7th Pay Commission latest news today: DA hike, DR benefit, arrear clearance to allowance relief — what you may have missed
7th Pay Commission latest news today: Around 52 lakh central government employees are waiting for the announcement of their Dearness Allowance (DA) hike, which is due from January 2021. In this list, there are around 60 lakh retired central government employees too because their Dearness Relief (DR) is linked to the DA hike. Retired central government employees' pension will go up in sync with the DA hike to be announced by the center. Both Central Government Servants and pensioners are also 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. Meanwhile, the central government has announced some allowance relief for the government job (Sarkari Naukri) holders that may lead to hike in their 7th CPC pay and perks like salary hike, fitment factor, etc.
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 means the average AICPI for the July to December 2020 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. Photo: Reuters
DA restoration
Media is buzzing with 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 employee will suddenly zoom at 25 per cent (17 + 4 + 4). But, the central government is yet to make any official statement in this regard. Photo: Reuters
7th CPC Salary hike, arrears
If the DA restoration is announced, central government employees will witness a leap frog in their monthly salary as their existing DA will shoot up by 8 per cent leading to rise in their Travel Allowance (TA) with same percentage points. Photo: Reuters
Arrear 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. Photo: Reuters
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. Photo: Pixabay
Seventh Pay Commission Allowance: Ease in LTC rules
Earlier, due to COVID-19 pandemic, the Central Government had declared relaxation in Leave Travel concession (LTC) Scheme allowing the central government employees to claim income tax benefits on expenses made between October 12, 2020 to March 31, 2021 on purchase of goods and services that attract GST rate of 12 per cent or more instead of travel expenses. Photo: Reuters
New Life Insurance policy inducted in LTC scheme
The Centre has also included life insurance in the LTC Scheme among the services mentioned earlier in the DoPT's Office Memorandum (OM). Photo: Reuters