New Delhi, Mar 20: The central government has stated in Parliament that the requirement to increase the Dearness Allowance (DA) for central government employees under the 7th pay commission above 3% is invalid because the increase is done in line with inflation rates.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet was scheduled to meet to discuss the topic of DA hikes for government employees, but there was no official update on a decision.
During the second part of the budget debate on Tuesday, the Union government responded to various queries about why the Central Government Employees’ Dearness Allowance boost has remained stagnant at a time when inflation rates have risen. In addition, whether the administration will consider raising DA/DR in line with current inflation rates was questioned.
“Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) to Central Government Employees and Pensioners are calculated on the basis of the rate of inflation as per All India Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (AICPI0IW), released by Labour Bureau, M/o of Labour and Employment,” Union minister of state for finance Pankaj Chaudhary said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.
In response to a query about whether the “Government would consider giving DA/DR in accordance with prices and would not maintain DA/DR at static 3%,” the minister stated that the topic “does not arise” for the reasons stated above.
The average retail inflation rate for the October-December quarter of 2021 was 5.01 percent, but it jumped to 6.07 percent in February of this year.
According to recent reports, the Centre may raise the DA by 3% once more. With this recent rise, DA will be 34% of the basic income. Over 50 lakh government employees and 65 lakh pensioners will profit from this move.
