It Is The Moral Responsibility Of Government To Release DA And DR To Employees and Pensioners – Opines C.Srikumar General Secretary AIDEF

As one of the COVID-19 economic impact, the NDA Government have frozen the three installments of DA due to the Central Government Employees and DR due to the Pensioners. The Federations of the Central Government Employees, Pensioners and the Staffside of the National Council(JCM) is repeatedly demanding for releasing the DA & DR, since the economical condition of the country has been considerably increased. Anurag Thakur, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance, on a Question raised by Naranbhal J. Rathwa in the Rajya Sabha has given a written reply on the issue of Frozen DA  on 09th March 2021. The extract of the reply is given below:-

1) In view of the crisis arising out of COVID-19 pandemic, the Govt. has decided to freeze 3 installments of Dearness Allowance and Dearness Relief to Central Govt. Employees and pensioners due from 01/01/2020, 01/07/2020 and 01/01/2021. The amount Rs.37530.08 crores saved on this account will help to tide over the economic impact of COVID-19 pandemic

2) As and when the decision to release the future installments of Dearness Allowance due from 01/07/2021 is taken, the rates of DA as effective from 01/01/2020, 01/07/2020 & 01/01/2021 will be restored prospectively and will be subsumed in the cumulative revised rate effective from 01/07/2021.

www.indianpsu.com contacted C.Srikumar one of the senior leader of the Central Government Employees and also a member of the Standing Committee of National Council JCM and asked his views on the reply given in the parliament by the govt. with regard to the frozen DA. He stated that whenever any economic crisis is there, it is the Govt. employees who sacrifice the more. The 7th Pay Commission has already done enough injustice to the Centrla Government Employees and Pensioners.  The only benefit of the Govt. job is old age pension, which also the Govt. also has taken away. More than 7 lakhs posts are lying vacant in the Central Govt. Departments and every employee is forced  to do the job of more than 2 employees.

None of the economic demands of the Central Government Employees are being settled. The Government is simply corporatizing and privatizing the Govt Departments. In this situation by freezing the DA the Govt. has already saved Rs.37530.08 crores. Therefore there is no justification on the part of the Government to continue the DA freeze till June 2021. The Central Government Employees have already contributed one day wages as a COVID relief to the Government. It is now  the moral responsibility of the Government to immediately release all the three frozen DA installments to the employees and DR to the Pensioners without further squeezing them. He also stated that they have already brought this to the notice of the Government and hope that good wisdom and sensitivity will prevail on the Government.