In a major decision ahead of Diwali, the Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday approved the release of an additional instalment of Dearness Allowance (DA) to Central Government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) to pensioners.
As per the latest announcement, the DA for the Central Government employees will be increased to 31 per cent from the existing 28 per cent in commensurate to the price rise.
The hike is an increase of 3 per cent over the existing rate of 28 per cent of the basic pay and pension. The decision will benefit about 47.14 lakh Central Government employees and 68.62 lakh pensioners in the country.
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The hike comes into effect from 1 July, 2021, announced union minister Anurag Thakur while addressing a press briefing in New Delhi today.
The significant mention here is the Dearness Allowance and Dearness Relief were temporarily stayed by the Centre in 2020 owing to Covid-19 exigencies.
Recently, the DA was increased to 28 per cent by the Centre.
This increase in DA is in accordance with the accepted formula, which is based on the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission (cpc). The combined impact on the exchequer on account of both Dearness Allowance and Dearness Relief would be Rs.9,488.70 crore per annum.
(Edited By Sanjiv Patro)