Central employees and pensioners are waiting for the increase in Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) for July 2026. Three weeks of October have passed, but the government has not announced it yet. The increase was expected first in the early days of October and then after the cabinet meetings, but the employees were disappointed. Now everyone’s eyes are on the possible cabinet meeting to be held on October 28. In such a situation, the question is whether DA increase will be announced this time and can the employees get the gift of dearness allowance before Diwali?
Will DA increase be announced on October 28?
Increase in DA and DR is often announced after the cabinet meeting of the central government. In such a situation, the employees have hope from the possible meeting on October 28. However, the government has not yet confirmed the announcement of DA increase on this date. It is also not necessary to wait for the cabinet meeting to increase DA. The Department of Expenditure of the Finance Ministry can also issue notification of revised rates.
Employees will have to wait longer or will they get good news?
Central employees were hopeful that DA increase could be announced in the first week of October, but no decision on this was taken in the cabinet meeting on 6 October. After this, there were expectations from the meeting on 14th October. Although the performance-linked bonus of railway employees was approved that day, there was no announcement on DA. At the same time, on October 16, the Central Government announced Non-Performance-Linked Bonus (Non-PLB) of the employees, but no decision was taken on Dearness Allowance. Employees were also expecting an announcement on October 21, the next day of Dussehra, but the weekly cabinet meeting did not take place that day.
Let us tell you that earlier the DA of January 2026 was also delayed. The government had increased DA from 58% to 60% after the cabinet meeting on April 18.
Is 3% or 4% increase in DA possible?
DA for July 2026 will be calculated on the basis of average retail inflation data from July 2025 to June 2026. According to the available data and fixed formula, this time DA is expected to increase by 3 to 4 percent. If this happens, the current DA may increase from 60% to 64%. However, this is just an estimate. The final decision regarding the increase in DA will be taken only after the official announcement by the government.
How much impact will DA increase have on salary?
With the increase in DA, the amount received every month according to the basic salary of the employees increases. For example, a 2% to 3% increase on a basic salary of Rs 18,000 can result in an additional benefit of Rs 360 to Rs 540 every month. At the same time, on a basic salary of Rs 29,200, this amount can range from Rs 584 to Rs 876.
For a Level-5 employee whose basic salary is Rs 29,200, his DA will increase by Rs 876 every month if it increases from 60% to 63%. In cities with high TPTA, transport allowance may also increase by about Rs 108.
Will employees also get arrears?
The central government usually changes the rates of DA and DR twice a year. These increases, which will be implemented from January and July, are often announced later. In such a situation, if the decision on DA to be implemented from July 2026 comes late, then employees and pensioners can get the benefit of arrears for the period from July to December 2026.
DA is given to central employees to provide relief from the impact of inflation, while pensioners get similar benefits in the form of DR. This time, more than one crore central employees and pensioners are expected to benefit from the increase.
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Source: ndtv.in
