Introduction
The long awaited news of the Dearness Allowance hike for the employees and pensioners has finally come. It is confirmed by the Indian government that the DA is being hiked. So this rise in DA can get considerable relief from the rising inflation. In this article, all information related to the hike in the DA and payment settlement available recently for 18-month arrears is provided.
Details of DA Hike
The DA has gone up by 4%, and the total DA would now work out to 42% of basic pay. It is applicable from 1 January, 2024, and should be able to help employees as well as pensioners cope with surging cost-of-living rises. The DA rise is an integral component of the government’s remuneration schemes, and would reach directly into the pockets of millions.
Payment Arrangements for Arrears
For comparison, the government has agreed to pay 18 months’ pending arrears. This way, employees and pensioners will be able to take home the accrued DA amounts from January 2023 to June 2024. Presumably, the disbursement process is straightforward- pay all the arrears once.
Eligibility and Process
The entitled employees for the DA arrears payment are all government employees and pensioners. To the departments, the government had instructed that the disbursement should be hastened so that payments were also made timely. Beneficiaries should determine themselves if they fit the required criteria. They could check at their respective departments if they already received proper instructions about the payment process.
Conclusion
Therefore, the increase in the DA and the arrears for 18 months mainly brings much-needed relief to the wallets of government employees and pensioners. This is at a time when ever-increasing inflation has managed to afflict the everyday operations of citizens. This would reflect strengthening of intent by the government toward its mainstay of employees.
