Kozhikode: The Dearness Allowance (DA) for Central government employees may go up by 4 per cent soon and it will be applicable for the period from July through December this year. The likely hike will be 3 per cent for staff and teachers of state governments. A decision on the DA hike is expected in a Union Cabinet meeting this week.

The DA is being raised in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The annual average CPI has now increased from 351.33 points to 361.75 points. With this, the DA of Central government staff would increase to 38 per cent, while the state’s increase would be from 15 to 18 per cent.

The Union government’s announcement regarding the same is expected next month. There is no information yet on when the state government employees would get the DA hike.

Although Central government employees were getting their DA in full — 34 per cent — as applicable till last June, the state government staff were not allowed a DA increase for more than one-and-a-half years. As of now, they get only 7 per cent DA.

DA arrears from last year January through this June in 3 instalments (2 per cent, 3 per cent, 3 per cent) remain pending. Once the new DA rise is effected, the pending DA arrears would rise to 11 per cent.