7th pay commission DA hike: In a big boost for over 1 crore government employees and pensioners, the Centre is likely to hike the dearness allowance by 3 percentage points to 45% from the current 42%.
Dearness allowance or DA for employees and pensioners is tabulated on the basis of the latest Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW) brought out by the labour ministry every month.
The reported revision is as per the agreed formula.
The Cabinet is expected to take up the hike plan after a Finance Ministry nod.
DA is revised twice a year -- January and July. This hike will be effective from July 1, 2023, meaning Central government employees and pensioners will get an extra 3% of their basic pay as DA.
At present, government employees and pensioners get 42 per cent dearness allowance.
The last revision was done on March 24, 2023, and was effective from January 1, 2023. DA is provided to employees and pensioners to compensate them for rising prices.
"The CPI-IW for June 2023 was released on July 31, 2023. We are demanding a four percentage point hike in dearness allowance. But the dearness allowance hike works out to be a little over three percentage points. The government does not factor in hiking DA beyond the decimal point. Thus DA is likely to be increased by three percentage points to 45 per cent," All India Railwaymen Federation General Secretary Shiva Gopal Mishra said in a news report.
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