Dearness Allowance likely to come as Diwali gift for central government employees

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: The government is likely to announce the much awaited Dearness Allowance for government employees just before Diwali.

The announcement of DA, which comes into effect from July, is already late by around a month. Usually, central government approves the allowance in the first week of September, and the order is released in the third or fourth week of September.

Earlier, media reports attributed the delay in announcement to extremely tight schedule of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and his foreign visits.

During the first week of September, the Secretary​ of the JCM Staff side wrote to the Ministry of Finance with the subject “Future computation of Dearness Allowance and adoption base index figure to Revised Minimum Wage”,and sought granting  of 3% dearness allowance with effect from July 1. The unions are of the view that after the implementation of 7th Pay Commission, the dearness allowance computation formula and the base year must be changed as it did when the 6th Pay Commission got implmented.