New Delhi: After the onset of festive celebrations in the country, Union Government has decided to raise the Dearness Allowance (DA) by 4 percent for central government employees. The decision of cabinet was announced by Union Minister Anurag Thakur here during a Press conference today.
After the decision of hike in DA, now the current DA stands at 46 percent from the earlier 42 percent. The hike in DA will be applicable from July 1, 2023. Similar raise was also made during festive season by the government last year too. The raise in DA will directly benefit 47 lakh employees and 68 lakh pensioners.
What is Dearness Allowance (DA)?
Dearness Allowance is calculated as a percentage of an Indian citizen’s basic salary to mitigate the impact of inflation on people. It is paid by Government to its current employees and the pensioners so as to reduce the impact of inflation.
Apart from hike in DA, union government also announced Productivity Linked Bonus (PLB) equivalent to 78 days’ wages for the financial year 2022-23 to all eligible non-gazetted Railway employees.
The non-gazetted railway employees include Track maintainer, Loco Pilots, Train Managers (Guards), Station Masters, Supervisors, Technicians, Technician Helpers, Pointsman, Ministerial Staff and other Group ‘C’ staff (excluding RPF/RPSF personnel).
“In recognition of this excellent performance by the Railway staff, Union Government has approved payment of PLB of Rs 1968.87 crore to 11,07,346 railway employees. The performance of Railways in the year 2022-23 was very good. Railways loaded a record cargo of 1509 Million Tonnes and carried nearly 6.5 Billion Passengers,” an official statement said.
