New Delhi: The Union Cabinet will hold a meeting today at the Parliament at 1 pm. The meeting will be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Although the agenda for the meeting has not been declared yet, it is likely that the cabinet ministers will discuss the increment in the dearness allowance (DA) of the central government employees.
Currently, the dearness allowance that is given to the central government employees and pensioners is 31 percent and a 3 percent hike is expected to be announced in the meeting. The hike will take the figure to 34 percent.
The meeting comes amid the ongoing second phase of the budget session.
What is Dearness Allowance?
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.
Under the 7th Pay Commission, the DA is hiked twice a year in January and July. The hike in DA also depends on the location of the employee that is, urban, rural, or semi-urban areas.
If the decision to hike DA would be taken in today’s meeting, it will benefit more than one crore employees and pensioners. The central government currently has 48 lakh 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.
If the DA would be hiked now, the employees are likely to receive the increased salary with arrears of January and February and the new DA would be applicable from January 2022.