A very wonderful and big good news has emerged for the government employees and pensioners of Punjab. The state government has officially announced a bumper increase of 8 percent in the Dearness Allowance (DA) of the employees. This big decision of the government is going to provide huge financial relief to lakhs of employees across Punjab. The state finance department has also issued an official notification in this regard on Wednesday.
After this new and explosive change, the DA of the employees has now directly increased to 50 percent of their basic pay from the existing 42 percent. The best part is that this increased dearness allowance has become effective from September 1, 2026, and it is fully expected that the employees will start getting this increased benefit along with this month's salary.
Strict instructions issued by the Finance Department
According to the order issued by the Finance Personal-I Branch of the Finance Department of Punjab Government, this increase has been approved to reduce the impact of ever increasing inflation and to make the life of the employees easier. Copies of this order have been sent to all Special Chief Secretaries, Additional Chief Secretaries, Financial Commissioners, Principal Secretaries, Administrative Secretaries, heads of various departments, Divisional Commissioners, Deputy Commissioners and other concerned officers for smooth implementation.
Apart from this, the Finance Department has given strict instructions to all the District Treasury Officers across the state to ensure that this month's salary of the employees is paid as per the revised DA rate i.e. 50 percent. This step of the government will directly benefit the regular employees serving in various government departments and institutions of Punjab.
Universities and many big institutions will also benefit
Not only general government departments but also many big state-run universities have been included in the scope of this DA increase of the state government. The Finance Department has also sent official information about this decision to these universities.
These institutions mainly include Punjab Agricultural University of Ludhiana, Punjabi University of Patiala, Guru Nanak Dev University of Amritsar, Panjab University of Chandigarh, IK Gujral Punjab Technical University of Jalandhar, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University of Ludhiana, Baba Farid University of Health Sciences of Faridkot and Guru Ravidas Ayurved University of Hoshiarpur.
Along with this, copies of this notification have also been sent to Accountant General (Audit) Punjab, Accountant General (A&E) Punjab, Punjab Bhawan in New Delhi and other important offices including Public Relations Department. It is believed that this decision will provide immediate financial strength to government employees as the increased portion will be added to this month's salary.
Government's statement on Tuesday and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's big step
Just before this on Tuesday, the state government had said that it is fully committed to the welfare of all its employees and pensioners. The government had also clarified that the matter of outstanding DA and Dearness Relief (DR) is currently going on in the Supreme Court and whatever decision of the court comes, it will be fully applicable to all the parties. The government had appealed that all concerned should fully respect the judicial process and wait for the decision of the Supreme Court.
Despite all these legal and administrative circumstances, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has taken a big and commendable step keeping the interests of employees and pensioners paramount and has announced a full 8 percent increase in DA. After this increase, DA has increased to 50 percent, which will put a financial burden of about Rs 3,000 crore annually on the government exchequer.