The Odisha state government approved a 5% increase in dearness allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) for state government employees and pensioners on 23 July 2026, according to reports from Mint. The decision was officially announced on Thursday and will benefit employees drawing salaries under the pre-revised Odisha Revised Scales of Pay (ORSP) Rules, 2008, including teaching and non-teaching staff of government aided educational institutions, universities, subordinate judicial officers, work-charged employees and job contract workers. As per the official notification from the Odisha state finance department, the revised DA has been increased from 257% to 262% of combined basic and grade pay, effective from 1 January 2026. The move brings Odisha's DA for employees under the pre-revised pay structure in line with the Centre's revised DA for staff covered under the 6th Central Pay Commission.
The enhanced rate will come into effect retrospectively from January 1, 2026, with the official notification from the Odisha state finance department stating that arrears for the January to June 2026 period will be paid in cash, while adjustment for July will be made in the salary. The revised DA will be reflected in salaries for July 2026, with arrears for the period from February 2026 up to the month preceding implementation also being paid. The state government is expected to issue detailed guidelines for disbursing the arrears. The hike aligns with the Centre's DA increase and will be adjusted in the state's fiscal targets, with the revision approved after considering Odisha's financial position and its fiscal obligations under the Odisha Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act.
The enhanced DA will benefit state government employees under the ORSP Rules, 2008, employees of aided educational institutions, teaching and non-teaching staff of fully state-funded universities, subordinate judicial officers, work-charged employees receiving regular pay, and certain categories of job contract workers. Importantly, the benefit will also apply to employees who were in service under the ORSP Rules as on July 1, 2025, but retired or otherwise left service before the issuance of the latest order. Pensioners and family pensioners covered under the pre-revised pay rules will also receive the corresponding increase in Dearness Relief (DR), ensuring comprehensive benefits across all eligible categories.
According to Mint, earlier in May 2026, the state had hiked DA by 2% for other state government employees and pensioners, taking the component to 60% of basic pay from 58%. This affected around 8.5 lakh state government employees and pensioners. The temporary increase (TI) for pensioners was also raised by 2%, with the hike being paid along with the May salary. The latest 5% increase now extends these benefits to all employees and pensioners under the pre-revised ORSP Rules, 2008, with the decision coming after the Central government recently enhanced Dearness Allowance for employees under the 6th Central Pay Commission.
As reported by Mint, the Centre's DA hike has prompted similar increases across various sectors. The Indian Banks' Association hiked basic salaries between ₹48,000 to ₹1,17,000 and DA from ₹435 to ₹1,050 for workmen and officer employees across levels for May, June and July 2026. Indian Railways also hiked DA by 2%. Various state governments have implemented similar increases, with West Bengal hiking DA to 38% of basic salary, while Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh each approved 2% hikes taking the component to 60% of basic pay. Meanwhile, Bihar implemented 2% hike for staff under the 7th pay commission, 5% hike for employees under 6th CPC and 9% for staff under 5th CPC, and Maharashtra greenlit payment of ₹800 crore DA arrears under the 5th, 6th and 7th CPCs for November and December 2025, and January 2026.
