DA hike for central govt employees may come soon after Union Cabinet meeting

The central government may announce an increase in both the dearness allowance (DA) and dearness relief (DR) for government employees after is cabinet meeting on Wednesday, October 09, 2024, according to a News 18 Hindi report.
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DA is applicable to all the currently serving employees while DR is appplicable to all pensioners. Both are to adjust the salary or pension to the increasing cost of living, driven by inflation.
Therefore, the DA hike is calculated based on the All India Consumer Price Index (CPI), which tracks retail price fluctuations across various sectors of the economy.
This comes after the Confederation of Central Government Employees and Workers having addressed Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in a letter regarding the delay in announcing DA/DR hikes.
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Usually the government revises DA and DR twice a year in January and July, officially declaring them a little later.
The salaries and pensions of government employees also get adjustments for these arrears created. For example, the DA hike was disclosed in the first week of October, and arrears of the previous three months were also added.
The DA may see a 3% hike, increasing it to 53% from the current 50%, according to the report.
The previous hike was by 4%, announced in March, effective from January 2024 (Arrears will be paid as mentioned above).
The hike will be effective from July 02, 2024, with the three-month arrear adjustment reflecting in the October salary.
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