DA, Bonus hike: Good news for government employees. Ahead of the Diwali festival, Uttarakhand’s Dhami government has given a Diwali gift to the employees. Dearness allowance has been increased from 50 percent to 53 percent. Along with this, the order of Diwali bonus has also been issued. On Tuesday, more than three lakh employees and pensioners of the state received the gift of a dearness allowance hike.

DA and Bonus Hike

With this announcement of the Dhami government, workers are now very happy naturally. The Pushkar Singh Dhami government has given great relief to about two lakh government employees of the state in the form of an increase in dearness allowance and bonus on the festival of Diwali. Dearness allowance of about 1.5 lakh employees of regular, full-time, and work-charged employees of government, aided educational and technical educational institutions, and urban local bodies has been increased by 3%.

These employees taking the seventh pay scale will now get a 53 percent dearness allowance instead of 50 percent. On the other hand, the government has also issued orders to give Rs 6908 as an ad hoc bonus to employees working up to 4800 grade pay.

Govts big announcement

On Tuesday, Finance Secretary Dilip Jawalkar issued orders to increase the dearness allowance. Employees taking the seventh revised pay scale will be given an increased dearness allowance from July 1. From July 1 to September 30, the arrears of the increased allowance will be paid in cash. From October 1, it will be added to the regular salary. The payment of enhanced dearness allowance will cost the exchequer about Rs 400 crore annually. The monthly salary of the employees will increase from about Rs 1000 to Rs 8000. This order will not automatically apply to High Court judges, the Chairman of the State Public Service Commission, or members and employees of public undertakings. The concerned departments will issue separate orders for them.

Assuming the maximum limit of ad-hoc bonus is Rs 7000, the bonus for 30 days will be given a maximum of Rs 6908. The benefit of a bonus will be given to those employees who were in service on March 31, 2024, and who have put in continuous service for a minimum of six months. Employees with six months to one year of service will get a bonus according to their service ratio. Daily wage employees who have worked at least 240 days every year in the last three years will be eligible for a bonus of Rs 1184. Employees will not be eligible for bonuses if found guilty in departmental disciplinary proceedings or criminal cases.