Karnataka CM BS Yediyurappa Raised DA By 10.25% For Govt Employees Ahead Of Resignation

With DA hike, which comes in the wake of representation made to CM Yediyurappa by the Karnataka State Government Employees' Association, the DA of employees will be 21.50 per cent of their basic pay

BS Yediyurappa

Bangaluru: Just hours before resigning from the Chief Minister's post, outgoing Karnataka CM B.S. Yediyurappa on Monday ordered a hike in dearness allowance (DA) for state government employees by 10.25 per cent. In his parting gift, Yediyurappa increased the DA which will affect more than six lakh state government employees.

The state government has decided to increase Dearness Allowance (DA) for its employees and pensioners with effect from July 1 this year. The order was personally issued by Yediyurappa.

With this hike, the DA of employees will be 21.50 per cent of their basic pay, according to an order issued by the Finance Department which was under Yediyurappa.

The decision comes in the wake of representation made to Yediyurappa by the Karnataka State Government Employees' Association. It comes amid the DA hike by the Union government for centrak government employees from 17 per cent to 28 per cent. Apart from state government employees, the hike will benefit 4.5 lakh pensioners and around three lakh staff employed with various boards and corporations in the state.

When was the last hike announced?

The last DA hike was announced in October 2019 after Yediyurappa came to power in Karnataka.

At that time, a 4.7 per cent rise was announced in DA. However, as a result of Covid-19 outbreak in March 2020, the state government had decided to hold the hike for a year. With the deferment in the hike the DA got reduced to 6.5 per cent from 11.2 per cent. However, the state government employees had been demanding it to be reinstated.

At present, the state government spends Rs 62,413 crore annually to pay bills, of which, Rs 23,413 crore goes to pensioners.

The DA hike will cost the state exchequer an additional burden of around Rs 7,000 crore. CS Shadakshari, the president of Karnataka State Government Employees' Association, has been demanding that state government employees' salaries should be brought at par with their counterparts in the central government.

"There is a wide disparity in the salaries of the state and Central government employees. State employees draw Rs 10,000 to Rs 40,000 less than their counterparts in the Centre. The state government should rectify this," the KSGEA said earlier.