Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has announced a 3 per cent dearness allowance increase for pensioners and employees alongside a 40 per cent hike for computer teachers.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann announced a 3 per cent dearness allowance (DA) increase for 8 lakh government employees and pensioners on Wednesday, calling it a Diwali gift. According to reports from The Indian Express, the latest hike will take the DA rate to 53 per cent and will be credited with November's salary.
The Chief Minister also announced a 40 per cent increase in the DA for 6,507 computer teachers of the Punjab Information and Communication Technology Education Society (PICTES). This increase will raise their DA from 181 per cent to 221 per cent, as reported by The Tribune and Times Now.
Mann stated that the government has provided 71,777 government jobs and is committed to the welfare of its employees. He noted that the total DA increases this year amount to 11 per cent, following two earlier instalments of 4 per cent each.
The state's outstanding DA and dearness relief (DR) arrears for the period from January 1, 2021, to September 30, 2026, have reached Rs 22,818 crore. Chief Secretary K A P Sinha informed the Punjab and Haryana High Court that the total pending liability for both claims is approximately Rs 32,418 crore.
The High Court issued a contempt notice to the chief secretary on Tuesday regarding the non-payment of arrears and has sought a response by November 17. The government's September decision to increase DA by 8 per cent addressed the rate but did not settle the accumulated arrears.
