Reconsider decision on freezing DA, DR, teachers’ body tells Centre

‘Move will impact staff of Central universities, colleges’

27/04/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,NEW DELHI

Federation of Central Universities Teachers’ Associations (FEDCUTA) has urged the Central government to reconsider its decision on freezing the Dearness Allowance (DA) of government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) of pensioners at current levels till July 2021.

The federation said that the move would impact teaching and non-teaching staff of Central universities and their affiliated colleges.

“The freezing of DA has in one stroke been applied to a period of one-and-a-half years, which scarcely fits the description of a temporary measure taken under exigent circumstances. All of this suggests that the government is perhaps taking advantage of the current crisis to impose an unjustified pay cut on employees in order to balance its books,” the teachers said.

The teachers also alleged that the decision to freeze DA also comes in the background of the government suffering significant revenue losses on account of recent concessions given in corporate taxes which have not been reversed in view of the COVID-19 crisis.

‘Sanction for pay cut’

“The government’s decision will mean that a significant loss of income will be imposed on employees and pensioners, many of whom survive on very tight budgets. This in effect gives a sanction to private sector employers to impose a pay cut on their employees at a time when the government has the responsibility of ensuring that the wages and salaries of employees are protected,” the FEDCUTA said while urging the government to review its decision of freezing DA and DR.