To
Shri Narendra Modi
Prime Minister
Government of India,
New Delhi. Date: 10.01.2021
Respected Shri Narendra Modi ji,
I
write to bring to your attention a matter affecting the rights and
entitlements of Central Government employees in light of actions taken
by the Finance Ministry. Deviating from the decision of the Cabinet to
release 4% additional Dearness Allowance (DA) in light of the Covid-19
pandemic , the Ministry of Finance on 23rd April 2020 issued an order
for freezing of DA to the central govt. employees and DR to the
pensioners till July 2021. Effectively, these actions, amidst a
pandemic, have subjected the Central Govt. employees and pensioners to
undue financial hardship.
Successive
Central Pay Commissions have dealt in detail about the payment of DA to
the Central Govt. employees and its importance to the working
conditions of Central Govt. Employees. The decision by the Finance
Ministry is in complete disregard to the rights of these workers and the
reasons for the grant of such an allowance by the Cabinet. The dearness
allowance (DA) stems from the need to protect the erosion in the real
value of basic salary on account of inflation and thereby provides
employees with the ability to deal with the ever-increasing inflation in
the country, even in their retirement. The Covid-19 pandemic has taken
an unbearable toll on the lives of all people and while many have been
able to avoid the pandemic at its deadliest, Central Govt. Employees
have worked tirelessly to keep the country moving and their service to
the nation cannot be ignored. Many of these workers have even succumbed
to the deadly coronavirus.
In
view of the above, I request you to kindly intervene in the matter and
reconsider the decision, since the employees who have retired/retiring
w.e.f. 01/01/2020 are not getting the benefit of the DA increase in
their terminal benefits, such as leave encashment, gratuity etc. I once
again request you to withdraw the decision taken by the Government to
freeze the 3 installments of DA due for the employees and the pensioners
and release the same to them at the earliest. The Government must
ensure that its employees are treated with dignity and their rights are
not compromised due to governmental apathy.
Yours sincerely
