Andhra Pradesh DA hike brings relief for government employees as the state government has announced two long-pending increases in dearness allowance.
The benefit will cover government employees, university staff and local body employees.
The revised dearness allowance will be paid from October 2026, while the arrears related to the hikes will be paid separately according to the government order.
Andhra Pradesh DA Hike Raises Allowance by 4.55%
The Andhra Pradesh government, led by Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, has issued orders for two separate DA increases. Under the first order, the DA has been increased from 37.31% to 40.04%, a rise of 2.73 percentage points.
The first increase will be effective from July 1, 2024. As a result, employees will also become eligible for the applicable arrears from this period.
Under the second order, the government has approved another 1.82 percentage point increase. This takes the DA rate from 40.04% to 41.86%.
The second increase will be effective from January 1, 2025. Together, the two orders raise the dearness allowance by 4.55 percentage points.
DA Arrears Will Be Paid in Installments
The orders will also create a long-pending arrears liability for eligible employees. According to the information provided, employees will receive 26 months of DA arrears.
The arrears will not be paid all at once. The state government will release the amount in installments during 2027 and 2028.
For employees covered under the old pension scheme, the arrears will be credited to their General Provident Fund accounts.
The revised allowance and arrears are expected to provide financial relief to employees who have been waiting for the pending DA revisions.
What Central Government Employees Are Waiting For
Dearness allowance for central government employees is generally revised twice a year, with revisions linked to January and July periods.
The January revision is usually announced around Holi, while the July revision is generally announced around October or Diwali.
The central government had recently increased DA by 2 percentage points, taking it from 60% to 62%. Employees are now waiting for the next revision for the July period.
Amid current inflation pressures, employees are expecting another increase of around 3% to 4%. If such an increase is approved, the DA could move from 62% to around 65% or 66%.
The Andhra Pradesh DA hike is separate from the central government DA revision and applies to employees covered by the state government’s orders.
