7th Pay Commission: Big update for central employees on DA hike, government likely to give...

Lakhs of central government employees are eagerly awaiting the next round of DA hike. As per a latest report, the Centre is likely to hike Dearness Allowance (DA) from 42 percent to 45 percent for over one crore employees and pensioners as per the agreed formula. 

DA is calculated on the basis of the latest Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW) data which is released by the Labour Ministry’s Labour Bureau on a monthly basis. 

“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 DA is likely to be increased by three percentage points to 45 per cent,” All India Railwaymen Federation General Secretary Shiva Gopal Mishra was quoted as saying by PTI.

The Finance Ministry’s expenditure department will formulate a proposal to hike DA along with its revenue implication. The proposal will then go before the Union Cabinet for approval. 
The next DA hike for central government employees will be effective from July 1, 2023.

Central employees’ last round of DA hike was announced on March 24, 2023. A 4 percent hike was provided by the centre on the existing 38 percent. It was effective from January 1, 2023.

(Inputs from PTI)