7th Pay Commission: Odisha Govt Employees To Get 4% Hike In Dearness Allowance (DA)

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday announced a four per cent hike in Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) for state government employees and pensioners.

With this hike, the rate of DA for Odisha government employees and DR for pensioners has now increased to 46 per cent from 42 per cent, an official said.

Ahead of the festive season, the central government on Wednesday decided to hike the dearness allowance for its employees by 4 percentage points to 46 per cent of the basic salary and pay 78 days of salaries as bonus for non-gazetted railway staff.

Speaking to reporters, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said the increase in dearness allowance and dearness relief will benefit 48.67 lakh central government employees and 67.95 lakh pensioners, respectively.

The release of the additional instalment of Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) will be applicable from July 1, 2023.

DA and DR are given twice a year to compensate employees and pensioners, respectively, for price rise.

The combined impact on the exchequer on account of both DA and DR would be Rs 12,857 crore per annum, the minister said. In March this year and September last year also, the increase in DA and DR was 4 percentage points.

The DA and DR hikes are applicable from January 1 and July 1.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh government proposed a 4 per cent DA hike for its employees, a move that is set to enhance their financial well-being significantly. This development, once approved by the cabinet, is expected to take effect from July 1, ushering in financial relief for the state's workforce.