Karnataka Hikes DA For Government Employees

Siddaramaiah government on Tuesday announced that it will increase the 'Dearness Allowance' from 31 per cent to 31 per cent for government employees and pensioners.

The fresh DA hike is applicable from January 1, 2023.

"Happy news to all my dear government employee friends. The government has decided to increase the Dearness Allowance from 31% to 35% of the basic pay/basic pension with effect from 1st January 2023," the CM of Karnataka said in a tweet.

The order said that the Basic Pension or Family Pension has also been increased, which will also be applicable to those pensioners in the Aided Educational Institutions "whose Pension/ Family Pension is paid out of the Consolidated Fund of the State".

It will be applicable to all full-time employees of the state government, employees of Zila Panchayats, employees of aided educational institutions and people who work at universities on regular time scales of pay. "Separate orders will be issued in respect of employees on UGC/AICTE/ICAR/NJPC scales of pay and also in respect of NJPC Pensioners," the notification from the government said.

"The payment of arrears of Dearness Allowance shall not be made before the date of disbursement of salary for the month of May 2023," it said.

The last DA hike in Karnataka was in October 2022.

The state government took the decision in less than Congress assumed power in the state. Under Siddramaiah and D K Shivakumar's leadership, the party won the election, winning 135 out of 224 Assembly seats.

However, the challenge for the government is to fulfil the five poll guarantees that it promised the voters of Karnataka during the poll campaigning.

In the manifesto, Congress had promised 200 units of free electricity under the Gruha Jyothi scheme, 10 kg rice free of cost to every Below Poverty Line (BPL) family, a monthly cash assistance of Rs 2,000 under the Gruha Lakshmi scheme to every woman head of household, Rs 3,000 to unemployed graduates and Rs 1,500 to unemployed diploma holders every month for two years under the Yuva Nidhi scheme and free travel for women in public buses in Karnataka.

The opposition and the public are now exerting pressure on the government to implement these promises.