7th Pay Commission: Central Government Employees' Dearness Allowance (DA) to become 25 pct from April 2021?

7th Pay Commission latest news today: Nearly 52 lakh central government employees are eagerly waiting for the Dearness Allowance (DA) announcement, which is due from January 2021. In this list, there are around 60 lakh retired central government servants (CGS) too as their Dearness Relief (DR) is linked to the central government's DA hike announcement. Central Government pensioners' pension will go up in sync with the DA hike that is still to be announced by the center. Apart from DA hike announcement, both Central Government Servants and pensioners are waiting for DA restoration and DR restoration respectively as the media is buzzing with center may announce DA and DR restoration while announcing the DA hike ahead of the Holi festival. If that happens, then central government employees DA will jump by 8 per cent and from April 2021, their DA would become 25 per cent (17 + 4+ 4) of their basic salary. However, the center is yet to make any official statement in this regard for the government job (Sarkari Naukri) holders.

DA Hike Calculation
On the basis of latest All India Consumer Price Index (AICPI) data, Prayagraj-based Harishankar Tiwari of AG Brotherhood said that DA hike due from January 2021 can't be less than 4 per cent for the central government employees as the December 2020 AICPI number is 342, which means the average AICPI for the July to December 2020 period stands at 335 bps or 3.35 per cent. As the DA hike rule says, the minimum DA to be announced should be the next round figure which is 4.0 the central government employees are expecting at least 4 per cent DA hike for January to June 2021 period.

DA restoration
Media is buzzing that the center may announce DA restoration while announcing the DA hike due from January 2021. If that happens, then the existing 17% DA of a central government employees will suddenly zoom to 25 per cent. 

Do note again that the central government is yet to make any official statement in this regard.

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7th CPC Salary hike, arrears
If the DA restoration is announced, central government employees pay will witness a jump as their existing DA will shoot up by 8 per cent leading to rise in their Travel Allowance (TA) with same percentage points.

Arrears clearance also expected
DA and DR benefits being freezes since July 2020, central government employees and pensioners are also expecting the arrears post-DA restoration.

7th Pay Commission DR benefit
As DA is directly linked to DR benefit being given to around 58 lakh central government pensioners. The DA restoration will lead to a rise in the monthly pension of the retired central government employees too.