7th Pay Commission: 25% DA For Central Government Employees Likely From April

Amid the buzz around the possible hike in Dearness Allowance (DA) of the Central government employees, reports are there that a 25 per cent hike in their allowance as per the 7th pay commission recommendations is expected from next month.

The central government employees are presently getting a DA of 17 per cent as the Narendra Modi government had freezed DA of the employees till June 2021 after the country's economy was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic last year.

So, once the government unfreezes the dearness allowance, the employees will get a DA of 21 per cent. This apart, if media reports are anything to go by, the DA for the July-December 2020 period is also expected to be around 4 per cent.

Hence, there is a chance that the central government employees may get 25 per cent DA once the Modi government feels that the time has come to unfreeze the DA and also announce the same for the July-December 2020 period.

Though the government had earlier said that the employees will continue to get the DA at the current 17 per cent rate till July 2021, reports are there that the government will make a decision in this regard after Holi or in the first week of April.

Meanwhile, the hike in DA and Dearness Relief (DR) will benefit over 48 lakh employees of the Central government and over 65 lakh pensioners.

Moreover, the wage code is likely to be introduced from April 1 2021, and once it comes into effect, changes in the official working hours, gratuity and provident funds of the employees are also expected to come into force.