The eager wait of lakhs of central government employees and pensioners regarding the next round of Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) hikes is expected to end soon. The Centre is likely to announce the second DA hike of 2023 within a month’s time.
According to latest media reports citing government sources, the DA hike announcement may come as early as the end of September or around the festive time of Navratri. It is expected that the Union Cabinet will greenlight a 3 percent DA hike this time. Such a move will take the DA figure for central government employees from the current 42 percent to 45 percent.
The second DA hike of 2023, whenever announced, will be effective from July 1, 2023 onwards. While employees had been rooting for a 4 percent hike in DA, the expected figure is likely to stay at 3 percent. Nevertheless, it will be a tremendous boost for central government employees against inflation.
The DA hike for central government employees and pensioners is calculated on the basis of data from the Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW), released monthly by the Labour Bureau.
Last month, All India Railwaymen Federation General Secretary Shiva Gopal Mishra told PTI, “The CPI-IW for June 2023 was released on July 31, 2023. We are demanding a four percentage point hike in dearness allowance. But the dearness allowance hike works out to be a little over three percentage points. The government does not factor in hiking DA beyond the decimal point. Thus DA is likely to be increased by three percentage points to 45 per cent.”
