7th Pay Commission: In March 2023, the central government had increased the dearness allowance by 4 percent. Now according to the media reports, the government may again increase the DA (Dearness Allowance – DA) by 3-4 percent from July 1.
The DA given to employees and pensioners is revised twice a year in January and July to compensate for rising prices.
DA was increased by 4 percent in March
The last revision in DA was done in the month of March by increasing it by 4 percent. This increase was implemented on 1 January 2023. After a 4 per cent hike, the DA of central government employees has increased to 42 per cent. Earlier in September 2022, DA was increased by 4 percent, which became effective from July 2022.
DA can increase this much in July
Now a further hike of 3-4 per cent in DA is expected for 7th Pay Commission employees, which will be considered applicable from July. With this move of the government, the country has 47.58 lakh central government employees and 69.76 lakh pensioners. Dearness Allowance (DA) is given to government employees, while Dearness Relief (DR) is given to pensioners. DA is given to the employees on the basis of basic pay of the employees, while DR is given on the basis of basic pension.
How is DA hike calculated?
The Central Government revises DA and DR for the employees on the basis of a formula.
Dearness Allowance percentage = ((Average of All India Consumer Price Index numbers for last 12 months (Base year 2001=100) -115.76)/115.76)x100.
For Central Public Sector Employees: Dearness Allowance Percentage = ((Average of All India Consumer Price Index Numbers for last 3 months (Base Year 2001=100) -126.33)/126.33)x100.
These states have increased dearness allowance
Last week, the Jharkhand government increased the dearness allowance for its employees from 34 per cent to 42 per cent. The decision to increase the rate of DA was taken in the state cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Hemant Soren. Last month, the Himachal Pradesh government increased the dearness allowance for state employees and pensioners by 3 per cent. They will now get 34 per cent DA, which was earlier 31 per cent.
