Diwali bonanza to govt employees! Dearness allowance increased to 17% from 12%

The central government employees have received a big bonanza ahead of Diwali. Union Minister Prakash Javadekar, during a Cabinet briefing on Wednesday, said the Centre has hiked the dearness allowance by 5 per cent to 17 per cent from the current 12 per cent. "Under leadership of Prime Minister Modi, several decision have been taken and good news for govt employees is that Dearness Allowance has been hiked by 5%," the Union Minister said.

This was a long-pending demand of the government employees, and the increase is the biggest hike since the implementation of the 7th CPC recommendations in 2016. DA is a cost of living adjustment allowance --adjusted in line with inflation to compensate for price rise - that is calculated as a fixed percentage of a person's basic salary or pension.

The minister also said the Centre has decided that 5,300 displaced families (from PoK), who had settled in regions others than J&K but later come to the state, will also be provided Rs 5.5 lakh each. "This will provide justice to these displaced families," he added.

Javadekar also said the Cabinet had decided to relax mandatory requirement of Aadhaar seeding for release of benefits under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi untill November 30.