Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma on Friday approved a 3 per cent hike in dearness allowance (DA) for state government employees and dearness relief for pensioners, raising the rate from 55 per cent to 58 per cent with effect from July 1.
The move, announced ahead of Diwali, will benefit nearly 12.40 lakh beneficiaries, including 8 lakh employees and 4.40 lakh pensioners, an official release said. Employees of panchayat samitis and zila parishads will also be covered.
The chief minister approved the Finance Department’s proposal soon after the Centre raised DA for central government staff earlier this week. “On the chief minister’s directions, the state government has promptly cleared the hike for its employees and pensioners without delay,” an official statement said.
As per the order, the increased DA will be paid in cash with the salary for October, payable in November. The arrears for the three months from July to September will be credited to the employees’ General Provident Fund