New Delhi: The wait of over one crore central employees and pensioners in the country ended on Saturday (18 April). According to media reports, the cabinet approved a 2 percent increase in dearness allowance (DA) for central government employees and pensioners on Saturday. Now, the dearness allowance and pension of central employees will increase from 58 percent to 60 percent. Central employees were waiting for the dearness allowance for many days. This allowance, which was to be implemented from January, was being awaited since the beginning of March. The government usually announces the increase in January in March, but this time the announcement has been made after mid-April.

This decision has come at a time when employee organizations are demanding major changes in the pay structure under the proposed 'Eighth Pay Commission'. In its memorandum, the National Council-Joint Consultative Machinery (NC-JCM) has demanded a fitment factor of 3.83, which could increase the minimum basic pay from 18,000 rupees to around 69,000 rupees. It has also proposed to expand the definition of family for the purpose of salary calculation to include dependent parents. Along with this, it has also suggested fixing a limit on salary differences and providing more salary increases and allowances linked to inflation.

The government increases the dearness allowance of its employees and pensioners twice a year, in the months of January and July. The purpose of these changes is to reduce the effects of inflation and help maintain the purchasing power and standard of living of employees and pensioners. The dearness allowance is a 'cost of living adjustment' given to government employees, which is calculated as a specific percentage of the basic salary to balance the effects of inflation.

On the other hand, it is also being reported that the cabinet has also approved a 'Sovereign Maritime Fund' with a fund of 13,000 crore rupees, so that Indian flag-bearing ships coming to and going from India can be provided with stable and efficient insurance security. It has also been learned that the cabinet has extended the 'Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY)' till 2028, for which an additional fund of 3,000 crore rupees has been allocated.