HYDERABAD: A notice purportedly issued by the Department of Expenditure under the Ministry of Finance is viral on social media. Users claim the government has issued a temporary suspension of the 'Dearness Allowance' in view of increasing cases of the Omicron variant.
"The undersigned is directed to say that in view of increasing cases of OMICRON (COVID-19, SARS-2), it has been decided that the Dearness Allowance payable to Central Government employees and Dearness Relief to Central Government pensioners, payable at current rates are to be kept in abeyance so as to deal with any unprecedented situation," reads the notice.
FACT CHECK:
The notice is fake.
No such circular or office memorandum was found on the Ministry of Finance's website. The 'Dearness Allowance' section consists of only two circulars that were issued in August 2021. None refer to the dearness allowance being kept in abeyance.
https://doe.gov.in/Dearnes-Allowance
The viral circular was undersigned by an individual named 'Anand Prakash'. NewsMeter searched for individuals with the same name on the Department of Expenses' personnel page but did not find such a profile.
https://doe.gov.in/whos-who
When searching for individuals with the same name and job title, NewsMeter found a circular posted on the website of the Indian Railways from September 2020. This circular was signed by the same Anand Prakash, the Executive Director of the Finance (Budget) department for the Ministry of Railways. On comparing both signatures, it was clear that the viral circular had taken the signature from the Railways' circular.
Moreover, the Press Information Bureau has clarified that the notice is fake. It posted on Twitter that no such order had been issued by the Ministry of Finance.
Evidently, it is clear that the notice of the government temporarily suspending 'Dearness Allowance' is fake.