DA hike: Sikkim increases dearness allowance by 2% for employees and pensioners, arrears to come before Dashain

DA hike: Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang on Saturday announced that the state government is hiking Dearness Allowance (DA) for employees and Dearness Relief (DR) for pensioners by 2% each, applicable from 1 January 2026, according to a PTI report.

Speaking at Paljor Stadium in Gangtok on 15 August, CM Tamang said the arrears will be paid before Dashain 2026, it added. The religious festival will be celebrated from 11 to 21 October, this year.

The announcement came during the 80th Independence Day celebrations in the state capital, which was attended by ministers, MLAs, government officials and senior police officers, among others, as per the report.

DA and DR are a percentage of basic salary aimed at mitigating the rising cost of living for government employees and pensioners . Reviewed twice a year, new announcements are usually made annually in March and October, with rollouts in July the same year and January in the next year.

As a component of basic salary, it impacts increase in base pay and further affects the other components of compensation, such as provident fund contributions, pension, allowances, gratuity, and more. Thus, higher DA, especially given DA merger demands, could lead to a substantial and automatic increase in overall pay and, consequently, in the other dependent allocations.

Tamang said the welfare of the people and fulfilling their aspirations would remain his government's top priority, adding that his government had remained focused on development, with the people's trust serving as its “greatest source of strength and inspiration”, the report added.

“From the very beginning, we have remained committed to placing the needs and aspirations of our citizens at the heart of governance and working tirelessly to build Sikkim as a model state. As we proudly hoisted our Tricolour high, we reaffirmed our collective resolve to build a ‘Sunaulo, Samriddha and Samarth’ (golden, prosperous and empowered) Sikkim," he said.

The chief minister added that the state had received a number of prestigious recognitions in recent times and attributed the achievements to the collective efforts of its people.

Jocelyn Fernandes is a journalist and editor with nearly 13 years of experience covering the business, corporate, economy and markets beats in news.<br> As chief content producer for around three years at Livemint (Hindustan Times), Jocelyn publishes breaking stories, explainers, features and live blogs on a range of business and economy topics, including the Budget, corporate developments, stock markets, income tax, money and personal finance, cryptocurrency, government policy, impact of US tariffs, international developments and more.<br> Jocelyn's writing philosophy is focused on delivering news in an accurate and accessible format for readers.