7th Pay Commission: New year bonanza for Central government employees? BIG news on DA, HRA hike

With the New Year just around the corner, here is some interesting piece of news for Central government employees! Reports state that the Centre is planning to increase the House Rent Allowance (HRA) as well as the Dearness Allowance (DA) of employees.

The government is preparing to hike the DA by another 3% in January 2022, reports say. If this comes true, the salary of employees will again receive a huge hike. Along with this, the Centre is also planning to increase the HRA of employees after receiving requests from lakhs of employees. 

The current DA that Central government employees are getting stands at 31%. The decision to release the DA of the employees has not been formally announced by the government yet but it is expected to, soon. 

As for the HRA hike, it could benefit only the employees of the Railway Board as the request for the same was done by the Indian Railway Technical Supervisors Association (IRTSA) and the National Federation of Railwaymen (NFIR). 

If both DA and HRA are increased then employees are sure to enjoy a salary hike.

The government has divided the cities into three categories - X, Y, and Z. If an increase in HRA is approved then X category cities can receive Rs 5400 more, Y can expect a hike of Rs 3600 per month, and Z can expect an increase of Rs 1800 per month.

Cities that have a population of more than 50 lakh come under the X category - HRA worth 275 of basic salary. 

Meanwhile, in categories Y and Z cities, employees receive HRA worth 18% and 9% of their basic salaries, respectively.