Tripura has announced a 5% increase in Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) for state government employees and pensioners, effective from 1 April 2026. According to reports from Mint, Chief Minister Manik Saha made the announcement last Monday, increasing the DA component of basic pay to 41%. The hike will benefit 1,02,563 state government employees and 81,019 pensioners across the state.
The state government will spend an additional ₹500 crore annually to provide the 5% DA increase to the government workforce, as reported by Mint. State finance minister Pranajit Singha Roy indicated that around ₹15,000 crore will be spent to meet salaries and pension out of Tripura's total budget of ₹34,212.31 crore for FY2026-27. This decision comes after various states including Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, and Bihar announced similar 2% DA and DR hikes for their respective employees and pensioners.
Senior Congress MLA Sudip Roy Barman criticised the CM for announcing the DA hike after the finance minister's budget speech, according to Mint. He stated that while the government's decision to declare a 5% hike in DA for employees is welcome, the timing was against the spirit of assembly proceedings. The finance minister could have mentioned it in his budget speech instead of being announced separately.
The Finance Ministry hiked DA for central government employees by 2% effective from 1 January 2026, as reported by Mint. Indian Railways also revised DA and DR for employees and pensioners by 2% effective from 1 January 2026, taking the component to 60% of basic pay from 58% earlier. The Indian Banks' Association (IBA) revised DA for bank employees for May, June and July 2026, with DA increases ranging from ₹435 to ₹1,050 for basic salaries between ₹48,000 and ₹1,17,000.
Three major employee representatives have submitted detailed proposals to the 8th Central Pay Commission (CPC) seeking substantial overhaul of salaries and allowances. The National Council – Joint Consultative Machinery (NC-JCM) wants DA tweaked with an inflation-linked wage model, while the Maharashtra Old Pension Organisation seeks minimum 4% DA hike and DA merger at 50%. The All India Defence Employees Federation (AIDEF) wants DA tweaked with inflation-adjusted compensation demands. Around 50 lakh central government employees and 65 lakh retired central government pensioners are set to be impacted by the 8th CPC's decisions.
