The wait for increase in Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) of central employees is over. Actually, the government has decided to increase DA by two percent. Regarding the decisions taken in the cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said that due to increase in both dearness allowance and dearness relief, there will be a total burden of Rs 6,791.24 crore annually on the government exchequer.
How much DA to central employees?
This increase of two percent on the existing rate of 58 percent of basic salary or pension is to compensate for inflation. Now the allowance of central employees has increased to 60 percent. This additional installment of DA to central government employees and DR to pensioners will be given from January 1, 2026.
This means that central employees will get arrears of three months. These three months will be January, February and March. The total DA increased for these three months is 6 percent.
This means that when the central employees will get the salary for April, it will also include the increased 6 percent DA for three months. Apart from this, additional DA of 2 percent for the month of April will also be included in the salary. If we understand in simple language, the total DA will increase by 8% in April. In such a situation, central employees will get a huge amount in the salary for April. Let us tell you that this increase in DA is as per the approved formula, which is based on the recommendations of the Seventh Central Pay Commission.
How is DA calculated?
DA is calculated on the basis of 12-month average reading of ‘All India Consumer Price Index-Industrial Workers’ (AICPI-IW). The average reading from January 2025 to December 2025 has been taken into account for the DA increase in January 2026. Let us tell you that the government announces increase in DA twice a year. This increase occurs around festivals like Holi or Diwali. However, this time we had to wait for more than a month.
so late for the first time
Let us tell you that for the first time the government has delayed the announcement of DA so much. Usually, DA for the first half of the year is announced around Holi in the month of March. However, this time the announcement was not made even after more than a month had passed. Let us also mention here that DA has been announced for the first time in the era of the Eighth Pay Commission.