Government’s big decision on 18 months DA arrears, hopes of lakhs of employees dashed

There is a disappointing news for lakhs of central employees and pensioners who are waiting for the arrears of 18 months of Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) that were stopped during the Corona period. The government has made its stand clear on this issue in Parliament, making it clear that this money is not going to be received at present.

Why did the government stop DA?

Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary told Parliament that there was huge pressure on the country’s economy during the Covid-19 pandemic. To reduce the burden on the government exchequer, the government had decided to stop three installments of DA/DR between January 2020 and June 2021.

So is the financial condition still bad?

Interestingly, the government itself has admitted that now the economic condition of the country is better than before. The fiscal deficit which was 9.2% in the financial year 2020-21, has now come down to 4.4%. That is, the financial condition of the government is improving and it is not at all on the verge of bankruptcy.

Then why will the arrears not be received?

Despite the good economic situation, the government has currently refused to clear 18 months of DA and DR arrears. The government says that due to the economic impact of Covid-19 and the huge expenditure on welfare schemes run during that period, there is pressure on financial resources. For this reason, employees and pensioners will have to wait longer for this dues, because it is not possible to pay it right now.

Employees’ hopes got a blow

This news is a big shock for lakhs of employees and pensioners who were expecting to receive this money for a long time. Although the government has not said that this arrears will ‘never’ be recovered, but has closed the doors for now by not giving any time limit. Now the employee organizations are hopeful that perhaps a way out can be found through talks with the government in the future.