Naveen announces merger of 50 per cent DA with basic salary

Bhubaneswar, Mar 31 (UNI) Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today announced the merger of fifty per cent dear allowances (DA) with the basic salary of the government employees in the state.

The Chief Minister made this announcement while intervening in the debate for passing of the Appropriation Bill in the state assembly.

The merger of the fifty per cent DA with the basic salary would be implemented with effect from April 1, 2006. This apart, Mr.Patnaik also restored the Leave Travel Concession (LTC) of the government employees which had been kept in abeyance following financial crisis.

The announcement has been described as the orissa divas gift for the employees as the state would be celebrating its 70th Foundation Day tomorrow.

Official sources said the new incentives would benefit nearly six lakh government employees in the state for which the state government has to take the annual additional revenue burden of nearly Rs.450 crores from the state exchequer.

The government employees had on several occasions resorted to agitational path demanding the merger of DA with their basic pay and restoration of the LTC.

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