Centre hikes DA for employees, DR for pensioners to 38%
03 Oct 2022
The government on Wednesday announced an increase in dearness allownces (DA) for central government employees to 38 per cent from 34 per cent. The step will benefit over 5 million employees and 6.2 million pensioners all over India.
The move AHEAD OF Diwali and the festive season, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday hiked the dearness allowance (DA) and dearness relief by 4 per cent effective July 1, 2022, benefiting 41.85 lakh central government employees and 69.76 lakh pensioners.
The increase in the DA and DR is based on the percentage increase in 12 monthly average of All India Consumer Price Index for the period ending June 2022.
The impact of enhanced dearness allowance to the employees on the exchequer is estimated at Rs 6,591.36 crore per annum and Rs 4,394.24 crore in 2022-23 (8 months from July 2022 to February 2023).
In case of dearness relief, the impact would be Rs 6,261.20 crore per annum and Rs 4,174.12 crore in the current fiscal.
“These three months are full of festivals across India. Today’s decisions by the Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister are also such that would bring in cheer in the festive season,” Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said.
The government increases dearness allowance to employees and pensioners twice a year, ie, once every six months.
This time round, however, the DA hike has been pending for 18 months and employees and pensioners had to put pressure on government to increase dearness allowance.
Apart from DA hike, the union cabinet also decided to extend the PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana for another 3 months till December. The cost to state exchequer will be around Rs40,000.