DA Hike: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has made a major announcement. He announced a 3% DA increase for state employees, teachers, and pensioners . This revision will take effect on July 1, 2025. The DA will then increase from 55% to 58%.
16 lakh employees and pensioners benefited
This decision will benefit approximately 1.6 million employees and pensioners. However, it will impose an annual burden of approximately ₹1,829 crore on the state government. Stalin said that government employees and teachers play a vital role in implementing schemes at the grassroots level, so the government is committed to their well-being, regardless of financial pressures.
Big bets before the elections
Tamil Nadu is scheduled to hold assembly elections in 2026. This decision is considered politically significant. The DMK government has been facing increasing pressure from employees, as it had promised to restore the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) as part of its election promise, but this has not been fulfilled.
Direct relief in wages
DA is a portion of salary paid to employees to protect them from inflation. When inflation rises, the government increases DA . The central government also announced a 3% DA/DR increase for its employees and pensioners before Diwali, which will increase annual expenditure by approximately ₹10,083 crore.
These states have already given gifts to the employees
Before Tamil Nadu, several states had announced DA increases for Diwali. In Himachal Pradesh , Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu announced a 3% increase in DA for employees and pensioners. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced a 3% increase in dearness allowance (DA) for government employees and pensioners.
In Jharkhand, the Hemant Soren government increased DA from 55% to 58%. In Uttarakhand, the Dhami government also announced a 3% increase in DA for employees. In Madhya Pradesh, CM Mohan Yadav’s cabinet increased DA and DR by 2%.
In Bihar , Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced a 3% increase in dearness allowance (DA) for state employees. In Rajasthan, Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma also announced a 3% increase in dearness allowance.
