Chhattisgarh government which is passing through a phase of shortage of funds due to strained relations with centre, took a major decision in the welfare of its employees and announced a 5% hike in Dearness Allowance (DA). With this increase, employees falling in the seventh pay scale bracket will get 33 percent DA and those in the sixth pay scale will get 201 percent DA, a government statement said on Friday.
On the instructions of Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, the Finance Department issued an order for a hike in DA on Friday, a government press release said.
The increased rate of DA will be effective from the current month of October. The amount of increment in DA will be paid in cash from October 1, 2022. With the increment of five percent in DA, those who receive salary under the seventh pay scale in the state will get 33 percent dearness allowance. This order to increase the dearness allowance will also be applicable for UGC, AICTE and contingency salary employees, an official communiqué said.
The state government has increased the dearness allowance by 12 percent for the salary earners from the sixth pay scale. Now they will get 201 percent dearness allowance instead of 189 percent dearness allowance. The Finance Department has issued a circular regarding the increment in dearness allowance to all the concerned departments.
The 5 percent hike in DA is the Government's gift to employees before Diwali, the release said.
Government employee and labour unions welcomed the decision of the Baghel government and said, it was a long pending demand and the government finally approved it.
To raise the DA several labour unions were continuously pressing demands, staged state-level protests, and took out rallies.
Congress also thanked the government for the decision. Meanwhile, the major opposition party BJP criticized the move and said, despite there being a hike in DA, it is still falling short by 5% in comparison to central government employees.
