Lakhs of Central government employees and pensioners are expecting to have Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) benefits to be restored soon and are eagerly waiting for announcement regarding the same. The Union Finance Ministry had decided to halt DA and DR benefits in April 2020 in order to deal with the COVID-19 crisis.
Earlier, reports had stated that DA and DR allowance benefits under the 7th Pay Commission (7th CPC) were going to be restored from July 1, 2021. However, later it turned out that the government order cited by these reports was fake.
It is now expected that the process to restore DA and DR hikes will begin in September 2021. The National Council of JCM has indicated that it will take some time before beneficiaries received the hiked DA and DR. Recently, the Ministry of Finance and the Department of Personnel & Training during a meeting had decided that the 7th CPC DA and DR will be resumed in September 2021, according to India Today.
Shiva Gopal Mishra, Secretary - Staff Side at National Council of JCM, said, "In our meeting held on 26th June 2021, it has been agreed that central government employees' DA and pensioners' DR benefit will be resumed in September 2021".
Restoration of DA and DR hike from September?
Whether DA and DR hikes would be restored in September is not certain as the process of resumption will have to go past a layer of approvals. DA and DR hikes would not immediately reflect in the salaries and pensions of central government employees once it is restored.
The Ministry of Finance will first send the proposal to the Union Cabinet for the resumption of these benefits. Once the Union Cabinet gives its nod, only then the hikes would actually reflect in the salaries and pensions of central government employees.
However, Shiva Gopal Mishra has clarified that central government employees will receive arrears accruing from July 1, 2021, for the time consumed in the resumption process. Beneficiaries hence may have to wait for a couple of months for the approval process to be completed.
How much DA, DR can central government employees and pensioners expect?
Three DA and DR instalments are pending at the moment. The first one from last year and the other two from this year. As per the 7th Pay Commission, all the DA and DR instalments will be announced in September. This indicated that DA and DR will rise from the existing 17 per cent to at least 31-32 per cent. However, due to the government's tight revenue situation, it is unlikely that all three instalments would be approved together.
Also read: 7th pay commission: DA arrears in limbo as talks get delayed
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