Karnataka raised 7% D.A., notification today. Employees demand I.R.

Bangalore, Oct 14 : Karnataka government today announced seven percent hike in dearness allowance for its employees. The hike will be effective from July one, an official release said. PTI

A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda with the representatives of the government employees’ association on Friday. The increase in DA for 11 lakh employees puts an additional burden of Rs 600 crore on the state’s exchequer. The State government, like the Central government, increases DA twice a year. The 11 lakh employees include 5.4 lakh employees working with various government departments, non-teaching staff of universities, employees of local bodies, aided educational institutions and pensioners. A notification increasing the DA will be issued on Saturday, according to L Byrappa, president of the State government employees’ association who attended the meeting chaired by Sadananda Gowda. Byrappa said the association also requested the chief minister to revise the salary by 30 per cent as an interim relief till the salaries are revised as recommended by the Sixth Pay Commission. The State government has constituted a committee headed by Additional Chief Secretary Subir Harisingh to formulate the pay scale keeping the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission in mind. Byrappa said the chief minister instructed the committee to finalise the pay structure before December 15. “Once in every five years, the pay scale should be revised. But in case of Karnataka even after six years, the scale has not been revised. Hence, we requested the government to pay interim relief of 30 per cent with effect from January 1 this year till the final scale is fixed. The government is yet to respond,” he said.

Source : Deccan Herald.