The Tamil Nadu government will save ₹7,400 crore due to the suspension of Earned Leave (EL) encashment and freezing of Dearness Allowance of employees and pensioners.

The suspension of EL for a period of one year, for all government employees and teachers, will bring financial savings of ₹2,450 crore, said a senior government official.

The suspension is in view of the fiscal stress arising from the Covid-19 pandemic. The earned leave encashment is for 15 days every year or 30 days every two years.

An order by Chief Secretary K Shanmugam said that all surrender requests and bills pending as on date irrespective of their stage of sanction and disbursement shall not be processed. In cases where sanction orders have been issued, they are to be cancelled and Earned Leave re-credited to the leave account of the respective employees.

The order shall also be applicable to all constitutional, statutory bodies, including all State corporations, local bodies, universities, Commissions, companies, institutions and societies, it said.

Following the Centre’s decision, the State government also froze Dearness Allowance of employees and pensioners till July 2021, said an order issued by Finance Secretary S Krishnan.

The freezing of DA will help in financial savings of ₹4,950 crore, said the government official who did not want to be quoted “We have not deferred salaries unlike other States,” he added.

In another order, the State government revised the rate of interest for GPF for government employees to 7.1 per cent from 7.9 per cent between April 1 and June 30 this year.