DA hike 2024- Currently, DA is 50% of the basic salary. The last DA hike of 4% was done in March 2024, which came into effect from January 2024. A big decision may be taken on dearness allowance in the meeting of the Union Cabinet to be held today.
DA Hike News: Good news may come for central employees today. A special cabinet meeting is going to be held today, in which an increase in dearness allowance (DA) may be announced. Government employees are eagerly waiting for the DA hike, which is usually announced at the end of September. However, this year its announcement is getting delayed. Due to the delay in the announcement of dearness allowance, the Federation of Central Employees and Workers has written a letter to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman expressing their concern. It is estimated that the government will increase the dearness allowance (DA) by 3%. If this happens, the DA will increase from the current 50% to 53%. This increase will be effective from July 2024, and employees will also be given arrears of 3 months between July and September.
It is worth noting that employees in service get DA and pensioners get DR. Currently, DA is 50% of the basic salary. The last DA hike of 4% was done in March 2024, which came into effect from January 2024. Since then, there has been speculation that the government may merge the DA with the basic salary and start afresh from 0% DA, but the government has denied any such plan. The announcement of DA hike is decided on the basis of the Consumer Price Index (AICPI), which measures changes in retail prices across different sectors.
How much will the salary increase with a 3% increase
If the monthly salary of a central employee is ₹50,000, then with a 3% increase, he will get an additional amount of ₹1,500 every month. This amount can be up to ₹4,500 as arrears from July to September, which will be given with the next month’s salary.
Employees angry over delay in announcement of DA hike
Employees are angry over the delay in announcement of DA hike by the government this time. The Federation of Central Employees and Workers has also mentioned this in a letter written to the Finance Minister. In the letter, the Federation said that usually the DA hike is announced in the last week of September and in the first week of October, three months’ arrears (July-September) are given to the employees and pensioners along with salary and pension. The Federation also said that the delay in announcement of DA and Dearness Relief (DR) is increasing dissatisfaction among employees and pensioners.
