Navratri Gift: Odisha Govt Announces 4% Hike In DA For State Govt Employees, Pensioners

Odisha Government has announced a 4% hike in Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) for state government employees and retirees. With this hike, the DA for Odisha's government employees and the DR for pensioners has increased from 42% to 46%, reported PTI citing an official statement.

State government employees will be eligible to get this hike from July 1, 2023, retrospectively. The increased DA is said to benefit 4.5 lakh state government employees and 3.5 lakh pensioners in Odisha.

Before this, on Thursday the central government announced an increase in the DA for its employees by 4%, bringing it up to 46% of their basic salary. This came as a festive bonanza to thousands of central government employees ahead of Diwali.

Besides, non-gazetted railway staff will also get a bonus equivalent to 78 days of their salaries.

On Thursday, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur noted that this increase in DA and DR would benefit 48.67 lakh central government employees and 67.95 lakh pensioners, respectively.

This increase aligns with the accepted formula, based on the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission.

The combined impact on the exchequer from both Dearness Allowance and Dearness Relief (DR) would be Rs.12,857 crore per year. It is worth mentioning that the government has already approved Diwali bonuses for Group C and non-gazetted Group B level officials, which includes paramilitary forces.