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New Delhi: The Modi government is likely to raise the dearness allowance (DA) for more than one crore government employees and pensioners by 3 per cent, news agency PTI reported. The dearness allowance will reach 45% from the current 42% after the fresh hike. The DA is calculated on the basis of the latest Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW) released every month by the Labour Bureau, which comes under the Labour Ministry.
“The CPI-IW for June 2023 was released on July 31, 2023. We are demanding a four percentage point hike in dearness allowance. But the dearness allowance hike works out to be a little over three percentage points. The government does not factor in hiking DA beyond the decimal point. Thus DA is likely to be increased by three percentage points to 45 percent,” All India Railwaymen Federation General Secretary Shiva Gopal Mishra said while talking to news agency PTI.
The last time DA was revised on March 24, 2023, and came into effect from January 1, 2023.
The government provides DA to government employees as part of compensation against inflation or rising prices. The allowance is revised periodically according to the jumps in the cost of living which is calculated through CPI-IW.
The latest hike will only be applicable after the expenditure department of the finance ministry drafts a proposal for the concerned rate hike and submit it to the Union Cabinet for approval.
With this 3 percent hike, the DA will be 45 percent.
For example, if someone gets a basic salary of Rs 25,000, the monthly DA increase will be Rs 750.
The DA was hiked by three percentage points to 42 percent based on the percentage increase in the 12 monthly average of the All India Consumer Price Index for the period ending December 2022.
The cost of living increases over a period of time and is reflected through CPI-IW. The allowance is revised periodically twice a year.
The government on Friday deferred the implementation of the import restriction order on laptops and computers (including tablet computers) by about three months till October 31, a move that gives more time to electronic companies to import these devices without a licence.
Now, these companies would need to take a licence from the government to import these devices from November 1.
On August 3, the government put the import of these devices under a licence regime with immediate effect. Subsequently, the industry raised issues with the government on the notification.
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), in an order issued late on Friday, said the notification dated August 3 (Thursday) shall be effective from November 1.
“Import consignments can be cleared till October 31, 2023 without a licence for restricted imports. For clearance of import consignments with effect from November 1, 2023, a valid licence for restricted imports is required,” it said.
It added that a “liberal transitional arrangement is provided for import of laptops, tablets, all-in-one personal computers, ultra-small form factor computers and servers … till October 31, 2023”.
The move will offer a breather to the companies that have been on tenterhooks following Thursday’s order.
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