New Delhi: The Central government has decided to increase the Dearness Allowance or DA by 3% for government employees. The DA has been hiked from 31% to 34%. The decision was taken in a cabinet meeting of the Union government.
The increase in Dearness Allowance or DA comes as a relief for the central government employees amid the rising prices of fuel and increasing inflation. The increase in DA was stalled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The dearness allowance is paid to the central government employees to offset the impact of inflation on the employees' salaries. It is applicable for both employees and pensioners.
The dearness allowance that was previously given to the union government employees and pensioners was 31 percent and the 3 percent hike that was announced in the meeting to the DA to 34%. This decision is set to benefit about 50 lakh government employees and 65 lakh pensioners.
The last DA hike was given in October last year when it was increased from 28 percent to 31 percent. The government used to pay 18k as dearness allowance to employees, now that amount will be risen to 24,000 as per the newly announced DA Hike.