8th Pay Commission: Is Government Merging DA/DR with Basic Pay?

The Government has clarified that, currently, it is not planning to combine any part of DA/DR with the basic pay of the central government employees.

The 8th Pay Commission revises the salaries, allowances, and pensions of central government employees and pensioners. The Central Government is planning to implement the 8th Pay Commission.

A question was raised in the Lok Sabha on Monday, asking whether the government is planning to merge DA (Dearness Allowance) or DR (Dearness Relief) with the basic pay as an immediate relief measure for the Central Government employees or pensioners facing inflation during the last 30 years.

In this regard, the Minister of State for Finance, Shri Pankaj Chaudhary, confirmed that no such proposal is currently under consideration by the government. He further shared that the rates of DA/DR are revised every 6 months to reflect changes in the cost of living to protect the employees and pensioners from the increasing cost of living. He said that such revision is based on the All India Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (AICPI-IW), which is released by the Labour Bureau under the Ministry of Labour and Employment.