Odisha hikes DA of govt employees, pensioners by 4 per cent; 7.5 lakh to benefit
By Mahendra Darjee
Bhubaneswar, June 13: The Odisha government on Tuesday announced a hike in dearness allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) for state government employees and pensioners.
As per the notification, the dearness allowance was hiked by four per cent.
With this, the dearness allowance of the employees has been increased to 42 per cent from the existing 38 per cent. The hike in dearness allowance will be applicable retrospectively from January 1, 2023.
The DR on pension was also hiked by 4 per cent and the pensioners will get the revised amount in the pension for the month of June.
As per an official statement, nearly 7.5 lakh government employees and pensioners will benefit from the DA and DR hike.
The move which came just a day before the three-day Raja Utsav, a grand cultural event celebrated in honour of the Mother Earth’s perceived menstruation on the arrival of the monsoon, is seen as a calculated exercise to earn the goodwill of the government employees and the pensioners ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha and state assembly polls.
“We have been demanding a pension of Rs 5,000 per month and other social security measures for lakhs of farmers in the state since long. However, the state government is not paying any heed to these demands. Since elections are round the corner, it hiked the DA and DR of the government employees and pensioners with a hope to get their support during elections,” said farmer leader Seshadev Nanda.
