SALARY HIKE ANNOUNCED - FINANCIAL GIFT for these government employees before Diwali; but no 7th CPC applicable here

Punjab state government employees have reasons to cheer. After central government increased the Dearness Allowance (DA) of its employees, Punjab government follows the suit. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has announced an increase in Dearness Allowance of its employees. The state government has hiked DA by three percent. This will benefit all the state government employees.

The increment in DA of these state government employees will be effective from November 1, 2019. The hike in DA will will come in the festive season, when people buy new clothes and other articles. This development came on the heels of central government's increase in DA of employees. This will cost Punjab government Rs 480 crore. Earlier, central government increased DA of its employees from 12 percent to 17 percent, effective from July 1, 2019.  Nearly 52 lakh central government employees and about the same number of pensioners would receive the benefit of 5 percent Dearness Allowance hike.

Indian Railways also recently announced 78 days bonus for its employees. These bonuses were  for non-non-gazetted group-B, group-C, and group D employees. About 12 lakh Railways employees were benefited from this move. Railways every year announces bonus for its non-gazetted employees.

However, central government employees demand of minimum salary increase over and above 7th Pay Commission recommendation has not yet found favour with the government. Central government employees were demanding a minimum salary hike from current Rs 18,000 to Rs 26,000.