Kerala govt asked to specify timeline for pending DA installments by tribunal

Thousands of government employees and retirees eagerly await the State Government's response to the recent Kerala Administrative Tribunal (KAT) directive. The KAT order instructs the government to specify a timeline for clearing the pending six instalments of Dearness Allowance (DA) owed to the employees. If the government fails to provide a written response before December 11, when the case is due for the next hearing, the tribunal, led by KAT Chairman Justice C K Abdul Raheem, has declared its intent to set a date for releasing the DA arrears to the employees.

This action follows a petition filed by NGO Association President Chavara Jayakumar, General Secretary A M Jaffer Khan, and Treasurer Thomas Herbit, arguing against using financial crises or treasury limitations to justify withholding the dues. While previous instances saw the government's failure to extend one or two instalments of the DA hike, this is the first occurrence where six instalments from January 2021 onwards remain unpaid. Consequently, employees are currently receiving only 7% of the entitled 25% DA.

The Central Government had earlier suspended the DA hike for Central Government Employees from January 2020 for eighteen months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, they reinstated the hike from July 2021 onward without providing arrears for the suspended period. In contrast, employees receive the DA hike twice a year after that. Notably, no other state faces such prolonged pending DA arrears as Kerala. It appears the State has deliberately disregarded the fact that the DA hike aims to assist employees in coping with inflation, constituting a fundamental social policy measure.