DA News: Modi Cabinet approves release of an additional instalment of Dearness Allowance, Dearness Relief

Dearness Allowance 2020: The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved to release an additional instalment of Dearness Allowance (DA) to Central Government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) to pensioners. The decision in rgard to DA and DR will be effective from 1st January 2020.  There will be an increase of 4 per cent over the existing rate of 17 percent of the Basic Pay/Pension, to compensate for price rise. The DA increase is in accordance with the accepted formula, which is based on the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission.

The Ministry of Finance informed about the development in a written statement citing, "The combined impact on the exchequer on account of both Dearness Allowance and Dearness Relief would be Rs 12,510.04 crore per annum and Rs 14,595.04 crore in Financial Year 2020-21 (for a period of 14 months from January 2020 to February 2021)." The finance ministry's statement went on to add that the cabinet decision in regard to the DA and DR relief will benefit about 48.34 lakh Central Government employees and 65.26 lakh pensioners.

See Zee Business Live TV streaming below:

The Narendra Modi Government on 13th March 2020 announced a 4 per cent Dearness Allowance (DA) hike for the central government employees and pensioners. This 4 per cent DA hike will become applicable for the central government employees and pensioners from 1st January 2020, which means when the March 2020 salary and pension will be credited into the respective beneficiaries' accounts, they will get two months arrears (January and February) as well. This central government's decision will aid around 35 lakh existing central government employees while 25 central government pensioners. After this 4 per cent DA announcement, central government employees' monthly salary will go up by Rs 720 to Rs 10,000 per month, say experts.

This 4 per cent DA hike was in sync with the expectation of the central government employees and pensioners as the Central Government had announced the inflation data from July 2019 to October 2019 where 3 point rise in inflation was reported.

After the central government's announcement of 4 per cent DA for its employees, the Level-1 central government employees will get around Rs 720 monthly salary hike. Apart from DA, they will get their Travel Allowance (TA) hike by the same percentage point as well. However, Cabinet Secretary level central government employees will get around Rs 10,000 monthly salary hike. It should be noted that the basic salary of the Level-1 central government employees is Rs 18,000 while for the Cabinet Secretary levels central government employees' basic salary is Rs 2.5 lakh.