Amidst the worker’s protest in Noida, another nationwide protest is taking shape over the delay in Dearness allowance and dearness relief hike news.
A letter written to the Cabinet Secretary on April 14 by Confederation of Central Government Employees & Workers (CCGEW) states that central government employees and pensioners will hold a nationwide protest today (April 16) over the delay in announcement.
CCGEW has said that it will stage observe a lunch-hour protest at workplaces across the country along with its affiliated unions.
It may be noted that on April 8, S.B. Yadav, Secretary General of CCGEW wrote to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman seeking the expedition of DA/DR order. He sought the FM’s personal intervention in the matter.
“The Confederation of Central Government Employees and Worker’s would like to draw your kind attention towards non declaration of due installments of DA/DR w.e.f. 01.01.2026, normally it used to be declared In the last week of March and Arrears of the three months paid in first week of April every year. Severe discontent and apprehensions is there amongst the Employees and Pensioners, over delay in declaration of the same. The Confederation beseech your personal intervention in the matter and request to your good self to kindly cause the Declaration/issuance of the DA/DR orders at the earliest,” Yadav wrote in the letter.
Millions of central government employees and pensioners are getting curious awaiting the announcement of the Dearness Allowance increase for the January-June cycle.
The government typically announces DA hikes twice a year, once in March for the January-June period and again in September/October for the July-December period. However, there has not been an official announcement this time in March which has raised curiosity and discussion among employees. The DA revision is now expected in April 2026.
Break from previous years’ pattern on DA hike
In contrast to the past decade when the January cycle revision has almost always been cleared in March, there has been a delay in the DA hike announcement this year. In 2025 the DA hike announcement was made on March 28 while in 2024 the DA hike announcement was made on March 7. In 2023 the DA hike announcement was made on March 24 while in 2022 it was announced on March 30. Employees were expecting that the government would announce DA hike in March based on the past trends of such announcements but this did not happen. Employees are expecting that the government may soon announce the DA raise for 2026.
