New Delhi: After announcing an increase in Dearness Allowance (DA), Dearness Relief (DR) as well as House Rent Allowance (HRA) for Central government employees for July 2021. The Modi government has now taken another important decision that will benefit lakhs of Central government employees. According to the latest update, the Central government has increased the deadline of the House Building Advance (HBA) scheme till March 2022.

What Does This Mean?

Any Central government employee who wants to buy a home will be able to get a loan at reduced rates till March 2022. Under the House Building Advance scheme, the government will provide home loans to central employees at the rate of 7.9 percent.

Important Details of This Scheme:

  • The Central government employee can take advance to build a house on his own or his wife’s plot, Under the HBA Scheme.
  • The HBA scheme was launched on October 1, 2020
  • Under this scheme the central government will now give house building advance to its employees at the rate of 7.9% interest till March 31, 2022.

To recall, the Modi government had earlier increased the DA of Central government employees from 17 per cent to 28 per cent and the new DA will come into effect from July. Now, some reports are also claiming that the govt may approve the Dearness Allowance for June as well and it is expected that the Centre would approve a DA hike of another 3 per cent in the coming days.

Karnataka hikes DA from 11.25 to 21.50 per cent, announces Releasing Additional Instalments for govt Employees

The Karnataka government ordered releasing additional instalments of dearness allowance, revising it from the existing 11.25 per cent to 21.5 per cent for the period January 2020 to June 2021, which it had frozen in view of the crisis arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Government is pleased to release the additional installments of the dearness allowance for the period January 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021. Accordingly, the rates of dearness allowance payable to the state government employees in the 2018 revised pay scales shall be revised from the existing 11.25 per cent to 21.50 per cent of basic pay with effect from July 1, 2021,” a government order said.

Government also announced enhancing the rates of dearness allowance from the existing 11.25 per cent to 21.50 per cent of the basic pension or family pension with effect from July 1, 2021 to state government pensioners or family pensioners and pensioners or family pensioners of aided educational institutions whose pension or family pension is paid out of the consolidated fund of the state. The orders are also applicable to retired employees on UGC/AICTE/ICAR scales of pay, the government said.

It added that these orders will apply to full time government employees, employees of zilla panchayats, full time employees of aided educational institutions and universities who are on regular time scales of pay.