7th Pay Commission: Central Govt Employees To Receive 4% DA Hike Soon

Central government employees can look forward to a salary increase soon as a 4% Dearness Allowance (DA) hike is expected. This news comes as a relief to many, with the announcement likely to be made in the coming month.

The decision on the quantum of DA and Dearness Relief (DR) is based on the All-India Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW) data. The recent official data reveals that retail inflation for industrial workers rose to 5.57% in June from 4.42% in May, primarily driven by higher prices of certain food items.

Government employees receive DA, while pensioners receive DR. Both DA and DR are revised twice a year in January and July. In the last hike in March 2023, DA was increased by 4% to reach 42%. Considering the current inflation rate, the next DA hike is expected to be around 4%, according to reports.

With approximately 47.58 lakh central government employees and 69.76 lakh pensioners, the upcoming DA hike is set to benefit a significant number of individuals.

Several state governments, including Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Karnataka, Jharkhand, and Himachal Pradesh, have already increased dearness allowance for their state government employees.

The latest All-India CPI-IW data indicates that the Food & Beverages group has contributed the most to the upward pressure on the index, accounting for 1.62 percentage points of the total change. Specific items like Rice, Wheat, Arhar Dal, Chicken, Eggs, Fruits, and Vegetables have been significant contributors to the rise in the index.

However, this increase was offset to some extent by lower prices of certain items like Mustard Oil, Palm Oil, Kerosene, etc., which put downward pressure on the index.

The Labour Bureau, an attached office of the Ministry of Labour & Employment, compiles the Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers each month, collecting retail prices from 317 markets across 88 industrially important centers in the country. The index is released for 88 centers and All-India on the last working day of the succeeding month.