Under Pressure From Unions, Some Major PSUs Decide Not To Freeze Dearness Allowance of Workmen

Highly placed sources have told www.indianpsu.com that some major Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) have decided to give enhanced Dearness Allowances to its workmen while the executives (official grade) have been kept out of it. Sources say that it is due to the threat to strike work by strong worker unions which has forced the top managements of these PSUs to take a complete u-turn in this contentious issue. 

Sources say that managements of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) and Coal India Limited (CIL) have in principle agreed to paying enhanced Dearness Allowance to their workmen. Sources say that many other Public Sector Undertakings are soon to follow the suit. And this move, for sure, will create a major rift between payment of workmen and executives of PSUs. Executives are asking one simple question to their management, why this disparity within the staff, whereas executives are holding more responsibility and are also held accountable as compared to workmen. They say that the rules of freezing  or not freezing  Dearness Allowance should be equal for one and all.

Harish Kumar, President of Federation of BHEL Officers Association (FOBEA), when contacted by www.indianpsu.com said that the DPE circular dated 19.11.2020 i.r.o. freezing DA of Executives and non-unionised supervisors should be withdrawn at earliest as there is no financial support being extended by the Central Government to the CPSE’s. CPSE are autonomous bodies generating revenues on its own and paying salary from its own resources and that, the circular issued is discriminatory on following grounds:
a)  It covers only Executives and non-unionised supervisors of IDA based CPSE’s and exempts workmen
b) In CDA based CPSE’s, DA freeze is effected based on DPE OM dated 28.04.2020, where in DA freezed across all employees.
c) DA freeze of Central Govt employees is also effected on all classes of employees.
“Conclusively, we demand that where ever no financial support is extended to any CPSE, such CPSE shall be exempt from DA freeze”, Harish Kumar added