Why central government employees want DA merged with basic pay
Central government employees and pensioners are asking for their Dearness Allowance (DA) to be merged with Basic Pay now that the 7th Pay Commission has wrapped up.
With inflation rising and the next big pay review not coming until late 2027, many feel merging DA into base salary would help them keep up with daily expenses.
The January-June 2026 DA hike will be the first revision outside the 7th Pay Commission's framework; DA/DR are calculated using the AICPI-IW inflation index.
What the government says (and a bit of history)
The government isn't on board with the merger idea, saying regular DA increases based on inflation already offer enough support.
Employee groups disagree, arguing that merging DA would boost both salaries and future raises.
This debate isn't new—past commissions have gone back and forth on it—but for now, only scheduled DA hikes are in place until new rules arrive.