7th Pay Commission DA Hike: The DA arrears were stopped for the Central government employees and pensioners during the covid pandemic for 18 months.
7th Pay Commission Release Updates: At a time when lakhs of government employees are waiting for an announcement on 18-month DA arrears, the Central government on Monday clarified that it will not be paying the pending arrears that were stopped during the Covid pandemic.
Justifying the move, Pankaj Chaudhary, Union Minister of State for Finance, said in Lok Sabha that the arrears of DA/DR, which mostly relate to the challenging FY of 2020-21, are not regarded as feasible due to the negative financial impact of the pandemic in 2020 and the funding of the welfare measures implemented by the government having a fiscal spillover beyond FY 2020-21.
The DA arrears were stopped for the Central government employees and pensioners during the covid pandemic for 18 months.
What Pankaj Chaudhary Said on DA Arrears
Giving details, Pankaj Chaudhary said the Central Government has no plan to release the 18 months of Dearness Allowance (DA) arrears at the moment.
He further added that the decision to freeze three instalments of Dearness Allowance(DA)/Dearness Relief (DR) to Central Government employees/pensioners due from 01.01.2020, 01.07.2020 and 01.01.2021 was taken in the context of COVID-19, which caused economic disruption, so as to ease pressure on Government finances.
In a written reply to a query in the Lok Sabha, Pankaj Chaudhary said as the adverse financial impact of the pandemic in 2020 and the financing of welfare measures taken by Government had a fiscal spill over beyond FY 2020-21, arrears of DA/DR which mostly pertain to the difficult FY of 2020-21 are not considered feasible.
“Even now the fiscal deficit of the Government is running at more than double the level envisaged in the FRBM Act,” he added.
Furthermore, he said an amount of Rs 34,402.32 crore had been saved and utilized to tide over the economic impact of COVID pandemic on account of the freezing of three instalments of Dearness Allowance and Dearness Relief payable to Central Government employees and pensioners.
DA Hike in Salary Expected Anytime Soon
In the meantime, the Central Government is expected to announce a 4% DA hike for the benefit of Central Government Employees anytime soon. Apart from DA hike, a similar hike in Dearness Relief (DR) for pensioners is also expected to be announced this month.
The Central government employees must note that the current rate of DA/DR provided to Central Government Employees and Pensioners stand at 38%. Notably, the Dearness Allowance rate provided to Central Government Employees is based on the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission.
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