DA increased by 10%

The central government has decided to gift its employees and pensioners well ahead of Dussera and Diwali by increasing their Dearness Allowance.The government has decided to increase the DA of employees and other pensioners by 10%. This means that the current Dearness Allowance, which is 35% of basic pay, will be increased to 45% of basic pay. This will benefit nearly 88 lakh people in India who are either employees of the central government or claiming pension.The increase in DA will cost nearly Rs. 9300 per year to the government. The increase in allowance was decided after a meeting of ministers in the Union Cabinet. This increase will virtually come into effect from July 1, 2010 which means that the arrears will be paid to the beneficiaries in the coming months.A total of 50 lakh employees and 38 lakh pensioners will benefit from this new raise.