7th Pay Commission: Central govt employees may get a DA hike ahead of Holi, check details

New Delhi: The government may declare a hike in Dearness Allowance (DA) before the end of this month, which will result in a significant increase in their wage.

The government announcement expected by the end of the month will benefit more than 1 crore central employees and pensioners. The government is expected to transfer the money for the higher DA boost and arrears from the previous two months along with the March salary. A 3% increase in DA means that the overall DA of Central Government employees will be 34%. It translates to an annual dearness allowance of Rs 73,440 for a Central government employee with a basic pay of Rs 18,000 If the dearness allowance is raised to 34%, the salary will increase from Rs 73,440 to Rs 2,32,152 20 thousand.

Dearness Allowance is a component of government employees' and pensioners' salaries. In order to keep up with rising inflation, the federal government revises DA and DR benefits twice a year, in January and July. Employees are paid differently depending on whether they work in the urban, semi-urban, or rural sectors.

When the government raised DA in October, it benefited 48 lakh central government employees and 65 lakh retirees across India.

Central government employees are receiving a Dearness Allowance of 31%. The most recent increases were made in July and October 2021, following a months-long halt due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In October, the Union Cabinet increased dearness allowance and dearness relief by 3% to 31% to help 47.14 lakh Central Government employees and 68.62 lakh retirees.

According to media reports, the central government may declare a 3% hike in DA. A 3% rise could result in an increase in government employee wages of up to Rs 20,000. The DA of government employees is determined on the basis of base pay under the 7th Central Pay Commission. The current DA rate is 31%, following a 3% increase in October and an 11% increase in July.

The increase in dearness allowance (DA) can be announced by the end of March. In January 2022, the DA was increased by 3%, bringing the total DA to employees from 31% to 34%. According to AICPI data, DA will reach 34.04 percent by December 2021. After a 3% rise in allowances, the DA on basic pay of Rs 18,000 will be Rs 73,440 per year.