7th Pay Commission: The central government may soon announce an increase in dearness allowance (DA) in the last week of September or the first week of October. According to reports, this time the government may announce a DA hike of up to 3-4 percent for central employees.
The central government may soon announce an increase in dearness allowance (DA) in the last week of September or the first week of October. According to reports, this time the government can announce a DA hike of up to 3-4 percent for central employees. This increase in DA will be considered effective from July 1, 2024. Last year also the DA was increased in the first week of October.
During the last DA hike in March 2024, the government had raised dearness allowance by 4 per cent to 50 per cent of basic pay. Also, dearness relief (DR) for pensioners was also raised by 4 per cent. DA and DR are increased twice every year, with effect from January and July. DA is given to central employees, while DR is given to pensioners.
What will happen to the DA dues pending during COVID-19?
During the recent Monsoon Session of Parliament, Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Choudhary clarified that the government is not looking at the possibility of releasing the 18 months of DA and DR arrears that were withheld during the COVID-19 pandemic. Minister Pankaj Choudhary replied to a question saying, ‘No’, when asked if the government is considering releasing the 18 months of DA/DR arrears of central government employees and pensioners that were withheld during COVID-19.
Due to the economic distress caused by the Covid pandemic, it was decided to freeze the three instalments of January 2020, July 2020 and January 2021 to ease the government’s financial pressure. Hence, there are no plans by the government to release these dues at the moment, and central employees will have to wait for further DA hikes.
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