Central government employees and pensioners are waiting for DA Hike 2025. Usually the government announces an increase in dearness allowance before Holi, but this time it did not happen. Let us know why there is a delay in DA Hike and when it can be announced.
DA Hike 2025: The central government often decides to increase dearness allowance (DA) and dearness relief (DR) for its employees and pensioners before Holi. However, this year it did not happen. This has worried government employees and pensioners. After Holi, there was news that the government could give this good news after the cabinet meeting on March 19, but this did not happen.
Why is there a delay in the announcement of DA Hike?
According to the Financial Times, the announcement of the increase in dearness allowance is not being made due to the delay in government process and financial approval. If everything had happened on time, the central government would have given the gift of DA hike to its employees and pensioners on Holi. According to the report, the decision of DA hike can be approved anytime now and it can also be announced soon.
What is DA and who gets it?
Dearness Allowance (DA) is an allowance linked to the basic salary of government employees. It is increased twice a year. The government increases dearness allowance to reduce the impact of inflation on employees. It is given to existing central government employees and pensioners to compensate for living expenses. Private sector employees do not get this benefit. However, employees working in public sector undertakings (PSUs) also get the benefit of DA.
How much DA hike will be available this time?
The government usually announces DA hike for January-June before Holi and for July-December before Diwali. But this time the hike for January-June 2025 could not happen before Holi. It is believed that this time DA may increase by 2%. This can increase DA from 53% to 55%. This increase will be based on the July-December 2024 data of AICPI (All India Consumer Price Index Data).
However, experts believe that the DA hike can be more than 2% and it can also go up to 4%, as the RBI has raised the inflation rate forecast for the current financial year from 4.5% to 4.8%.
Now when will the DA hike be announced?
The decision of DA hike has already been postponed several times, so it is expected that the government may approve it in the next cabinet meeting. It is likely to happen next week. After approval, the increased DA will be effective from January 2025. Also, the arrears of January, February and March can be paid to the employees along with the salary of April.
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