7th Pay Commission: DA Hiked By 3% For Central Government Employees, Pensioners, Effective From Jan 1, 2022

7th Pay Commission: The combined impact on the exchequer on account of both Dearness Allowance and Dearness Relief will be Rs 9,544.50 crore per annum. This will benefit about 47.68 lakh central government employees and 68.62 lakh pensioners.

New Delhi: In a big relief to the salaried class in India, the Centre on Wednesday approved a 3 per cent hike in the dearness allowance (DA) for central government employees and pensioners. The decision was taken by the cabinet committee on economic affairs in a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It means an increase of 3 per cent over the existing rate of 31 per cent of the basic pay to compensate for the price rise, the government statement said.

The move will benefit around 50 lakh central government employees and 65 lakh pensioners amid rising fuel prices, oil prices and inflation in general.

“The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval to release an additional instalment of Dearness Allowance (DA) to Central Government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) to pensioners w.e.f. 01.01.2022 representing an increase of 3 per cent over the existing rate of 31 per cent of the Basic Pay/Pension, to compensate for price rise,” the Cabinet mentioned.

It is to be noted that DA and DR hike was stalled for over 1 and a half years due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The latest announcement came at a time when retail inflation in February rose to a eight-month high at 6.07 per cent.

The combined impact on the exchequer on account of both Dearness Allowance and Dearness Relief will be Rs 9,544.50 crore per annum. This will benefit about 47.68 lakh central government employees and 68.62 lakh pensioners, the release said.

The hike comes at a time when petrol and diesel prices have been increased by oil companies by more than Rs 5 per litre in the last nine days.

DA is a component of the salary of employees particularly aimed at giving them relief from the impact of inflation. DR is given to pensioners.