7th Pay Commission: The Central Government Employees may soon get another big surprise. As per media reports, the Centre is again planning to increase the Dearness Allowance (DA) for lakhs of central government employees working in different ministries & departments. Sources said that this time the DA will be increased by 3-4 percent.
Sources further told that the decision regarding the DA hike can be taken in the Union Cabinet’s next meeting. It must be noted that the DA was last increased in the month of March.
What is DA or Dearness Allowance
Dearness Allowance also known as DA is paid by the Government to its employees as well as pensioners to offset the impact of inflation. DA is hiked twice a year under the 7th Pay Commission for central employees.
The hike in DA depends on many factors like the AICPI Index (All India Consumer Price Index) which saw a decline in January and February. But, it witnessed a huge jump in March.
Central Government Employees to get 3 percent DA hike
Employees working under the Central Government currently get 31 percent DA. If the government increases the DA by 3 percent according to the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission, then the dearness allowance to the central employees will become 34 percent. According to the recommendation of the 7th Pay Commission, the Government revises the DA two times in a year (once in January and then in July).
DA hike will benefit crores of employees
If the government decides to increase the DA, then it will directly benefit crores of people working in different govt. departments and pensioners (ex-employees).
At present, the number of central employees is more than 50 lakhs, while 65 lakh ex- central employees are getting pension. In this way, more than one crore people will be benefited from this DA hike.
Note – Various ministries including the Agriculture Ministry comes under Central Government (Govt. of India)
