New Delhi, July 15: The Centre on Wednesday approved an increase of 11 percent in the dearness allowance (DA) for central government employees and dearness relief (DR) for pensioners with effect from July 1. Now, under the 7th Pay Commission, DA and DR for central government employees and pensioners respectively will be 28 percent of their basic pay/pension. But, there is a bad news concerning arrears. 7th Pay Commission Latest News Today: DA Hiked to 28%, Here's How Much a Central Government Employee's Salary Will Increase.

Currently, DA and DR are fixed at 17 percent of basic pay or pension. The Centre had approved a 4 percent hike in DA and DR last year. This was to be effective from January 1, 2020. There was another increase of 3 percent, which was to be effective from July 2020, and in January 2021, the dearness allowance was hiked once again by 4 percent. However, the three hikes had been frozen in view of the coronavirus pandemic.

Now, the Centre has decided to restore full benefits of DA and DR from July 1. It means DA and DR will be hiked to 28 percent representing an increase of 11 percent over the existing rate of 17 percent. However, the government is not going pay arrears of pending DA and DR hikes, according to Jaideep Bhatnagar, principal spokesperson of the government.

"Cabinet approves restoring of three instalments of Dearness Allowance and Dearness Relief with effect from 01.07.2021 representing an increase of 11% over the existing rate of 17% of the Basic Pay/Pension. No arrears for the period from 01.01.2020 till 30.06.2021 shall be paid," Bhatnagar tweeted on Wednesday.

7th Pay Commission: Update on Arrears

Salaries, pensions and allowances for central government employees and pensioners are revised as per the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 15, 2021 11:43 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).