The Bihar government has increased the dearness allowance (DA) and dearness relief (DR) for its government employees and pensioners. The DA and DR have been raised by four per cent, following a cabinet meeting on 22 November, 2023.
The raised allowance is reportedly scheduled to be implemented along with the salaries deposited in December. Additionally, employees will receive arrears for the past four months. The raise has been implemented retroactively from 1 July, 2023 and therefore, the employees will be entitled to arrears for the period July to October.
As per the 7th Pay Commission, state government employees currently receive DA of 42 per cent. With the recent decision, this allowance will be hiked to 46 per cent.
The decision to raise the DA will have a positive impact on approximately 4.5 lakh state government employees in Bihar, while the DR hike will benefit around six lakh pensioners in the state. Both
DA and DR play crucial roles in compensating for the impact of inflation on government employees and pensioners, and are one of the major components in the salaries of government employees. These two components aim to ensure that employees and pensioners are able to maintain their standard of living despite rising costs. Adjustments to these allowances are often made periodically to align with changes in the cost of living index.
During the festive period of Dussehra and Diwali, states and union territories such as Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Chandigarh, Uttar Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu had increased DA and DR.