Budget 2024: Finance Minister urged to reconsider withholding dearness allowance in forthcoming Budget session

In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Central Government suspended the payment of Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) for 18 months, from January 2020 to June 2021. Pankaj Chaudhary, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance, justified the decision by emphasising the pandemic’s negative financial impact in 2020 and the significant amounts set aside for government welfare initiatives during the challenging financial year 2020-21.

According to a report, Mukesh Singh, General Secretary of Bharatiya Pratiksha Mazdoor Sangh, addressed the Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, and urged the government to discharge the suspended DA arrears collected over an 18-month period. Singh acknowledged the pandemic’s economic difficulties, but emphasised the country’s ongoing recovery and improved financial condition.

He praised the remarkable efforts of government employees and retirees during the pandemic, emphasising their dedication to ensuring key services ran smoothly and supporting the nation’s fight against COVID-19.

In his letter, Singh requested that the decision to withhold three instalments of Dearness Allowance be reviewed during the upcoming budget session. He emphasised the favourable financial trajectory and the critical role played by government employees, asking that the temporarily withheld sum be distributed to eligible individuals.

According to the report, Singh understood the government’s decision to allocate funding to combat the pandemic’s economic impact. He maintained that releasing the suspended DA arrears would not only acknowledge the efforts of government employees and retirees, but would also bring much-needed respite to those who had faithfully served the nation. Singh emphasised the variable nature of Dearness Allowance, which is dependent on criteria such as whether the person works in the urban, semi-urban, or rural sectors.

Dearness Allowance is an important component of government employee and retiree salaries that helps to alleviate the effects of inflation. The Union government revises the DA biannually, in January and July, to ensure that salaries are adequately adjusted in response to changing inflation rates.