Government staff, pensioners to get 3 per cent additional DA with October salary

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu today announced three per cent additional Dearness Allowance (DA) for the employees and pensioners of the state government, which would be paid in November along with the October salaries and pension. The arrears for April to September would also be deposited in the bank accounts of the employees in October. However, separate orders would be issued for the payment of the arrears due from July 2023 to March 2025.

The Chief Minister made the announcement during the inauguration of a biennial general conference of the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board Ltd (HPSEBL) Employees Union here. “The state government has provided the Old Pension Scheme to its employees but under pressure from BJP leaders, the Central Government has halted its additional borrowing limit. Time and again, the Union Government is pressuring the state government to withdraw the Old Pension Scheme,” he added.

Sukhu acknowledged the economic challenges the state was going to face in the next few months but expressed confidence of making a swift recovery. He accused the previous BJP government of squandering public funds and leaving a debt of Rs 75,000 crore and employee liabilities of Rs 10,000 crore. “If employees are not receiving their benefits today, it is not due to the present Congress government but due to financial mismanagement by the previous BJP regime,” he alleged.

He said that the previous BJP government had opened 600 educational institutions before the 2022 Assembly elections but his government took a tough decision to close them. “We have introduced reforms in the education sector, which have helped the state improve its ranking from the 21st place to the fifth position nationally in providing quality education. The health sector was in a similar situation and improvements had been made there as well,” he claimed.

Sukhu said the government was strengthening the rural economy, procuring milk at higher prices and providing support prices for crops like wheat, maize, barley and raw turmeric grown through natural farming.

He released the union’s souvenir during the event. MLAs Sanjay Awasthi, Harish Janartha and Ranjit Singh, president of the All Engineers Union Lokesh Thakur, general secretary Heera Lal Verma and president of the HPSEBL Employees Union Kameshwar Dutt Sharma were present on the occasion.