Wednesday (October 9): The Union Cabinet today announced a 5 per cent hike in the Dearness Allowance (DA) ahead of festival season for the July-December 2019 period for the central government employees and pensioners.
The central government employees and pensioners can expect this hike to reflect in their October 2019 salaries after the Union Cabinet’s approval.
The move is likely to benefit nearly 1.12 crore government employees and pensioners.
The decision to this effect was taken during a meeting of the Union Cabinet, which was chaired by the Prime Minister.
The decision was taken to give a fillip to the stalled consumption-driven economy.
During the meeting, the cabinet gave its nod to increase the DA allowance by 5 per cent from the existing 12 % to 17 %.
The move is likely to cost around Rs 16,000 crore to the state exchequer.
The much-speculated 5 per cent hike in Dearness Allowance (DA) for the July-December 2019 period has now come as government’s Diwali gift to nearly 1.12 crore employees and pensioners.
The central government employees and pensioners can expect this hike to reflect in their October 2019 salaries.
It is possibly the biggest hike in DA since the implementation of the 7th CPC recommendations in 2016.
What is DA (Dearness Allowance)?
Dearness Allowance (DA) is a cost of living adjustment allowance paid to government employees, public sector employees (PSE) and pensioners in India.
Dearness Allowance is calculated as a percentage of an Indian citizen’s basic salary to mitigate the impact of inflation on people.
