The Union Cabinet, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved a sharp increase in Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Comfort (DR) to 28 percent from 17 percent on Wednesday, bringing major relief to central government employees and pensioners.
The increase in DA and DR rates would take effect on July 1, 2021, according to the minister, with 48.34 lakh central government employees and 65.26 lakh government pensioners involved.
“The DA rate which was 17% earlier, has been risen by 11% to 28%,” the minister said.
Employees in the central government have received 17 percent DA on their basic salary. Last year, the Cabinet agreed to a 4% increase in DA for central government employees, which was to take effect on January 1, 2021.
However, because of the pandemic, the increase was paused in April 2020. Before the raise was agreed by the cabinet, at least three DA installments were due — two from last year and one from this year (01.01.2020, 01.07.2020, and 01.01.2021).
As part of the three pending installments, an 11% DA increase has been authorized. Thakur, on the other hand, stated that the DA and DR rates will continue at 17% from January 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021.
“The rate of dearness allowance and dearness relief will remain at 17 percent for the period 1 January 2020 to 30 June 2021,” he said.
