Central and state government employees and pensioners are always eagerly waiting for the increase in Dearness Allowance (DA). It is very important in itself to see when and how this wait will end. Meanwhile, a big state of the country has announced a bumper increase in DA for its employees, which has brought a wave of happiness among millions of people there.
Punjab government made a big announcement to increase DA by 8 percent
We are talking about the state of Punjab, where the government has directly increased the dearness allowance by 8 percent for its government employees and pensioners. The official notification related to this decision has also been issued on Wednesday, after which the employees are relieved.
Increased dearness allowance will be applicable from September 1
This increased DA for Punjab government employees will be considered effective from September 1. Under this, all the employees will be given this increased additional amount along with their salary as per the prescribed government provisions. On the other hand, pensioners will also get the full benefit of increased DA as per their rules.
In the official statement issued by the Chief Minister's Office, it has been clearly stated that this decision of the government clearly shows its firm commitment to safeguard the welfare of employees and pensioners and their financial interests. The statement further said that the way household expenses and prices of essential commodities are skyrocketing these days, this increase in DA will provide great financial relief and support to employees and pensioners.
Effect of the meeting of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and employee leaders
Let us tell you that this big decision has been taken after an important meeting held recently between the representatives of employee organizations of Punjab and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. In that meeting, various issues related to employees were discussed in detail, in which the demand for increasing dearness allowance was at the top.
During that time, Chief Minister Mann had assured the employee representatives that all their legitimate demands would be considered with great sympathy and every possible appropriate step would be taken in the interest of the employees and pensioners. It was told in the official statement of the government that keeping this promise, the government has now issued a notification formally giving the green signal to the 8 percent increase in DA.
85,000 government employees of the state will get direct benefit of this decision.
For information, let us tell you that some time ago the Punjab government had announced that the DA of about 85,000 government employees recruited after July 17, 2020 will be increased by 18 percent to 60 percent. This announcement is being considered very important, because till now the employees who joined the service after July 17, 2020, were getting salary equal to the Central pay scale along with 42 percent dearness allowance.
This salary was much less than the employees who were recruited before July 2020 and who get salary as per the Punjab Pay Commission rules. The government also says that at present two types of pay scales are running in Punjab, due to which confusion and conflict often arise due to different interests. Among these, one is Punjab's own basic pay scale and the other includes the pay scale equal to the Seventh Pay Commission of the Centre.