9.9K views · 146 reactions | The Dearness Allowance of central government employees will be raised by five per cent, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said today, calling it a "Diwali gift". Some 50 lakh government employees will benefit from the move. | NDTV | Facebook

Dearness Allowance (DA) is paid by the government to its employees and Dearness Relief (DR) is given to the central government pensioners to compensate them for rising cost of living due to inflation.Because of the Coronavirus pandemic, the DA and DR which had been due on 1 January 2020; 1 July 2020; and 1 January 2021, had been frozen. After the Cabinet meeting on 15 th July, the Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur told reporters, “Earlier the percentage for DR & DA was 17%. Now