7th Pay Commission: DA hike of 5 per cent in August, here is why

New Delhi, July 14: With no major news on the hikes relating to the 7th Pay Commission, the Central Government employees are now awaiting good news on their Dearness Allowances (DA).

The DA hike is expected in August. This is because the AICPI date till June has not yet come. These figures will be released by the end of July as a result of which the government will announce the DA hike in August.

What CG employees must bear in mind is that the Dearness Allowance may be increased by 5 per cent. This could be the good news that may be on the way as a result of which the government did not take into account the demand for a hike in the basic minimum pay.

Zee Business, while quoting Harishankar Tiwari, Former Secretary and Assistant Secretary of All India Audit and Accounts Association, AG Office Brotherhood said an increase in the DA is possible. Tiwari who also calculates the government employees' DA said that there is a possibility that the DA may be increased by 5 per cent. There is a tangible reason behind it and that is because, according to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data, inflation has increased in April, 2019. However, there is a little uncertainty as CPI statistics for June, 2019 are yet to come and this will be revealed by the end of July, the report also said.

If the government decides to hike the DA, then it would stand at 17 per cent and this would be the highest DA increment since 2016. It may be recalled that the government had hiked the DA by 3 per cent in January 2019. At that time the AICPI stood at 301 and the DA at 10.36 per cent. If the index increases by 2 points then the DA calculation will be based on 17 per cent.

CG employees have been demanding that their basic minimum pay be increased to Rs 26,000. The 7th Pay Commission had however recommenced that the basic minimum pay be at Rs 18,000.