Chandigarh: Giving a Janmashtami gift to the Punjab government employees, the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann-led government has decided to use its powers to increase the Dearness Allowance (DA) from 42 percent to 60 percent for 85,000 employees recruited after July 17, 2020. Due to this, the D.A. of these employees. Will be equal to Central Government employees. This decision reflects the consistent position of the Government reiterated on various occasions and fora, that only those employees who are entitled to receive the benefit should get it and those employees who are not covered by the applicable provisions should not get the benefit.
Mann government kept its promise to stand with the employees
With this decision the government has once again ensured that Punjab Government employees remain among the highest paid employees in the country. The decision applies to employees recruited under the post-2020 rules, whose pay is based on the 7th Pay Commission pattern of the Central Government and which has not been revised through court orders.
A three-member Cabinet Sub-Committee headed by Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema, Industry and Commerce Minister Aman Arora and Social Security Minister Dr. Baljit Kaur has approved D.A. for the employees recruited after July 17, 2020. It has been recommended to increase it from 42 percent to 60 percent, which will now be sent to Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann for final approval.
This decision was announced by Industries and Commerce Minister and Aam Aadmi Party Punjab President Aman Arora during a press conference held at Punjab Bhawan. This step is applicable for the employees recruited before July 17, 2020 and getting higher salary and after this date in the 7th CPC of the Centre. Eliminates the difference between the employees recruited under the pay pattern.
Addressing the press conference, Industries and Commerce Minister Aman Arora said, “Employees are the backbone of good governance. Bhagwant Mann government has always stood by every employee for their rights and respect. Today on the auspicious occasion of Janmashtami, we are fulfilling another promise and ensuring that the new employees recruited after the year 2020 are given the same DA that they really deserve.”
The Industries and Commerce Minister said that the issue arose due to changes made in the salary structure of newly recruited employees. He further said, “In December 2020, the Punjab Cabinet had approved equating the pay scale/matrix for new recruitments and appointments made after July 17, 2020, at par with the Central Government's 7th Pay Commission scale. This created two broad categories of employees—existing employees, who already fall under the higher pay structure in Punjab, and new employees recruited after 2020, whose starting pay is equal to the Central Government's 7th Pay Commission scale. Based on CPC pattern.”
Mr. Aman Arora said, “Employees recruited before July 17, 2020 are getting the benefit of the higher basic pay scale of Punjab. However, employees recruited after this date were brought under the Central Pay Scale pattern, but they are getting only 42 percent DA of Punjab. This huge difference could not be ignored.”
He said that Punjab Government employees are already receiving much higher salaries than their Central Government counterparts. Employees of many important cadres are getting 30 per cent to 70 per cent more salary than their equivalent central government employees under the Punjab-specific pay scale. Aman Arora said, “But the situation is different for employees recruited under the post-2020 pay structure, as they do not get the higher Punjab entry pay scale on the lines of the old pay pattern. Therefore, the argument that lower DA can be compensated through higher basic pay has little application to this category.”
Aman Arora stressed that the AAP government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann has insisted that no employee of the Punjab government should get less salary than his/her equivalent employee of the central government. He said that the government has done recruitment on a large scale in recent years, which is providing employment opportunities to the youth of the state. Aman Arora said, “Our government has made it clear that Punjab employees will not be allowed to be disadvantaged compared to their central government counterparts. The increase in DA for employees from 2020 onwards is an honest step towards removing this disparity.”
The AAP Punjab chief said, “The Punjab government has presented its stand regarding DA of employees recruited after 2020 through a special leave petition filed by the state in the Punjab and Haryana High Court and later in the Supreme Court. This issue was also publicly reiterated by the cabinet ministers during the press conference on September 3, 2026.”
Launching a scathing attack on the opposition, Aman Arora challenged the Congress and the BJP, which are citing Article 14 of the Constitution to demand pay parity for Punjab government employees, and said, “If they really believe in Article 14 then before interfering in the affairs of Punjab they should ask them to bring the salaries and allowances of the employees of the states ruled by their parties at par with the Central government employees.”
Bhagwant Mann government has appointed D.A. for its employees. extended
Punjab already follows pay scales that are much higher than those of the Central Government. In many important cadres, the salaries are 30 percent to 70 percent higher than their central counterparts. However, while the employees recruited after July 17, 2020 were brought under the 7th Pay Commission pattern of the Central Government, they were given 42 percent D.A. Kept getting. This results in lower DA for this category. Rates became an important issue.
Punjab Government has now given 60 percent D.A. to those employees recruited after July 17, 2020. It has been decided to give, whose salary will be given in the Central 7th C.P.C. Pattern and which have not been modified through court orders. According to the fact sheet, 85,000 employees fall under this category. These include teachers, constables, clerks, nurses, health workers, medical officers, patwaris and junior engineers.
This decision will benefit approximately 85,000 employees recruited after 2020. These include 11,685 constables, 20,603 teachers, 5,144 clerks, 2,355 nurses, 2,267 peons, 1,467 multipurpose health workers, 1,248 medical officers (general), 1,214 patwaris and 1,129 junior engineers.