New Delhi: 7th pay commission --There have been various reports in the media regarding the update on the 18 months Dearness Allowance (DA) that the central government employees have been eagerly waiting for.
While some reports say that the government would provide one time settlement of the pending DA arrears, some other say that the hopes of the central government employees could turn into dispair.
A couple of days ago media reports said that the government does not seem to be committing for the payments of 18-months DA arrears to the central employees. The Dearness Allowance and Dearness Relief of Central government employees and pensioners were restored to 31% from 17% from October 2021, however the arrears have not been deposited as yet.
The bad news has been estimated based on Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's statement that she issued last year. The FM said that due to the spread of Covid-19 in the country, dearness allowance of these employees was stopped, so that the government could use the money to help the poor and needy.
The above speculation is also coupled with media reports previously citing Shiv Gopal Mishra, Secretary (Staff Side) of the National Council of JCM. He had said that the council has placed its demand before the government however both sides could not arrive at any conclusion as yet. Media reports further said that talks have been held with the Cabinet Secretary, which still remains inconclusive. The Labour union has been constantly pressing demands for a one time settlement of dearness allowance arrears.
A Zee Hindi report, quoting Shiv Gopal Mishra of the National Council of JCM, had also previously mentioned that the DA arrears of Level-1 employees range from Rs 11,880 to Rs 37,554. Whereas, for Level-13 (7th CPC basic pay scale Rs 1,23,100 to Rs 2,15,900) or Level-14 (pay scale), the DA arrears in the hands of an employee will be Rs 1,44,200-2,18,200 that will be paid, quoted the reports.
According to the annual report of the Department of Expenditure, there are a total of 48 lakh central employees in the country and about 60 lakh pensioners.
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