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A very relieving and good news is coming for crores of government employees across the country. The announcements of increase in Dearness Allowance (DA) by different state governments are now going to fill the pockets of the employees. Let us tell you that in the month of April, the Central Government had already increased DA from 58 percent of the basic salary to 60 percent, which was implemented from January 1 this year. The central government usually updates DA twice a year using ‘All India Consumer Price Index’ (AICPI) data. Its new announcements are usually made in March and October and are implemented from January and July. The main objective of this entire exercise is to ease the living expenses of employees and pensioners amid rising inflation.

Consideration to confirm DA, DR arrears and raw employees in Punjab

In a major relief to its employees, the Punjab government had announced on May 30 that it is seriously considering the payment of pending DA and DR of the state employees and pensioners for the period from July 1, 2021 to March 31, 2024. Along with this, the government also clarified that a sub-committee is also discussing the payment of arrears of employees and pensioners on the basis of revised salary and pension benefits for the period from January 1, 2016 to June 30, 2021.

On the same day, the government took another major historic step and abolished the decades-old contract system for more than 65,000 employees working in 51 government departments and gave official approval to the process of regularizing them. Recently, on July 11, the Joint Coordination Committee of Employees and Pensioners of Punjab has placed before the government many old demands like 18% DA increase, re-implementation of the old pension scheme and confirmation of temporary employees.

Review regarding DA, pension and study leave in Himachal Pradesh

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu has informed that the state government is constantly reviewing the DA and dues for its employees and pensioners so that their interests are fully taken care of. Only last month, the state government had announced that if the employees take study leave for higher education, they will be given full salary including DA and House Rent Allowance (HRA). Earlier this limit was only 40 percent, which has now been increased to 100 percent.

Additionally, in July, Himachal Pradesh State Forest Development Corporation (HPSFDC) announced that its employees will benefit from an additional 3% hike in DA from April 1, 2025. Besides, the board has also approved bonus for 175 employees whose monthly salary is up to Rs 21,000. Not only this, the minimum wage for various categories of employees has also been increased from Rs 425 to Rs 450 per day from April 1, 2026.

Expectations and new pay commission of West Bengal employees

Despite being satisfied with the 20 per cent increase in DA announced during last month’s budget in West Bengal, teacher unions and employees there say they still expect a higher increase as the previous government had left a lot of arrears. After this increase, DA of state employees and pensioners has become 38 percent of the basic salary, which is still much less than the Centre’s 60 percent.

Joint Sangharsh Manch convener Bhaskar Ghosh said that Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has promised to implement the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission by January. Additionally, in the month of May, the Bengal government has approved the constitution of its 7th State Pay Commission to fix salaries and DA for employees of educational institutions, corporations and boards. According to Minister Agnimitra, its scope has also been extended to local bodies and aided educational institutions.

Onam gift is coming for Kerala employees

According to reports coming from the South Indian state of Kerala, the state government is rapidly considering increasing the DA for its employees by 2 percent before the upcoming Onam festival. This gift can be combined with the salary for the month of August. According to media reports, this decision may put an additional burden of about Rs 60 crore on the state exchequer, but its purpose is to provide huge financial relief to the employees just before the festival.

Other big updates on DA increase this year

Following the footsteps of the Central Government, the Indian Banks Association has also increased the basic salary and DA of all levels of employees for May, June and July 2026. Apart from this, Indian Railways has also increased DA by 2 percent. States like Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh had also already approved a 2 per cent hike, while Bihar has implemented hikes ranging from 2% to 9% under different pay commissions. Maharashtra government has also given green signal to the payment of DA arrears worth Rs 800 crore.

Will there be a second increase in DA this year?

Even though no official announcement has been made yet, discussions have intensified among the employees regarding another big increase in DA. In June 2026, retail inflation has increased to 4.38% and food inflation has reached 5.32%. The latest trends of Labor Bureau’s All India Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (AICPI-IW) are also indicating a further increase in DA. In such a situation, it is expected that in the second half of the year, employees may get another big gift in the form of dearness allowance.