Big news on dearness allowance
For lakhs of central employees across the country, a very relieving news has emerged amid the budget session. While on one hand all eyes are on the economic policies of the government, on the other hand a big update has come on the Dearness Allowance (DA) front. This news is directly related to the pockets of government employees and pensioners. In fact, the path for increase in dearness allowance for January 2026 has now been completely cleared. The government has released those important figures on the basis of which it is decided how much your salary is going to increase.
AICPI index data made the picture clear
The increase in dearness allowance does not happen out of thin air, but on the basis of concrete data. The most important parameter for this is All India Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (AICPI-IW). These figures have been released by the Ministry of Labor and Employment for December 2025.
According to the ministry, this index remained stable at 148.2 points in the month of December. The thing to note is that this figure was at the same level in November also. Stability in the index does not mean that the increase in dearness allowance will stop. Experts believe that on the basis of these figures, the government is in a position to increase DA to the maximum, which is no less than a gift for the employees.
There will be a bumper jump in salary, DA will be 63%?
After analyzing the current data, it is being estimated that the Central Government can increase the dearness allowance by up to 5 percent. If this happens, the total dearness allowance of central employees will increase to 63 percent.
All India NPS Employees Federation President Manjit Singh Patel has given his reaction on this. He clarified that the AICPI-IW index remaining at 148.2 is a positive sign. This simply means that there is full scope for a 5 percent increase in dearness allowance. That means now employees are expected to get dearness allowance at the rate of 63 percent.
When will the new rates come into effect?
The central government revises dearness allowance twice a year in January and July. This revision is part of the biennial cycle. The latest update is for January 2026. You will remember that earlier in July 2025, the government had increased DA from 55 percent to 58 percent. Now, after this new increase which will be implemented from January, the employees will get the benefit of increased salary, which will prove to be a big help in dealing with the rising inflation.
How is this mathematics decided?
There is a prescribed formula for this, which is based on the Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers. The DA percentage is calculated by estimating the average AICPI-IW of the last 12 months. This data is the key which decides how much amount will be given to the employees as relief from the government treasury. This formula is used to calculate the DA hike.
DA(%)= [{(पिछले 12 महीनों का औसत AICPI-IW × 2.88) − 261.41} / 261.41] × 100 − Current DA (%)