DA Hike: Central government employees and pensioners are waiting for the increase in Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) from July 2026. Meanwhile, All India Defense Employees Federation (AIDEF) has demanded the central government to announce DA and DR soon. The organization has written a letter in this regard to the Cabinet Secretary and concerned ministries on 10 October 2026. Not only this, AIDEF has also reiterated the demand to increase the salary limit for performance linked bonus calculation of central employees from Rs 7,000 to Rs 21,000. If the government accepts this demand, then the amount of bonus received by the employees may increase significantly. Let us know in details…
How much can it increase from July dearness allowance
AIDEF has said in its letter that the prices of essential goods are continuously increasing. Due to this, financial pressure is increasing on central employees and pensioners. In such a situation, due to delay in announcement of DA and DR, concern is increasing among employees and pensioners. The organization has demanded from the government that due dearness allowance and dearness relief should be announced from July 1, 2026 without any further delay. This letter has also been sent to the secretaries of the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) and the Ministry of Labor and Employment. The Central Government usually revises Dearness Allowance and Dearness Relief twice a year. It is calculated on the basis of All India Consumer Price Index of Industrial Workers (AICPI-IW). At present, DA of central employees and DR of pensioners is 60 percent. Based on AICPI-IW data of June 2026, DA is estimated to increase to around 63 percent. However, the amount of the increase will be officially confirmed only after the government’s announcement.
Demand to increase the limit of Rs 7,000 to Rs 21,000
Along with DA-DR, AIDEF has also placed its demand before the government regarding the bonus of central employees. The organization wants the salary limit for performance linked bonus calculation to be increased from the current Rs 7,000 to Rs 21,000. At present, non-gazetted central employees are given performance linked bonus every year. Usually it is announced around Dussehra. this year Dussehra It is on 20th October, so the employees are also waiting for the announcement of bonus. AIDEF says that when the minimum salary is being talked about reaching around Rs 21,000, it is not right to maintain the old limit of Rs 7,000 for bonus calculation.
Demand for change in salary limit of bonus
AIDEF, citing the National Council (Staff Side)-Joint Consultative Machinery (JCM), has said that the salary limit for bonus calculation should not be less than the minimum basic pay of the Seventh Pay Commission and the DA available thereon. According to the organization letter, in reference to November 25, 2025, the total amount including minimum basic salary of Rs 18,000 and 58 percent DA i.e. Rs 10,440 comes to Rs 28,440. On this basis, the organization is demanding change in the salary limit of bonus. However, currently a limit of Rs 7,000 has been applied for bonus calculation. According to AIDEF, the Finance Ministry has also sought clarification from the Ministry of Labor and Employment in this matter as to what limit of minimum salary should be considered for bonus calculation from the financial year 2025-26. The organization has demanded that the limit for calculation of bonus should be increased to Rs 21,000 from the financial year 2025-26 itself and the bonus should be given to the employees according to the same revised limit.
How much bonus will you get if the limit is Rs 21,000?
If the government increases the salary limit for bonus calculation from Rs 7,000 to Rs 21,000, there may be a significant difference in the bonus amount received by employees. The estimated bonus as per the existing limit and the proposed new limit will be as follows:
– At a limit of Rs 7,000: 7,000 ÷ 30.4 × 30 = approximately Rs 6,908.
– At the limit of Rs 21,000: 21,000 ÷ 30.4 × 30 = approximately Rs 20,724.
That means, if the proposed changes are implemented, the bonus amount may increase from Rs 6,908 to Rs 20,724. According to this, employees can get approximately Rs 13,816 more. However, this calculation is an estimate based on the proposed salary limit. The actual bonus amount will depend on the final decision of the government and the applicable rules.
Employees are now waiting for the government’s decision
At present, the eyes of central employees and pensioners are on the official announcement of increase in DA-DR. At the same time, the demand to increase the salary limit for calculating bonus is also under discussion. If the government takes a decision in favor of the employees in both the cases, then they may get relief during the festive season. But currently the final decision is awaited in both the cases of approximately 3 percent increase in DA and increasing the bonus limit to Rs 21,000.
Source: www.livehindustan.com
