7th Pay Commission: Central Govt Employees' Salaries Likely To Rise Soon As 4% DA Hike Expected

7th Pay Commission: Even as government employees are waiting for a salary increment by way of a DA hike, there is good news. Given the rate of inflation in the industrial workers category, the DA (dearness allowance) hike is likely to be around 4 per cent. An announcement in this regard is expected to be made by the next month.

According to the latest official data, retail inflation for industrial workers based on the All-India CPI-IW inched up to 5.57 per cent in June compared with 4.42 per cent in May this year, mainly due to higher prices of certain food items.

The quantum of hike in DA and dearness relief (DR) is decided by the central government on the basis of the All-India CPI-IW data. DA is given to government employees, while DR is given to pensioners. DA and DR are hiked twice a year — January and July.

In the last hike in March 2023, the DA was increased by 4 per cent to 42 per cent. Given the current inflation rate, the next DA hike is expected to be 4 per cent, as per various reports.

According to the official data, there are 47.58 lakh central government employees and 69.76 lakh pensioners. After the upcoming DA hike, these employees and pensioners will be benefitted.

Recently, various state governments, including Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Karnataka, Jharkhand and Himachal Pradesh, increased dearness allowance for their state government employees.

Latest All-India CPI-Industrial Workers

According to the latest All-India CPI-IW, the maximum upward pressure in the current index came from Food & Beverages group, contributing 1.62 percentage points to the total change.  At item level, Rice, Wheat, Wheat Atta, Arhar Dal, Moong Dal, Fish Fresh, Poultry Chicken, Egg-Hen, Apple, Banana, Brinjal, Carrot, Ginger, Cauliflower, Chili Green, Potato, Onion, Tomato, Cumin seed/Jira, Supari, Casual Wear, Canvas Shoes, Utensil, Medicine ayurvedic, etc. are responsible for the rise in index.

However, it explained that this increase was largely checked by Mustard Oil, Palm Oil, Sunflower Oil, Coconut Oil, Lemon, Mango, Kerosene Oil, etc., putting downward pressure on the index.

The Labour Bureau, an attached office of the Ministry of Labour & Employment, has been compiling the Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers every month on the basis of retail prices collected from 317 markets spread over 88 industrially important centres in the country.  The index is compiled for 88 centres and All-India and is released on the last working day of the succeeding month.