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Bid to pacify employees, pensioners

Special Correspondent

Thiruvananthapuram: Minister for Finance T.M. Thomas Isaac has announced some steps to pacify Government employees and service pensioners who are agitated — the former at the delay in the release of dearness allowance (DA) arrears and the latter at not getting the benefits of the last pension revision so far.

He said in his budget speech on Friday that the State Government would pay 8 per cent interest on the benefits due to those who retired prior to July 1, 2004 from April 1 this year till the payment was made. The entire DA (a total of 15 per cent) due to the pensioners would be paid within four months from April 1. A sum of Rs. 462 crore was required for the purpose.

He said the Government proposed to pay the DA arrears till then in full to the employees at the time of retirement itself.

He accepted the moral responsibility for the delay in the payment of benefits under the last pension revision, though, according to him, the present Government was not directly responsible for it.

The Minister said four instalments of DA arrears (a total of 15 per cent) were due to the employees. A sum of Rs. 1,710 crore was required for clearing it. The Government proposed to release 3 per cent from April 1, 2007, 4 per cent from October 1, 2007, and the remaining 8 per cent from March 1, 2008. The arrears would be impounded in the Provident Fund. The additional annual commitment for paying the 15 per cent DA to the employees was Rs. 674 crore and pensioners Rs. 326 crore. He announced the issue of orders by the Government for the resumption of housing loans given to the employees through banks.

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