The suspension of these six allowances will be applicable till March 31, 2021. (Representational Photo)

Following the Centre’s footsteps, the state government on Saturday put on hold increment in Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) for about 16 lakh of its employees, and about seven lakh pensioners.

In an order, the finance department clarified benefits would be paid at the rates set on July 1, 2019, and the hike suspension would continue till July 1, 2021. Pending dues for the January 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021 period would not be paid, the government added.

The decisions will also apply to employees of government-aided education institutions, technical education institutions, and urban local bodies.

The BJP government, meanwhile, also suspended six different allowances — city compensatory allowance; secretariat allowance; special pay for police officials in the Crime Branch, CB-CID, Economic Offence wing, vigilance department, and special investigation branch; research allowance and design allowance for officers and employees of the Public Works Department (PWD); and I&P allowance paid to irrigation officers and employees.

The suspension of these six allowances will be applicable till March 31, 2021.

Explaining why these decisions were taken, Additional Chief Secretary (Finance) Sanjeev Mittal said the government’s revenues had decreased because of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

He added that sufficient financial resources were needed to control the pandemic.

UP Secretariat Association President Yadvendra Misha told The Indian Express that state employees were prepared for suspension in DA and DR hikes, but not for the suspension in six other allowances.

“After the decision of the central government regarding DA and DR, state government employees had made up their mind to also let go of their DA and DR increments following the current crisis, and considering that the state government is not getting much revenue in terms of taxes,” he said. “But the suspension of six different allowances of employees of different departments has been done wrongly.”

Mishra said the government should have treated everyone equally. “The government could have asked for a day’s salary from all, right from top officers to employees,” he added. “It would have given a bigger share to the government.”

According to the association’s estimate, the government’s decisions will help it save about Rs 10,000 crore.