New Delhi: There’s good news for Central government employees and pensioners.
The Union Finance ministry has announced that three pending instalments of dearness allowance (DA) and dearness relief, based on recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission, will be restored from July.
About 50 lakh government employees and 61 lakh pensioners have been getting their DA at the old rate as implementation of the enhanced rate was put on hold due to the COVID-19 crisis.
“The three instalments of Dearness Allowance and Dearness Relief to central government employees and pensioners due from 1.1.2020, 1.7.2020 and 1.1.2021 were frozen in view of the pandemic,” the Finance Ministry stated.
Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur stated in Rajya Sabha that the Union government saved Rs 35,430.08 crore by freezing these three hikes of DA, which helped greatly in dealing with COVID-19 disruptions last year.
Currently, central employees get DA of 17 per cent of their basic salary.
Last year, the Union Cabinet approved a four per cent increase in DA – from 17 to 21% of basic salary — for government employees, which was to be effective from January 1, 2021. But the increment was stalled in April 2020 following the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic.
Also Read: COVID-19 Crisis: Centre Puts On Hold Additional DA To Govt Employees
