After UP, Poll-Bound Uttarakhand Approves Additional 3% DA Hike

The Uttarakhand cabinet has approved 3 per cent DA increase for employees and pensioners. The move will benefit 2.5 lakh employees and pensioners. 

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New Delhi: Ahead of the Uttarakhand Assembly polls, the state government has approved a 3 per cent additional dearness allowance to state employees and has given approval to the distribution of mobile tablets to students of Class 10 and Class 12. 

The Uttarakhand cabinet has approved 3 per cent DA increase for employees and pensioners, according to news agency ANI. The move will benefit 2.5 lakh employees and pensioners. 

The state government will also deposit money in the bank accounts of eligible students through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) to buy tablets. The scheme will cost the exchequer over Rs190 crore annually. 

Apart from this, the state has also cleared a proposal to publish bilingual books in Garhwali, Kumaoni, Jaunsari, Gurmukhi, Bangla language for Class 1 to Class 5, according to a report in Hindustan Times. The state's cabinet, chaired by chief minister Pushkar Sigh Dhami approved a total of 41 proposals, according to the report. The state government has also given its nod for the free transfer of 11.350 hectares of state land for the use of the Army (119, Infantry Bridge Group) in village Gunji in Pithoragarh to the defence ministry.

Moreover, the BJP-led state government also approved Uttarakhand Ayurvedic Yoga and Naturopathy Assistant Services Rules, 2021, amendment in Rehabilitation Policy 2011 for rehabilitation of disaster-affected families.

It also gave clearance to Uttarakhand Sanskrit Education Rules, 2021, allotment of land for the proposed traffic town plan in Udham Singh Nagar’s Rudrapur along with the establishment of Vishwa Bharati Central University Campus at Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore Top in Nainital Ramgarh.

Last week, the UP government also increased DA from the existing 28 per cent to 31 per cent. The Yogi Adityanath-led government has rolled out the DA hike retrospectively, with effect from July 2021, and the previous arrears will be transferred to the employees’ Provident Fund account.