministry also mentioned the huge expenditure incurred during this time for the prevention and control of the Kovid epidemic.
In the reply given by the government, it was told that the three instalments of DA hike and dearness relief (DR) due from 1 January 2020, 1 July 2020 and 1 January 2021 were stopped due to the corona epidemic. This step was taken to reduce the economic crisis and pressure on the government treasury. It was told by the government in the Parliament that the fiscal deficit of the government decreased from 9.2% in the financial year (FY) 2020-21 to 4.4% in the budget estimate of FY 2025-26.
During this time, the government also told the Parliament that the economy suffered a big loss due to the corona epidemic in the year 2020. During this time, a lot of money was spent on welfare measures taken by the government. Its effect remained even after 2020-21. Due to this, it was not possible to pay the DA / DR arrears.
What is Dearness Allowance?
Dearness Allowance (DA) is the money given by the government every six months to employees and pensioners to reduce the impact of inflation. This money is increased by the government in the form of DA of the employee. It is adjusted according to inflation. Similarly, Dearness Relief (DR) is an allowance given to government pensioners to help them cope with rising inflation. It is just like the DA of employees.