- By Aditya Pratap Singh
- Tue, 25 Mar 2025 09:35 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
DA Hike News: Over a crore central government employees and pensioners are awaiting government's-decision regarding the hike in the dearness allowance (DA). Usually, The DA hike is announced before the Holi festival. But this time, it was not announced by the Government. Earlier there were rumours that the DA hike could be approved in the Cabinet meeting on March 19, but the meeting did not take place and the eagerly awaited announcement about this may finally be made in the upcoming Cabinet meeting.
Why was the DA hike announcement delayed?
According to various media reports, the government's financial and procedural approval is responsible for the delay. If these processes were completed on time, the hike could have been announced before Holi. But according to sources, the decision is about to be completed and it can be accepted at any time.
Who gets DA and what is it?
To help reduce inflation, central government employees and pensioners get dearness allowance (DA), which is an adjustment to the cost of living. It is updated twice a year, before Holi (January-June) and before Diwali (July-December). While private sector employees do not get DA, employees of public sector undertakings (PSUs) do.
What is the expected increase in DA?
It is estimated that this time, the DA will increase by 2% from 53% to 55%. This increase is based on the All India Consumer Price Index (AICPI) data of July-December 2024. However, according to some analysts, this increase could reach 4% as a result of rising inflation, taking the DA to 57%. The final decision may be influenced by the recent revision of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) 's inflation forecast, which went from 4.5% to 4.8%.
When is the DA increase announced?
There is every possibility that the government will approve the DA hike in the next Cabinet meeting, which is expected to take place next week, as the decision has already been delayed several times. If the increased DA is approved, employees will get the arrears of January, February and March in addition to the April salary. This will come into effect in January 2025.
Pensioners and government employees are now waiting for official confirmation, hoping to hear positive news soon.