7th Pay Commission: After the recent DA hike, there is another piece of good news for the Central government employees. Their next DA hike is expected in March 2024, and this time 4% DA hike is expected for them, a report by TOI said. If the DA hike is announced in March, it will lead to a massive salary hike for Central government employees.
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4% DA Hike Expected This Time
The latest DA hike will be effective from January 1 and an announcement to this effect is likely to be made in March 2024, the report said. If the DA hike is announced, a 4% hike will take central govt staff’s dearness allowance to 50% in the coming months.
Last time, the DA was hiked for these employees in October 2023 and it was raised by 4% — taking it to 46% — with effect from July 1, 2023.
The Central government employees must note that DA is an amount granted to employees as part of salary to make up for inflation. When a hike is given, it raises the salary of the Central government employees. In the similar manner, Dearness relief (DR) is given to pensioners under the same principles.
How Is DA Calculated?
For the general information of the Central government employees, the dearness allowance is given as a percentage of basic pay and the dearness relief is given as a percentage of the pension amount. According to the standard practice, dearness allowance and dearness relief are revised twice a year — January 1 and July 1 and the announcements to this effect are usually made around March and September.
The hike in dearness allowance comes in light of the AICPI index reaching 139.1 percent, reflecting the impact of rising prices. If the Centre offers 4 percent DA hike, it will elevate the dearness allowance to 50 percent.
As inflation increases, the value of currency diminishes which impacts the actual income of employees by reducing their purchasing power.
48.67 Lakh Employees To Get Benefitted
If the DA hike is announced in March 22024, approximately 48.67 lakh central government employees and 67.95 lakh pensioners will benefit from the move of the Centre.
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The cumulative impact on the Central exchequer, considering both DA and DR, is projected to be Rs 12,857 crore annually.
