7th pay commission: In a good news for about 18 lakh Tamil Nadu government employees, the state government has announced a two per cent hike in Dearness Allowance (DA) for its staff on Monday. For this, it will incur an additional annual expenditure of Rs 1,157 crore. The same will be in effect from July 1, 2018. Chief Minister K Palaniswami said the government's decision to increase the DA from seven per cent to nine per cent with effect followed the Centre earlier approving an additional two per cent DA instalment for its employees. Expressing his joy over announcing the revision, the CM said in a statement that various sections of government employees and pensioners would benefit from the move.

The increase will be in the range of Rs 314 to Rs 4,500 for various government employees and Rs 157 to Rs 2,250 for pensioners and beneficiaries of family pension, he further said. DA arrears will be paid for the period July-August 2018, while the revised amount will be paid along with the salary starting September, he said. "Due to the DA hike, there will be an additional expense of approximately Rs 1157 crore for the government," he said.

Earlier, the Jammu and Kashmir administration announced an additional two per cent DA for its state government employees and pensioners. The move would benefit around 4.50 lakh state government employees and 1.60 lakh, pensioners. The state administrative council (SAC), which met here under the chairmanship of Governor Satya Pal Malik, sanctioned the release of an additional installment of 2 per cent DA, with effect from July 1 this year over the existing rate of 7 per cent of the basic pay/pension, an official spokesperson said.

While, the Rajasthan government earlier this month increased dearness allowance of state employees from 7 to 9 per cent with effect from July 1, 2018. According to a release, the increased amount for the period between July 1, 2018 and August 31, 2018 will be credited to the General Provident Fund Account of the respective employees and cash payment shall be admissible from September 1, 2018. The arrear of dearness allowance from July 1, 2018 to August 31, 2018 to the employees recruited to civil services on or after January 1, 2004 and who are governed by Contributory Pension Scheme will be paid in cash, the release added.