The state government on Wednesday announced a hike in dearness allowance for its employees and pensioners by eight per cent with effect from January 1, 2013. The hike would be released at the end of May, an official release said.
Chief minister Naveen Patnaik's decision came close on the heels of the Centre increasing the dearness allowance for its employees. Consequently, the allowance for around 3.5 lakh serving and 1.2 lakh retired state government employees, including those working in aided educational institutions, has become 80 per cent of their basic pay, making it on a par with their Union government counterparts.
Finance minister said the government would shell out an additional Rs 746 crore annually to meet the extra expenditure.
Currently, the state government's salary and pension bills together stand at around Rs 14,000 crore, officials pointed out.
The leader of the opposition in the assembly, dubbed the hike in the dearness allowance a "gimmick" ahead of the elections and accused the Naveen-led ruling BJD of drying up the state exchequer by announcing sops for different sectors.
Source : Times of India
Chief minister Naveen Patnaik's decision came close on the heels of the Centre increasing the dearness allowance for its employees. Consequently, the allowance for around 3.5 lakh serving and 1.2 lakh retired state government employees, including those working in aided educational institutions, has become 80 per cent of their basic pay, making it on a par with their Union government counterparts.
Finance minister said the government would shell out an additional Rs 746 crore annually to meet the extra expenditure.
Currently, the state government's salary and pension bills together stand at around Rs 14,000 crore, officials pointed out.
The leader of the opposition in the assembly, dubbed the hike in the dearness allowance a "gimmick" ahead of the elections and accused the Naveen-led ruling BJD of drying up the state exchequer by announcing sops for different sectors.
Source : Times of India
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