7th Pay Commission: CG employees could expect a double bonanza soon

New Delhi, Jan 15: Two positive developments are likely with regard to the 7th Pay Commission. The first would be a 4 per cent hike in Dearness Allowance (DA), expected this month itself and the second would be the Dearness Relief (DR), which was approved by the Union Cabinet with effect from January 1 2020.

The increase of the DA by 4 per cent would mean Central Government employees will get more salary.

This would mean that the DA would be hiked from 17 to 21 per cent. While reports say that the hike in DA would come into effect this month, the government is yet to announce the date officially.

The finance ministry had announced that there will be an increase of 4 per cent over the existing rate of 17 per cent of the Basic Pay/Pension to compensate the employees for the rise in price.

This would cost the Centre's exchequer Rs 12,150 crore per year for the DA. In the case of the DR, the exchequer would be burdened by Rs 14,595 crore in FY 2020-21 for the period between January 2020 and February 2021.

This would benefit around 48.34 lakh CG employees and 65.26 lakh pensioners.

In another development relating to the 7th Pay Commission, the government decided to extend the Disability Compensation for all serving employees.

This decision would go a long way and especially provide relief for those in the central armed police force (CAPF), personnel of the BSF, CISF, BSF etc.