Odisha government hikes dearness allowance

Odisha government Monday hiked the dearness allowance (DA) of its employees and dearness relief of pensioners by two per cent. With this increase, the total DA of the state government employees have gone up to nine per cent, an official in the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said. The enhanced DA and dearness relief would be given to the state government employees and pensioners with retrospective effect from July 1, 2018, he said.

Along with the state government employees, work charged employees and the teachers and staff of fully-aided private colleges will also be benefited from the hike, a statement from the CMO said.

The hike was announced after a proposal in this regard was approved by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

The increase in Odisha comes close on the heels of a hike in the DA of central government employees by two per cent with effect from July this year. The state government had earlier hiked the DA and DR by two per cent in April this year.

(With inputs from agencies.)