THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the state government delaying the Dearness Allowance (DA) payment to around 5.5 lakh government employees and teachers since 2021, a section of government higher secondary teachers has now taken legal recourse. The teachers have approached the Kerala Administrative Tribunal (KAT) for disbursal of pending DA dues, which now add up to 15% of the basic pay.
The teachers, who are functionaries of the Kerala Higher Secondary Teachers Union (KHSTU), have cited a recent order of the Calcutta High Court. In a similar case of non-disbursement of DA in West Bengal, the High Court had held that getting DA, at the rate to be calculated in terms of the All India Consumer Price Index average, is a ‘legally enforceable right’ of state government employees.
The DA is paid by the government to its employees and pensioners to offset the impact of inflation. The practice has been to calculate it twice every year - on January and July 1. The allowance is calculated based on the All India Consumer Price Index numbers (Industrial Workers) published by the Labour Bureau, Government of India.
In their application before KAT, the teachers pointed out that the state government has not disbursed five instalments of DA hike with effect from January 1, 2021, to January 1, 2023. This includes 2% of the basic pay with effect from January 1, 2021, 3% from July 1, 2021, 3% from January 1, 2022, 3% from July 1, 2022, and 4% from January 1, 2023. The pending dues now add up to 15% of the basic pay, they added. “The right of the employees to sustain their livelihood with human dignity has been elevated as a fundamental right as enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution,” the teachers pointed out.
Abdul Jaleel Panakkad, general secretary of KHSTU, who is one of the applicants, said the government has put on hold DA payment for employees and teachers but disbursed it promptly to IAS and IPS officers. “Paying DA to IAS and IPS officers and neglecting other employees is a step-motherly treatment. It is a cardinal rule in law that there cannot be a classification within a class,” he stated.
