Much to the chagrin of central government employees and pensioners, no announcement on dearness allowance (DA) was made in February or March; it is now expected to happen this week.
Once the announcement is made, central government employees and pensioners would see an increase in their monthly emoluments.
The previous announcement pertaining to dearness allowance was made in October 2025 when the DA was raised to 58% from 55% of the basic pay with effect from 1 July 2025. Prior to that, the DA hike took place on 2 April 2025 when it was raised to 55% from 53%.
In the subsequent announcement, which is expected to happen in April 2026, the DA could be raised by another 3%, i.e., 61% of the basic pay.
How much extra money could employees get?
Total payout would depend on the basic salary. Suppose someone's basic pay is ₹56,100. The DA (based on the proposed increase to 61%) would be ₹34,221 instead of ₹32,538 (at the current rate of 58%).
When you add the past three-month arrears (between January and March) plus DA for April, the total payout would increase by ₹6,732 (1683 X 4). This amount would be higher or lower based on the basic pay of the employee or pensioner.
Eighth Pay Commission team to hold consultations
While the 8th pay commission was to be made effective from 1 January 2026, the commission would likely be implemented by mid-2027. Till then, the increase in dearness allowance is expected to give some relief to nearly 49 lakh central employees and around 68 lakh pensioners in the country.
Those who are not aware, dearness allowance is a cost-of-living adjustment included in a government employee's salary that aims to offset inflation and maintain purchasing power.
It is worth mentioning that a team from the 8th Pay Commission will visit Dehradun on 24 April, as a part of its nationwide consultation process with stakeholders, the Government of India announced recently.
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