7th Pay Commission: Good News On DA Hike To Be Delayed

The central government employees who have been waiting to hear an announcement on their dearness allowance hike might be disappointed to know that the centre is unlikely to announce the good news this month.

Reports had earlier claimed that the government was expected to announce the dearness hike in the third week of September. However, the latest buzz is that the centre is unlikely to announce the news this month.

According to a report in India website, the Centre might make the announcement before Diwali. It means the announcement is likely to be made in October last week or in the first week of November.

However, there is no formal announcement in this regard, yet.

If the reports are to be believed, the government is likely to give a 3 per cent hike in dearness allowance even as the inflation is coming under control. This increase is expected to come into effect from July 1.

According to a PTI report, the government is likely to increase the dearness allowance (DA) by three percentage points to 45 per cent from the existing 42 per cent as per the agreed formula for the purpose.

"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," PTI quoted All India Railwaymen Federation General Secretary Shiva Gopal Mishra as saying.

Dearness Allowance (DA) is given to employees and pensioners to offset the impact of inflation. Inflation leads to a rise in the cost of living, and this is measured by the Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW). The allowance is updated twice a year to account for these changes.

The calculation of dearness allowance for both employees and pensioners is based on the most recent Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW), which is released monthly by the Labour Bureau.

The last update to DA occurred on March 24, 2023, and it became effective from January 1, 2023.