Uttar Pradesh government hikes dearness allowance of employees

LUCKNOW: Almost four months after the Centre took the decision to hike dearness allowance and dearness relief to 34%, UP government followed suit and announced a similar hike for state government employees and pensioners, applicable retrospectively from January 1, 2022.
The current rate of DA is 31% of an employee’s basic salary. Arrears for the past seven months will be transferred to the employees’ provident fund account.
The last hike by the state government was announced in December 2021 when, in line with the Centre’s policy, it increased DA from 28% to 31%. This too was implemented retrospectively from July 2021.
DA is usually revised twice a year, in January and then in July. However, revision of the DA was withheld in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic at which point the DA was 17%. The state had announced that there would be no revision in DA till July 1, 2021 in order to help the government financially tide over the Covid-19 pandemic.
Government sources said that for those who are members of the National Pension Scheme, some amount of the revised DA will be deposited in the NPS accounts. Those who retired before the decision was announced will have dues paid to them in cash. The move will benefit around 16 lakh government employees and 12 lakh pensioners.