Punjab DA Hike: Punjab government has given Diwali gift to the government employees and pensioners of the state. Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann has announced an additional increase of 3 percent in Dearness Allowance (DA). This decision will benefit about 8 lakh government employees and pensioners of the state. After the increase, dearness allowance of employees will increase from 50 percent to 53 percent. At the same time, pensioners will also get the benefit of Dearness Relief (DR) in the same proportion.
The Chief Minister said that the increased dearness allowance will be applicable from November 1, 2026. Its benefit will be visible in the salary and pension received in the month of December. That means, employees and pensioners will be paid according to the increased rate in December. According to the government, this decision will provide financial benefits of about Rs 3,988 crore to the employees annually.
11 percent increase in DA in two months
Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann said that during the last two months, the state government has increased the dearness allowance by a total of 11 percent. In September, the government had announced an 8 percent increase in DA. Now it has been increased by another 3 percent. In this way the rate of dearness allowance in the state has increased to 53 percent.
According to the Chief Minister, at the time of formation of the government in the year 2022, the employees were getting dearness allowance at the rate of 28 percent. Since then, it has been increased by a total of 25 percent. He said that the recent 11 percent increase in dearness allowance will provide a benefit of about Rs 1,813 crore to employees and pensioners in the current financial year.
Information also given on the dues of the Sixth Pay Commission
During the press conference, the Chief Minister also gave information about the payment of dues related to the Sixth Punjab Pay Commission. He said that the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission were to be implemented from January 1, 2016, but they were implemented in July 2021. Due to this, dues of about Rs 14,191 crore were created from January 1, 2016 to June 30, 2021.
According to the Chief Minister, the state government has planned to pay this dues in a phased manner. Under this, the dues of pensioners were released on 1 April 2025. At the same time, payment of dues of serving government employees started from April 1, 2026. He said that till now a total of Rs 4,891 crore dues have been released. The remaining amount of about Rs 9,300 crore will also be paid.
71,777 youth got government jobs
Appreciating the contribution of government employees, Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann said that employees play an important role in making the administrative system and government schemes available to the common people. He said that employees and pensioners are important for the state government and efforts are made to find solutions to their demands through negotiations.
The Chief Minister also mentioned government recruitments. He said that during the last four years and nine months, 71,777 youth have been given jobs in various government departments of the state. According to him, these recruitments were based on merit and bribery or recommendation played no role in the selection process.
The latest increase of 3 percent in DA will increase the monthly income of lakhs of employees and pensioners of Punjab. The special thing is that its benefits will be considered applicable from November, while the increased amount will be given along with the salary and pension of December.
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