The new rates have come into effect from January 1 and July 1.
The minister also mentioned that the decision to freeze three installments of DA/DR was taken due to the economic disruption caused by the pandemic.
The central government has clarified that it will not be “feasible” to release 18 months’ Dearness Allowance (DA) arrears to employees, which were put on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic. The government had stopped three installments of Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) in 2020 in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since this move, central government employees and pensioners have been waiting for an update on pending dues. ,
Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chowdhary said in the Lok Sabha on Monday that it was not possible to release 18 months’ arrears of DA and DR due to the negative financial impact of the pandemic.
“As the adverse financial impact of the pandemic in 2020 and the funding of welfare measures taken by the Government had fiscal spillover beyond FY 2020-21, the arrears of DA/DR which pertain to the difficult FY 2020-21, is not considered viable,” Choudhary said.
The minister also mentioned that the decision to freeze three installments of DA/DR was taken due to the economic disruption caused by the pandemic. He said that its objective is to reduce the financial burden on the government.
In 2021, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman while answering a question in Rajya Sabha shared that freezing DA/DR helped the government save around Rs 34,402 crore.
Choudhary said the amount saved helped the government deal with the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Both Dearness Allowance and Dearness Relief are revised twice a year. The new rates will be applicable from January 1 and July 1. The last revision was done in September 2022 when DA was increased by 4% to 38%. DA is issued to government employees while DR is provided to central government pensioners to reduce the effect of inflation.
While this clarification may end speculations about releasing DA dues, the Center is expected to announce a 4% DA hike soon. A similar increase in DR is expected for pensioners as well.
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