NE NEWS SERVICE
HYDERABAD, JAN 21
The State government on Wednesday issued orders for payment of three pending dearness allowance (DAs) to government employees, officers and pensioners. The DAs will be paid along with the salary/pension of January 2022 payable on February 1. The arrears for the period from July 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021 will be credited to the General Provident Fund Account of the respective employees.
However, in the case of employees who are due to retire on or before April 30, 2022, the DA arrears will be drawn and paid in cash as the employees due to retire on superannuation are exempted from making any subscription to the General Provident Fund during the last four months of service.
As per the orders, the State government revised the DA sanctioned earlier to its employees of various departments as well as teaching and non-teaching staff of government and aided educational institutions from 7.28 per cent of basic pay to 17.29 per cent of basic pay with monetary benefit from July 1, 2021. This increase subsumes the three instalments of DA on January 1 of 2020, July 1 of 2020 and January 1 of 2021. However, the DA from January 1 of 2020 till June 30 of 2021 will remain at 7.28 per cent only in the Revised Pay Scales of 2020.
In respect of the employees who were appointed to the government service on or after September 1, 2004 and are governed by the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), 10 per cent of the DA arrears from July 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021 will be claimed and credited to the PRAN accounts of the individuals along with the government share as per the existing orders. The remaining 90 per cent of DA arrears will be paid in three equated monthly instalments starting from May, 2022, payable from June 1, 2022.
Officials said it would place an additional burden of around Rs 260 crore per month on the State exchequer. The DA payment was delayed for last two years due to Covid-19 pandemic which has crippled the economy as well as the financial condition of the State. With the State revenues improving in the recent times, the State Cabinet approved the proposals during its recent meeting, following which orders were issued on Wednesday.