New Delhi: The Central government hikes dearness allowances for the Central government employees twice every year and this time, it is expected that the DA will be hiked by 3% for the government employees, according to a report by Zee News. If it is hiked, then the total DA hike will reach 45% from the existing 42 percent.
It should be noted that the dearness allowance for employees and pensioners is calculated on the basis of the latest Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW) brought out by the Labour Bureau every month.
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What June 2023 AICPI Index Indicates
The figures for June 2023 AICPI index indicated that there has been a big jump in the index. The AICPI June index has now reached 136.4 points as compared to the index number in May which was 134.7 points. A total increase of 1.7 points in the AICPI has been registered in June 2023.
Earlier speaking to news agency PTI, All India Railwaymen Federation General Secretary Shiva Gopal Mishra said, “The CPI-IW for June 2023 was released on July 31, 2023. We are demanding a four percentage point hike in dearness allowance. But the dearness allowance hike works out to be a little over three percentage points. The government does not factor in hiking DA beyond the decimal point. Thus, the DA is likely to be increased by three percentage points to 45 percent”.
He went on to explain that the expenditure department of the Finance Ministry will formulate a proposal to hike DA along with its revenue implication and will put up the proposal before the Union Cabinet for approval.
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DA Likely to be Hiked in September?
Other reports claimed that the DA is likely to be hiked in September and will be effective from July 1, 2023. At present, nearly one crore central government employees and pensioners are getting a 42 percent dearness allowance.
Last time, the revision in the DA was done on March 24, 2023, and was effective from January 1, 2023.
Earlier, the Centre increased DA by four percentage points to 42 percent based on the percentage increase in the 12 monthly average of the All India Consumer Price Index for the period ending December 2022.
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Why DA is Given to Govt Employees?
The dearness allowance is being provided to Central government employees and pensioners to compensate them for rising prices as the cost of living increases over a period of time and is reflected through CPI-IW.
The DA is revised twice a year — January and July and the latest hike will be effective from July 1, 2023, meaning Central government employees and pensioners will get an extra 3% of their basic pay as DA.
