DA hiked by 6%, to benefit 1cr employees, pensioners

On the eve of Holi festival, the government hiked Dearness Allowance (DA) on Wednesday by 6 per cent, benefiting over 1 crore Central government employees and pensioners. The hike, which will cost the exchequer an additional Rs 14,724.74 crore annually, will take effect from January 1, 2016, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said after the meeting of the Union Cabinet which took the decision. The burden on exchequer would be Rs 6,795.5 crore towards Central government employees and Rs 7,929.24 crore towards pensioners during 2016-17, he said. The DA, which will benefit, 50 lakh Central government employees and 58 lakh pensioners, will go up from the existing 119 per cent to 125 per cent. Dearness allowance is paid as a portion of basic pay of employees to neutralise the impact of inflation. Pensioners get dearness relief.