7th Pay Commission latest news: Big relief for Central Government employees; PIB fact check busts fake news on allowance

7th Pay Commission latest news: Social media was abuzz with talk of deduction in certain allowances like HRA, OTA, Leave Encashment, LTC, Travel allowance, etc. in the wake of dearness allowance (DA) freeze. This forced the Press Information Bureau to come forward and issue a clarification. The PIB fact check process confirmed that there was no proposal at the Centre to deduct any allowances of the central government employees and any such news was 'fake news.'

The PIB issued a press statement in this regard citing, "Fact Check Unit of Press Information Bureau has today clarified in a tweet that Central Government is not going to deduct allowances of Central Government Employees. The tweet was a fact check on a media report speculating that Government was planning such a move in response to the coronavirus crisis."

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The deduction of central government allowance started to hit social media and some mainstream media after the Ministry of Finance on Thursday decided to put on hold increment in dearness allowance (DA) for 50 lakh central government employees and 61 lakh pensioners till July 2021 due to the COVID-19 crisis. However, DA and DR to central government employees and pensioners at current rates will continue to be paid.

The combined savings on account of freezing of these installments of DA and DR to central government employees and pensioners would be Rs 37,530 crore in the current financial year and 2021-22. Generally, the states follow the Center order on DA and DR. It is estimated that the savings on suspension of these installments of DA and DR of state government employees and pensioners will be Rs 82,566 crore, the sources said. Thus, the combined savings of the Center and states will be Rs 1.20 lakh crore, which will help in fighting the battle against COVID-19 and its fallout. 

The last DA hike for central government employees was effected last month effective January 1. 2020. The Union Cabinet had approved a 4 per cent increase in DA for government employees and pensioners to 21 per cent. With Thursday's decision, this 4 per cent hike has been put on hold.