Ahead of Diwali, the Union Cabinet on Thursday approved 2% hike in dearness allowance for government employees. The meeting was chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

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This was the first hike in the allowance, after the government implemented the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission.

Dearness Allowance is provided to the employees and pensioners to neutralise the impact of inflation on their earnings. In April, the government had hiked DA by 6% to 12.5% of the basic pay. Later, it was merged into basic pay following the implementation of 7th Pay, a PTI report said. 

However, the government employees' unions had protested for increasing the DA by 3% instead of 2%.