After the recent hike in Dearness Allowance, the Central Government employees are now eagerly waiting for another hike in their salary from next July. If the news is to be believed then the central government employees are going to get DA hike again in July this year.
The pay hike comes as the Seventh Pay Commission mandates a hike in dearness allowance twice a year, during January and July respectively. However, an official announcement has not been made on this yet.
The last dearness allowance was increased by 4 percent, which became effective from January 1, 2023, and after the 4 percent increase, the DA was increased to 42 percent. Earlier in September 2022, DA was increased by 4 percent, which became effective from July 2022. Now, there is news that another 3-4 per cent hike in DA is expected and will be effective from July. The hike in DA is going to benefit more than 47.58 lakh central government employees and 69.76 lakh pensioners.
How is DA calculated?
Dearness Allowance is calculated on the basis of CPI-IW index, which is released every month by the Labor Bureau, a wing of the Ministry of Labour. Based on the CPI-IW index data, the Center decides whether the DA will increase or not.
This year, the All India Consumer Price Index (AICPI) declined during February, but has now shown an upward trend during March. Due to this, speculations are being made that there may be an increase in DA soon.
Government employees should note that DA and DR are revised twice a year. Once in January and once in July. While dearness allowance is given to government employees, dearness relief is given to pensioners. Significantly, DA is given to the employees on the basis of basic salary, while DR is given on the basis of basic pension.
States increase DA for government employees-
Recently many states including Jharkhand, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh have increased DA for their respective state government employees. The Jharkhand government has increased the dearness allowance for its employees from 34 per cent to 42 per cent. The DA was increased as per the approved formula based on the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission.
