DA Hike update: Good news likely for govt employees as govt may raise DA by 4% under 7th pay commission

The government is likely to give a go-ahead to a 4 per cent hike in dearness allowance (DA). The decision might be taken in the Union Cabinet meeting on Wednesday (September 28), according to media reports. The 4 per cent hike, if approved, will take the DA to 38 per cent.

DA and DR are revised on the basis of retail inflation-industrial workers. After remaining high for the past few months, the retail inflation for industrial workers stood at 6.16 per cent in June 2022, which was lower than 6.97 per cent in May 2022 but higher than 5.57 per cent in June 2021, due to lower prices food and fuel. The all-India CPI-IW (consumer price index for industrial workers) for June 2022 witnessed an increase by 0.2 points and came in at 129.2 points. The CPI-IW in May was 129 points.

The Union Cabinet in March approved to increase 3 per cent in dearness allowance (DA) under the 7th Pay Commission, thus taking the DA to 34 per cent of the basic income.

“The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, has given its approval to release an additional instalment of dearness allowance (DA) to central government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) to pensioners w.e.f. January 1, 2022, representing an increase of 3 per cent over the existing rate of 31 per cent of the basic pay/ pension, to compensate for price rise," the Prime Minister’s Office had said in a statement.