Tuesday, November 26,
2013
Latest News: Govt workers want DA to be merged
--- Pay Commission could be notified over the next two months. Govt workers
want DA to be merged with salary.
Government
employees have asked the Centre to consider merging Dearness Allowance
with their pay, arguing that the Sixth Pay Commission -- quite like the Centre
-- could not have anticipated the high inflation that has eroded real
wages over the last decade.
Since
2006 – when the recommendations of the last pay commission came into force –
the Dearness Allowance has increased to 90%, a reflection of the
high inflation environment that employees have to cope up with.
The
demand was made at a preliminary meeting held between the Department of Personnel and the Employee Representatives to discuss the
proposed Seventh Pay Commission announced by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh in
September.
Congress
media department chief Ajay Maken had asked the Prime Minister to
announce the next pay commission in March this year. Writing in his capacity as
a Cabinet Minister, Maken had also argued for a liberal increase in the
salaries of government officials to attract and retain talent.
Representatives
of government employees weren’t as optimistic.
Umraomal
Purohit, Secretary, Staff side, however, did stress on the merger of Dearness Allowance (DA) with the basic pay. Purohit said that the Sixth Pay Commission did not recommend merger as they could not have anticipated
a high rate of inflation which resulted in employees being
granted a 90% rate of DA.
Purohit
and other representatives also emphasised that a system should be put in place
to ensure that anomalies created due to recommendations of
pay commissions should be resolved within a year of the
implementation of the report.
Government
sources said the pay commission could be notified over the next two months
or so, well before the model code of conduct for the general
elections kicks in. Also,
the Centre is expected to give the panel enough time to prepare its report in
the hope that the government would be a lot more comfortable vis-a-vis the
fiscal deficit by the time the panel submits its report.
Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com/
