Central Govt Approves DA Arrears: The Indian central government finally approved the long time pending Dearness Allowance DA arrears. This breaking news is giving big relief to lakhs of central government employees and pensioners.
This long awaited decision was making pressure on government from various employee unions and pensioner groups of all over the country. This new DA Arrears benefit will get to nearly about 47 lakh serving employees and around 69 lakh pensioners.
What’s The DA Arrears?
Dearness Allowance is extra payment added to the salary or pension of government workers to help them to manage increasing cost of living due to increasing inflation. Every year it is revised twice majorly in January and July month based on the changes in the Consumer Price Index.
Last time during the COVID-19 time Indian central government was frozen DA hikes to manage financial stress. This history made a build up of unpaid DA from January 2020 to June 2021, which is called as DA arrears. From that time Employees and pensioners are waiting for these pending DA payments.
When Will Payments Be Made?
The Indian government announced that DA arrears will be paid in a step wise manner. Which will start from the next salary cycle. All eligible government employees and pensioners will receive the pending amounts directly in their bank accounts. This will also include the DA dues which was frozen during the covid 19 pandemic.
How Much Arrears Will Employees Receive?
The amount of DA arrears will be depend on every employees pay structure, years of service, and grade. According to government sources, the average payment can be range between ₹11,000 to ₹2 lakh for all the employees. Pensioners will also receive DA arrears depending on their pension band and as per DA rate.
As per the latest information Government Payments Committee will assure that special care will be taken to ensure that elderly pensioners and lower income employees will receive their payments first and fast.
Unions Welcome the Decision
All big employee unions welcomed the governments this big decision and reacted as it is a much needed and fair decision. The National Council which has been negotiating with the government on this issue, also urged the authorities to consider other demands such as the 8th Pay Commission and pension reforms.
Boost to Morale and Economy
Indian Economists believes that this DA arrear payout will not only boost the morale of employees but also it will increase consumer spending in the market. With this DA Arrears more cash many employee families will spend more during the upcoming festive and summer seasons. It will definitely give a small but positive push to the overall economy.