New Delhi, March 7 -- The Central Government is likely to announce a dearness allowance (DA) and dearness relief (DR) hike of 2 per cent for its employees ahead of the festival of Holi (March 14, 2025), reported multiple media outlets.

According to a Moneycontrol report, more than 12 million central government employees and pensioners are set to benefit from this salary hike under the 7th Pay Commission, which was implemented on January 1, 2016.

As a result of this move, the employees' dearness allowance is set to increase to 55 per cent from its current 53 per cent level of basic pay. However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will announce the final decision in the Union Cabinet.

The last dearness allowance hike was in October 2024. Centr...