Bihar hikes DA, DR for over 11 lakh employees, pensioners

The Bihar government on Friday approved a hike in Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) for state employees and pensioners across different pay commissions.

The decision was taken during a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. According to Additional Chief Secretary (Cabinet Secretariat) S Siddharth, employees and pensioners under the 7th Pay Commission will now receive DA and DR at 55%, following a 2 percentage point increase.

Dearness allowance, also known as cost-of-living adjustment, is given to government employees and pensioners to assist them in managing the impact of inflation and increasing prices. The allowance is determined as a percentage of the base salary or pension and is updated regularly.

IT was declared for those under the 6th Pay Commission, the DA and DR have been increased by 6 percentage points to 252%. Beneficiaries under the 5th Pay Commission will see an 11 percentage point rise, pushing their DA and DR to 466%.

The revision will benefit over 5 lakh government employees and more than 6 lakh pensioners and will be effective from January 1, 2025, officials confirmed.

In other news, the Supreme Court has instructed the West Bengal government to provide a 25% Dearness Allowance to state government employees. Justices Sanjay Karol and Sandeep Mehta issued an interim order mandating the payment to be made within three months, with the next hearing scheduled for August.

The disagreement arose when some state government employees sought parity in DA with their central government counterparts, along with arrears, and took their case to the Calcutta High Court. In May 2022, the high court ruled in favor of the employees, directing the state government to pay DA at the central government rate.

Subsequently, the West Bengal government appealed this decision in the Supreme Court in November 2022.

The West Bengal government has made several announcements regarding incremental increases in DA but has yet to equal the rates set by the central government, resulting in a gap of 37%. Central government employees receive 55% DA, while West Bengal state government employees currently receive 18% DA after a recent 4% increase to the existing 14% on April 1, 2025. This discrepancy has led to widespread dissatisfaction among state government employees.

(With PTI inputs)