Odisha increases DA for govt employees by 3%

BHUBANESWAR: Ahead of the Lok Sabha and assembly elections in the state, the Naveen Patnaik government on Monday announced a hike of 3% in the dearness allowance (DA) of employees and dearness relief of pensioners. The latest hike has taken the DA of state government employees and pensioners to 12%, bringing it on a par with central government employees.
An official statement issued by the chief minister’s office said as many as seven lakh employees and pensioners will get the benefit of the hike, which will be implemented retrospectively from January 1, 2019.
The state government’s decision to hike the DA comes close on the heels of the central government increasing the same for its employees and pensioners by 3% on February 19.
S P Rath, joint secretary finance, said, “The DA for employees has been determined on the basis of consumer price index. There is a formula to calculate the DA. It is announced twice a year to be implemented from January and July, respectively. Generally all states follow the Centre in announcing the DA hike.”
The hike will put an extra burden of more than Rs 500 crore on the state exchequer, official sources said. The state government had last increased the DA by 2% on October 15 last year. “The hike in DA is like a pre-election bonanza for the employees and pensioners. Whatever may be the intention of the government, it will benefit the people concerned,” Gangadhar Udgata, a pensioner, said.
In a bid to woo voters, chief minister Naveen Patnaik had announced a hike of Rs 200 in the social security pension under Madhu Babu Pension Yojana (MBPY) last month, which would benefit more than 48 lakh elderly, physically challenged, widow and destitute women. After the hike, elderly persons above 60 years will get a revised old-age pension of Rs 500 per month and those above 80 years of age will get a pension of Rs 700 per month. The enhanced pension came into effect from February 15.