Dearness Allowance Hike For Central Government Employees Put On Hold As COVID-19 Battle Strains Finances

The Government has decided to put on hold the increase in dearness allowance (DA) for the Central Government employees in a bid to contain the strain on its finances amid the COVID-19 induced crisis, reports Economic Times.

The development comes less than a month after the union cabinet had approved a hike in DA from 4 per cent to a much higher 21 per cent.

Apart from 49.26 lakh central government employees, the decision will also impact over 61.17 lakh pensioners.

The union cabinet will today (22 April) be taking up a proposal to put a hold on any further increase in DA for the ongoing year. This gains significance as the government revises DA twice every year to compensate for the rise in prices. The next such revision is due in July.

Previously, the government had also announced a paring down of the salaries of Ministers, Prime Minister (PM), President, and the members of Parliament by 30 per cent. In addition to these, the government had also suspended the PMLADS scheme for a span of two years.