On one hand, as central employees wait for the DA hike to actually register in the next month, on the other hand, the government can blend the present DA hike into the basic salary. When the DA increases as announced for the second half of this year, it has fetched the total to 53 percent; employees are also of the view that after the crossing of fifty percent into dearness, merging with the basic salary becomes the order of the day, and the government also clarifies its stand on this.
DA was that 53 percent of basic pay at the second half-
The central government had increased the DA by 3 percent for the central employees and Dearness Relief (DR) for pensioners, recently. It was for the second half of this year. The government raises DA for its employees and pensioners twice in a year, every six months, adding it in the last.
The arrears are now available for the delayed DA increase. Following the recent increase in DA, this grant has now become 53 percent of the basic salaries, which is why it is believed that it will be merged with the basic salary. It should be noted that DA is maintained separately from the salary structure by the government.
The government says this:
In this connection, the government has said that although DA has become 53 percent of the basic pay, that it does not mean consolidation of DA into the basic wage (merged basic salary with DA). It will be kept separate. It was also clarified that during the fifth pay commission there was a special reason for merging DA (dearness allowance) with the basic salary.
The earlier pay commission relied on a Consumer Price Index that had become more than 50 percent from the base index, due to which the DA was merged with the basic pay. Presently, there is no such condition that has arisen to warrant a merger of DA with the basic pay.
This was clarified by the Sixth Pay Commission-
The Sixth Pay Commission took a different position with regard to the merging of DA with the basic pay. It said that when DA goes beyond 50 percent of the basic pay, then it must not merge with the basic salary. After that, the debate continued for several times among the employees.
When will DA increase in the coming year-
So now DA (DA 2025) will be applicable for the first half in the year 2025 from January 1. Its announcement can come very soon. On the other hand, employees have numerous hopes from the budget which is going to be released in February next year.
There are also good predictions that a huge announcement can be made about the 8th Pay Commission in Budget 2025. The Central Government revises DA and DR twice every year. Serving employees get DA, and pensioners get the benefit of DR. In case of delay, it is given as DA arrears along with the salary.
