With Diwali around the corner, much joy is experienced by government employees in India. Recently, the central government raised the Dearness Allowance (DA), and a host of state governments have taken step forward to increase the amount they offer their employees as the routinary cost of living allowance.
Central Government Announcement
It is claimed that on 17th October, 2024, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi presided over a cabinet meeting in which it was resolved to increase DA for central employees and pensioners by 3%. This increase will increase the DA from 50% to 53% of the employee’s salary to be implemented from July 1, 2024.
Such adjustment will help over a crore of the central government employees and pensioners. Besides, they will also receive three months of arrears in their pending salaries hence this is a boost that comes in handy just before the festive seasons.
State Governments Join In
Five state governments have also announced DA increases for their employees, providing further support during these challenging times:
- Odisha: Public sector employees were given a 4% DA hike bringing total DA from 46% to 50% for which the state government sanctioned from January 1, 2024.
- Himachal Pradesh: The government of Himachal Pradesh led by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu agreed to enhance the Dearness Allowance for its employees and pensioners by 4% from January 1, 2023. It will also clear delayed medical expenses of employees, ahs well as pensions for the elderly.
- Jharkhand: The state government of Jharkhand has increased the DA by 9 percent from 230 percent to 239 percent from January 1, 2024.
- Chhattisgarh: The state employees got their DA hiked as the Chief Minister Vishnu Dev Sahay announced 4% DA raise making the total DA 50%.
- Sikkim: Before the Durga Puja festival started, Sikkim raised their DA for civil employees from 46% to 50% from the first of January twenty, twenty-four with a 4% DA increase.
A Festive Boost
These announcements are such a blessing for employees for this end of year Diwali celebration. The increased DA not only provides the money which is needed but also causes the stress from the growing living costs to be mitigated.
