7th Pay Commission: How to calculate salary hike after DA restoration?

New Delhi, July 14: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday decided to restore Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) for central government employees and pensioners from July 1, 2021 while increasing the rate of allowance to 28 per cent.

The increase in the DA and DR will impose an additional annual burden of Rs 34,401 crore on the exchequer, Minister of Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur told reporters after the cabinet meeting.

In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Union Government had frozen the three additional instalments of the DA and DR which were due from January 1, 2020, July 1, 2020 and January 1, 2021.

The move, Thakur said, will benefit about 48.34 lakh central employees and 65.26 pensioners. "The government has decided to increase DA to central government employees and DR to pensioners with effect from July 1, 2021 representing an increase of 11 per cent over the existing rate of 17 per cent of the basic pay/pension," said a release.

"#Cabinet approves restoring of three instalments of Dearness Allowance and Dearness Relief with effect from 01.07.2021 representing an increase of 11% over the existing rate of 17% of the Basic Pay/Pension. No arrears for the period from 01.01.2020 till 30.06.2021 shall be paid," the official handle of PIB tweeted.

How to calculate salary hike after DA restoration

To calculate how much DA arrears of a central government employee is at stake, one just need to do simple arithmetic for 7th Pay Commission Level-1 employee whose Grade Pay is Rs 1800 and 7th pay commission salary ranges is Rs 18,000 to Rs 56,900.

Rs 18,000 is minimum 7th pay commission basic salary of a central government employee, Shiv Gopal Mishra Staff Side at National Council of JCM said in a report published in Live Mint.

Mishra said that 4 per cent DA for January to June 2020, 3 per cent DA for July to December 2022 and the expected 4 per cent for January to June 2021 will be restored on July 1 2021.

A Central Government employees with a minimum grade pay of Rs 1,800 is waiting for Rs 4,300 to Rs 13,656 DA arrears for January to June 2020.

For July to December 2020, a CG employee with a minimum 7th Pay Commission Grade Pay is waiting Rs 3,240 to 10,242. For January to June 221, an employee with a minimum pay grade pay of Rs 1,800 is waiting fro Rs 4,320 of Rs 18,000 to Rs 13,656 DA arrears for January to June 2020.

This would mean an employee drawing minimum basic salary of Rs 18,000 per month s waiting for Rs 11,880 ie Rs 4,320+Rs 3,240+ Rs 4,320 DA arrears. Mishra said that DA arrears can be easily understood is one looks at the Level 1 7th Pay Commission pay scale where a CG employees's DA arrears at stake is ranging from Rs 11,880 to Rs 37,554.