New Delhi, January 8: Days ahead of the release of Union Budget 2020, reports claim that the Centre is considering a hike by four percent in the dearness allowance of central government employees. If the proposal is moved by the Finance Ministry, and the same gets ratified by the Union Cabinet, then the DA for central government employees would rise from 17 percent at present to 21 percent. Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh Employees to Get Allowances of 7th Pay Commission.

Apart from the central government, the state of Madhya Pradesh is also expected to raise the DA for employees by 5 percent. According to Zee Business, the Kamal Nath government is mulling over increasing the key allowance from 12 percent at present to 17 percent. The announcement would be part of the State Budget, which is expected to be presented next month.

The government of MP, along with the Centre, would emulating a similar hike in dearness relief (DR) as well to benefit the scores of pensioners. The bonanza, as part of the Budget, is expected to be welcomed by the workforce as well as the unions.

The DA for central government employees has been raised beyond the recommendations of 7th Pay Commission. While the hike in allowance has been welcomed by the unions, a resentment exists over no changes being made to the minimum salary. The unions were hopeful that the government would revise the fitment factor and raise the minimum wages from Rs 18,000 at present to Rs 21,000. The demand has not been paid heed to so far by the Centre.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 08, 2020 04:47 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).