7th Pay Commission: Central govt employees' DA may increase by 4% in March

The government may increase the dearness allowance of Central Government employees by 4% in March. The DA adjustments which is applicable to both employees and pensioners, is determined based on the latest Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW). The CPI-W is released every month by the Labour Bureau.

As per media reports, the dearness allowance and dearness relief will increase to 50%.

7th Pay Commission

The increase in DA will be in accordance with the accepted formula, based on the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission. The cabinet had last announced an increase in the DA for government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) for pensioners by 4% in October 2023. By that the DA was increased to 46% from 42%.

Dearness Allowance is a cost-of-living adjustment allowance provided by the government to public sector employees and pensioners. It is calculated as a percentage of the basic salary.

Earlier, the government had approved Diwali bonuses for Group C and non-gazetted Group B level officials, including paramilitary forces. For the financial year 2022–2023, the finance ministry had set Rs 7,000 limit for the computation of non-productivity linked bonuses (ad hoc bonuses) for central government employees.