Centre approves 4% hike in dearness allowance for central govt employees

Guwahati, Oct 18: Amid the ongoing festive season, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday hiked the dearness allowance (DA) for central government employees and Dearness Relief for pensioners by 4 percentage points, said Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur.

As per reports, the Union Cabinet will meet later in the day to discuss various matters during which an announcement on DA hike is expected for government employees. If announced, it will be a big boost for the Central government employees.

Along with the DA hike, the Cabinet has also approved Productivity Linked Bonus (PLB) for railways employees, which is equivalent to 78 days of pay, as well it also increased the minimum support price for rabi crops.

The hiked DA rates will be given to the central government employees with their October salaries. Since the new DA hike will be counted from July onwards, employees will get arrears for July, August, and September, with their October salaries. As many as 48 lakh central government employees and 65 lakh pensioners will benefit from this hike.

With this decision, the DA for central government employees will increase to 46 percent from the existing 42 percent.