7th Pay Commission Latest News: During Kerala Budget 2024 presentation, State Finance Minister KN Balagopal said the state government has announced an assured pension scheme for employees.
7th Pay Commission: While presenting the state budget 2024, the Kerala government on Monday made a big announcement for the state government employees and pensioners. State Finance Minister KN Balagopal said one installment of DA for government employees and pensioners will be disbursed in April 2024. Notably, it was a long-pending demand from the state government employees and pensioners.
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Pension Scheme For Employees
During the budget presentation, State Finance Minister KN Balagopal said the state government has announced an assured pension scheme for employees. He added that the existing contributory pension scheme will be reviewed. However, he added that there is no hike in social security pensions.
According to the Economic Review report that was presented in the Kerala Assembly on February 2, the State’s economy recorded steady growth in 2022-23 with the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) clocking 6.6% growth at constant prices.
Apart from DA hike, the state government said stamp duty for land, building lease agreements to be increased and the liquor prices will go up further in the state.
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Rs 553.31 Crore For Social Security
He said an allocation of Rs 553.31 crore has been made for social security and welfare programmes and an international AI conclave to be held in association with IBM in July 2024.
Finance Minister KN Balagopal further said that the government aims to attract investments towards the higher education and will invest Rs 50 crore to boost tourism at 20 destinations.
Last year, various state governments including West Bengal, Meghalaya and Punjab, announced DA hike for their employees. While Punjab announced salary hike on December 18, Meghalaya declared DA hike on December 20 and West Bengal became the latest state to announce dearness allowance hike for the employees on December 21, 2023.
West Bengal Hikes DA by 4%
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced 4% DA hike for the government employees from New Year’s Day. She made the announcement while speaking at the inauguration of the Kolkata Christmas Carnival 2023 at Allen Park in Park Street area of the city.
She said under the new pay scale, the state govt has released 6 per cent DA from 2019 with an expenditure of Rs 4,144 crore in four years.
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Meghalaya Hikes DA by 4%
Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on December 20 announced early release of December salary for 55,000 government employees and a hike of three per cent dearness allowance. “Merry Christmas to our team of 55,000 government employees! We are pleased to announce that December salaries are being released early. Further, DA hike of 3% has been approved,” Conrad wrote on X.
Punjab Hikes DA by 4%
On December 18, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann announced a 4 per cent hike in dearness allowance of government employees with effect from the ongoing month. After the hike, the DA will increase to 38 per cent, Punjab State Ministerial Services Union (PSMSU) President Amrik Singh said.
