The three percent hike in Dearness Allowance (DA) by the Tripura government from March 1 has retained the hope of Central government employees that the Centre will announce a bonanza for them ahead of Holi.
The Centre had last year freezed DA of the central government employees till June 2021 in view of the economic crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
It is worth mentioning that the All India Consumer Price Index data declared by the Labour Ministry had hinted at a possible announcement of at least 4 per cent hike in DA by the Centre.
Therefore, expectations are high that once the DA is unfreezed, the central government employees will get a 4 per cent DA hike for the period January to June 2020.
Besides, the DA for the July-December 2020 period is also expected to be around 4 per cent following 7th Pay Commission recommendations.
Meanwhile, the Tripura government will reportedly spend an additional Rs 320 crore in the next financial year for the three per cent hike in DA and dearness relief (DR) for its employees and pensioners.
The State Law Minister and the government's spokesperson Ratan Lal Nath last week informed that the hike in DA and DR will be effective from March 1, 2021.
"We are facing challenges as the previous Left Front government put a huge financial burden on us. The pay scale, as per the 7th Pay Commission, has been revised for the government teachers and employees after we came to power," PTI quoted Nath as saying.