The Indian government could soon discuss the issue of DA and DR arrears.
New Delhi: In what could be good news for lakhs of central government employees and pensioners under the 7th Pay Commission, the Indian government could soon discuss the issue of dearness allowance (DA) and dearness relief (DR) arrears.
For the unversed, the Finance Ministry had stopped the DA hike in May 2020 till 30 June 2021 to offset the financial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. While the government has restored the DA and DR hike, central government employees are now expecting the government to soon release the pending arrears.
Currently, there are about 48 lakh central employees and about 60 lakh pensioners, who are waiting for a decision on DA arrears.
According to Shiv Gopal Mishra, Secretary (Staff Side) of the National Council of Joint Consultative Machinery (JCM), the council has put forward the request for a one-time settlement of DA arrears.
The National Council of JCM, Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) and Finance Ministry had recently held talks on DA arrears. But no substantial decision was taken place in the meet.
According to media reports, the central government could discuss the issue as early as this month. The issue could soon be discussed with the Cabinet Secretary. Also, since Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also heard the matter, it is reportedly expected that he could also make a decision on pending arrears.
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If the Central government gives a one-time settlement for pending DA and DR, employees and pensioners could receive lakhs of rupees directly in their bank accounts.
Currently, the DA to central government employees is paid at a 31 per cent rate. However, the employees are now hoping for another increase in their salary with the recent changes.
