NEW DELHI: The central government has clarified that it is not considering any proposal to merge dearness allowance (DA) or dearness relief (DR) with the basic pay of central government employees and pensioners. In a written reply to the Lok Sabha on Monday, minister of state for finance Pankaj Chaudhary said, "No proposal regarding merger of the existing Dearness Allowance with the Basic Pay is under consideration with the Government at present." The statement further stated that the government periodically revises DA/DR every six months to offset inflation. "In order to adjust the cost of living and to protect Basic Pay/Pension from erosion in real value on account of inflation, the rates of DA/DR are revised periodically every 6 months on the basis of All India Consumer Price In

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