DA hiked by 5%: Union Minister Prakash Javadekar was addressing the press following a Cabinet meeting in New Delhi. (Express Photo/File) DA hiked by 5%: Union Minister Prakash Javadekar was addressing the press following a Cabinet meeting in New Delhi. (Express Photo/File)

Dearness Allowance hiked by 5%:

The Union government Wednesday hiked the Dearness Allowance (DA) for central government employees by five per cent from the existing 12 per cent. The announcement, made by Union Minister Prakash Javadekar following a Cabinet meeting, is expected to benefit 50 lakh central government employees and 65 lakh pensioners.

Calling it a ‘Diwali gift’, Javadekar said the raise would cost the exchequer nearly Rs 16,000 crore. The DA has now been increased to 17 per cent. “This is the highest ever 5 percentage points increase in DA in one go by the central government,” Javadekar said.

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“Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, several decisions have been taken. In good news for government employees, Dearness Allowance has been hiked by 5 per cent,” Javadekar said.

In a cabinet briefing at Shastri Bhawan, Javadekar also announced 5,300 families from PoK, who had settled in regions others than Jammu and Kashmir and had later come to the Valley, will be provided with Rs 5.5 lakh each.

In a string of announcements, the Union minister also said the Cabinet has decided to relax the mandatory requirement of Aadhaar seeding for release of benefits under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi after August 1, till November 30, 2019.

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