New Delhi, June 8: Nearly a week after the dismissal of plea seeking hike in Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR), government employees and pensioners are hopeful of their demand being addressed by the Centre. The hike in two key allowances, granted to employees and pensioners, respectively, was frozen by the government citing the economic impact of COVID-19. 7th Pay Commission: Central Govt Employees Pin Hope in Government to Hike Minimum Wages.

The Finance Ministry, in wake of the unprecedented health crisis, decided not only to freeze the DA, DR hike, but also postpone the four-percent hike in both the allowances till July 1, 2021. The petition filed by an employee union also challenged the government's decision to defer the hike till next year.

Dismissing both the points of argument, the court said the government is under no obligation to raise the DA and DR at regular intervals. It further noted that the policy to hike the allowances has not been suspended but only deferred in wake of the catastrophic pandemic.

"There is no obligation in law upon the central government to disburse the increase in DA/DR in a time-bound manner,” the bench comprising of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rajnish Bhatnagar said on last Tuesday, citing rules under the All India Services (DA) Rules, 1972.

Despite the dismissal of plea, central government employees are hopeful that the government would re-think their stand on DA and DR, and hike both the allowances after the "unlock" strategy to exit from the lockdown is executed.

 

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 09, 2020 12:10 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).