5% DA hike for central staff

New Delhi, October 9

In a bonanza for 50 lakh Central Government employees and 65 lakh pensioners ahead of Diwali, the government today announced an increase of 5 percentage points in dearness and relief allowances (to 17%)  from July 1 this year. This will put an additional burden of Rs16,000 crore on the exchequer.

“This is the highest ever 5 percentage points increase in DA in one go,” Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said while briefing the media. The government had earlier raised DA/DR from 9 per cent to 12 per cent, beginning January 2019. The impact on the exchequer on account of both DA and DR will be Rs 15,909.35 crore per annum and Rs 10,606.20 crore during fiscal year 2019-20.The additional financial implication is estimated at Rs 8,590.20 crore per year — Rs 5,726.80 crore in the current financial year (July 2019 to Feb 2020). —TNS