On Thursday, the finance ministry said in an order it will freeze dearness allowance and dearness relief at the current rates until July 2021 due to the crisis arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic. The union believes the Centre's decision is drastic and sees it as an attack on the livelihood of the central government employees and pensioners. "BSNL Employees Union strongly denounces this action of the government.
A careful study of the various actions of the government will prove that, this DA (dearness allowance) freezing is nothing but a part of the overall anti-worker policy, being followed by the Narendra Modi government," the union said in a press release. The BSNL Employees Union represents around 50,000 employees of the company, including technical and clerical staff, as well as field officers.
The government's decision will reportedly affect about 4.93 mln central government employees and 6.12 mln pensioners and will save the government 375.30 bln rupees in 2020-21 (Apr-Mar) and 2021-22.
