Center will announce hike in DA and DR on this date
DA is given to serving government employees while DR is given to pensioners.
New Delhi: In the latest developments related to the 7th Pay Commission, it is reported that the Center is likely to announce the second hike in Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) for employees and pensioners in the first week of September. In terms of numbers, DA and DR are expected to grow by 3% this time, reports Financial Express.
DA is given to serving government employees while DR is given to pensioners.
Dearness Allowance and Dearness Relief are hiked twice a year and announced by the government in March and September respectively. However, the rate hike is implemented retrospectively from January and July every year.
In early January this year, DA was increased by 4% to 50% of the basic level. As a result of DA reaching 50% of the basic level, other allowances also increased to 25%.
DA is expected to increase by 3% for July-December 2024 while overall it is estimated that dearness allowance for government employees and dearness relief (DR) for pensioners will increase by at least 3%.
The government gives DA to the employees of the respective government departments and DR to the pensioners. The DA increase is calculated on the basis of the All India Consumer Price Index (AICPI), which tracks the change in retail prices across various sectors.
DA growth was earlier calculated on the basis of Consumer Price Index with base year 2001. However, from September 2020, the DA was replaced by the new Consumer Price Index with a base year of 2016.
On 2 August, it was reported that the central government will increase DA by 3% in September from 1 July 2024.
