7th Pay Commission: DA/DR Benefits Is Likely To Restore In September

In September 2021, the central government is expected to reinstate the 7th pay commission's Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) benefits for central government employees. According to the JCM's national council, central government employees' and pensioners' would have to wait a long time for the 7th pay commission DA and DR benefits to be reinstated. It is declared and expected that the 7th CPC DA and 7th CPC DR would be restarted in September 2021, following a recent conference with the Ministry of Finance and DoPT (Department of Personnel & Training) led by the Cabinet Secretary of India.

In the meeting it has been decided that central government employees' DA and pensioners' DR benefits will be reinstated in September 2021, said Shiva Gopal Mishra, Secretary, Staff Side at National Council of JCM. Shiva Gopal Mishra also stated that after the DA and DR are reinstated, the Ministry of Finance would submit a memorandum to the government for the reinstatement of these benefits, which will result in a hike in the 7th CPC salary. Throughout the trend till the official meeting held on June 26, there was discussion that DA benefits may be reinstated in July. However, government employees will have to wait at least two months, until September, to take advantage of these benefits, he added. Anurag Thakur, a member of the Lower House of Parliament in India, addressed the Rajya Sabha in March that three outstanding DA and DR instalments will be reinstated beginning in July.

The government postponed the introduction of the DA rise in 2020 because of the Covid-19 epidemic. The DA is updated twice a year, between January and July i.e. January 2020, July 2020, and January 2021, which implies that there are three pending DA hikes including the month of July 2021. DA is now paid to central government employees at the rate of 17% of their basic salary. A 4% increase was proposed in 2020, however, it was not executed due to the epidemic. According to the 7th Pay Commission's DA formula, DA payable in January 2021 will be a minimum of 4%, whereas DA outstanding in July would be between 3% or 4%. As a result, once the DA and DR benefits are reinstated, the current DA may increase from 17% to 31% or 32%.