The Holi this year will be brighter than the usual for lakhs of government employees in Chhattisgarh. In a touching move by the Vishnudev Sai-led government, the employees were gifted a 3% increase in Dearness Allowance (DA) just before the festival. With this increase, the DA of state employees has increased to 53%, effective from March 2025.
This means that, now, the overhead cost for these employees has increased from 50% to 53%. Over 3 lakh employees across the state are set to benefit from this decision, which comes as a much-needed relief amid rising inflation.
Budget Announcement: An Encouragement for Employees
Chhattisgarh Finance Minister OP Choudhary presented the assembly a budget of ₹1.65 lakh crores, which also contained the fabulous DA increase. The move is all ready with promises towards financial stability and greater purchasing power for the employee sets. Revised DA begins with the salary of the employees to March 2025, payable in April.
How Much Will Salaries Go Up?
A 3% increase in the Dearness Allowance will bring about noticeable increases in the take-home pay of state government employees. For instance:
Where the basic pay of an employee is ₹20,000, he has been getting ₹10,000 as DA previously when it was at 50%.
The new DA is 53%, leading to a monthly payment of about ₹10,600 with additional ₹600 in payments.
Thus, greater benefits will be enjoyed by those with higher basic salaries, enhancing the financial safety net around their dependents.
Another Festive Trend: The Second DA Hike in Months
This is the second big DA hike during recent months by the Chhattisgarh government. It had earlier hiked DA by 4% during the previous month, taking it to 50%. These two back-to-back hikes are indicative of the focus that the government has on the welfare of its employees, and the times when it wants to support people during economic disaster are also shown here.
Educated by Example with the Central Government
With this increase, the DA rate at Chhattisgarh is now equal to the central government’s 53%. This is indeed a proud moment because, in most cases, the state government fails to keep pace with the Centre while revising the rates of DA. But, further reports suggest that the Central Government would probably announce further hike of DA effective from January 2025 that could again create a gap.
Who Gets the Benefit?
More than 3 lakh employees, including the officers, teachers, health workers, and others comprising the government workers, will benefit from the move. However, the ripple effect of the hike will go up to most of the members of the families and dependents indirectly, thus helping a larger section of the population in the state.
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