NEW DELHI: Central government has increased the dearness allowance of employees. The allowance has been increased from 42 percent to 46 percent. The proposal was approved by the Union Cabinet meeting. More than one crore central employees will benefit from this. The benefit of pensioners has also been enhanced in a similar manner. Dearness allowance was previously increased on March 24.

Bonuses for employees have also been announced on the occasion of Diwali. Non-Gazetted Railway employees will get a bonus. Group D, Group C and certain category employees of Group B will be eligible. Eligible employees of central, paramilitary and armed forces will also get bonuses. It was decided to pay 78 days salary as bonus. About 11.07 lakh employees will benefit from this.

Dearness Allowance (DA) is the cost of living allowance provided by the government to public sector employees and pensioners. Dearness Relief (DR) is similar in nature and benefits Central Government pensioners. The government revises the DA/DR rate every six months to counter the declining purchasing power of the monthly salary due to inflation.

Dearness allowance is prepared based on the inflation index based on the retail sales price prepared by the Labor Bureau for industrial workers. DA has been increased by 4% for Central Government employees and pensioners with effect from July 1, 2023. The DA was increased by determining the All India Consumer Price Index (AICPI) from January to June.