In good news for over nine lakh state government employees and pensioners, the Gujarat government has hiked the dearness allowance (DA) to nine per cent from the existing seven per cent.
The increase of two per cent will come into effect retrospectively from July 1, 2018, announced Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel in Gandhinagar Thursday.
The hike will benefit over 5.11 lakh state government employees and over 4.5 lakh pensioners.
Patel said the hike was in line with the Central government's decision in July last year to give two per cent increase in DA to its employees.
The arrears will be paid with the salary and pension at the end of February.
Patel, who handles finance portfolio, added that the increase would create an additional burden of Rs 771 crore annually on the state exchequer.
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