The constituent organisations of the National Council wrote a letter to the finance ministry against Centre's decision to freeze dearness allowance (DA) of central government employees. The government had frozen the dearness allowance (DA) and dearness relief (DR) for 3 instalments starting January 2020 up to July 2021 of employees in view of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The letter said that the decision was taken arbitrarily and is a disappointment to nearly 50 lakh staff members and 65 lakh pensioners. It termed the decision an “unnecessary financial hardship and mental agony” for employees on the frontline against coronavirus.
“Before taking such a major policy decision the government has not bothered to consult the staff side of the NC(JCM) and without even hearing the views of the staff side, the decision taken especially on a policy matter which affects the wages of the employees and the pension of the senior citizens is against the spirit of the JCM scheme...the central and state government employees are the one who are playing their front line role in the fight against COVID-19, by taking all risk and working in the field exposing themselves without any sufficient Personal Protective Equipment (PPE),” the letter stated.
The letter pointed out that central government employees have already contributed their one-day wages to the PM-CARES Fund. It further added that freezing of DA impacts the HRA of employees, especially given the rise in the price of essential commodities.
“We request you to convey our feelings to the Prime Minister and the government and withdraw the decision so as to motivate the employees to perform their responsibilities, especially in this crisis period,” the letter added.
First Published: Apr 25, 2020 9:58 AM IST
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