BENGALURU: The state government on Tuesday issued an order to increase the Dearness Allowance (DA) for its employees from the existing 24.5 per cent to 27.25 per cent of basic salary. It will come into effect from January 1, 2022 and the government will incur an additional expenditure of Rs 1,447 crore, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said.
The increase is applicable to pensioners and family pensioners of aided educational institutions whose pension or family pension is paid out of the consolidated fund of the state. As per the notification, the DA hike is applicable to full-time government employees, employees working with zilla panchayats, work-charged employees on regular time scales of pay, full-time employees of aided educational institutions and universities who are on the regular time scales of pay.
The order stated that it is applicable to retired employees of University Grants Commission (UGC), All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and Indian Agricultural Research Institute (ICAR) who were on regular scales of pay. Separate orders will be issued for employees on UGC/AICTE/ICAR scales of pay.
The increase in DA is payable in cash, and arrears will not be paid before the date of disbursement of salary for March 2022. The DA will be shown as a distinct element of remuneration and will not be treated as pay for any purpose, the order stated.
Recently, a Union Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a 3 per cent increase in DA for central government employees. CS Shadakshari, president of Karnataka State Government Employees’ Association, said they had appealed to the chief minister to increase the DA and thanked him for the decision.