Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has announced a 4 percent hike in dearness allowance for government employees. With this, the DA has increased from 34 percent to 38 percent with effect from December 1. This will benefit 3.25 lakh employees and 3.50 lakh pensioners in the state.

A decision in this regard was taken following a meeting with the representatives of the Punjab State Ministerial Services Union (PSMSU) here. During the meeting, Mann discussed various demands of the employees.

"Had a meeting with the representatives of Punjab State Ministerial Service Union today and discussed their issues in detail ... Sharing the good news that we are going to give a new year gift to the employees...DA is increased by 4% which will be considered effective from 1st December 2023," Mann said in a post on X.

After the meeting, PSMSU president Amrik Singh said the chief minister announced giving 4 percent DA to state government employees. The chief minister has assured that the remaining 8 percent DA will also be given, he added.

On the issue of restoration of the old pension scheme, Mann said the state government will flag this issue with the Union government.

In a statement, Mann said a meeting will be arranged with the Secretary, Finance, Government of India to further push up the case.

The Labour Bureau's newest Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW) is the basis for calculating dearness allowance for both employees and pensioners each month.

The employees had been demanding implementation of the old pension scheme, release of pending 12% DA, and regularisation of the services of contractual employees.

The PSMSU on Sunday suspended their over a month-long pen-down strike which began on November 8. They suspended their strike after they received the call for a meeting with the chief minister.

Image source: ANI