In view of the financial constraint faced by the Government due to the ongoing battle against COVID-19, the Uttarakhand Government has put on hold the increase in the Dearness Allowance (DA) for its employees till July 2021.
The DA of the employees would remain frozen at 17 percent of their basic pay during this period. The State Government toed the line of the central government which a day earlier had taken a similar decision.
The Government had given an increment of 4 percent in the DA in the month of January this year. This increment would now not be given to the employees. Apart from it the usual six monthly increments in the DA would also not be given to the employees till July 2021. In an order the Secretary finance, Amit Singh Negi said that due to the crisis precipitated by the spread of COVID-19, the State Government has decided not to pay the increment in DA to its employees which were due from January 2020. The order added that the increment in the DA due in July 2020 and January 2021 would also not be given to the employees. This order would re main applicable on the employees and pensioners of state government. A total of 3.5 lakh state government employees and pensioners would be affected by this measure of the state government.
The decision to freeze the DA has not gone down well with the employees though they are not very vocal against the decision. “We understand the position of government but it would have been better had the government consulted the employee organisation before taking the decision. We would have also suggested better ways to save the money to the government. Further by reducing the money to the employees the markets would be affected,’’ said Arun Pandey, a prominent employee leader.