Central government employees and pensioners have received a 3% DA hike. This has made it 53% of the basic salary. Different states have also announced a hike in DA for their employees. Some states have increased it by 4% while Jharkhand has increased it by 9%. Why is there this difference in the DA of central and state employees?
Central government employees got a big good news on the dearness allowance (DA) front on Wednesday before Diwali. The Union Cabinet approved a 3% hike in the DA of central employees and pensioners. This has made it 53% of the basic salary. In contrast, many states have given better DA hike to their employees. Some have increased the key allowance by up to 9%. Now the question must be arising in your mind that why is there so much disparity between the states and the Center in terms of DA hike? Let us try to understand this matter here.
The recommendations of the Seventh Central Pay Commission were implemented from January 1, 2016. Every time a new pay commission is constituted (usually every 10 years), the central government merges the DA with the basic pay of employees and starts from 0. The DA is increased twice a year in January and July.
The tenure of the Seventh Pay Commission has been an exception. The reason is that the Center had suspended DA hikes for 18 months during the Corona epidemic. But, apart from the three suspended hikes, the dearness allowance of central employees has been increased twice a year from January 2026, making it 53 per cent of the total basic salary.
Why is there a difference in DA hike between the Centre and states?
As mentioned above, the Centre has already implemented the 7th Pay Commission recommendations. While some states are yet to move beyond the 6th Pay Commission tenure. Since they are still following the recommendations of the previous Pay Commission, they decide the hike based on their own calculations and system.
For example, the DA of Jharkhand government employees has recently increased by 9% to 239% of the basic pay. Jharkhand is yet to move ahead with the 6th Pay Commission. As far as states that have implemented the 7th Pay Commission are concerned, they follow the Centre in announcing DA hikes.
As seen in the case of Chhattisgarh, state government employees have now received a 4% DA hike. This has made the total percentage 50% of their basic salary. While the Centre had announced a 4% DA hike for its employees in January. This made the total 50%.
Which states have increased DA?
Let us now take a look at the 5 states that have recently revised DA for their employees.
The Chhattisgarh government has announced a 4% hike in DA for its employees. This makes their total DA 50%. The hike will be effective from October 1. The Odisha government has also approved a 4% hike in DA for state government employees who are getting salary based on the Revised Pay Scale, 2017. This hike has increased the DA from 46% to 50%. It is effective from January 1, 2024.
The Himachal Pradesh government has also announced a 4% hike in DA for state government employees and pensioners. The state government has also announced that the salaries and pensions of employees and pensioners will be paid on October 28 before Diwali.
The Sikkim government has also increased DA by 4% for its employees. With the current hike, DA has become 50% of the basic pay of its employees. The state government has approved a 9% hike in dearness allowance (DA) for its employees. State government employees are still getting DA and other allowances based on the recommendation of the Sixth Pay Commission. With the 9% hike in DA, now state government employees will get 239% DA of the basic pay.
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