7th pay commission: Cabinet hikes Dearness Allowance by 4% for central government employees

The Union Government has announced a 4 per cent Dearness Allowance (DA) hike for central government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) for pensioners. The DA hike will be implemented from July 1, 2023, said Union Minister Anurag Thakur. The DA will be increased from 42 per cent to 46 per cent with this hike. This decision will benefit 48.67 lakh central government employees and 67.95 lakh pensioners.

The dearness allowance for employees and pensioners is worked out on the basis of the latest Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW) brought out by the Labour Bureau every month. This increase is in accordance with the accepted formula, based on the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission.

Earlier, Diwali bonuses for Group C and non-gazetted Group B level officials, including paramilitary forces, were approved by the government. For 2022-23, the Finance Ministry has set a limit of Rs 7,000 for the calculation of non-productivity-linked bonuses (ad hoc bonuses) for central government employees.

The Department of Expenditure under the Finance Ministry said a non-productivity linked bonus (ad-hoc bonus) equivalent to 30 days emoluments for the accounting year 2022-23 has been granted to the central government employees in Group 'C' and all non-gazetted employees in Group B', who are not covered by any productivity-linked bonus scheme.