From Our Bureau
NEW DELHI: Just two days ahead of the new financial year, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday granted a 3% hike in dearness allowance (DA) and dearness relief (DR) to the Central staff and pensioners respectively and that too backdated from January 1, 2022. It will raise the DA/DR rate to 34%.
Since the decision will be effective from January 1, 2022, central staff and pensioners will be getting arrears for three months.
It may be noted that the government had frozen the hike in DA/DR from January 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021 due to novel coronavirus pandemic. However, it restored the DA/DR from July 1, 2021, but at hike of 28% from 17% previously. As per the order issued by Department of Expenditure, the increase in DA from 17% to 28% subsumes additional instalments arising on January 1, 2020, July 1, 2020 and January 1, 2021. The rate of dearness allowance for the period from January 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021 will remain at 17%.
