7th Pay Commission latest news: Update on DA, TA increase

New Delhi, Oct 13: It has been a good week for the Central Government where news relating to the 7th Pay Commission is concerned.

After the increase in DA by 5 per cent, the government has hiked the Travel Allowance for the Central Government employees. Reports state that the CG employees would get a TA while and this means the salary would go by Rs 810 to Rs 4,320.

This comes as good news for the CG employees who recently were given a DA hike of 5 per cent.

The DA now stands at 17 per cent and the same would be effective from July 2019. A decision for the Central Government employees on the Dearness Allowance hike was expected to be made in August.

However, the latest news on the DA hike was deferred.

The government was expected to take a decision on the 5 per cent DA hike on September 4. What CG employees must bear in mind is that the Dearness Allowance has been by increased by 5 per cent.

The DA is calculated on the basis of the All India Consumer Price Index. The pay panel it may be recalled had recommended not to change the DA calculation formula. It had recommended that National Statistical Commission may be asked to explore the possibility of a specific survey covering government employees exclusively, so as to construct a consumption basked representative of government employees and formulate a separate index.

Keeping in mind that the present formulation of DA has worked well over the years, and there are no demands for its alteration, the Commission recommends continuance of the existing formula and methodology for calculating the Dearness Allowance," the panel had also said.

DA calculator for Central Government employees:

DA% = {(Average of AICPI (Base Year 2001=100) for the past 12 months -115.76)/115.76)*100}

DA calculator for Central public sector employees:

DA% = {(Average of AICPI (Base Year 2001=100) for the past 3 months -126.33)/126.33)*100}

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.