New Delhi: The announcement came on Wednesday. The paperwork landed on Thursday evening.
The Department of Expenditure in the Finance Ministry issued its office memorandum on October 29, raising dearness allowance for central government employees from 60 per cent to 63 per cent of basic pay, with effect from July 1, 2026. Dearness relief for pensioners moves by the same three percentage points.
The numbers behind the order: about 48.54 lakh serving employees and 68.71 lakh pensioners, and an additional annual outgo of Rs 10,016.10 crore. Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, who announced the Cabinet decision, called it a "Diwali gift".
Because the revision is retrospective to July, four months of arrears are due — July, August, September and October. Reports on the payout say the difference is expected with the October salary or pension, though the order itself does not fix a credit date. The amount varies with basic pay, so a higher basic means a bigger rupee increase.
Two smaller orders went out the same day for staff still on older pay structures. Employees drawing pay under the 6th Central Pay Commission get DA raised from 262 per cent to 269 per cent of basic pay, a seven-point increase. Those under the 5th Pay Commission go from 483 per cent to 497 per cent, a 14-point increase.
The previous revision was announced on April 18 this year and took effect from January 1, taking DA and DR from 58 per cent to 60 per cent at a cost of Rs 6,791.24 crore a year.
For a central government employee with a basic pay of Rs 50,000, three percentage points works out to Rs 1,500 more a month, before arrears. For a pensioner, the same arithmetic applies to basic pension.
DA is calculated on basic pay alone. It does not apply to the whole take-home, and the 63 per cent figure is not a 63 per cent salary increase — a distinction that tends to get lost in the forwarding of WhatsApp messages every time an instalment is announced.
Separate orders for armed forces personnel and railway employees will come from the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Railways.