Cabinet raises DA for 48 lakh central government employees

The Union cabinet on Wednesday approved the release of an additional two percent dearness allowance (DA) for 48 lakh central government employees and 62 lakh pensioners with retrospective effect from July.

The hike of two percent raises the existing DA of seven percent to nine percent. The Cabinet had raised the DA from five to seven percent last March. The increments have been as per the recommendations of the seventh Central Pay Commission.

"The combined impact on the exchequer on account of both Dearness Allowance and Dearness Relief would be Rs 6,112.20 crore per annum and Rs 4,074.80 crore in the financial year 2018-19," the Finance Ministry said in a statement.

The period under consideration for the financial year 2018-19 is the eight months from July 2018 to February 2019.

"This will benefit about 48.41 lakh Central government employees and 62.03 lakh pensioners," the statement said.

Dearness allowance, paid to government employees and pensioners, is a cost of living adjustment allowance to mitigate the impact of inflation on people.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)