In March this year, the Union Cabinet had increased the dearness allowance and dearness relief by 4 per cent to 42 per cent to benefit 47.58 lakh government employees and 69.76 lakh pensioners. An increase in this may be announced today.
New Delhi: The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi can give Diwali gifts to government employees and pensioners today. An increase of 4 percent in their Dearness Allowance may be approved. Modi government can increase the dearness allowance of central employees and pensioners from the current 42 percent to 46 percent. Railways can also increase the dearness allowance of its employees. In March this year, the Union Cabinet had increased the dearness allowance and dearness relief by 4 per cent to 42 per cent to benefit 47.58 lakh government employees and 69.76 lakh pensioners.
This increase was effective from January 1, 2023. Then Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur, while explaining the government’s decision, had said that this will put an additional burden of Rs 12,815.60 crore per year on the revenue. Dearness Allowance (DA) is a cost of living adjustment allowance provided by the government to public sector employees, while Dearness Relief (DR) is also similar to DA, which benefits central government pensioners. Dearness allowance is determined on the basis of Consumer Price Index for industrial workers, this data is released monthly by the Labor Bureau.
How much will be the increase in monthly salary due to increase in dearness allowance?
To counter the effects of inflation, the government revises the DA/DR rate every six months. For those whose minimum basic pay is Rs 18,000, the existing 42 percent DA provides a monthly increment of Rs 7,560. If DA is increased by 4 percent to 46 percent, the monthly increase will be Rs 8280. That means, central employees with basic pay of Rs 18000 can expect a monthly salary increase of Rs 720 and Rs 8640 annually. Meanwhile, employees with maximum basic pay of Rs 56900 currently get the benefit of 42 percent DA, which adds Rs 23898 to their monthly earnings. After the 4 percent increase in DA, this monthly increase is estimated to increase to Rs 26174.
