Central government employees may soon get 3% DA hike with 3 months' arrears: Report

The July DA hike saw significant delay this year, with the announcement now expected to come a few days before Diwali

Central government employees are most likely to soon get a hike in their dearness allowance (DA) ahead of this year's Diwali, according to a Financial Express report which added that it will most probably be a 3% raise.

This means more than one crore central government employees as well as pensioners will get their October month pay with the increased DA as well as three months' worth of DA arrears. (Reuters)

This means more than one crore central government employees as well as pensioners will get their October month pay with the increased DA as well as three months' worth of DA arrears.

Currently the DA is 50% of the salary and with the expected hike, may become 53%.

Dearness allowance refers to the adjustment of the salary or pension to keep up with inflation and rising living costs, calculate on the basis of the All India Consumer Price Index (AICPI).

The central government hikes the DA two times a year in January and July, with announcements made around Holi in March and around Diwali in September, with the arrears of the hike paid off henceforth.

For this year specifically, the DA hike for July got significantly delayed, with the announcement being expected before the Haryana elections held on October 5. Since this dodn't happen, expectations now point towards an announcement a few days before Diwali, celebrated around October 31, according to the report.

Because of the delay, the Confederation of Central Government Employees and Workers wrote to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, drawing attention to it.

This also comes amid the Himachal Pradesh government already giving a 4% hike to its 1.80 lakh state government employees and 1.70 lakh pensioners.