Acceding to the demand of state employees and pensioners, the Punjab Cabinet led by Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Monday on Monday decided to enhance 11 per cent Dearness Allowance (DA) from the existing 17 per cent to 28 per cent from 1 July, 2021.
Later speaking to reporters, the CM said the employees are the backbone of the state administration and reiterated his government’s firm commitment to accord the highest priority to their welfare.
He said with this decision, the state government would have to bear an additional monthly burden of Rs 440 Crore on account of enhanced DA.
Channi said that the state government has resolved most of employees’ issues to their satisfaction and resultantly they have called off their strike and resumed the work with immediate effect.
He also announced that the employees’ who were recruited after 1 January, 2016 would also be given the benefit of minimum 15 per cent increase in the revised pay at par with other employees. However, the pay of junior employee would not be fixed higher than of his senior while fixing the revised pay.
Channi said that the representatives of various employees associations has assured him that they would not follow the path of agitation rather get their issues/demands resolved through mutual discussions across the table.