60% dearness allowance for central government employees has come into effect from today. The Central Government has issued orders in this regard. This dearness allowance will be considered effective from January 1, 2026. Two days ago, the government had announced a two percent increase in the dearness allowance of central employees. Earlier, dearness allowance was 58 percent. Central government employees were demanding increase in this allowance for a long time. However, this time the announcement of increase in dearness allowance has been significantly delayed. This increase will have a direct impact on the salaries of the employees. For example, if an employee’s basic salary is ₹50,000, he will get approximately ₹1,000 extra every month.
relief for employees
This increase is being considered to provide some relief to the income of government employees amid rising inflation. This 2 per cent hike is part of the government’s regular half-yearly revision process, through which it protects the real income of employees and ensures that the burden of rising inflation does not burden them. The revised Dearness Allowance (DA) will be distributed along with the arrears from January 2026, benefiting lakhs of central government employees and pensioners.
As stated in the memorandum…
The memorandum issued by the Finance Ministry clearly states that Dearness Allowance (DA) will continue to be a separate component of remuneration and, within the ambit of the Basic Rules, will not be considered part of ‘salary’ (basic pay). This difference is important for calculating various other allowances and retirement benefits.
The revised DA rates will be applicable not only to civilian employees of the Central Government, but also to those employees who draw their pay from Defense Services estimates. However, separate orders in this regard for armed forces personnel and railway employees are expected to be issued by the Defense Ministry and Railway Ministry respectively.