Close on the heels of Karnataka announcing a four per cent hike in dearness allowance or DA for its employees, the Government of Tamil Nadu too has announced a four per cent hike in DA.
The increment in DA will benefit state-government employees, teachers and pensioners, who together number almost 16 lakh. The hike will be implemented with effect from 1 January 2024.
This increment will cause the DA to be 50 per cent, up from the previous 46 per cent, needless to say the financial pressure on the treasury will also increase. There will be extra expenditure of Rs 2,587.91 crore.
In October 2023, a four per cent hike in DA was announced by the Tamil Nadu government for its employees, teachers and pensioners. At the time, it was revealed that the disbursement of the same would result in an additional cost of over Rs 2,546 crore for the state government, which was already reeling under a funds crisis.
On 5 October, 2023, the Minister of School Education had declared an increase in salaries for 10,359 part-time teachers in Tamil Nadu, raising their pay from Rs 10,000 to Rs 12,500. Additionally, the government had also introduced a medical insurance scheme offering coverage of up to Rs 10 lakh.
Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are not the only states to have recently announced a DA hike. Government employees in Tripura were also granted a five per cent hike in DA, with pensioners also receiving a similar hike in dearness relief or DR.With this, the DA for Tripura government employees has reached 25 per cent.
