Central government employees have long been waiting for their July 2026 dearness allowance (DA) hike. They may have to wait longer, as the government hasn’t announced it yet.

The government didn’t hold its weekly Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, when an announcement on the DA hike was widely anticipated. However, the DA hike announcement doesn’t require a Cabinet meeting, as the Finance Ministry can also announce it independently.

Ever since the Labour Bureau on July 31 announced the All India Consumer Price Index (Industrial Workers) for June 2026, central government employees have been waiting for the DA hike announcement. Expectations have been particularly high this time, with employees hoping that the government would announce the hike at one of its October’s Cabinet meetings.

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In last Cabinet meeting on October 14, the government announced performance-linked bonus (PLB) for Railway employees, but didn’t say anything about the DA hike.

Two days later, on October 16, the Centre declared the non-performance-linked bonus for central government employees, but this time too, it didn’t touch upon the DA hike topic. The government didn’t even make any announcement ahead of Dussehra, which fell on October 20.

Officials associated with some employee associations predicted that the government might decide it after the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday (October 21). However, an official later told ET Wealth that no meeting took place on October 21.

Now, it is to be seen when the government announces it.

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DA hike order dates of last 5 years

Source: Finance Ministry

The government announces the DA hike twice a year. The hike depends on the 12-month average inflation index. For the January hike, the 12-month index reading is taken from January to December of the previous year.

For the July DA hike, the index is counted from July of the previous year to June of the same year.

Expected DA hike for July 2026

The current DA rate for central government employees is 60%. They will receive the hike as per the 12-month average retail inflation data (July 2025-June 2026). As per the average retail inflation, the estimated DA hike for July 2026 can be 3%, which can take the DA rate to 63%.

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Government employees’ protest for delay in DA hike

The Confederation of Central Government Employees and Workers, a prominent employees’ body, on October 16 also demonstrated a lunch-hour protest at workplaces to demand the DA hike announcement.

In its letter dated October 14 sent to the Cabinet secretary, central government, the confederation said that the demonstration was to urge the government to immediately declare the due instalment of DA and dearness relief (DR) with effect from July 1, 2026, for employees and pensioners and the announcement of ad-hoc and PLB bonus for the financial year 2025-26.

While the government announced the PLB the next day, it is yet to announce the DA hike.