Around 85,000 Punjab government employees recruited after July 17, 2020, may get relief from a proposed increase in Dearness Allowance (DA).
AAP Punjab president Aman Arora said on Friday that the government is preparing to raise the DA for this category from the existing 42% to 60%.
This move follows the recommendation of the Cabinet Sub-Committee constituted by the government to examine the grievances of employees. The committee comprises Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema, Social Security Minister Dr Baljit Kaur and Arora.
The employees were recruited on Central pay scales, which are lower than the pay scales applicable to employees recruited under the Punjab state pay structure before July 2020, and according to Arora, around 71,000 employees recruited under the AAP government and another 14,000 recruited during the previous Congress government could benefit.
The proposal comes amid an ongoing agitation by Punjab government employees and pensioners over pending DA instalments and other service-related demands.
Employee organisations are preparing for another mass casual leave on September 8. Employees had earlier observed mass casual leave on August 27, while around 3.15 lakh employees recruited before 2020 are still awaiting relief on their pending DA demands.
Dearness Allowance, or DA, is an amount paid to government employees to compensate for the impact of inflation on their salaries and it is calculated as a percentage of basic pay.
The current dispute concerns pending DA arrears owed to Punjab government employees and the Punjab and Haryana High Court, in its August 3 order, directed the state government to clear the pending DA dues.
The government has made two important points before the Supreme Court.
First, it has said that Punjab government employees are already receiving a higher overall salary than Central Government employees in comparable posts, according to the salary comparisons placed before the court, second, the government has said it is willing to ensure that the take-home salary of Punjab government employees is at par with that of Central Government employees.
This distinction is important because basic pay and take-home salary are not the same thing.
An employee's salary can include basic pay, DA and other components and the amount actually received by the employee after applicable deductions is the take-home salary.
The Punjab Government is therefore arguing that the comparison should not be limited only to the DA percentage and it has maintained that the overall salary structure in Punjab is already higher in several cases.
