Members of the Tamil Nadu Government All Employees Association Federation took out a protest against the State government’s decision to freeze dearness allowance (DA) for employees and pensioners, here on Thursday.
Member of the Madurai district federation, K. Chinnaponnu, said that the government has failed its employees in the time of COVID-19 by choosing to hold back their DA. “The increase in DA is based on inflation. The pandemic has affected all of us deeply too. We are working extensively without a break only to ensure that our monthly income comes on time. How are we to work knowing that our DA has been frozen and our full compensation will not be provided,” she asked.
She added that the State government’s decision against providing compensation for unclaimed leave will affect employees. Ms. Chinnaponnu said that it was difficult for employees, particularly health workers, to take their 15 days of leave on time and claimed that compensation must be provided by the government. “We will keep protesting until they do,” she said.
She added that the government is yet to provide compensation to two government employees who died of COVID-19. She said that their families are in need of support and that the government must act quickly to disburse the compensation amount.
