DA Hike for Central Government Employees: Dearness Allowance or DA occupies one of the most important portions of any employee, especially those with government jobs. The central government is likely to hike the dearness allowance of its employees, who might receive a good news as their Christmas gift. Under the 7th Pay Commission, these employees may get another 3 per cent hike in their DA, if reports are to be believed. However, there is no official statement regarding this, and the government too has not commented anything on it. Dearness allowance is generally increased twice a year, in January and July, and all employees are going by this trend to anticipate the hike.
Here are a few major things you should know about the government’s possible DA hike:
1. The Dearness Allowance is likely to be hiked in January 2022, if the government keeps up the trend and if existing reports are to be believed. This will affect over 33 lakh central government employees, who are waiting to get a hike in their salaries. The government provides DA to its employees as a cost-of-living adjustment allowance. It is also applicable for public sector pensioners. The allowance is provided to these individuals to balance inflation, which has seen a steep rise during the Covid-19 pandemic.
2. As per a report by India.com, many public sector employees have urged the Centre to hike the Dearness Allowance and to clear their DA arrears that have been on a freeze for over one and half years now due to the pandemic. As per media reports, the central government is also mulling to clear arrears of 18 months to the employees. According to the India.com report, the Indian Pensioners’ Forum (BMS) has also written to PM Modi to clear the arrears of Dearness Allowance and Dearness Relief to employees and pensioners.
3. The media has also reported that PM Narendra Modi is also scheduled to hold a meeting regarding this matter on December 24, just before Christmas, with the cabinet secretary. The reports also suggest that a decision is likely to be taken after the meeting. However, the Centre had earlier made it clear that it had no plans to give out DA arrears to its employees due to the pandemic. But the constant pressure and requests from employees and pensioners are expected to bring up the topic of giving out arrears that have been stopped for as many as 18 months. According to Money Control Hindi which cited various media reports, the cabinet council has made a demand that while restoring DA, there should be a one-time settlement of DA arrears.
4. In a report, Zee Business quoted Shiv Gopal Mishra of the National Council of JCM, who said that the DA arrears of Level-1 employees range from Rs 11,880 to Rs 37,554. On the other hand, for Level-13 (7th CPC basic pay scale Rs 1,23,100 to Rs 2,15,900) or Level-14 (pay scale), the DA arrears of the employees will be Rs 1,44,200 and 2,18,200 respectively. If the Prime Minister gives a green signal to it, the central employees along with over 65 lakh pensioners will further enjoy the linked benefits.
5. As of now, central government employees are paid a Dearness Allowance of 31 per cent. The most recent hikes were given in July and October 2021, after a months-long freeze in the allowance due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Union Cabinet in October had hiked dearness allowance and dearness relief by 3 per cent to 31 per cent to benefit 47.14 lakh Central Government employees and 68.62 lakh pensioners.
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