April Fool prankster 'announces' dearness allowance hike

April Fool prankster 'announces' dearness allowance hike: Business Standard

Millions of central government employees were taken for a ride on April Fool's Day by an office memorandum from the ministry of finance that the much-awaited dearness allowance had been increased by eight percentage points, higher than the expected six percentage point increase.

The memorandum, numbered 1/2/2015-E.11 (B), dated March 30, 2015, and duly signed by an undersecretary in the department of expenditure, said the President was pleased to decide that the dearness allowance payable to central government employees shall be enhanced from the existing rate of 107 per cent to 115 per cent with effect from January 1, 2015.

Dearness allowance based on the consumer price index till December is usually announced around March and is applicable from three months before that, which is January.

The order reviewed by Business Standard looked like a genuine memorandum with five paragraphs explaining the nuances and the categories of employees who would benefit. It spread joy across departments and ministries. But the cheer was short-lived. Within hours, the department of expenditure issued a clarification saying the memorandum was fake and no such instructions had been issued by the ministry.

"Accordingly, all ministries, departments and central government offices are hereby advised not to take cognisance of these fake instructions being circulated in government offices," the clarification posted on the website of the finance ministry said.

 

Though the government was quick to spot the mistake, which concerned thousands of government employees, questions remain how such an authentic office memorandum was drafted and issued without necessary checks.

"Usually, matters related to an increase in the dearness allowance need Cabinet approval. We became suspicious as soon as the order came because there was no information of a Cabinet clearance," an official in the department of information and broadcasting said.

"It was a prank. Someone just took an old notification and changed the dates and the numbers in the text. That is easy to do," another official from the finance ministry said.

He said most Indian Administrative Service officers who saw the notification figured it was a fake, but lower-ranking officials were hoodwinked. The matter is being investigated in the finance ministry.

Read at: Business Standard

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Cabinet may approve 6% DA on Thursday

Cabinet may approve 6% DA on Thursday

The Union Cabinet approval for the 6% rise in the Dearness Allowance for the Central Government employees is expected to be announced on coming Thursday.

It is a well-known fact that every six months, the Central Government increases the Dearness allowance for its employees during the months of January and July. The increased amount is calculated on the price index (CPI IW BY 2001=100) of essential commodities. Rise in the Dearness allowance is being calculated on the basis of the changes in the prices of the essential commodities during the periods between January and June and the period between July and December.

But, it takes around three months since the release of the price index for the months of June and December to arrive at the calculation for the increase in the Dearness allowance. With the result that the increase due from the month of July is being given only from the month of October and the amount due from January is being given only from the month of April.

And, because of this situation, the amount due for the left-behind period of two months is to be settled as arrears. Practical problems arise in the calculation of the arrears amount and also problem arises in clarifying the doubts of the beneficiaries. Pensioners especially, are more tensed up over this procedure.

To avoid this situation, the price index during the periods from November to April and from May to October can be taken into account and the increase in the Dearness allowance calculated based on the information relevant to these periods. The amount can be disbursed from the months of January and July as per this calculation so that there’s no due as arrears.

We imaginatively tested this method to find out the result. It was found out that there was no tangible change in the increase amount if calculated on the basis of the price index obtained during the months of April and October.

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All central government employees are waiting for the announcement of Dearness allowance

Dearness Allowance is not only important for Central Government employees but also for all the State Government employees.

As we all know, generally, Dearness Allowance is given twice a year based on the inflation rates.

Mostly, this DA has been released at end of February or March. Occasionally, it has been released in the month of April.

Only after the DA for the Central Government employees is announced, most of the State Governments will make DA announcements. After the approval of the Cabinet, the Finance Minister will announce the DA order.

The pensioners have placed a plea to the government to release the DR Relief order also when it announces the Dearness Allowance in order to avoid possible delays in getting DR Relief.

In this scenario, it is natural for the employees to expect the announcement of DA every day. Let us hope that the announcement will come soon.

Source-http://www.geod.in/da-order/announcement-of-dearness-allowance/

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Will there be a HIKE in 6% DA this week?

The Union Cabinet is likely to approve hiking dearness allowance (DA) to 113 per cent from existing 107 per cent benefiting 30 lakh central government employees and 50 lakh pensioners in its meeting scheduled in this week.

“The Union Cabinet will take a proposal to hike Dearness allowance for its employees and dearness relief for its pensioners to 113 per cent in next week as per agenda listed for the meeting,” a source said. The hike in DA would be effective from the January 1st this year.

As per practice, the government uses Consumer Price Index- Industrial Workers ( CPI-IW) data of the past 12 months to arrive at a quantum for the purpose of any DA hike.

Thus, the CPI-IW from January 1st to December 31st, 2014 would be used to take a final call on the matter.

The CPI (IW) of the months January, February, March, April, May, June and July were 237, 238, 239, 242, 244, 246 and 252 respectively.

The consumer price index -industrial workers (CPI-IW) remained stationery at 253 for last five months August to December, 2014.

“The average of the consumer price index -industrial workers (CPI-IW) from January 1st, 2014 to December 31st, 2014 works out to be 6.3 per cent. Thus the Central government will hike dearness allowance for it employees by 6 per cent,” the source added.

However, the employees’ bodies are pressing hard to merger of 50 percent DA with basic pay but it has not been given heed by the seventh Pay Commission as well as the government.

The merger of 50 percent DA was discontinued in the Sixth Pay Commission but the Fifth Pay Commission had recommended that if the DA crosses more than 50 percent then it should be clubbed with the basic pay.

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Cabinet likely to be approved 6% DA in this week for CG Employees and Pensioners

Cabinet likely to be approved 6% DA in this week for CG Employees and Pensioners

6% DA likely to be approved in this week for CG Employees and Pensioners – 6% Dearness Allowance from Jan 2015 to be approved in the coming week for Central Govt Employees and Pensioners.

As per media source, 6% of additional Dearness Allowance from Jan 2015 to all CG Staff and Pensioners is expeceted to approve in the cabinet meeting which will be held on Thursday this week.

Now all CG Employees and Officers are getting 107% as Dearness Allowances. With this hike the DA will be 113% with effect from 1.1.2015.

As per practice, arrears from January to March 2015 will be paid in cash in the month of April.

As most of the state Governments follow central pattern for Dearness Allowance, employees and pensioners of various state are also waiting for the same as DA approval.

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Central government employees are likely to get 6% DA w.e.f January 2015

DA for January 2015

Presently, the AICPIN value for the month of December has been released.(253) We need the AICPIN value for the past 12 months in order to calculate how much DA we will get in January 2015. Accordingly, the AICPIN value of all the twelve months has been released now. I have provided the data for your reference below:

Table showing AICPIN value of the past 12 months

Jan-14	237
Feb-14	238
Mar-14	239
April-14	242
May-14	244
Jun-14	246
July-14	252
Aug-14	253
Sep-14	253
Oct-14	253
Nov-14	254
Dec-14	253

In the above table, we can see that the AICPIN value for a period of fIVE months has remained constantly at 253. If we calculate the DA, based on the AICPIN value of twelve months, we arrive at a DA value of 113%. When we compare this DA percentage with the previous one, we find that it has increased by 6%. It is expected that this 6% DA increase will be officially released in the end of February or first week of March after it is approved by the Cabinet.

DA CALCULATION TABLE

Jan-14	237	2802	233.50	117.74	101.71
Feb-14	238	2817	234.75	118.99	102.79
Mar-14	239	2832	236.00	120.24	103.87
Apr-14	242	2848	237.33	121.57	105.02
May-14	244	2864	238.67	122.91	106.17
Jun-14	246	2879	239.92	124.16	107.25	107
Jul-14	252	2896	241.33	125.57	108.47
Aug-14	253	2912	242.67	126.91	109.63
Sep-14	253	2927	243.92	128.16	110.71
Oct-14	253	2939	244.92	129.16	111.57
Nov-14	253	2949	245.75	129.99	112.29
Dec-14	253	2963	246.92	131.16	113.30	113

The DA that we will get for the month of July 2015 will depend on the AICPIN value that is released between the months of January 2015 to June 2015.

Source-http://www.7thpaycommissionnews.com/

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Expected Dearness Allowance from Jan 2015 for Central Govt Employees and Pensioners, almost confirmed 6% increase

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Expected DA from Jan 2015 – Comparison of DA Calculation from 2006 to 2014

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