7th Pay Commission Latest Update: If you go by the earlier trend, the central government is likely to announce the DA hike in March 2024. However, the exact date of the announcement is yet to be made by the Centre.
7th Pay Commission Latest News Today: In the coming month, the Central government employees are expecting some good news from the Centre as various media reports suggest that the Centre is likely to announce hike in dearness allowance for them. A report by Economic Times suggested that the Union government is likely to announce a 4 per cent DA hike in March 2024. After the 4 per cent DA hike, the total dearness allowance and dearness relief will increase to 50 per cent.
The speculation on the DA hike comes as the 12-month average of the Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW) that was released recently stood at 392.83. As per the ET report, DA is coming to 50.26 per cent of the basic pay.
How Is DA Hike Calculated?
The Central government employees must note that the quantum of hike in DA and dearness relief (DR) is being decided by the Centre on the basis of the All-India CPI-IW data. While DA is given to government employees, while DR is given to retired pensioners. In general, the DA and DR are hiked twice a year — January and July.
In general, the dearness allowance for central government employees is calculated based on the latest Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW). The Labour Bureau, which is a wing of the Ministry of Labour, releases the CPI-IW data every month.
The dearness allowance in October 2023 was hiked by 4 per cent to 46 per cent. With the current inflation rate, the next DA hike is expected to be 4 per cent.
How Many Employees Will be Benefitted
The latest DA hike is going to benefit 47.58 lakh central government employees and 69.76 lakh pensioners.
With 4% DA Hike, How Much Salary To Increase?
The hike in DA and DR is given to the government employees to ease the impact of inflation. This hike also revises the effective salary of government employees is revised periodically.
How much salary will increase with 4% DA hike? Take the example of a central government employee who gets a basic salary of Rs 53,500 per month. At 46%, his dearness allowance was Rs 24,610 and after 50% DA hike, his dearness allowance will rise to Rs 26,750. If the DA is hiked by 4% in the next month, his salary will be raised by Rs 26,750 – Rs 24,610 = Rs 2,140.
When to Expect 4% DA Hike
Going by the earlier trend, the central government is likely to announce the DA hike in March 2024. However, the exact date of the announcement is yet to be announced by the Centre. The last DA hike was announced on March 24, 2023.