Guwahati, Apr 4 (PTI) The Assam cabinet gave its nod on Friday to increase the Dearness Allowance (DA) for government employees by 2 percentage points, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

With this hike, which would be in effect from January 1, the DA for state employees and Dearness Relief (DR) for pensioners will rise to 55 per cent of the basic pay or pension, he said.

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Addressing a press conference, Sarma described it as a Bihu gift for state employees and pensioners.

"We will pay the enhanced DA with last month's salary, while the arrears will be paid with the salaries of April and May," he said.

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The Centre recently hiked DA and DR for its employees by 2 percentage points.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)