DA Hike: THIS state increases Dearness Allowance by 6% for govt employees

New Delhi: The Chhattisgarh government announced on Tuesday that the dearness allowance (DA) for its employees has been increased. The DA has been increased by 6% to 28% for employees under the 7th Pay Commission and 15% to 189% for those under the 6th Pay Commission. According to an official notification, the hikes will take effect on August 1, 2022.

According to the notification, state government employees have been receiving a 22% dearness allowance under the 7th Pay Commission and a 174% dearness allowance under the 6th Pay Commission since May 2022.Read More: Atal Bihari Vajpayee death anniversary: Here's looking at Modi govt's flagship Atal Pension Scheme that gives guaranteed pension of upto Rs 5000

The revised DA will be paid beginning August 1, 2022, according to the notification from the state government's finance department. "DA will be calculated based on basic pay." It will not include special and individual allowances." Read More: Ratan Tata backs senior citizen companionship startup Goodfellows with an undisclosed investment

If the DA amount is 50 paise or more, it will be rounded up to the nearest rupee. The amount less than 50 paise will be exempt.

An official told PTI that the raise will benefit at least 3.8 lakh state government employees while adding an additional burden of Rs 2,160 crore per year to the exchequer.

Last month, a federation of state government officers and employees went on strike for five days over various demands, including an increase in house rent allowance and dearness allowance.

It had announced that it would go on strike again on August 22 in order to press their demands. According to officials, on August 13, a delegation of the Chhattisgarh Karamchari Adhikari Mahasangh (CAKM) met with Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, who agreed to raise the DA by 6%.

According to them, the chief minister also stated that he would consider increasing the HRA on the basis of the 7th Pay Commission scale.

Unsatisfied with the 6% raise, CAKM regional convenor Kamal Verma stated that state employees had sought 34 percent DA and HRA as per the 7th Pay Commission scale, but both demands had not been met. According to a PTI report, he even made the 6% raise effective in August, when it should have been effective in July 2020.

"As previously announced, we will go on indefinite strike beginning August 22," Verma said.