In a move that will benefit over one crore Central government employees and pensioners, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a 6 per cent hike in dearness allowance (DA). The additional instalment of DA will come into effect from July 1, 2015, an official release said, adding that the hike is over the existing rate of 113 per cent of the basic pay/pension, to compensate for price rise.
The combined outgo towards paying the enhanced DA to 50 lakh employees and 56 lakh pensioners will cost the exchequer about ₹6,655.14 crore a year and ₹4,436.76 crore in 2015-16 (for a period of eight months from July 2015 to February 2016), said an official statement, adding that the hike is in accordance with the accepted formula based on the recommendations of the 6th Central Pay Commission.