A social media post asserts that the central government has announced the disbursement of pending Dearness Allowance (DA) arrears for the past 18 months, along with the January pension, to central government employees. Accompanying the post is a video featuring Union Minister Anurag Thakur making the announcement. This article aims to verify the legitimacy of both the video and the claim made in connection with it.
Claim: Video of Anurag Thakur announcing the disbursement of pending Dearness Allowance (DA) arrears for the past 18 months, to central government employees.
Fact: There hasn’t been any official announcement recently from the central government regarding the release of Dearness Allowance arrears that were withheld during the COVID-19 pandemic. In March 2023, the central government communicated to the Parliament its decision not to disburse the 18 months’ worth of Dearness Allowance (DA) arrears. The presently circulating video featuring Anurag Thakur has been digitally manipulated by integrating audio from a distinct source into the video where he is taking the oath as Lok Sabha MP in June 2019. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
The central government suspended Dearness Allowance for its employees and pensioners for a period of 18 months from January 2020 to June 2021, citing the COVID-19 pandemic. Contrary to the viral post’s claim, there are no recent reports confirming the government’s intention to clear these arrears. If such an announcement had been made by the government, it would likely have been covered by the media. However, our search did not yield any such reports.
In March 2023, the central government informed the Parliament that it had decided not to disburse the 18 months’ worth of Dearness Allowance (DA) arrears withheld from central government employees during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The government stated that the feasibility of settling the arrears of DA/DR, primarily associated with the challenging fiscal year of 2020-21, is deemed impractical. This is attributed to the adverse financial repercussions of the pandemic in 2020 and the fiscal overflow from the government’s implementation of welfare measures extending beyond the fiscal year 2020-21.
Anurag Thakur announcing the release of the arrears:
Regarding the video in which the Union Minister supposedly announces the release of arrears, it is important to note that no such announcement has been made by the minister. The viral video has been digitally manipulated by incorporating audio from a different source into the video.
A reverse image search on the screenshots from this video led us to the original footage of Anurag Thakur addressing the Parliament. The gestures of both the Minister and the Prime Minister seated behind him align with the gestures observed in the viral video. This original footage captures Anurag Singh Thakur taking the oath as Lok Sabha MP in June 2019. This indicates that an alternative audio clip of him declaring the release of arrears has been superimposed onto this video.
To sum it up, this video in which Union Minister Anurag Thakur announces the release of Dearness Allowance arrears has been digitally altered.
