The Union Cabinet, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, granted approval on March 7 for a proposal to raise the dearness allowance (DA) for Central government employees by 4 percentage points, bringing it to 50 percent. This increase in DA is set to be implemented from January 1, 2024.
Earlier, in October 2023, the government had raised both the dearness allowance and dearness relief by 4 percentage points to 46 percent, effective from July 1, 2023. This move aimed to benefit approximately 48.67 lakh central government employees and 67.95 lakh pensioners. The combined financial implication of the increase in dearness relief and dearness allowance was projected to be Rs 12,857 crore annually.