DA Hike: Good news for government employees. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Thursday announced a 3% increase in dearness allowance (DA) for state government employees, teachers, and pensioners. With this, the DA of state employees has increased from 55% to 58%. This decision will benefit approximately 1.6 million government employees, teachers, and pensioners. While this will impose an additional burden of Rs 1,829 crore annually on the state government, the Chief Minister said the move was taken keeping in mind the welfare of state employees.
Dearness Allowance (DA) is a part of the salary that is given to offset the effects of inflation. This increase will provide relief to Tamil Nadu employees and pensioners facing the rising cost of living. This move by the state government is often in line with the DA hike announced by the central government. Recently, the central government also decided to increase DA and DR by 3% for its employees and pensioners.
The central government also gave Diwali gifts
In a major decision in October, the central government approved a 3% DA/DR hike for central employees and pensioners. This will benefit 49.19 lakh central employees and 68.72 lakh pensioners. Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said that this DA/DR hike will be effective from July 1, 2025 and will result in an annual burden of Rs 10,083.96 crore on the central exchequer.
This hike has been made as per the formula decided under the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission (7th CPC). The central government reviews DA/DR twice a year in January and July. The Central Government had also announced performance-linked bonus for railway employees last month, which benefited about 11.27 lakh railway employees.