The Narendra Modi-led Central government introduced the Union Budget for FY 2021-2022 on Monday. When Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Budget 2021 in Parliament, high expectations were there that the Minister might make some announcement related to the DA (Dearness Allowance) of the central government employees. Though their expectations from the Budget turned out to be a disappointment, there is some good news for them.
The AICPI (All India Consumer Price Index) data declared by the Labour Ministry indicates that the Centre may announce at least 4 per cent DA hike, IndiaTV reported.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Centre had freezed DA of the central government employees till June 2021 in view of the economic crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
So, once the government unfreezes the DA, 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 recommendation.
At present, the central government employees are getting a DA of 17 per cent and it will continue till July 2021. Hence, when the government will introduce the DA for the said period, the central government employees may witness a big jump in their salary with the increase in DA by around 8 per cent.
Once announced, the hike will come as a big relief to around 50 lakh central government employees and around 65 lakh pensioners.
On the other hand, it is expected that the improving economic situation in the country may lead the Modi government to roll out the DA hike early this year.
Recently, the Centre decided to grant one-time relaxation for reimbursement of the cancellation charges for air/train tickets meant for their Leave Travel Concession (LTC) due to the COVID-19 lockdown. The Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) issued an Office Memorandum (OM) in this regard.