Centre gives Holi gift to employees, pensioners with a 6% DA hike

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday gave a Holi gift to central government employees with a 6% hike in the dearness allowance. With this move, the DA will go up to 125% from existing 119%, benefiting over 10 million employees and pensioners.The new rate of DA is expected to be implemented from January 1, 2016, which will be applicable for 4.8 million central government employees and 5.5 million pensioners. DA is paid as a proportion of basic pay of employees.

The proposal to hike DA is moved by the Finance Ministry on the basis of accepted formula for calculation. The Union Cabinet approves the DA hike for its employees. Earlier in September 2015, DA was increased to 119 per cent from 113 per cent which was effective from July 1, 2015. In April 2015, the government had hiked DA by 6 percentage points to 113 per cent of their basic pay with effect from January 1, 2015.