7th Pay Commission, DA Hike, Fitment Factor: Even as lakhs of central government employees are waiting for their 18-month dearness allowance or DA arrears, the finance ministry has issued a statement and said it was done to ease pressure on government finances amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Various media reports have said the Centre is likely to address the issue of 18-month DA arrears soon.
“The decision to freeze three instalments of DA/DR to central government employee/ pensioners due from January 1, 2020, July 1, 2020, and January 1, 2021, was taken in the context of COVID-19, which caused economic disruption so as to ease pressure on government finances,” Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said in a reply to a query in the Rajya Sabha.
He also said that as the adverse financial impact of the pandemic in 2020 and the financing of welfare measures taken by the government had a fiscal spillover beyond the financial year 2020-21, release of arrears of DA/DR was not considered feasible.
States have also again stepped up surveillance to eschew possible threat of an outbreak yet again amid massive outbreak in few countries, mainly China. The central government on Wednesday conducted a meeting to review the COVID-19 situation in the country.
Chaudhary in the reply said several representations regarding the release of arrears of 18-month DAVDR payable to central government employees/pensioners have been received from various central government employees/ pensioners’ associations.
The associations include National Council (JCM), National Federation of Indian Railway Men (NFIR), All India Railway Men’s Federation (AIRF), All India Retired Railway Men’s Federation (AIRRF), JCOs/OR Veterans Association (JOVA), Bhartiya Railway Karamchari Union (BRKU), Bhartiya Pension Manch, National Ex-Servicemen Coordination Committee and Veteran Association.
In a written reply to a query in the Rajya Sabha in August last year, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said the holding back of DA and DR saved about Rs 34,402 crore. The freeze was removed in July 2021, and the DA and DR allowances increased four times since then.
According to media reports, the fitment factor of the government employees’ salaries is likely to be revised upwards soon, thus raising their salaries further. Employee unions have been demanding the revision of fitment factor in their salaries. The fitment factor is a common value which is multiplied by the basic pay to arrive at the total salary of the employees.
The reports also said central government employees under the 7th Pay Commission are likely to get a hike in their dearness allowance (DA) in March 2023, effective January 1. The last hike in September, which benefitted about 48 lakh central government employees and 68 lakh pensioners, raised the DA by 4 per cent to 38 per cent.
In March, the Union Cabinet had approved to increase 3 per cent in DA under the 7th Pay Commission, thus taking the DA to 34 per cent of the basic income. In 2006, the central government had revised the formula to calculate the DA and DR for central government employees and pensioners.
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