Govt remains uncertain on disbursement of Rs 13,000 DA arrears

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government is unable to assure the administrative tribunal on when it could release the Dearness Allowances (DA) of government employees. As per the estimates of the finance department, the dues until July this year amount up to Rs 13,000 crores. It should be noted that Kerala is reeling under economic crisis and is highly improbable that the government would be releasing DA arrears anytime soon.

An interim order of the tribunal stipulates the government to give an intimidation on when it could release the funds. The government is asked to announce the date before December 11. If the state government fails to do this, then the tribunal will take a decision by itself on the matter. The tribunal also stated that the financial problems of the government can’t be given an excuse for failure in releasing allowance funds.

The Dearness Allowance had scaled up to 21 percent by July this year. The pending arrears amount up to Rs 13,000 crores. This includes DA arrears of UGC teachers as well.

The NGO association which approached the administrative tribunal pointed out that 25 percent DA is yet to be released. Earlier DA was merged into Provident Fund. But it can’t be done anymore. With the merger, PFs will shoot up which will eventually translate into state government debts, as per the new laws. This will adversely affect the borrowing limit of the state in the upcoming financial year.