The state government of Punjab has increased the dearness allowance of its employees by 11% from 17% to 28%. This announcement was made by the Chief Minister of Punjab, Charanjit Singh Channi. According to him, this increase in dearness allowance is expected to put a burden of a sum of almost 440 crore INR per month on the state treasury.
According to the CM, he wanted to give a gift to all the employees of the state. This was the gift that was decided to be given to the state employees on the auspicious occasion of Diwali. As per Channi, the state employees are the backbone of the state administration. Hence, it is necessary to take their welfare as the highest priority. The dearness allowance is to be increased with effect from July.
The decision made after the cabinet meeting chaired by the CM himself is set to benefit nearly 4 lakh Punjab state department employees and 2 lakh of boards and corporations. Interestingly enough, this decision has been made just a few months before the upcoming Punjab State Legislative Assembly Election. As per Channi, most of the state employees’ issues have been resolved.
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To those who don’t know what a DA is, it stands for dearness allowance. In simple words, the dearness allowance is an allowance given to government employees to curb the effect of the inflation rate of the currency. This allowance is mainly given in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.
Another way to understand this is that it is the cost of living index the government pays its employees. DA is calculated as a fixed percentage of the employee’s salary. The very same percentage has been increased by 11% by the Punjab government. So, now Punjab state employees will get DA equal to 28% of their base salaries instead of 17%.
