The Jharkhand government has recently boosted the dearness allowance (DA) and dearness relief (DR) for its state employees. The DA has now been raised to 50 per cent from the previous 46 per cent of their basic salary. The raise will be effective from 1 January of the current year.
This revision is poised to benefit approximately 1.90 lakh employees and pensioners throughout the state. Notably, in the event of a pensioner’s demise, the dearness relief will extend to their surviving family members.
Among the 30 proposals sanctioned during the cabinet meeting, the escalation of DA takes prominence. This increment will include retroactive payments for employees for the previous three months.
Additionally, the government has approved the hiring of Panchayat Secretariat volunteers on a contractual basis to man assistance desks at the village level, with a monthly remuneration of Rs 2,500.
Furthermore, the state government intends to incorporate 11 pilgrimage sites within Jharkhand and 30 sites nationwide under a scheme aimed at facilitating pilgrimages for individuals falling under the below poverty line (BPL) category.
The cabinet has given the green light for assessing house rent allowances for government employees and allocating funds for the construction of Jharkhand Bhawan in New Delhi.
The cabinet revealed that the DA hike alone will incur an expenditure of Rs 12,868 crore to the exchequer. It’s customary for both DA and DR to be adjusted twice a year, effective from January and July, respectively.
