The central government on Wednesday announced that the dearness allowance (DA) will be increased by four percentage points to 46% for 4.86 million central government employees. The announcement came as a surprise ahead of the festive season in India. Also, 6.8 million pensioners would be getting a similar increase in the dearness relief (DR). Everyone is assuming that the announcement has come just a few months before the important assembly polls and the supposed retail inflation that was released in September this year.
Bollywood veteran Jaya Bachchan discloses her first salary as an actress
Union information and broadcasting minister Anurag Thakur announced that the new rates of DA and DR will be applicable from 1st July 2023. This was discussed during the cabinet meeting and thus, the decision was declared after that meeting.
Bihar govt hikes DA payable to its employees, pensioners
The decision will lead the central government to pay a combined annual impact of ₹12,857 crore. The Cabinet that has been led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi came up with the decision ahead of the three-month-long festive season, which includes Navratra, Diwali, Chhat Puja, Gurupurab, and Christmas. The news has been shared by a source to the media.
The official in a media statement said that both employees and pensioners will get the increased amount from 1st July 2023. This increase is mainly in agreement with the accepted formula, which is based on the suggestions of the 7th Central Pay Commission.
The declaration to increase DA has come a week after the Election Commission informed in a media statement about the assembly polls in five states, which includes Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Telangana and they will be beginning from November 7.
The initiative will increase happiness for more than 10 million families in general. Also, voters of the five states will rejoice at times of retail inflation. However, there lies a caution as the geopolitical situation in the Middle East has been on a declining trend that will lead to an increase in food and fuel rates all over the world sooner. It will also affect India badly. After all, India is reported to import 87% of the crude oil it processes.
Central Pay Commissions are regularly formed in order to ensure that the payment structure of government employees and pensioners is reviewed on a regular basis. Also, the retirement benefits and other service conditions of central government employees must have to be changed periodically and that’s why such decisions are taken on a periodic basis after several discussions in meetings with officials.
DA is given to the employees who serve in the central government so that the living cost can be considered before giving them their salaries. Whereas for pensioners who have retired by putting their service in the central government, DR is provided in order to consider the real cost of inflation and give them the salary of pension at proper terms.
We are sure families of people who are serving or retired from the central government sector would also have enjoyed this piece of news as it will give them financial relief to some extent in dealing with the costs associated with the future of such employees and pensioners.
