7th Pay Commission: Big Relief For Central Government Employees Ahead Of Holi

The COVID-19 lockdowns and shutdowns shattered many lives with people even losing their source of income. Amid all these woes and wait for DA announcement as per the 7th Pay Commission recommendations, the government has come up with a relief for the Central government employees.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many Central government employees failed to join office for various reasons which was marked as absent. To address the issue, the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) has issued a notification announcing relaxation to such employees with some terms and conditions.

“A general terminology has been adopted to cover all kinds of problems faced by the employees due to COVID-19 situation. The said OM may not touch all specific circumstantial problems faced by all employees under the Government of India; however, an interpretation of such circumstances in congruence with the clarification made in the above OM is adoptable,” read the release.

The DoPT also directed all Ministries/ Departments to examine cases relating to regularisation of absence during COVID-19 lockdown period in the light of this Department's OM.

7th Pay Commission Today News: Check Situation & Clarification

Situation: Government Servants who were on official tour and were unable to return to their Headquarters (HQs) due to non-availability of Public Transport.

Clarification: Deemed to have joined duty on the date of expiry of official tour, if intimation in any form, indicating difficulty in joining duty due to non-availability of public transport/flights, has been given by the Government servant to the office.

Situation: Government servants who were on leave prior to issue of lockdown orders with effect from 25.03.2020 and the leave ended during lockdown period.

Clarification: Deemed to have joined duty from the date of expiry of leave, if intimation in any form, indicating difficulty in joining duty due to non-availability of public transport/flights has been given by the Government servant to the office. In case of leave on medical grounds, this is subject to production of medical/ fitness certificate.

Situation: Government servants who left HQ on the week-end prior to lockdown, i.e, 20.03.2020 (Friday), but could not return to HQ on 23.03.2020(Monday) due to non-availability of transport.

Clarification: Deemed to have joined on 23.03.2020, if intimation, in any form indicating difficulty in joining duty due to non-availability of public transport/flights has been given by the Government servant to the office.

Situation: Government servants who were on leave prior to issue of orders on lockdown with effect from 25.03.2020 and the leave expired during the lock down period, but who wish to curtail the leave before expiry and join duty.

Clarification: Curtailment of sanctioned leave may not be agreed to, unless allowed by the leave sanctioning authority only in rare cases based on official exigency. From the date following the date of expiry of leave during the period of lockdown, the employees may be deemed to have joined duty.