7th Pay Commission: After PM Modi's DA hike in Centre, Uttar Pradesh and Tripura governments increase DA; know new rates

7th Pay Commission: With the festival of colours Holi just a few days away, the Yogi government in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday gave a gift to state employees and pensioners as it increased the dearness allowance (DA) and dearness relief (DR) by four per cent each. After the revision, the employees and pensioners' DA and DR will be up from 46 per cent to 50 per cent. The new DA rates will be applicable from January 1, 2024, and the beneficiaries of the order will get the arrears along with their March salary. The DA increase will put an additional burden of about Rs 350 crore on the UP government treasury.

Along with the Uttar Pradesh government, the Manik Saha-led Tripura government also increased DA by five per cent on Tuesday.   

The decision of the UP and the Tripura governments came a week after the central government increased DA and DR by four cent each for its employees across India. 

UP DA Hike: Who will get benefit? 

After the Yogi government's decision on Tuesday, as many as 18 lakh employees and 12 lakh pensioners will get relief.

This includes 12 lakh state government employees, and about six lakh teachers. Apart from this, 12 lakh pensioners will also be beneficiaries of the scheme as their DR has also been increased.

However, the order to give increased dearness relief to pensioners has not been issued yet. It will also be released soon.

Tripura also increases DA

Tripura CM Manik Saha also announced on Tuesday (March 12) that a five per cent additional DA will be given to state government employees and pensioners.

Announcing this in the Tripura Assembly, Saha said that this decision would benefit 1,06,932 employees and 82,000 pensioners in the state.

Central government DA hike

In a decision on March 7, while the Modi government increased the DA and DR, it also increased the tax exemption limit of gratuity from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 25 lakh.

Apart from that, a three per cent rise in their House Rent Allowance (HRA) was also announced. Under the new rates, central government employees residing in X category cities will get HRA increased from 27 per cent to a maximum of 30 per cent. Due to this increase in HRA, Centre will have a burden of Rs 9,000 crore.