New Delhi, August 17: The Centre last month increased the rate of dearness allowance (DA) and dearness relief (DR) to 28 percent for central government employees and pensioners under the 7th Pay Commission. After hike in DA and DR, some reports said there could be a raise in monthly gross basic pay of central government employees, which has been fixed as per the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission. 7th Pay Commission Latest News Today: DA Hiked to 28%, Here's How Much a Central Government Employee's Salary Will Increase.

However, the Centre cleared the air in the recently-concluded monsoon session of the Parliament. In response to a question on July 27, the government said it is not considering to raise monthly gross pay of the central government employees after restoration of DA in accordance with fitment factor as per the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission. 7th Pay Commission Latest News Today: HRA To Be Increased After Hike in DA, Here's How Much Raise Is Expected.

"The fitment factor of 2.57 was uniformly applied to all categories of employees only for the purpose of fixation of pay in the revised pay structure based on the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission," Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary in a written reply in Rajya Sabha. This might have come as a disappointment for central government employees hoping a raise in monthly basic pay.

It may be recalled that the Centre has approved the release of three installments of DA and DR, due from January 2020, July 2020 and January 2021, for central government employees and pensioners respectively. As per the revised rate, the central government employees and pensioners will get DA and DR respectively at 28 percent (11 percent over the previous rate of 17 percent) of their basic pay or pension from July 1.

The rate of DA and DR could become 31 percent if the Centre announces another hike of 3 percent. This may happen because DA and DR are usually hiked twice in a year.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 17, 2021 12:38 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).