DA Arrears | It is known that Central Government employees are waiting for 18 months of DA arrears. The Central Government has made an important announcement regarding the release of DA arrears. Know the complete information.
It is known that DA and DR given to government employees and pensioners were stopped during the Covid period. The Central Government has given an explanation as to why this decision was taken and why the arrears were not given. The economic situation deteriorated during the Covid-19 period. During that period, the Central Government stopped the Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) given to employees and pensioners thrice.
The Central Government has stopped issuing outstanding DA and DR from January 1, 2020, July 1, 2020 and January 1, 2021. Questions were also raised in Parliament regarding this decision. MP Anand Bhadauria questioned the Centre on this. When will the outstanding DA and DR be paid? What is the real reason for stopping them? He asked.
There was a lot of financial pressure due to Covid. At that time, many welfare schemes were introduced for the citizens. Then the money to be spent increased, which became a burden on the government exchequer. Therefore, the central government has made it clear that those three DAs and DRs had to be stopped. (Representative Image)
Dearness allowance is an additional amount given to government employees in line with the rise in prices. For pensioners, it is called dearness relief. By providing this, the central government ensures that the purchasing power of employees and pensioners does not decrease.
However, it is learnt that three arrears were stopped during the Covid period. “The suspension of DA and DR to Central Government employees and pensioners from January 1, 2020, July 1, 2020 and January 1, 2021 was done due to the financial pressure due to Covid. This is an attempt to reduce the pressure on government expenditure,” the central government said.
It also detailed the state of the central government’s treasury at that time. “While the central government’s revenue deficit was 9.2 per cent in the financial year 2020-21, it has come down to 4.4 per cent as per the budget estimates for 2025-26,” it said. The government has clarified when the 18 months of DA and DR arrears will be paid. “Due to the heavy expenditure on welfare schemes during the Covid period, the impact of that expenditure continued even after 2020-21. Hence, it was not possible to pay those arrears,” the government says.
Now, the Eighth Pay Commission is also being discussed. Although the Union Cabinet approved it in January this year, it has not yet been formally constituted. Once the commission is formed, it will meet representatives from various sections. It will study for about a year and make recommendations on salaries and allowances. Usually, DA is resumed when a new Pay Commission comes into effect. Currently, DA is 55 per cent as per the Seventh Pay Commission.
