7th Pay Commission latest news: Pensioners write to PM Narendra Modi; urge him to resolve 18-month DA/DR arrear issue

7th Pay Commission latest news: Central Government Employees and pensioners may soon hear some good news regarding their arrears. The news could be related to the arrear which was frozen by the government for 18 months due to the outbreak of Covid 19. Zee Business' Shubham Shukla reports.

The arrear which is due to the central government employees may get a green signal. The pensioners have urged the Prime MInister Narendra Modi to find a solution to this pending problem.

Pensioners body has submitted a memorandum in relation to this where it has urged the PM to resolve this issue in an expeditios manner. If this happens and the PM intervenes, there will be a big relief to the central government employees. 

Letter to PM 

Bharatiya Pensioners Manch (BMS) has urged the PM to intervene in the matter. They have argued that arrers due for 18 months are a big  amount and is a significant income source for them and theirlivelihood. It is not correct to stop it in view of this, they have said in the letter. 

The government put a freeze on arrears for the period spanning over 18 months betwee May 2022 and 30 June 2021 because of the pandemic. The Dearness Allowance has been approved from 1 July 2021. The pensioners and central employees are benefitting from the increase in DA. 

No decision on 18 months arrear on Dearness Allowance

The central government increased the Dearness Allowance on 1 July 2021 by a lump sum of 11 per cent.But no arrear was given during the period between 1 January 2022 to 30 June 2021. The DA is applicable from 1 January and arrears are paid for the period which falls before the date of implementation. Last year, the Ministry of Finance also gave its clarification on this where it said that arrears will not be paid for the period during which the DA was frozen. However, the organsations representing employees and pensioners have been voicing ther demands consistently. 

Currently the Dearness Allowance is 34 per cent. The DA is likley to increase once again in August. This is expected to benefit 52 lakh central employees while 65 lakh pensioners. 

Why is demand for DA arrear growing?

Pensioners have been demanding from the Ministry of Finance to release arrears of the frozen DA/DR period between 1 January 2020 and 30 June 2021. The pensioners and employees have said that the period during which DA hike was frozen, retail inflation was very high and they have have suffered because of the high prices of fuel, food and other items. 

Decisions not in the interest of pensioners

The pensioners have said that the decision to freeze arrears was not in their interest. Pensioners have said that most of them require money to meet their medical expenses also. And their only income source is pension.