The central government has raised dearness allowance for its over one crore employees and pensioners by 4 per cent, taking the total to 42 per cent from 38 per cent. Union Minister Anurag Thakur said the centre will spend Rs 12,815 crore to fund the hike in dearness allowance, or DA.
The government gives DA to its employees and dearness relief to pensioners to compensate them for rising prices. It is calculated based on the latest consumer price index for industrial workers, or CPI-IW.The DA hike has been applied retrospectively from January 1, 2023, the government said. The centre last revised DA in September 2022, effective retrospectively from July 1, 2022. That time, too, it was raised by 4 per cent to 38 per cent.