Odisha CM announces 4 pc hike in DA for state govt employees

Naveen Patnaik, the Chief Minister of Odisha, has declared a 4 per cent hike in Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) for state government workers and retirees. Following this hike, the DA for Odisha's government employees and the DR for pensioners has increased from 42 per cent to 46 per cent, news agency PTI reported citing an official statement.

The enhanced amount will be paid from July 1, 2023 retrospectively. The increased DA will benefit 4.5 lakh state government employees and 3.5 lakh pensioners in Odisha.

In preparation for the upcoming festival season, the central government announced on Wednesday that it would increase the DA for its employees by 4 per cent, bringing it up to 46 per cent of their basic salary. Additionally, non-gazetted railway staff will receive a bonus equivalent to 78 days of their salaries.


Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur, while briefing reporters on the Cabinet's decisions, noted that this increase in DA and DR would benefit 48.67 lakh central government employees and 67.95 lakh pensioners, respectively.

DA and DR are given twice a year to compensate employees and pensioners, respectively, for price rise.

The combined impact on the exchequer on account of both DA and DR would be Rs 12,857 crore per annum.

In March this year and September last year also, the increase in DA and DR was 4 percentage points.

The payment of the Productivity Linked Bonus (PLB) to the railway staff is expected to cost the exchequer Rs 1,968.87 crore, Thakur said.

"In recognition of an excellent performance by the railway staff, the Union government has approved the payment of a PLB of Rs 1,968.87 crore to 11,07,346 railway employees.

"The performance of the railways in the year 2022-2023 was very good. The railways loaded a record cargo of 1,509 million tonnes and carried nearly 6.5 billion (650 crore) passengers," an official statement said.

(With PTI inputs)